A Chapter From The Deception of Sadie Burrrell

This is a test chapter.  What do you think?  It's copyrighted.  Remember this is set in 1938, Sadie's home from college and there's work going on at the Mason-Billingsley Plantation.

The noise of the town’s busyness faded into peaceful sounds.  Sadie strolled along for nearly a mile and a half until she came upon the lane leading to the old Walnut Hill Plantation.  The flurry of activity surrounding the home peaked her curiosity.  She walked past the six mature black walnut trees on both sides of the lane; their husks sprinkled on the coarse sand.  The old expansive, white federal style mansion sat snuggled between two graceful weeping willows.  The fluted columns were stained from years of neglect, while the cracked wrap-around porch splintered from the pressure of standing for more than one hundred and fifty years.

 Sadie used to dream that she was the lady of Walnut Hill, a once beautiful plantation that once boasted pride and elegance with its gleaming black shutters, brass door knocker, and manicured lawn.  She’d own no slaves, but the house would be full of servants, and she’d be known for throwing lavish parties.

Men, black and white, busied themselves stripping aged wood from the structure, repairing the broken windows, and applying a fresh coat of paint.  Her gaze settled on the ten small shanties just one hundred yards behind the house, swallowed by high grass and hanging trees. 

 “Slave quarters,” Buster Luke said, walking up behind her.

Sadie nodded and looked into his paint splattered face.  “My grandmother lived in the third one,” she muttered.

“My grandpa lived in the last one,” Buster Luke offered.

Sadie backed away from their grandparents’ place of bondage, and focused on Buster Luke.  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Making a few dollars before I go back.  What about you?”

“Just came from visiting Mrs. Freeman.  I saw the house, and the workers. What’s going on here?”

“I heard one of the Mason children is coming back to live.  They’re paying good wages to fix the old place up.”

Sadie ducked a shingle that was tossed from the roof.  “My grandmother hates it.  She used to tell me that when she was a little girl, she prayed every night that it would burn down.”  She conjured up the best imitation of Lu Dell.  “‘But them Yankee boys, they come and take care of it for us.  Made sure I never had to set foot on that plantation again in my life.’”

Buster Luke wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.  “Yeah, my grandfather is probably rolling over in his grave, thinking about me fixing it up.  You ever think about what life was like for them?”

“Grandma said Mr. Mason wasn’t as bad as some of the other slave owners she’d heard about.  She said Mrs. Mason was meaner than a mongrel dog fightin’ for food.  Said sometimes she’d have to make her lemonade or ice tea over and over again if it had too much of this or not enough of that.  Finally, Mrs. Mason would give her a good slap across the face. ‘Seem like dat the only thing dat make her food taste good,’” she mocked again.

Buster Luke dipped a paintbrush in a bucket and began to swipe it across a dull black shutter.  “I see your father has started moving already.”

Sadie tore her gaze away from the house.  “What?”

 “Your father and your Uncle Hillen are moving some of your furniture.”

 “Hey, I’ve got to go.  I’ll catch up with you later,” she said, and raced away from the plantation.

Comments

[Charlie]

I just gotta ask...

...when is the next chapter coming out?

Merry Third Day of Christmas.