Chapter 20

Some time later, I managed to get Cassie off by ourselves. "Cassie, my love," I said. "I have asked Sam to marry me at the first town we come to that has a parson, and she accepted."

I could see several emotions cross her pretty face. There had been happiness, maybe some doubt, some fear, then resignation.

"When we come to the second town that has a parson, would you marry me as well?" I asked.

Now there was only one emotion, Joy. We had been riding close together, side by side. Cassie stood in her stirrups, raised her outer foot, and pivoted so that she was standing on one stirrup, facing backwards. She made a leap, and all of a sudden, I had a pretty young girl in my lap, facing me.

She knocked the reins out of my hand and threw her arms around me. Hawk came to a stop and looked around over his shoulder at us.

"Yes, I'll marry you," she said, then she kissed me like we were the only two people in the world.

Sam saw what was going on and came riding back to us. "What's going on here?" she asked.

"Ed just asked me to marry him," Cassie said with a big smile.

"Oh, I knew he was going to do that. I take it you're happy about that?"

"Yep," Cassie's grin was contagious and soon all three were grinning like idiots.

When we camped for the night, I was so happy we had Mina with us. Neither Sam nor Cassie nor Sarah Beth were worth a damn when it came to getting the camp set up and supper cooked.

Day 91 - Friday, July 30, 1847

Cassie, Sam, and I did a lot of cuddling before we rolled out of bed this morning. The nicest part was that Cassie and Sam were cuddling each other almost as much as they were cuddling me.

At one point in time I had wondered how I would feel about Sam being with another woman, but the three of us were so close it wasn't a problem at all. We finally made it out of the wagon and found that Mina had breakfast almost ready.

Delia came over and sat by Sam as we ate. The first few meals the former slaves had shared with us, they wanted to wait until we had finished eating, then go off by themselves for their meal. Sam had put a stop to that quickly.

Now, all of them were eating with us and would even carry on a conversation with us as we ate. Delia and Dalia were adapting much quicker than their parents, but that was to be expected. This morning, Dalia was sitting beside Andy and Sarah Beth and the three of them were talking.

"Sam, Ed told me yesterday that you don't have to do what he tells you. How does anyone ever get anything done if no one tells them what to do?" Delia asked.

"We all just kind of know what has to be done, and we do it. Some of us are better at one thing and some at other things. We just do what we're best at or like to do most. The other things, that none of us like to do, we do because they have to be done and none of us want to make someone else do something they don't like to do."

"What about the real nasty stuff like emptying slop jars?"

"Well, if I left a stinky mess in a slop jar," Sam was saying as Cassie started giggling and broke in.

"I thought you told me your shit don't stink," Cassie teased.

"Yeah, right. Anyway, if I left a mess, I'd clean it up. Any of us would."

"What about if you left a mess and you were sick or something?"

"Then. I'd clean it up," I said.

"Or I would," Cassie added.

"You need to remember too, Delia, if it were you that was sick, or your mother or father or Dalia, we'd clean up after you too," I said.

Again, Delia looked dumbfounded. We all just sat there for a while, eating Mina's wonderful breakfast. After a while, Delia said, "I know it ain't right, but please don't get fashed with me when I say it. I love all three of you."

Sam put her arm around Delia and said, "Why isn't it right, Delia? We all love you too."

"It ain't right for a nigger to love a white person," Delia said, her eyes downcast.

"Delia," I said. "If I hear you say the nigger word one more time, I'm going to turn you over my knee and spank your pretty bottom. I don't like that word and I don't want to hear any of you using it."

It was the middle of the afternoon when we pulled into Buckingham, Virginia. They had a parson. I asked Andy if they were going to go ahead and get married and when he answered in the affirmative, I told him that Sam and I wanted to get married too.

We had an incredible afternoon. The parson married both couples as if it was a routine he did once an hour. I guess it could have been a little disappointing for us, but we realized that we were just as married in this day and age as we would have been if we had gone through all of the crap we'd have had to have gone through in our own time.

Buckingham also had an ordinary for the stage line, so we tried to get rooms for the night. The only problem was, the landlord said the darkies, as he put it, could stay in the stable, but not in the inn. He said they couldn't even eat with the "white folks", so we just left and went on outside of town to camp.

Andy was from this time period, but the landlord's attitude made him as angry as it made me. Sarah Beth was the voice of reason and got us all out of there without a fight breaking out.

Tommy ended up spending the night with M & M so Andy and Sarah Beth could have some privacy. Sam was a wild woman when we were in our tent and undressed for bed. Cassie stayed with us, but didn't get involved with our lovemaking other than to caress both of us as we were joined.

Day 92 - Saturday, July 31, 1847

As we were eating breakfast, we discussed laying over for a day. Andy had very strong opinions on the matter though. "I want to get out of this God Damned backward country as quickly as I can. Jud and Mina and Delia and Dalia are my friends. Hell, they're my family. I just don't want to be in an area that treats them like this."

