Goldfinch

Goldfinch Chapter 15

USUAL DISCLAIMER

"GOLDFINCH" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.

GOLDFINCH

by Andrej Koymasky © 2018
written on April 3, 1986
Translated by the Author
English text kindly revised by
Tom (chap. 1 to 4) and by Gilles (chap. 5 to 17)

**

THIRD PART
CHAPTER FIFTEEN

**

Jack remained in the driver's seat, and Hugo inside the coach, while Kutkhay went to ring at Mr. Faulkner's door. A slave that Kutkhay didn't know came to open the door.

He said: "My massa, Massa Hugo Bush, asks to meet your massa, Massa Faulkner."

The slave told him to wait, then came back: "Tell your massa to enter, and have the rider move the coach over there."

"Can we go to the kitchen? At least while we wait we can rest a while..." Kutkhay asked.

"Sure, no problem. I'll take you there, after."

Hugo entered, and the two youths were taken to the kitchen. Here, after drinking a glass of water, Kutkhay asked: "Once I served massa Faulkner and there was a boy called Lee. Is he still in this house?"

"Lee? Sure, I think he is in the coach house now."

"May I go to see him?"

"Sure you can. You know where the place is, don't you?"

"Yes, my memory is not that short."

Kutkhay nodded to Jack to follow him, went out in the back garden, crossed it and entered the coach house. Lee was there, wearing just rough breeches, and was washing a gig. Kutkhay stopped at the door and asked Jack in a whisper: "There he is... do you like him?"

"He is a handsome young man... and if he is likeable as he is handsome... But will he like me?"

"We will soon know..."

Kutkhay entered calling Lee. The slave turned, looked at them then recognized Kutkhay and his face brightened in a wide smile: "Good Lord! Isn't he the old Goldie? Come here, brother, let me hug you!" and went towards him, his arms stretched out.

They hugged, slapping each other lovingly on their shoulders.

"What are you doing here, Goldie? I got the book from you, So you found your master and you now make love with him, right?"

"Yes. I want to talk to you. But first, tell me, what did you do after I left?"

"What do you think I did? The coach driver, as always."

"And who is your new roommate?"

"Good old Joshua, the gardener."

"Old?"

"Well, you know, he's twice my age..."

"And... do you fit with him?"

Lee smiled cunningly: "If you want to know if it is like with you, no. I fit nicely with him, but after you I never found anybody more with whom..." he stopped, hesitant, looking towards Jack, then pointing at him with a slight nod of his head, he asked: "You and him?"

"No, only with my master. He is only a dear friend."

"Ah, I thought..."

"His name is Jack and he is a coach driver like you. He must be a couple of years older than you, I think..." then, lowering his voice, he asked Lee: "Wouldn't you like a roommate like him?"

Lee laughed out loud, slapped Kutkhay on his shoulder, then said in a low voice, his eyes shining: "Good Lord, yes. A lot more than Joshua. He seems a nice stallion... but it would be nice to see if he would be happy to share... his bed with me."

Jack was further back and couldn't hear what the two friends were telling each other, although he could guess it by their glances towards him.

Kutkhay said: "When Jack saw you, he told me he would like to try it with you. If my master bought you and put you in his room, wouldn't you try with him?"

"What funny speeches! If and if... Anyway I would like trying it with him, and how! I'm getting a hard on just thinking on it..."

"Since you like each other... I can be on watch at the gate. See you make it fast..."

"Here? Now? But..." Lee said, looking at him amazed.

"Lee, how long is it you haven't made love?"

"Last time was with you, Goldie -- a century ago!"

"So then, what are you waiting for? Don't waste your time, go on!" Kutkhay answered.

Then he approached Jack, pushed him towards Lee and went to lean against the gate frame, looking a little toward the house and a little toward the two friends. They were looking at each other, evidently embarrassed.

Then Jack said: "You have a good body, Lee..."

"Thanks. Would you like to get inside that coach with me?"

"Yes, sure..."

The two youths got in, and Lee closed its door. For a while nothing seemed happen, but then the coach started to sway slightly, rhythmically. Kutkhay let out a small sigh, and murmured, satisfied: "At last, they are doing it..."

