They had to keep moving. He started off again, with Pearl riding on his shoulders. At two years old she was light as a bag of goosedown. He felt her flinch at the savage barking of the dogs, but it was the gunfire that told him their pursuers were not taking prisoners. 'It's not far.' He tried to sound confident, but his mother was painfully slow. He turned to offer encouragement, but Sarah wasn't there. Several yards behind, a shadow lay across the path. Releasing Pearl to the dust, he ran back, knelt and raised his mother to a sitting position. 'You must try, please,' he urged again. 'We're almost there.'
'I can't go any further.' She glanced at Pearl. 'Take the little one to the bay.'
'I won't leave you.' Daniel stood up. The lights were even closer now and the baying dogs were excited, sensing their quarry. He tried to pull his mother upright, but she struggled against him.
'Go now, Daniel!' Her voice was firm.
'I won't. I can't.' He could hardly say the words. Pearl clutched his leg and he felt the living heat of her body through the shredded cloth of his breeches. It was that more than anything that made his next choice.
His mother smiled at the terrified girl. 'You go with your brother now.' Her eyes met his. Take Pearl...and live.
She spoke again gently. 'You two must live on for us, for our blood.'
A dog barked. A chorus of answering howls rose into the night. Without allowing himself to think, Daniel snatched Pearl up and swung her to his back. He turned and blundered into the cane, eyes blinded by tears. From behind he heard his mother begin to hum an old lullaby. It was one he remembered—she had sung it to him and to Pearl.
He held the little girl tight and ran from his second betrayal. When gunshots split the air, he forced himself not to look back.
PART ONE
INHERITANCE
From The London Courant,
30th January 1776
News come in from the American Colony—A PROCLAMATION given by His Excellency the Right Honourable JOHN Earl of DUNMORE, His Majesty's Lieutenant and Governor General of the Colony & Dominion of Virginia and Vice Admiral of the Fleet.
As I have ever entertained Hopes, that an Accommodation might have taken place between Great Britain and this Colony, without being compelled by my Duty to this moste disagreeable, but now absolutely necessary Step, rendered so by a Body of armed Men unlawfully assembled, firing on His Majesty's Tenders, and the formation of an Army, and that Army now on their March to attack His Majesty's Troops...
... I do require every Person capable of bearing Arms, to resort to His Majesty's STANDARD or be looked upon as Traitors to His Majesty's Crown and Government...
... And I do hereby further declare all indented Servants, Negroes or others, (appertaining to Rebels) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His Majesty's Troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper sense of Duty to His Majesty's Crown and Dignity.
CHAPTER ONE
New Year's Eve, December 1781: New York
Daniel stared into the flames dancing in the hearth. Unlike most, he found it hard to take pleasure from a warming fire. The flickers of red and gold brought back too many memories and a pain that still, after all these years, twisted his heart. If he had kept his promise and Adanna had lived, she would be thirty. Older than him by a year, she was always one step ahead until...until...
He closed his eyes and tried to listen to the music. What would she make of him now? Would she be here with him and with scores of British army officers and their wives? On balance, he thought not.
The pitted road to freedom from the charred remains of the Garnett Plantation had led him and Pearl to a place that even Adanna's girlish sorceries could never have predicted. Opening his eyes, he reached to the mantel for his wine glass. Catching the fire light, the silver buttons on the white cuff of his uniform glittered. During the long and bitter struggle to retain America, the British had invited formerly enslaved men—those who had escaped from sugar estates on the islands and from the cotton fields of the south—to join the ranks of their army. The King himself had promised freedom in return for their loyalty. Five years ago, Daniel had answered that call and had proved himself worthy both on the battlefield and as a shrewd advisor. But now the time was coming when the King would have to honour his part of the bargain. The buttons on Daniel's cuff seemed to wink mockingly. The final notes of the country song lingered for a moment and then the cheerful group gathered around the harpsichord applauded the young officer. Acknowledging their appreciation with a shallow bow that combined both pleasure and embarrassment, he swapped places with a plump, pretty young woman, who began a lively tune.
