Gabriel's Hope Plantation
Chapter 2
Sarah couldn't even begin to imagine what had prompted Gabriel's summons to the big house. So, she had sat at home worrying. She was quite shocked when he returned, being driven in a beautiful carriage and with another cart for goods. He jumped from the carriage, took his mother in his arms and danced her round the tiny parlour telling her of their good fortune.
"There are servants here to help you Mother. Pack everything you want to take to the big house. I am now the master of Gabriel's Hope and you are the mistress."
He explained about her brother's death and what he intended to do with his aunt.
"She condemned us to this place after your parents died. I am going to send her here with the same allowance that my uncle gave you. Let her see what her miserable rejection of you caused us to live with."
Sarah was surprised at her son's forceful attitude.
"Also, Mother, I am taking Joshua's family to live with us when I am settled. They can have one of the overseer's houses on the plantation. I will employ them all so that they can start to have a good life as well. His mother can help you in the house, his father can work with the smithy, and the children will go to school like regular children. Joshua, I will train to be my accounts clerk."
Sarah was amazed how quickly Gabriel had formulated so much.
Gabriel left his mother packing and went to find Joshua. He found him doing menial jobs for one of the town's traders.
"Stop that Josh, go and tell your boss you are leaving. Don't make any fuss about money owed, it won't be enough to worry about. You have a new job, you are going to be the accounts clerk at Gabriel's Hope Plantation."
Joshua looked at Gabriel as though he was mad.
"I'm the new owner Josh, my uncle died and I'm the sole surviving male."
Josh was goggle eyed, and it got even better for him.
"Your whole family are to come to the plantation to live. Mother will employ your mother in the house, I will employ your father, and the babes will be educated as well." Josh couldn't take it all in, his best friend, his only white friend was going to be his saviour, he knew he would do anything for Gabriel now. What he didn't realise was what the anything would entail.
"I'll send a cart for you tomorrow Josh. Don't worry if it is quite late because I want the cottage all cleaned and made ready for your family first."
What Gabriel intended was that when he was finished with the carriage the next day, he was going to send that for the family and the cart for their goods.
Back at the mansion and Gabriel found his aunt still packing, but now it was anything she could lay her hands on.
"I think Madame, I will ask a housemaid to help you unpack everything other than your clothes and your jewellery. If there is anything else that I think you should have I will forward it to you. Be ready to leave as soon as the wagon arrives from my old home. I will sign title to my old home over to you when I see Balfour tomorrow."
His aunt looked at him almost spitting venom.
"What am I to do about servants?"
"Oh I doubt there would be room for any in the cottage, and you obviously didn't think my mother should have any so I guess you will manage without as well."
In one day, by the time he and his mother sat down to dinner in the main dining room, Gabriel thought he had achieved a great deal. He had left Josh at home helping his parents pack the family's belongings.
The best part of the day for Gabriel was bathing because he had Jess bathe him, and he reciprocated. When he had his private bathroom he thought things would get even better. As it was, he had great fun. He sat back in his bed before sleeping and thought about it
He had asked Jess to have loads of hot water available and they would bath together. Jess couldn't believe this until he was by the bath and he was undressing his new master. Gabriel was very hard by the time Jess had finished and he thought his cock would burst out of his skin by the time he had Jess naked as well.
"I'm going to wash you first Jess so that you know how I want you to do me."
Taking much too long over the groin area, Gabriel was well satisfied with the result. Jess had a tidy cock and balls and had a very satisfying orgasm as Gabriel jacked his cock and played with his balls.
"I hope you enjoyed that Jess, because we will do it often, and maybe more."
Jess blushed before replying, "It was very exciting Master. I liked it."
Gabriel laughed and leant forward to give Jess a light kiss on the lips.
"I think we might have lots of fun when I am truly settled in, but for now come and talk to me about the field slaves."
Gabriel wanted to hear about how the manager and overseers treated them, what punishments were handed out, how the women and girls were treated, etc. By the time he went to bed he had much to think about.
Rape of the young women by the overseers was common, beatings, for very minor offences were also quite common. Gabriel thought that was quite disgraceful and that rape was an enormous sin.
The next morning Gabriel went into town again to see Mr. Balfour. He signed all the documents and then was presented with details of his bank holdings. He was amazed, most of it was in gold bullion. What also amazed him was the quantity, how could his family have made so much off the backs of slaves when they lived in such squalor. Gold was a commodity that had permanent value but few people held it at present. He thought it was a good idea but he disliked banks so he started to think about what he could do with it.
