Spirited Away - A Novel of the Stolen Irish Read Online Free PDF Page A

the warm
wind, above water so clear it revealed a pink bottom. The humid air was flower-scented
and filled with birds. Near the Three Brothers , seagulls cried as
pelicans glided by. Yesterday she and Aileen had watched a cluster of shiny
dolphins splash near the ship, amidst the bay's blue and green stripes. Perhaps
the others were right. Perhaps the West Indies could be a fine place, where a
planter could turn out to be a worthy husband.
           But
last night, frightful noises had drifted out from the town. Freddy had heard
moans and the high cracks of a whip. Perhaps the island's sunny beauty was
fickle and shallow, barely concealing the brutal undercurrent flowing beneath
the surface. A painfully lovely place it was, the sort they dreamed of back
home when chilled to the bone during months of driving rains and dank fog. But
never had they dreamed of heavy ropes on their wrists, of being merchandise
bought and sold. The tropical splendor was like a juicy piece of fruit that
stuns with bitter poison. It was treacherous, like candied papaya promised to
hungry girls on a County Galway beach.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER
5
     
    July
1653
     
    Freddy
stood in the dusty pen, the sweltering sun blazing down on her shoulders. The
captain had ordered them stripped. Aileen crouched in the dirt, the brown waves
of her hair covering much of her body. Her cracking lips moved in silent
prayer. A dark-haired lad was being sold to a planter astride a tall black
horse.
           Freddy's
tied hands gripped her bundled clothing in front of her. She pressed her knees
together and shivered, staring at the goose bumps along her arms, even as sweat
trickled down her neck inside the iron slave collar. While Aileen was but a
girl, Freddy had already begun her courses. She would be sold as a woman. A
woman! And her a right tomboy. Everyone said so.
           Captain
Blanchard had ordered the women's hair secured into tight buns, so that the
bidders could better scrutinize them. Freddy's scalp hurt from the hairpins,
and her head was pounding. She would not, could not, look at any of the men in
plumed hats who had gathered around the Bridgetown pen on horseback and in
wagons. Bawdy seamen passed around a jug of rum. Freddy gritted her teeth,
pressed her legs together again, and stared at the Three Brothers ,
silhouetted in the shimmering harbor. She wondered if the cursed death ship
would soon cross the wide sea back to her own sweet Éire. She pictured the
green hills, Mam, Da, and her sisters. Tears smarted as they trickled down her
sunburned face. Please God, she prayed, squeezing her eyes shut, may the sun
roast me right now, right here. It would be a welcome end to such as this.
           Her
eyes still closed, she caught the scent of the horses in the square. How she
longed to comb Firewind, then soar over hill and dale on his back. If only he
were here. Freddy imagined his white tail flying as he galloped up this very
minute and whisked her away. His feathered legs and flowing mane would gleam in
the sunshine…
           She
jumped at the captain's touch as he unchained her from the others. "Come
along," he muttered, attaching a separate chain to her neck ring. He led
her to a straggly-haired old woman who looked up Freddy’s nose, then into her
mouth. Freddy caught a whiff of rancid body odor and coughed. The woman looked
none too clean, her gray hair hanging in oily ropes that hid her wrinkled face.
           "Move
yer hands aside," the hag grumbled, shoving her leathery hand between the
girl's legs and pushing a bony finger against her private place. Freddy willed
herself not to jump or cry out, even as her face burned with shame. She fixed
her eyes on the dirt at her feet and the edges of her vision blackened. The
earth slanted away precariously.
           The
woman flashed a snaggle-toothed grin at the crowd. "She's intact, gents,
and healthy as a horse," she declared.
           As
the