The door was not well shut, and the swaying made it open partially, and Kutkhay got a glimpse of two united bodies, Lee naked and Jack half naked, tossing in their union. He looked again toward the house to make sure nobody was coming, but soon his eyes were drawn to what was happening inside the coach. It was arousing seeing those two youths uniting oblivious of everything. They both were kneeling, Jack slightly bent forward, his hands on the seat; Lee at his back, girding Jack's chest with his arms and holding him tightly to himself, was penetrating him with long determined thrusts, slow and rhythmical.

Meanwhile Hugo had been received by Mr. Faulkner. He introduced himself as the owner and editor of his newspaper, and told him he needed a new slave. He preferred to buy slaves directly, he said, and not through the merchants, and usually, when he needed a new slave, he asked his slaves if they knew somebody to recommend to him, somebody they knew when they served under a previous master. Mr. Faulkner listened to him with a kindly attitude, without interrupting him, asking himself what this unforeseen guest was getting at. Hugo continued, telling him that amongst his slaves was Goldie, who had served in his house.

Faulkner nodded: "Yes, I remember him. A very good boy."

"Well, I need one more coach driver and Goldie told me about your slave named Lee. I think I would be interested in buying him. Might you be able to sell him to me?" Hugo concluded quietly.

Faulkner looked at him nodding slightly, then answered: "This is a very unusual request. Lee is a good coach driver. I have owned him for seven, eight years, and never had to complain about him."

"That is a very good reference. I would like to see him, in order to determine if he is what I am looking for, and if so, eventually making you an offer for that slave."

"I didn't tell you I am willing to sell him, on the contrary..." Faulkner retorted.

"Nor have I yet decided to buy him. Just let me see him, at least, and please listen to my offer for him if I am interested in him. If nothing comes from that, it would mean that I have just had the pleasure of meeting you..."

Faulkner smiled: "It could not be said that you are not a direct and convincing person. But Lee is a good slave and it is not easy nowadays, as you well know, to find trustworthy slaves, workers not full of whims. Anyway, as you insist, I'll call Lee and you can see him, as you desire. But, first, allow me to offer you a drink, Mr. Bush..."

Faulkner rang the bell and a mulatto page came: "Bring us the liquor trolley and two clean glasses. Then go warn Lee to tidy up and come to my study. Wearing his livery, of course."

"Immediately, massa."

The slave was back shortly, served the drinks impeccably, and left again.

In the coach house, meanwhile, the two were continuing to make love, and Kutkhay was always on watch at the gate. What he was seeing inside the coach had strongly aroused him. It was beautiful looking at two such well-shaped males uniting without restraint. Now Lee was half stretched on the seat with his legs on Jack's shoulders while he, always kneeling, was slipping inside him with short convulsed strokes, enraptured, and was caressing the wide, smooth, and firm chest of Lee. Kutkhay could not see Lee's face, but the young man was evidently enjoying those upset assaults, as he was manipulating his own genitals.

Suddenly a slave came out the kitchen door and, seeing Kutkhay, shouted: "Is Lee there?"

"Yes, he is here cleaning a coach." he answered in aloud voice.

"Then tell him to tidy up, to put on his livery and go to see the massa in the bigger study. And to hurry up!"

"All right, I'll tell him immediately." Kutkhay shouted thankful in his heart that the other didn't go to the coach house. It is true that his two friends would have had the time to tidy up, but... He entered, went near the coach and asked: "Did you hear, Lee?"

Lee already had his breeches back on and was getting out of the coach, while at his back Jack was hurriedly tidying his rumpled clothes.

"Yes, I heard. I'm going."

Kutkhay saw him to the gate: "So, did you like Jack?" Lee eyes shone: "Yeah... A shame that we were interrupted at the best point... touch me here, it's still hard as a rock!"

"You'll have all the time you want, if all goes right. If my master manages to buy you, Jack will be your roommate. Then you two can make love as much as you like..."

"Then I hope he can buy me. I would like to be able to continue what we were doing. And without hurry. And not just once!" Lee said going away quickly and laughing aloud.

Kutkhay went back inside. Jack was getting out of the coach, his clothes again perfectly in order.

