Mosana - Part XX
EPISODE 20
I went to get Judy again. She was with Tricia, in the slave quarters. She was laughing at something that Tricia was saying. As soon as they saw me, they stopped talking. Actually, Tricia stopped whatever she was saying, so Judy stopped laughing and turned around to see who had made Tricia shut up.
At least Judy was laughing. That was a new development, and a good thing. It was as if working for me against the Russells had brought colour to her cheeks. She was alive again; no longer sitting in corners and crying. She was wise enough to hide it from the Russells though. She still went about her duties with a dull and sullen expression. But when chores were over and all the slaves retired for the night, she brightened up again.
‘Mosana,’ Judy greeted.
‘I have to talk to you.’ I went straight to the point.
‘O-okay,’ Judy answered, and stood up.
I drew her away from Tricia to the corridor that separated the slaves into rooms.
I whispered hoarsely, ‘We need to get Amy. I need her… out of the way. Do you understand?’
Judy nodded.
‘Wait here, let me go get the pokeweed,’ I said to her.
Before I could take another step, Tricia called out to me.
‘Mosana.’
I turned to face her, a rebuke already forming on my tongue in case she tried to dissuade me again.
‘I have a better way,’ she said.
Okay. I looked at her, waiting for her to continue. It sounded like she wanted to help me, but I wasn’t ready to believe that.
‘You can’t just keep poisonin’ everyone. I saw what you did to Wells. You don’t have to out the missus like that. I got somethin’ else that’ll do the job a little more… quietly,’ she finished.
‘What’s that?’ I asked.
‘I’ll go get it.’
I waited with Judy as Tricia went to her quarters and got what she was talking about. She came back less than a minute later and gave me something powdery in a small cloth pouch.
‘What is it?’ I asked again.
She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I can’t tell you that. All I can say is it’s got arsenic in it. It ain’t gon’ rile her up like it did Wells, but it will keep her in bed for you to do whatever it is you wanna do. Unless what you wan’ do is in her room.’
She looked at me, expecting me to answer the question in her last statement.
‘No, no. It’s not. This is fine, thank you.’
‘Don’t thank me,’ she retorted. ‘I’m ain’t supposed to be doin’ this. But it’s a better way than your... rash methods.’
‘Well, why don’t you go confess to the Russells then?’ I said, challenging her. I was suddenly angry. I was doing this for all of us! If I found a way to escape, I wasn’t going to go alone. The least she could do was stay out of my way and not preach to me.
‘And get us all killed?’ she laughed without mirth. ‘If the Madam gets a whiff, a tiny whiff, of what you planning, she gon’ bury us alive and start a new brood o’ slaves down here! And the newbies won’t even know we were ever here!’
I softened. I finally understood. Tricia was afraid. No, she was terrified. I was willing to bet that deep down within her, she wanted me to succeed. She wanted to be free too. Her fear was rooted in the possibility that I might fail.
But I wasn’t going to fail. I couldn’t.
‘Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. But we’re going to be slaves till we die if somebody doesn’t do something.’
She didn’t have an answer for me this time. She just walked away with a sad look on her face.
I gave the small pouch to Judy and told her what to do. I didn’t know what this particular poison could do, so I recommended the same number of pinches as I had used for the pokeweed. I sent Judy off and waited for results.
The first day, there was nothing. No visible sign that Amy had been poisoned. I asked Judy after she had served her, and the girl swore that she had done as I asked. I believed her, there was no reason for her to lie.
The day after that, I increased the dose. Judy reported to me that in the evening of that day, Amy had complained of a stomach ache, which was quickly resolved with some warm milk.
I went to Tricia and demanded to know how the poison worked. All she said was that it was ‘slow poison’, and it would ‘take a couple weeks to take effect’, and that I should ‘give it to Amy every four or five days to avoid suspicion’. Well, I didn’t have a “couple weeks”. I couldn’t wait around for four or five days before giving Amy the poison! I didn’t want Master Wells to get back home before I had a chance to execute my plans.
I resolved to giving Amy the arsenic drug every two days, through Judy. Over the following week, I watched the young missus fall ill and be confined to bed. Judy happily reported to me the day she went into her room and met the mistress pale and coughing. Finally, the blasted drug had worked.
