What happened to Chloé …

[Haiku]

What happened to Chloé …​

What a lady, we were calling her the pick-up girl. We don’t how she did it but she got messages to certain individuals, you know the ones could attempt to please here … and she used the image of Charlotte de Berry as a tool much like the real one would have done, at least that was what she figured. These fools would come all the way out just to pick her up, and she swam to many a boat.

Now she was the tease … and she did fool around a bit with a good many men in the port … if you ask them they would say, ‘God bless her’ for the roll in the hay. In the years following she made her name, in fact Pierre Lafitte got to know her … like who didn’t. But he offered her contract, it wasn’t much, just to be one of the captains in the transport of the three finished ships to Louisiana, from there she needed to get Jean’s approval to do any more.

She did it with the one agreement, that she gets to pick her crew … yes, it was hunk city and she serviced them so well that she didn’t even need to call out an order, she just waved a hand at one and they expounded for her. I mean, it was an easy run, it was follow the leader as four ships cruised away doing their best not to draw attention.

She arrived in Louisiana to a great many men, the stories of her had gotten there already and just about every man thought he could be next. That honor went to Jean Lafitte for a solid three days, you barely saw him, then on the fourth day, an rouge English Galleon worked its way all the way around the gulf to come in from Mexico, it was aimed at Louisiana and the Lafitte organization. They sent out the three new ships and they obliterated them as we now have a new reef in the Caribbean.

They had a party and during it, they talked about accomplishments, it made Chloé think of hers.

It was her forth night, she was in the room with Jean, he was drinking quite a bit and she poured him into bed that night. She didn’t drink or sleep, instead she stood in front of his silver mirror as she finished her review, it was all based on a list she made when she was eight, the list was who she wanted to meet in her life. As she got older the list turned into who she wanted to sleep with rather than just meet as they seemed to be the same. There was nothing else in her life worth mentioning, it was kind of sad.

She looked to the man on the bed snoring away and thought of where she would be in say five years … it was right where she was right now … that just wasn’t an accomplishment it was an insult to women everywhere. She decided right there that she need to change all this … it brought her back to the amulet she wore around her neck. She brought it up and looked through it … it showed to go east and away from this place.

Since she had no real accomplishments, she looked to her belongings, everything that she herself owned. It was all in a cotton sack over there tucked in beside that chair … in it was her set of black clothes she left France with, a small handmade doll that Aurélie made and her coin bag of fifty silver dollars she picked up from the island.

All she could think of was that she didn’t pick her path too well, she would have thought she would have had more.

It was 1819, she was twenty-nine years of age and had very little to show for it, and it didn’t look like that was going to change. She looked through her amulet again, the path hadn’t wavered.

She remembered things, like the visit to Coral so long ago, the doll that Aurélie remade for her that she found in the kitchen … this amulet and the words of all … something had to change. She nodded as she still had time to fix this … but she had to forget all that she is and try this suggested route. She expected that if it didn’t work out then she still had time to try again.

It started with this dress and she was out of it and into her clothes from the bag. The dress was laid out on the bed beside Jean, sword and all … she did keep the assassins blade, the lady killer and the shotgun with its holster but nothing else. A lady has to protect herself.

She slipped out of Jean’s second floor home and to the ground floor. It was late, only one guard was sweeping the grounds, everyone else that was awake was down by the ships.

Right now she was needing a way out, a horse and right now there were a few in the stable, saddles all on the fence there nearby. So she stayed to the darkness as the roving guard was coming near because of a noise … that was when a man arrived, he was going slow so not to hurt the horse with a unseen misstep. The guard with his lantern greeted the man and they both headed to the docks after he tied up his horse not ten feet from Chloé.

This was her chance, she could saddle up one of the horses, might take four or five minutes … she should have time. But then she looked to the horse that just came in, it was fully outfitted, saddle bags looked full and the bed roll look to be holding more than just a blanket from the size of it … and it was definitely a quick snag.

She grabbed the reins and led it out the same way it just came in … once she was far enough away she hopped up into the saddle and slowly rode away using the amulet as a guide.

And ‘Poof’ just as she arrived she left without a word. Jean woke to find her dress laid out on his bed and no Chloé … like she was laying there and just melted away. He screamed out and men came running to see the dress all alone on the bed … it was like she really was a ghost and stories flew from there.

She rode until she fell asleep in the saddle, the horse noticed this as it must have happen to her a few times in the past, she stepped off the road to hide under a tree for protection and fell asleep herself.

Chloé woke to men ridding by on the road, she had her head down and they paid her little attention … that was good. She yawned and stretched and got off the horse to let her sleep and tied her up to a limb. Then she pulled the saddle bags and sleep roll off, more to know what was here.

She took her time going through it all, in the bed roll was clothes and something that would fit her. Pants, button front shirt and a leather vest, she quickly swapped clothes and stashed her French ones … it looked better with the shotgun holster on her side.