"So, Jack, do you like Lee?"

"Wow, he is really as you said, even better. And he is so self-confident. As soon as we went in the coach, he touched me and asked me to lower my trousers; if it were up to me, we would still there looking in each other eyes... It's a pity we had to stop at the best moment."

"He too said so. He likes you too."

"You know, I liked it with Barney, but much more with him. I really hope that Mr. Hugo manages to buy him..."

They went back to the kitchen. After a while Mr. Fletcher entered: "I heard you were here, Goldie. Are you back?"

"No, sir, I accompanied my new master who wants to buy Lee."

"Ah, I see. And, tell me, are you continuing to read and write, at you new master's?"

"Certainly, sir."

"Well, good. It has been a pleasure to see you again, Goldie." The secretary said, then bade him goodbye and left. Other slaves who knew Kutkhay came to greet him.

Meanwhile Lee washed rapidly, put on his livery and went to knock at his master's study door. When he entered, Mr. Fletcher pointed at him and said: "Here, Mr. Bush, this is Lee, the coach driver."

Hugo stood up, approached the young man and examined him for a long while, walking around him, but without even brushing him. Lee was standing in silence, staring straight in front of him.

At last Hugo said: "Yes, not bad at all. How much did you pay for him, Mr. Faulkner?"

"Oh, who can remember? So many years have passed..."

"I understand. Could we say that today on the market he would be worth 1,800 dollars?"

"It is possible..."

"Good. I'll offer you 2,200 dollars."

Faulkner, who had remained seated, stood up, visibly astonished: "2,200? That's a big amount. For 2,200 dollars you can almost buy a couple of slaves. Younger, of course."

"Yes, you are right. But I wouldn't have the good references I have for him, and they would need to be trained. I am willing to risk wasting my money. So then, Mr. Faulkner?"

"Well... I need to think about it. If I sold you this slave, I would be without a coach driver... Before finding another one, some time could pass..."

Hugo nodded: "I have to stay in town for a couple of days. But then I have to return, and I live several miles from here. Can you give me an answer by the day after tomorrow?"

"I need to think about it, as I told you. Your offer is really good... All right, I will give you my answer the day after tomorrow. It am not that keen about selling him..."

"Not even if I offered you 2,300 dollars? More than that would be really difficult..."

"I really cannot understand what do you find so special in this slave. Lee is a good boy, it is true, but..."

"Goldie gave me his name, and up to now his advice has been very good. Moreover, i have some haste to finish this business, and I don't want to go back with empty hands. Finally, there is no difficulty with the money."

"I see, three good reasons... If I just had another coach driver, I would give him to you now..."

"Isn't there a slave market in your town?"

"No, at times there is an auction here in town. The nearest regular slave market is two day's distance from here; the nearest slave trader lives a half a day from here. And there is no guarantee he can find me a slave right away already skilled with horses and coaches..."

They discussed the matter a while more, then Hugo left, assuring his host that he would come again two days later. Mr. Faulkner told Lee to see the guest to the door and the two gentlemen bade each other good bye.

When they were alone in the entrance hall, Hugo asked to Lee: "Would you like it if I manage to buy you?"

"If massa Faulkner decides to sell me to you... I would be happy. It is not that it is bad here, not at all... I'll call your slaves, massa. They are in the kitchen."

"All right."

In a while Kutkhay and Jack came.

"So, Jack, did you like Lee?" Hugo asked him.

"Oh yes, so very much! Could you buy him?"

"We will have an answer the day after tomorrow. Now let's go back downtown to look for a hotel. Then... I have an idea."

Hugo settled in a room, the other two in the stable. Hugo told them that he ought to go to the nearby town to look for the slave trader to see if he could offer a skilled coach driver in a few days. So they went at once. When they reached their destination, Hugo found the dealer and went to see him. After a long colloquy, and with the promise of a gift, he managed to persuade the merchant to announce an auction in Mr. Faulkner's town and to take with him, above all, a couple of young slaves able to be coach drivers. Then they went back to their hotel.

That night in the stable, while they were lying on the straw waiting to fall asleep, Jack said to Kutkhay: "That Lee... I like him, and he is also handsome... and I liked making love with him. Even if it was for such a short..."