But something was wrong. The reason for putting Amy down was not happening. The Russels had not gone shopping yet. It had been two weeks since I had started poisoning Amy, and a few days before that since the last time she went out with Gabe. I expected they would send Gabe out alone with Jerome, since they could hold his sister ransom anyway. But they didn’t. I wondered what the hold up was. Stock was running low in the house and I knew the Russells were aware. So why wasn’t Gabe sent to the market?
I soon found out. Judy came to report to me one day about what she heard Madam Russell say to her daughter. The Madam was hopeful that Amy could accompany Gabe to the stores once she was better. They probably thought it was a simple flu or a stomach bug she was fighting. They didn’t know that I didn’t plan for her to leave that bed until I had achieved my aims.
I needed to speed things up, but I didn’t know how. The idea presented itself when Tina came to tell me that Madam Russell. This meant Judy was serving Madam Russell. As I prepared to go into the main house, I decided I would have to resort to the pokeweed again. Perhaps if Amy was out of the house, Madam Russell would have no choice but to send Gabe alone, as it would become impossible to wait for Amy to get better and accompany him. I took the required amount and went through the back door to the kitchen. I put the kettle on and set out the tray, teacup, saucer, spoon, sugar and milk. I got out the tea leaves, (we grew tea right on the farm) and waited for the water to boil. With no one to see me, I put the ground pokeweed roots in the pitcher I was going to put the hot water in, so I wouldn’t have to do it in front of Amy.
When the water boiled, I put the tea leaves in the pitcher and poured the hot water in. it would soak in the water as I went up the stairs to Amy’s room.
I got to Amy’s and knocked twice before going in. She was in bed, under the sheets, looking pale and sweaty. I greeted her; she answered with silence. I proceeded to arrange the tray on a stool nearby and brought it close to her. I could tell she was watching me. She wasn’t happy with the new developments either.
When I saw the state she was in, I made to prop up her pillows behind her head so she could take her tea. She slapped away my hand rudely and hissed at me, ‘Get away from me.’
‘I’m trying to help you,’ I said.
She coughed out a laugh. ‘Help me? Ha! Like I believe that. I’m half certain you’re trying to do exactly the opposite. I’m so sick of you.’ She cough-laughed again. ‘I’m so sick of you, I’m literally sick.’
I stood there and listened to her rant. If only she knew how close she was to the truth. She was clearly delusional. What Tricia gave me was not as fun as the pokeweed, but it was equally interesting to watch the aftereffects. She was still talking.
‘The sight of you all makes me sick. You, that Judy girl, all of you! Every time she’s here, I feel like I’m being poisoned. I get sicker and sicker daily! I’ve never been so ill in my life. Ever!’
My blood was starting to run cold. What was she saying? And how was she saying what she was saying? She was hinging closer and closer to the truth as she continued talking. And she was getting loud. I tried to say something, to veer her off course, but she screamed at me.
‘Shut up!’
And then Madam Russell walked into the room.
‘What’s going on here? What’s the matter, dear?’ She frowned when she saw me. I bowed my head and didn’t meet her eyes.
Amy held her head and moaned. ‘I feel so sick, Mother. These slaves are poisoning me. I can’t get up from this bed, I can’t sleep, I can’t…’ She moaned loudly.
‘What did you give my daughter, Mosana?’
‘Nothing, ma’am. I only came up here to serve her tea. She hasn’t even had any yet.’ I maintained a calm tone.
‘I don’t want tea!’ Amy screamed. ‘It just makes me sicker anyway.’
Madam Russell came to stand in front of me, making me look at her.
‘Are you poisoning my daughter?’
I evened out my breath before I answered her. ‘No, ma’am.’
My heart beat wildly as I wondered how in the world the conversation had gone this far downhill. Madam Russell studied me for a few deadly seconds before she smiled a small smile and said to my face,
‘Then drink it.’
I went to get Judy again. She was with Tricia, in the slave quarters. She was laughing at something that Tricia was saying. As soon as they saw me, they stopped talking. Actually, Tricia stopped whatever she was saying, so Judy stopped laughing and turned around to see who had made Tricia shut up.
At least Judy was laughing. That was a new development, and a good thing. It was as if working for me against the Russells had brought colour to her cheeks. She was alive again; no longer sitting in corners and crying. She was wise enough to hide it from the Russells though. She still went about her duties with a dull and sullen expression. But when chores were over and all the slaves retired for the night, she brightened up again.
