Chapter 20: An Unwelcome Discovery

“I don’t understand,” says Samantha. “Both the entry in the ledger, and the document, refer to you as a boy called Andre.”

“I think that was part of a deception to prevent Jacqueline from ever finding me,” I say, recalling what Mama told me.

“But Jacqueline must have been a slave here on the plantation, so why the need for subterfuge?” asks Samantha.

“As part of the agreement for my adoption, Jacqueline was given her freedom. I think the Thiberts were afraid Jacqueline would return one day to reclaim me.”

“Ah! Yes. See. Here’s a later entry: ‘16 December 1808. Jacqueline granted manumission’. That’s strange, it is in the middle of the entries for February 1809.”

“And here’s another squeezed in among the February entries,” I add. “It must be a correction of the earlier entry: ‘16 December 1808. Born to Jacqueline, a girl. Named Andrea. Healthy’. It looks as though it has been written by a different person to whoever made the other entries of that period.”

“Hmm. Except that this later entry doesn’t make reference to the adoption agreement,” muses Samantha.

I presume the later entry is connected with the attempt to hide my identity from my birth mother, but I’m not sure why it was necessary. However, none of these are the entry I’m interested in finding. I work back through the register for any reference to Jacqueline. Success! I find the target of my search: ‘20 April 1808. Private purchase of female named Jacqueline. Age 18 years or thereabouts. Healthy’. Unfortunately the entry gives no useful details other than her approximate age. The reference to a private purchase probably explains why the Saint Pierre slave market had no record of her.

“Shouldn’t there be a bill of sale for her purchase,” says Samantha. “There’s no reference to another document.”

“Depends on how private the sale was,” laughs Solomon. Despite his apparent disinterest in our research, he has been paying close attention to our discoveries. “If she was sold by pirates or their accomplices, then there isn’t likely to be any paperwork. She was probably a cash sale with no questions asked.”

While the lack of a further lead is disappointing, the evidence ... or lack of evidence ... supports Mama’s story that Jacqueline was probably kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery. It might also explain why they feared that Jacqueline may return one day to claim me.

“At least we have a date when she was purchased,” says Samantha. “Perhaps we can use that to find out more.”

“It isn’t much to work with,” I say. “We don’t even know where she was purchased. We’ve assumed that it was Saint Pierre, but it could just have easily have been one of the east coast villages ... or even Fort Royal. I should have thought to check the slave market there before we left.”

“If she was a pirate captive, then it’s unlikely to have been Fort Royal. The military garrison would have deterred any activity like that. Perhaps we should try Le Lorrain,” suggests Samantha. “It isn’t far from here and it’s the largest settlement on the north east coast of the island. We might even pick up some news about your brother.”

Staying here isn’t going to achieve anything, and Samantha’s suggestion has some merit before we tackle the arduous trek back to Saint Pierre. Charity is also keen to leave. It’s getting late in the day, so we decide to depart in the morning. It means spending an evening with ‘uncle’ Henri, which is something I soon regret.

“Solomon tells me you’ve made some interesting discoveries in the slave register,” says Henri as Fleur serves an evening meal to Henri, Charity, Samantha, and me.

“Yes,” I reply. “Although the entries about my birth and adoption are confusing.”