"I noticed you both liked making love together... You were beautiful."

"You saw us? But how, we were shut inside the coach?"

"With your movements, the door opened a little, so it was possible to see inside. You two were really beautiful. I really hope you can stay together, you and Lee. You would be a nice couple."

"Yes, I hope so too..."

Two days later notices were put up in the town of an imminent slave auction. The trader went to Hugo's hotel to receive the promised prize. He told him that he also hoped to take with him even more than a coach driver. So Hugo went again to Mr. Faulkner's. He told him that he had read the notices of an imminent slaves auction and renewed his offer.

"I don't know if I am doing the right thing but, even if I don't need the money, your offer is alluring. Anyway, although he is old, my slave Luke is able to drive a gig and for a while he could take Lee's place. So, I will now call my secretary. he will write down the usual bill of sale, and you can agree with him about the method of payment."

After little more than one hour, Hugo's coach was on route with Lee and Jack in the driver's seat and Hugo and Kutkhay inside. During the journey, Jack explained to Lee Kutkhay's real status, and told him also that, as soon as they were back home, Lee would be freed. He told him all they were doing for the slaves and Lee was passing from wonder to wonder.

When they stopped to let the horses rest and to eat, Lee approached Kutkhay with emotion: "Well, Goldie... oh, sorry, sir..."

"Come on, dummy! To you I am always Goldie, am I not? So, you were saying..."

"Yes, Goldie. Is it true I will be freed? And I can live with Jack, and I will earn a salary for my job?"

"Sure, if you two want to."

"Want it? It seems to me a dream. Good Lord, too much incredible news at once! blessed be the day I met you, Goldie!"

"Yes, my friend. And tonight we will take a room for you and Jack, so you can be together without worry, and make love without hurry, and without being interrupted. And you will soon get rid of that ridiculous livery. Start taking off the wig and the jabot, at least."

Lee took Kutkhay's hand and kissed it. The young man pulled his hand away, embarrassed, and instead squeezed Lee's hand with warmth: "I an glad you are happy, my friend. I wish you always to be, with Jack."

"We will try, both of us. And... you can count on me, forever. Lee never forgets what is done for him..."

They went back home. Kutkhay felt happy. He told Patrick how things went. When he told him about the scene he caught in the coach house and about the effect it had on him, Patrick jokingly said: "But then, you are a peeping tom!"

Kutkhay thought a while, then seriously said: "I'm afraid I am. But don't worry, since I'm not looking for anybody except you, I don't really look for occasions to peep. But I have to admit it, seeing two males making love, it seems to me something wonderful. It is one of the most beautiful things that there can be. Admiring a well-shaped naked male is beautiful. Admiring two who are uniting, especially with sentiment, is... something special, precious. Has it never happened to you?"

"No, you know that. You are the only man of my life, therefore the only one I have ever seen, making love... with me. But I love looking at you while we are making love. You become even more beautiful, if this could be possible."

"It's you making me become beautiful, my love. I missed you during those days. Far from you I feel I am nothing... On the contrary, you make me feel special. I love you Patrick, I love you so much." Kutkhay said.

He leaned his face on the naked groin of his friend. Patrick tenderly caressed his cheek while his erection awoke and started to press against Kutkhay's cheek. He turned his face, parted his lips and took it with a moan of pleasure. Patrick pulled him to himself, shuddering. In a while they were deeply united -- Kutkhay loved very much seeing Patrick towering on him while taking him, he loved looking at his lover, while he was welcoming him with sheer passion. At times he recalled the first time he saw Patrick at his village -- he became fond of him at once, but he would never have dreamed, then, to be one day his lover... How far he had come since he was a half-naked kid with his eyes and heart filled with dreams -- dreams that he was now living.

The campaign against slavery was starting to bear its first fruits. In many states of the North there were already many freed slaves who earned a living doing the most varied jobs, and some of the younger ones were also starting to study. In the South, instead, there was pure and simple repression against any attempt to change things. This came also from the fact that the North was more industrialized and therefore needed free manpower. On the other hand, the agricultural South, with its wide plantations, was based on slavery to be able to furnish a competitive product. At their place the situation was mixed, intermediate, therefore they received both backing and criticism, opposition and support, at times even menaces. But they did not pay too much importance to these latter.