‘Mosana,’ Judy greeted.
‘I have to talk to you.’ I went straight to the point.
‘O-okay,’ Judy answered, and stood up.
I drew her away from Tricia to the corridor that separated the slaves into rooms.
I whispered hoarsely, ‘We need to get Amy. I need her… out of the way. Do you understand?’
Judy nodded.
‘Wait here, let me go get the pokeweed,’ I said to her.
Before I could take another step, Tricia called out to me.
‘Mosana.’
I turned to face her, a rebuke already forming on my tongue in case she tried to dissuade me again.
‘I have a better way,’ she said.
Okay. I looked at her, waiting for her to continue. It sounded like she wanted to help me, but I wasn’t ready to believe that.
‘You can’t just keep poisonin’ everyone. I saw what you did to Wells. You don’t have to out the missus like that. I got somethin’ else that’ll do the job a little more… quietly,’ she finished.
‘What’s that?’ I asked.
‘I’ll go get it.’
I waited with Judy as Tricia went to her quarters and got what she was talking about. She came back less than a minute later and gave me something powdery in a small cloth pouch.
‘What is it?’ I asked again.
She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I can’t tell you that. All I can say is it’s got arsenic in it. It ain’t gon’ rile her up like it did Wells, but it will keep her in bed for you to do whatever it is you wanna do. Unless what you wan’ do is in her room.’
She looked at me, expecting me to answer the question in her last statement.
‘No, no. It’s not. This is fine, thank you.’
‘Don’t thank me,’ she retorted. ‘I’m ain’t supposed to be doin’ this. But it’s a better way than your... rash methods.’
‘Well, why don’t you go confess to the Russells then?’ I said, challenging her. I was suddenly angry. I was doing this for all of us! If I found a way to escape, I wasn’t going to go alone. The least she could do was stay out of my way and not preach to me.
‘And get us all killed?’ she laughed without mirth. ‘If the Madam gets a whiff, a tiny whiff, of what you planning, she gon’ bury us alive and start a new brood o’ slaves down here! And the newbies won’t even know we were ever here!’
I softened. I finally understood. Tricia was afraid. No, she was terrified. I was willing to bet that deep down within her, she wanted me to succeed. She wanted to be free too. Her fear was rooted in the possibility that I might fail.
But I wasn’t going to fail. I couldn’t.
‘Well, I’m sorry you feel that way. But we’re going to be slaves till we die if somebody doesn’t do something.’
She didn’t have an answer for me this time. She just walked away with a sad look on her face.
I gave the small pouch to Judy and told her what to do. I didn’t know what this particular poison could do, so I recommended the same number of pinches as I had used for the pokeweed. I sent Judy off and waited for results.
The first day, there was nothing. No visible sign that Amy had been poisoned. I asked Judy after she had served her, and the girl swore that she had done as I asked. I believed her, there was no reason for her to lie.
The day after that, I increased the dose. Judy reported to me that in the evening of that day, Amy had complained of a stomach ache, which was quickly resolved with some warm milk.
I went to Tricia and demanded to know how the poison worked. All she said was that it was ‘slow poison’, and it would ‘take a couple weeks to take effect’, and that I should ‘give it to Amy every four or five days to avoid suspicion’. Well, I didn’t have a “couple weeks”. I couldn’t wait around for four or five days before giving Amy the poison! I didn’t want Master Wells to get back home before I had a chance to execute my plans.
I resolved to giving Amy the arsenic drug every two days, through Judy. Over the following week, I watched the young missus fall ill and be confined to bed. Judy happily reported to me the day she went into her room and met the mistress pale and coughing. Finally, the blasted drug had worked.
But something was wrong. The reason for putting Amy down was not happening. The Russels had not gone shopping yet. It had been two weeks since I had started poisoning Amy, and a few days before that since the last time she went out with Gabe. I expected they would send Gabe out alone with Jerome, since they could hold his sister ransom anyway. But they didn’t. I wondered what the hold up was. Stock was running low in the house and I knew the Russells were aware. So why wasn’t Gabe sent to the market?