Since we basically all agreed with him, we decided to move on. After we had been riding for a while, Delia rode over beside me. She didn't say anything for a couple of miles, then she asked, "Andy says mama and papa and Dalia and me are his family. Is that the way you feel too?"

"Yes, it is, Delia."

"Where you're from up north, do white men ever marry black women?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes black men marry white women too."

Delia went silent again, so I respected her introspection. After a while, she asked, "Yesterday, you married Sam. Are you married to Cassie too?"

"Not officially, yet, but I will be soon. All three of us love each other."

Delia nodded. "Sometimes I've seen black women loving each other. Do they do that too?"

"Sometimes. Like I said, we all love each other."

"I don't know if I could do that with another woman. It just seems wrong."

"Why does it seem wrong, Delia?"

"Our preacher always said it was wrong for a woman to lay with a woman, or a man to lay with a man."

"Well, I believe a little differently than most preachers," I said. "Have you ever heard of the Golden Rule from the bible?"

Delia shook her head, so I went on, "Well, it says in the bible, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". That's called the Golden Rule. Do you know what that means?"

Another head shake.

"Well, it means you shouldn't steal from someone because you wouldn't want them to steal from you. You shouldn't lie to someone because you wouldn't want them to lie to you. You shouldn't kill someone because you wouldn't want them to kill you."

"The preacher told us about lying and stealing and killing, but not for that reason."

"To go along with that, you should make other people feel good because you'd want them to make you feel good. That's why I don't think it is wrong for one woman to lay with another."

Delia nodded. "Why would the preacher say it was a bad thing?"

"If a woman lays with another woman, there's no chance that a baby is going to be born. It also says in the bible to "go forth and multiply". Which means have babies. In our case, Sam is already pregnant and I'm sure Cassie will be before long."

Delia didn't answer right away, so I knew she was thinking over what I had said. "It seems like from what you're saying is that the preacher is only telling part of what's in the bible."

"That's true. There could be several reasons for that. Maybe he just doesn't know everything that's in the bible. Maybe the Massa tells him what he can and can't say. Maybe he's just telling you what his own ideas are. Could your preacher read and write?"

"He could read some, I think, because he was always saying what it said in the bible."

"Then maybe he just didn't know. Maybe some of the words were too big for him. Can you read, Delia?"

"No, sir. Most slaves can't read or write."

"Would you like to learn? That way you could read the bible for yourself and form your own opinions of what is right or wrong. That way you wouldn't have to depend on what I tell you is right or what the preacher tells you is right."

"I think I'd like that. Do you think I'm smart enough to learn how to read?"

"Definitely. Delia, you are a very smart young woman. I don't think there's anything you couldn't do if you set your mind to it."

"Would you teach me?" she asked shyly.

"I'll help, but I think Sam or Cassie would be a better teacher. Let's ask them when we stop for our noon meal."

Of course Sam and Cassie were both eager to teach Delia and Dalia how to read. They decided they might as well start teaching as much as they could to the other kids as well. I smiled, because I knew they'd spend the entire afternoon planning.

None of the kids really had any schooling, but Tommy said he could read and write. M & M both said they didn't know why girls needed to learn something like that. "Mama always told us that learning was for boys," Mindy said.

They started talking about teaching the kids math and science and history. "Be careful with the science and history," I said.

Both of them looked at me funny, then it hit them that a lot of their history hadn't been lived by these kids yet. "You mean we shouldn't teach them about television or about World War II?" Cassie asked, then giggled.

"How about if I teach them about Cassie getting tickled?" I asked.

Cassie tackled me and kissed me like there was no tomorrow. Then she whispered, "Why don't we teach them about Cassie being made love to?"

"I think they've already learned too much about our sex life," I whispered back. "M & M both said they'd seen you and Sam giving me a blowjob."

Cassie giggled again and whispered, "I'd give you a blowjob in front of everyone here. I love you, Ed Hill."

"I love you too, Cassie. I love you with all of my heart and all of my soul, forever and always."

Cassie snuggled in on top of me and we just laid there until everyone else started getting ready to get on the trail again.

We had a very good day of travel and made approximately twenty-four miles. That evening Cassie and Sam started teaching the girls the alphabet. Tommy did know his alphabet, but his reading skills were not nearly as good as he led us to believe.

Day 93 - Sunday, August 1, 1847

If we made twenty-four miles yesterday, we didn't make much more than half that today. In some ways it was a very frustrating day and in others it was very rewarding.

We got a nice, early start and the weather was great. Delia fell in beside me and rode a ways again. "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday about reading the bible for myself, so I'd know what to believe. I think that's a good idea."

"You know, young lady, that's also part of being free. The ability and the responsibility of making your own decisions is the cornerstone of freedom."

"That's a little scary in a way, Ed. I don't know if I'm ready to make decisions."

"I know you're not, Delia. You have been kept from knowing things all of your life, so you don't have the basis for making your own decisions yet. You will though and until you do, Sam, Cassie, and I will give you any advice you need."

Delia nodded and we rode on in silence for a while. "Ed, I know what the love I feel for my mama and papa and my sister is like. What is love like that a woman feels for a man or a man feels for a woman?"