The American Colonization Society proposed to free the slaves and to transport them back to Africa. on a stretch of coast they intended to buy for that purpose, and which they already called "Liberia". But Rod and Hugo, Patrick and Kutkhay as well as their ex-slave friends, opposed this project.

Henrietta expressed well their common thought: "It is nonsense, after stealing them from their lands in various parts of the African Continent, to now download them there like useless goods. Now they all are born here, they have assimilated our culture, and their land is here. We can't make strangers of them again, eradicate them for the second time! That of the American Colonization Society is false humanitarianism! It is here that we at least give them a country which is their mother, and not their step-mother! It is time we understand they are just human beings like us, our peers."

Hugo continued to publish articles on the problem and, taking Henrietta's words as a starting point, he also took a position against the so called "going back to the origins" theory. Patrick and Kutkhay, besides caring for the family business, started, with Henrietta and Barney, to tour the towns of the state to start or support anti-slavery movements. Lee and Jack said they wanted to study -- Lee wanted to become a doctor and Jack to study law, to protect and help the ex-slaves and slaves. Universities didn't accept black or colored people, but the two youths said that they didn't care about having an official study certificate, it was enough just to learn. Rod and Hugo supported the two youths in their aspirations, not only economically but also with their advice. The group was getting on well, and more and more united. The large De Bruine villa became a real hotbed of ideas and actions. They decided to enlarge it so that each of them could have his own rooms and comfortable space for their activities. Moreover, in the outbuildings of the villa they often hosted run away slaves, waiting until a steady place to settle and a job could be found.

The majority were men, but at times there were also women and children, seldom old or aged people. The black people who managed to survive to old age were the best treated, therefore they had no reason to run away. Lee, Jimmy and Henrietta, helped by other personnel of the villa, received and assisted the runaways. First of all they were made to wash, healed if they were sick, and were given decent clothes. Then, thanks to a law proposed by Rod and recently approved in their state, they were accompanied before a judge to write down their freedom act.

One day a woman appeared with her three sons, two, five and nine years old. All four were worn out, hungry, dirty and ragged. The woman was also seriously ill. Cared for and fed, the three children recovered quite fast, but the woman rapidly worsened and soon it was evident there was no more hope for her.

The woman was aware she had but a short time to live. So she grasped the hand of Lee, who was watching at her side, and told him: "I entrust my sons to you. Help them, they have nobody else in this world. Help them, please."

"Oh, you'll see, you'll get better, and it will be for you to take care of them." Lee lied.

"No, I can feel it, I am going. Help them, please?" the woman begged.

"If it is really necessary, I swear to you they will not be left alone."

"But it will be you who takes care of them? I trust you, you are a strong and good man..."

"Yes, I will raise them, don't worry. But now, try to rest a while."

"Thank you. Yes, now I can rest... I can rest forever, at last. May God bless you, man."

The woman suffered three more days and finally breathed her last. So Lee talked with Jack and they agreed to adopt the three children -- Mark, the oldest, who was the same age as Mike De Bruine, Matt, and Luke. The latter was really happy to have other children at home with which to play. According to the old use the slaves were called by their master's surname, therefore Jack and Lee also had De Bruine as last name, and the three children had this same last name. When Barney and the others were back, they were really happy at the decision to adopt the three children. So, their family was growing. Kutkhay told Patrick that he too would have liked to adopt at least one child, and Jimmy said he would have liked to also. All was proceeding for the better, business was flourishing, the anti slavery campaign was slowly bearing fruit, in the villa harmony reigned.