I soon found out. Judy came to report to me one day about what she heard Madam Russell say to her daughter. The Madam was hopeful that Amy could accompany Gabe to the stores once she was better. They probably thought it was a simple flu or a stomach bug she was fighting. They didn’t know that I didn’t plan for her to leave that bed until I had achieved my aims.
I needed to speed things up, but I didn’t know how. The idea presented itself when Tina came to tell me that Madam Russell. This meant Judy was serving Madam Russell. As I prepared to go into the main house, I decided I would have to resort to the pokeweed again. Perhaps if Amy was out of the house, Madam Russell would have no choice but to send Gabe alone, as it would become impossible to wait for Amy to get better and accompany him. I took the required amount and went through the back door to the kitchen. I put the kettle on and set out the tray, teacup, saucer, spoon, sugar and milk. I got out the tea leaves, (we grew tea right on the farm) and waited for the water to boil. With no one to see me, I put the ground pokeweed roots in the pitcher I was going to put the hot water in, so I wouldn’t have to do it in front of Amy.
When the water boiled, I put the tea leaves in the pitcher and poured the hot water in. it would soak in the water as I went up the stairs to Amy’s room.
I got to Amy’s and knocked twice before going in. She was in bed, under the sheets, looking pale and sweaty. I greeted her; she answered with silence. I proceeded to arrange the tray on a stool nearby and brought it close to her. I could tell she was watching me. She wasn’t happy with the new developments either.
When I saw the state she was in, I made to prop up her pillows behind her head so she could take her tea. She slapped away my hand rudely and hissed at me, ‘Get away from me.’
‘I’m trying to help you,’ I said.
She coughed out a laugh. ‘Help me? Ha! Like I believe that. I’m half certain you’re trying to do exactly the opposite. I’m so sick of you.’ She cough-laughed again. ‘I’m so sick of you, I’m literally sick.’
I stood there and listened to her rant. If only she knew how close she was to the truth. She was clearly delusional. What Tricia gave me was not as fun as the pokeweed, but it was equally interesting to watch the aftereffects. She was still talking.
‘The sight of you all makes me sick. You, that Judy girl, all of you! Every time she’s here, I feel like I’m being poisoned. I get sicker and sicker daily! I’ve never been so ill in my life. Ever!’
My blood was starting to run cold. What was she saying? And how was she saying what she was saying? She was hinging closer and closer to the truth as she continued talking. And she was getting loud. I tried to say something, to veer her off course, but she screamed at me.
‘Shut up!’
And then Madam Russell walked into the room.
‘What’s going on here? What’s the matter, dear?’ She frowned when she saw me. I bowed my head and didn’t meet her eyes.
Amy held her head and moaned. ‘I feel so sick, Mother. These slaves are poisoning me. I can’t get up from this bed, I can’t sleep, I can’t…’ She moaned loudly.
‘What did you give my daughter, Mosana?’
‘Nothing, ma’am. I only came up here to serve her tea. She hasn’t even had any yet.’ I maintained a calm tone.
‘I don’t want tea!’ Amy screamed. ‘It just makes me sicker anyway.’
Madam Russell came to stand in front of me, making me look at her.
‘Are you poisoning my daughter?’
I evened out my breath before I answered her. ‘No, ma’am.’
My heart beat wildly as I wondered how in the world the conversation had gone this far downhill. Madam Russell studied me for a few deadly seconds before she smiled a small smile and said to my face,
‘Then drink it.’
_______________________________________
Hey you!
Welcome to October! A sinister month... Hehehe. Things are about to get sinister in the Russell household anyway, so hang tight!
I don't think Madam Russell's suspicion was far-fetched, do you? I mean, she might have thought Mosana wanted to get back at her daughter for taking Flint away from her, hence her suspicion of poison.
And I hope you guys aren't trying out Mosana's pokeweed ;) Please don't. I will deny this blog if the police catches you. And I won't tell you what's in Tricia's poison too!
Lastly, there's something about Madam Russell, don't you think? Talk about giving Mosana a taste of her own medicine, haha. For once, the girl has a formidable foe.
Let me know in the comments section!
Till next Sunday,
xoxo,
Ava.
That last statement.. "Then drink it" gave me goosebumps. I'm moving to the next episode right away. I hope my daughter isn't in trouble.
ReplyDeleteOh she definitely is. ;-)
ReplyDelete