Back at the plantation he sat with Mr. Thomas for a while going through the books. He said nothing, but as a senior accounts clerk he very quickly saw where Thomas, in cahoots he guessed with the overseers were skimming profits, that became even more obvious when he thought about the slave quarters and realised that nowhere near the amount of money showing in the accounts for their upkeep had actually been spent.
He rode badly, realising he would need his stableman to teach him, but he managed to stay in the saddle to view his domain again in the light of his increased knowledge. The slaves' clothes were again quite obviously not being replaced as often as the accounts would have him believe, most of the men were barely decent their trousers were so worn.
When he got back to the mansion he asked Jess to send the stableman to him immediately, and the senior work gang slaves, when they finished work.
Isaiah was the stableman and Gabriel briefed him.
"I want you to take this letter into town to the rooms of Mr. Balfour, the lawyer, can you do that for me?"
"Oh, yes, Master if you give me a pass."
"Ok, Isaiah, take a horse and go now."
When Isaiah returned he had Mr. Balfour with him, looking quite worried.
"Mr. Balfour, I'm going to sack my manager and overseers. They have been stealing quite large sums from the estate, and the slaves are the ones that have suffered. I want you to witness my words so that I can get rid of them without any compensation."
Balfour was quite shocked. "How will you run your estate without these men?
Gabriel laughed, "I'm going to do the unthinkable, I'm going to put my work gang foremen in charge and I'm going to have a black accounts clerk to monitor expenditure while I learn how to run the place."
It was comical to Gabriel to see how Balfour reacted.
"I promise you Mr. Balfour I will keep in touch with you even though I don't need to. I will almost certainly, as time goes by, have much need of your services. Also, I want to move my gold out of the bank. Can you suggest a safe haven for it not in any bank?"
"When you are finished with the men, Mr. Sinclair, I will show you something."
Gabriel wasn't going to risk any trouble so he briefed his work gang's leaders beforehand. They were amazed, but turned up as ordered grasping pick axe handles and stood behind Gabriel and Mr. Balfour.
"Mr Thomas, Gamble and Brown, I don't intend beating about the bush. I have been through the accounts thoroughly, I have cross checked expenditure with goods received and the discrepancy must have made all three of you quite wealthy men."
If Balfour and Gabriel had any doubts before, the looks passed between the three men cleared them.
"I have two choices, I can just sack you and have you clear of the estate in thirty minutes, or I can call the law and have you searched, and investigated before charging you with embezzlement. I'm going for the first option. I want you off this estate now. You will not take anything except the clothes on your back. Your ill-gotten gains you will leave in your cottages, if they are not there when I look, then I will have the law on you. If you are still on my land in thirty minutes I will have slaves strip you and send you on your way naked, now go."
They did, cursing the new master. Gabriel asked the foremen to wait in the hall.
When the study was empty, Balfour went and locked the door before guiding Gabriel to the fireplace.
"Watch as I press these two points simultaneously."
There was a horse rearing up, carved in the mantelpiece at one end and, at full stretch for Mr. Balfour being only a little man, another horse facing the room in the centre of the fireplace. The two points were the noses of the horses. When pressed simultaneously, a panel slid open at the other side of the fireplace, a trapdoor in the floor lifted to reveal a staircase leading down running along the back of the fire.
"The fireplace in the next room backs on to this so there is no obvious discrepancy in the shape of the walls. If the house were destroyed I still doubt this stairwell would be discovered."
At the bottom was a small room with a table and chair, and a candle in a holder on the table, which Balfour lit.
"Still nothing to see but if I put a little weight against this wall here." With that, Balfour stepped into a corner and pushed the wall, it swivelled revealing a larger room.
"You could store the whole of the country's gold in here."
Gabriel was amazed.
"Thank you Mr. Balfour, I presume you are the only one besides me that knows about this."
Balfour nodded.
"I now have great cause to look after you then." and he laughed. Mr. Balfour didn't.
"Please Mr, Balfour, I know you have served my family well and I am honoured by the way you address me, but as I am so much younger than you will you be kind enough to address me as Gabriel in future?"