What none of them suspected, something they never thought about, was that, the years passed, Clement was out of prison and determined to take revenge. He had given up trying to demonstrate that George Van Kleft was a former slave, but he had a deep hatred for those people he knew were responsible for his years of prison. Therefore, again free, he started to follow their activities, remaining in the shadows. He grew a thick beard, so as not to be recognized, he changed his name for the umpteenth time, and introducing himself as Mr. Morris, he got a job as store man at De Bruine & Co. In the course of a year he could study the habits of each of the odd family and soon became aware that Patrick was their leader, and a beloved one. Hitting him, he could take revenge on all of them. So he carefully started to prepare his plan. He secretly made contact with groups supporting slavery and asked them to support and finance his project. These, at first, seemed not to pay much attention to him, but he gradually managed to convince the most extremist of them about the value of his plan -- giving a good lesson to the De Bruine bunch, would calm down the abolitionists who were becoming too strong and influential.

Once he got the sum he needed, he bought the ruins of an old house, isolated on the river's edge and, with the help of his financiers, he built in it a secret room, well hidden underground, off of the cellar. Then he started the second part of his project. He got in touch with a group of anti-slavery people in a nearby town, passing himself off as a strenuous supporter of the cause -- the fact that he worked for the De Bruines got him accepted without any problem. Once he acquired the trust of those people, it was easy for him to lead them to decide to invite Patrick De Bruine to talk at one of their meetings. Patrick, unaware, accepted and one afternoon he went there in his gig alone, as was his wont when he did not have far to go, just as Clement expected he would.

The road passed along the forest that surrounded the old ruins. When the gig reached that point, Patrick saw a man lying still on the road on his belly. He stopped and got down to help him. As soon as he bent over him to check what had happened to that man, he turned over and pointed a pistol at him. Three more men, masked and armed with guns, came out at once from the bushes, keeping their aim on Patrick. Patrick thought it was a robbery and, without fear, declared he would give them all the valuables he had. As he was saying this, he received a strong blow on the nape of his neck and fell on the ground senseless.

He then was lifted up bodily and transported to the underground cell in the ruin, while one of the men took the gig away on another road, then abandoned it. In the small town they uselessly waited for Patrick. Thinking he could not get to their meeting due to some unforeseen problem, the day after they sent a man to the villa to ask if Patrick could go to their next meeting. At the villa they were all astounded -- Patrick was to arrive at the meeting the day before, and not having seen him come back, they just thought that, the meeting lasting late, he spent the night there. At first they thought he might have had an accident, and retraced his route along the road carefully, checking all the way for some sign as to what could have happened. But they didn't find anything. Patrick seemed to have vanished into nothingness. So they reported his disappearance to the sheriff. Two days later they received a strange message at the newspaper.

It said: "If you want to see Patrick De Bruine alive, you have to obey the orders that will arrive in the next days. If not, prepare a nice funeral. If you notify the sheriff, the funeral will be a certain thing. No inquiries, just fast compliance."

The letter, of course, had no signature, and during the night had been slipped under the door of the newspaper office. When everybody in the villa read it, they were all filled with anguish. Kutkhay was destroyed.

Jack said: "I'd give my life for Patrick. All of us would. We have to rescue him, at any cost."

Everybody assented vigorously. Then Barney said: "I propose that in Patrick's absence, Hugo manage the house and that none of us will take any initiative without his consent. Do you all agree?"

Again everybody readily agreed. Then Hugo asked all of them to express their opinion on the situation. After a long discussion they formulated three likely hypotheses. It could be a kidnapping for ransom, or it was the work of a group of anti-abolitionists, or it could be some business competitor wanting to get rid of a too strong businessman, as was Patrick. None of them thought of Clement. They decided to wait for the next message to perhaps better understand what was going on. But they accepted an idea Jimmy had - there were hundred of ex-slaves who owed their freedom to them. They had to spread the word in all secrecy for everybody to keep their eyes and ears open, and to signal anything strange or unusual that they noticed. All the ex-slaves accepted at once, with genuine concern, what was asked of them. They passed the word and instructions to each other -- to do nothing, not to take any initiative, but just to be on the alert and to report any information they found out. Above all, they were not to talk about this for any reason with a white man other than those at the villa -- in fact, it was evident that no black man could have planned such an infamous and horrible thing.

Two more days passed and a second letter came, again slipped under the newspaper's door during the night. This contained just one sentence: "If you want to see your Patrick again, alive, you have to set fire to his villa on Sunday night -- I want a nice bonfire, and don't call the firemen."

