Chapter 8 – The Runaway
They arrived at the large plantation. Walters had the coachman drop him off at the front of the house. The coach continued on to the carriage house while Williams stopped his cart in front of the main house. After a minute, Walters returned to their cart, but before Williams could say anything, a slave greeted Walters.
“Mister Walters, thank goodness you’ve arrived,” the man said in a thick Southern accent. “We’ve got a problem, sir.”
Walters looked displeased. “What’s wrong, Tyrone?” he demanded.
Tyrone hesitated, and then answered, “Do you remember the new woman you brought here the other week, sir, the one who couldn’t stop crying and wouldn’t work?”
“I remember her,” Walters answered with hesitation, “what’s happened to her?”
“She’s gone, sir?”
“Gone?”
“Yes, sir, she’s run away.”
“What! How! Are you responsible for this, Tyrone?” exploded Walters
“N-no, sir,” answered Tyrone haltingly, “It wasn’t on my shift. She snuck off about three hours ago, on Neol’s shift.”
“I want to talk to Neol as soon as possible, Tyrone, and I want you to organize search parties to find her as quickly as possible. She can’t have gone far in three hours.”
“Yes, sir,” Tyrone answered, and ran off to gather the required men to scour the surrounding countryside.
Walters shook his head and walked over to Williams and company, who were still seated in the cart. Williams was just finishing an explanation to Alejandro of what had happened.
“She will not be easy to find,” Alejandro warned, and Williams translated the remark for Roderick and Walters. He functioned as a translator throughout the conversation.
“Why not?” Walters asked.
“She knows how to escape and avoid being caught,” Alejandro replied, clearly attempting to say as little as possible.
“What is she,” probed Walters intensely, “military? She didn’t seem to be of that sort of person to me.”
“No, she is not a member of the military,” Alejandro answered. “She is the daughter of one of Cuba’s top diplomats and a former spy.”
2 comments:
I was watching the Early Show this morning, and there was this guy from the weather channel named Mike Seidel. Any relation?
Sorry...didn't get your comment until two days later. Odd thing, this blog. Anyway, Mike Seidel is not a close relation of mine, although he must be a distant relation, based upon his facial structure, the sound of voice, and his last name.
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