Balfour bowed a little and replied, "Thank you Mr. Sinclair, I am honoured, but it may take me a little while to get used to that, Gabriel," now a smile crossed his face and Gabriel was pleased.
Joshua was going to be shown this at some point in the future, probably when they stowed the gold in here. The secret was all hidden again and it was time to move on.
"Isaiah, ride back to town with Mr. Balfour and take a spare horse. I want you to bring my friend Joshua with you and make sure his family have all the help they need to pack up and come to the estate."
Addressing the foremen that were waiting in the entrance hall Gabriel said, "Foremen, go and handle your crews. Don't let me down or I'll bring in new overseers."
Balfour went, wondering at the energy this new young master was exhibiting.
When Josh arrived, Gabriel couldn't resist temptation. He took him in his arms and kissed him on the lips. Before he could react he spoke.
"We are going to have so much fun running this plantation, Josh, and we are going to start now."
Gabriel explained what he was going to do.
"I'm going to let the gang foremen run the gangs with no white overseers. I'll get you to issue the orders for anything we need to buy, and you just bring them to me each day for my signature. I'm going to show you how I want the books kept. Jess is presently a houseboy, but I think we can use him as our errand and messenger boy. All three of us are going to learn how to ride. I'm not going to let you and Jess waste time walking everywhere, which is counterproductive."
In the three years since leaving school, Gabriel had watched, listened, and learnt. So much money was wasted following old ways in business, he wasn't going to have that.
The gang foremen came to the house to report at the end of the day, and Gabriel sat them on the back porch and had a large jug of cool lemonade ready for them.
"Now, who is the senior man here?"
They all looked at a man mountain about thirty years old.
"I guess I am Master, I'm Ezekiel."
Gabriel laughed, "Well you are now Zeke, I could waste days saying all of your name."
The men laughed.
"I want you to give me the name of another man who could be a gang foreman"
The man chosen was Abraham who would become Abe. Jess was sent to get him.
"Zeke, this is my proposal. Each gang surrenders two men to me and they will work with Abe. Provided you can promise me that the depleted gangs will get as much work done as they do now I will use this new gang to start building new cabins for families to live in. Your families, your women, and your children should be together, and I want that to happen. The old cabins we will pull down as they empty, they are too far decayed to even think about wasting more money on. I also want you to send me as many of the women as you can that are seamstresses. Starting with the ladies we are going to see some pretty dresses around here, then we'll think about puting some not so pretty dresses on you men."
Another laugh and exchanged looks wondering at this new master.
"I'm not crazy, but the expenditure on these things has been going into the overseers pockets, now it's going to you. Any problems with that Zeke, and the rest of you?"
Much shaking of heads.
"Zeke, you have Abe and his work gang wait at the cottages in the morning, Josh and I will be there to start the ball rolling on this. Remember, don't let me down or I'll bring in new overseers. Report to me at the end of work each day."
He went down to the overseers and manager's cottages and collected piles of silver dollars. He was sure they would still have left with plenty, but this haul would build a lot of cottages.
Gabriel told his mother what he had ordered.
"Please Mother, take a cart and the carriage, go into town tomorrow and buy loads of pretty material. Let our women start to look good for their men."
After dinner that night, having checked that Josh's family were moved in and settling, Gabriel asked Josh to sleep with him.
"We have so much to do Josh, it would be good to be able to talk in bed as well."
Josh wasn't stupid.
"Will that be in between kisses and whatever else you have planned?"
He was grinning and Gabriel was as well, before getting very serious.
"I've never felt I could say this before Josh, but now I can. I love you, more than a brother. I think I've always loved you, but after puberty I knew it was a special kind of love, forbidden in our society."
Josh, looking serious replied. "I know, I think I've known for a long time. I don't know for sure how I feel. I know I love you as well, but I don't know how far I can go with this boy/boy sex."
"We'll worry about it as we go along then shall we, but can I kiss you goodnight?"
Josh laughed, "Yes Gabriel I think I'd like that."
Cuddling Joshua that night, both of them naked was something Gabriel had dreamt about, without realistically believing it would ever happen. Now it was and it was heaven. Josh could feel the tears falling on his back, but he knew they were happy tears so he said nothing. He could also feel a very hard cock pressed into the crack of his ass that didn't worry him either. The sex thing would work itself out, but Josh was sure he would do anything Gabriel wanted, he owed him so much already, and it was set to get better.