This request seemed absurd to everybody. What sense did it make? It seemed like the idea of a mad man. Who could benefit from it? This eliminated the idea of kidnapping for ransom. They had only two days to obey the order, so Hugo emptied the villa and they all moved into the offices of De Bruine & Co. Hugo also gave orders never to lose sight of the newspaper's door, day and night. Just in front of it there was a small house where there lived a family of ex slaves, so behind the curtains of their house windows, there was always somebody taking his turn on watch to catch the "mailman" of the blackmail letters. On Sunday night the sky was reddened by the villa's fire and when the firemen arrived it was too late. Kutkhay was shocked at that scene and they had to take him away almost bodily. Hugo had secretly contacted a private detective asking him to make investigations in the most discreet way possible. Three more days elapsed after the fire. On Wednesday the pastor came in with a letter addressed to Goldie, a letter that he found in the alms box in his church.

As they thought, it was the third message of the kidnappers: "Very good, I see you are wise people. Now, my dear George van Kleft, it is to you. You have to go to Abilene, to the slave market, and here you have to sell your little friend Jimmy before a week is out. Careful, no fake sales. He has to be bought by someone of that place, not by a friend of yours or else... you already know what will happen to that handsome faggot of yours, Patrick."

Jimmy said at once that he was ready to be sold, but Hugo asked for silence: "There is something really weird here. If he is somebody wanting to harm Patrick, he would already have done it, since he is in his power. Harming him by hitting Jimmy... doesn't make sense. His target is Goldie. He kidnapped his... master? liberator? lover? then made us destroy his house, and now he wants to force him to sell as a slave his friend that he freed. It seems evident to me. But who can he be? If we sell Jimmy, you will see that he will continue until Goldie is destroyed. We have to determine positively just who is behind all this, and above all where Patrick is kept. We cannot just continue to obey endlessly."

They discussed the situation for a long while, but they were not able to come to any conclusion. Jimmy insisted he be sold as a slave, to rescue Patrick but the others did not agree.

At one point Henrietta said: "But why in Abilene, and in seven days? The monster evidently knows somebody down there. He can control who buys Jimmy... possibly he himself will buy him, or somebody on his behalf. He could have accomplices there..."

Hugo nodded thoughtfully: "You are perfectly right, Henrietta. It is there where we have to investigate. I propose that Goldie goes there to sell Jimmy -- anyway, we will free him again later. But we have to make contact with our secret group on Abilene and inform our detective... Who do we have, down there?"

Barney immediately looked at the card file; "Two white men, doctor Smallet and the son of colonel Jackson. Five blacks: Pastor Coole, the butler of the Brill family, the governess of the Mason's, the waiter of the Lewis' and the cook of the Swanson's."

"Good, we have to inform all of them -- they cannot lose sight of Jimmy, and must see who buys him and where he is taken. Meanwhile let's also see if in Abilene there are some of our competitors, or clients... Who directs the local anti-abolitionist group... All that can be useful to know... And all this before Jimmy is sold. We have really very little time. Also, our detectives have to go there at once to see what they can find out."

Everybody set themselves in motion. Jimmy tried to console Kutkhay, telling him not to worry, as all would end well. But the young man was more and more dejected -- was it possible that there existed such wicked people, so pitiless, so perfidious? Not even Stevens would have been so...

He just said these words when Barney jumped up: "None of us thought about that! And what if it is him, his work?"

"But he is still in prison..." Kutkhay objected.

"Are we sure of that? Which prison is he in? This could be another trail. We have to leave no stone unturned!" Barney exclaimed vigorously.

He ran to gather the others and set forth his suspicion -- everybody agreed. So they asked the detective agency to start an investigation of that possibility also.

CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 16

Please, donate to keep alive Nidty site, that allows you to read these pages, Thank you - Andrej

In my home page I've put some more of my stories. If someone wants to read them, the URL is

http://andrejkoymasky.com

If you want to send me feed-back, or desire to help me revising my translation into English of another of my stories, send me an e-mail at

[andrej@andrejkoymasky.com](mailto:andrej@andrejkoymasky.com?subject=Your Stories)

(I can read only English, French, Italian... Andrej)