A Place Called Freedom (1995)

“Lizzie!” Jay called. He went into the drawing room and found her there. “Lizzie, I just saw McAsh in the hall.”

“I’ve put him in charge of maintenance. He’s been painting the nursery.”

“I don’t want that man in my house.”

Her reaction took him by surprise. “Then you’ll just have to suffer it!” she blazed.

“Well—”

“I will not be alone here while Lennox is on the estate. I absolutely refuse, do you understand?”

“All right—”

“If McAsh goes, I go too!” She stormed out of the room.

“All right!” he said to the door as it slammed. He was not going to fight a war over one damned convict. If she wanted the man to paint the nursery so be it.

On the sideboard he saw an unopened letter addressed to him. He picked it up and recognized his mother’s handwriting. He sat down by the window and opened it.

7, Grosvenor Square

London

September 15, 1768

My dear son,

The new coal pit at High Glen has been restored after the accident, and coal mining has recommenced.

Jay smiled. His mother could be very businesslike.

Robert has spent several weeks there, consolidating the two estates and arranging for them to be run as one property.

I told your father that you should have a royalty on the coal, as the land is yours. His reply was that he is paying the interest on the mortgages. However, I’m afraid the deciding factor was the way you took the best convicts from the Rosebud. Your father was furious and so was Robert.

Jay felt foolish and angry. He had thought he could take those men with impunity. He should have known better than to underestimate his father.

I will keep nagging your father over this. In time I’m sure he will give in.

“Bless you, Mother,” said Jay. She was still working hard in his interests even though he was so far away he might never see her again.

Having dealt with important matters she went on to write about herself, relatives and friends, and London social life. Then at the end she returned to business.

Robert has now gone to Barbados. I’m not sure why. My instincts tell me he is plotting against you. I can’t imagine how he could do you harm but he is resourceful and ruthless. Be always on your guard, my son.

Your loving mother,

Alicia Jamisson

Jay put the letter down thoughtfully. He had the deepest respect for his mother’s intuition but all the same he thought she was being overly fearful. Barbados was a long way away. And even if Robert came to Virginia, there was nothing he could do to harm Jay now—was there?

31

IN THE OLD NURSERY WING, MACK FOUND A MAP.

He had redecorated two of the three rooms and he was clearing out the schoolroom. It was the end of the afternoon and he would start work properly tomorrow. There was a chest full of moldy books and empty ink bottles, and he sorted through the contents, wondering what was worth saving. The map was there, folded carefully in a leather case. He opened it up and studied it.

It was a map of Virginia.

At first he wanted to jump for joy, but his elation faded as he realized he could not make head or tail of it.

The names puzzled him until he understood they were in a foreign language—he guessed French. Virginia was spelled “Virginie,” the territory to the northeast was labeled “Partie de New Jersey,” and everything west of the mountains was called Louisiane, although that part of the map was otherwise blank.

Slowly he began to understand it better. Thin lines were rivers, thicker lines were the borders between one colony and the next, and the very thick lines were mountain ranges. He pored over it, fascinated and thrilled: this was his passport to freedom.

He discovered that the Rappahannock was one of several rivers running across Virginia from the mountains in the west to the Bay of Chesapeake in the east. He found Fredericksburg on the south bank of the Rappahannock. There was no way to tell distances, but Pepper Jones had said it was a hundred miles to the mountains. If the map was right, it was the same distance again to the other side of the range. But there was no indication of a route across.

He felt a mixture of exhilaration and frustration. He knew where he was, at last, but the map seemed to say there was no escape.