even set a springhouse over the river. It’s a beautiful place. He never would have
left except Lydia Ann died of the fever and he lost his heart for it. So he came back to town, but the farm still belonged to him. When he died it went to my father and now it will go to me or one of my brothers – whichever one of us wants to claim it and put in a crop. Neither Avis nor Tobey is interested. I am.
All I need is someone to help me.” She paused. “That’s why I need you to be my
partner. To do the farming.”
He tipped his chair back, balancing on the hind legs. “I see how that gonna get you a farm. All I see it gettin’ me be an aching back.”
“I haven’t finished yet –”
“Sides, farming take more than land and one skinny nigger you think be
dumb enough to work it for you. You gotta have money. Gotta buy seed. Gotta
eat for a whole year –”
“I have six hundred dollars of my own money. In gold coin. You won’t have
to pay for anything. Once a crop is in, I’ll inherit the land. That’s all we have to
do. But you could keep working it. I don’t know how long it takes to make money farming. You can figure that out better than I can. But whatever we lose,
it’s my money. Whatever profit we make is yours. You keep it all, until you have
enough to buy your own eighty acres. Maybe even your own quarter section. But
you don’t have to work my farm that long if you don’t want to. The deal is, you
go there with me, make the cabin livable, clear a few acres, and put in one crop.
Then you can quit any time you want and I’ll pay –”
Olivia abruptly stopped talking and listened as heavy footfalls clomped on the
wooden sidewalk. What would they do if someone knocked on the door?
Everyone knew that Mourning was allowed to stay in Mr. Carmichael’s office,
but should she hide under the desk? The footsteps continued on without
stopping, but she swallowed hard, facing what she knew was the biggest
problem in her plan – the two of them being alone together. If she were to go off
with a white man who wasn’t her kin, even if he was old and decrepit, tongues
would never stop flapping. And a young colored one?
Well, that’s just another reason why it’s going to be a secret, she reminded herself.
But she knew the problem was real. She and Mourning would have to travel
together, spend days, weeks, and months alone together on Uncle Scruggs’ farm.
She stared at Mourning for a moment, wondering how well they would manage
that. She still thought of him as her friend, though for years they’d barely spoken. Now he was all grown up and she didn’t know much about the young
man sitting across from her.
I know the most important thing, she thought. I trust him. He is a good man.
Never did a speck of harm to anyone. When he promises to do something, he
does it. We’ll just have to manage, figure the rest out as we go along.
She plunged on. “I’ll pay you –”
“Pay me what? How much?” He sat his chair back down on all four legs.
“Well, I guess I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really thought it all out. But we’ll come to an arrangement that we both think is fair. And put it in writing.”
He leaned forward, elbows on knees, watching her intently. “Suppose I stay
on, but we ain’t making no money?” he asked.
“Well, that will depend on you, won’t it?”