The saddle bags were next, one side carried socks, matches and food … it was cornbread, smoked sausages and four peppermint sticks. The other had ammo for a pistol, she ditched the balls as they were for a popper not her lady killer, but she kept the rest, it could come in handy. But it wasn’t all that was in there, below the ammo was a secret pocket, it had items rolled up in a cotton rag. She unrolled it and found a snuff box, toothpick case, a comb, thread, thimbles, needles and a bodkin, an unused journal book with a pencil, a small silk purse and a pocket watch … the last item was aspirin pouches, six of them. The purse jingled as it held twelve dollars in small change. She pocked the watch in her vest but it was unwound so it wasn’t telling time, a town or store clock would be needed for that … the purse was put in her front pants pocket.

The rest all got packed again with her few things and stowed away on the still sleeping horse, she added the lady killer to the saddle bag, it was a tight fit but it was probably good to hide the four-shooter. She took the reins and petted the horse to wake her and she noticed a burned in name in the harness, it said, ‘Di-Di’.

So she said, “Di-Di, I’m sorry but I need to ride you a bit further, we need a town because I don’t even have oats for you. Here, there’s a stream just up ahead, you can get some water there.”

She walked the horse to it and let her drink her fill, she was thirsty. Chloé grabbed a sausage and a pair of socks, she ate the sausage while she added the socks to her shoes, a low cut shoe that had seen better days. She put them on over the socks, it would help but she expected that she need some replacements and soon.

She checked the saddle, making sure it was tight and then saddled up. She took it slow, she had no idea where she was only the amulet knew where she was headed and it was still leading her somewhere. It led her through a town named ‘Diamondhead’ and she stopped at the stable on the outskirts of town. She gave the man two dollars for boarding, shoe replacement and a sack of food for the horse when she leaves on the marrow.

She took the bedroll and saddle bags further into town, it was heavy but she made it to a bed house, she got a room for the night on the second floor, it even had a lock and key so she could feel a little more secure that her stuff was in a safe place. It was the middle of the day … she was tired … but also hungry and could use a few items if she was to continue this path.

So the local country store was next, as she walked up to it there was three wagons out front, there was talk as they were heading west, the opposite way she needed to go. Inside the store they were buying foodstuffs, it looked like enough for a couple of weeks, a women behind the counter was addressing their needs.

This left a man available as he stepped up Chloé, he had bushy eyebrows that matched his mustache and an apron that held an assortment of things in its pocket. He said, “Top of the day miss, how can I help you?”

And she replied, “Yes, I need a few things, can I make a pile, I have funds,” as she shook the purse.

And the man said, “I love piles, what’s first?”

To that she said, “Shoes … no scratch that, I need boots, something high and sturdy.”

And he led the way to the selection that he had, it was three. Chloé picked up the first pair and flexed them, a thread popped and she put them back down. The second one was even worse as the sole was paper thin. Then the man presented her with the third pair and said, “Try these, my wife wears these, the sole is solid … do you know what size, you look like an eight … let’s try the nine, their running a little small. Please have a seat and I’ll get them.”

She did and took off her current shoes, one of the soles was half-way separated already on them. She tossed them aside as the man returned with the pair and with the socks they fit almost too good, made her wonder why she kept those old pair so long.

She stood up with them on, yea that was nice but then the man asked, “These old shoes, you keeping them? They look European.”

She said, “French and you can have them,” he picked them up and stashed them behind a counter, he obviously wanted to re-sole and re-sale them. Then she said, “I need ammo for the shotgun and balls, six millimeter.”

The man did the math and said, “Quarter inch, I got that and what do you want for the rifle, bird shot or I have a box of twos.”

She said, “I’ll take the twos … and I famished, are you serving?”

And he pointed and said, “The other side of the counter there, we got a stew and bread, we’ll serve you right up.”

She left with another cotton sack with undergarments, foodstuffs the ammo and a small cast iron frying pan, with the boots and the used hat she grabbed, it came to a grand total of $4.85, she gave them five dollars with the tip.

And as she looked … there was a bar across the street … she stared as men came out and in … they were men quite like the ones she just left just doing different jobs … and for some reason that life just didn’t suit her anymore … so she just went back to her room and slept for a solid twelve hours.

She came into the stable and the barn housing her horse, Di-Di looked good, she said, “There’s my lady, my you look good today, you got a bath and a good brushing, I can tell,” funny the horse nodded her head as if she was acknowledging her. Then she looked to her hooves and said, “Oh and look at that, new shoes, aren’t those sharp and shiny. And the horse replied with a clopping of her hove twice … smart girl.

Then she loaded her up as she stated, “I know this looks like a lot but it’s just the necessities.” In actuality it was about forty pounds, the pan got tied up to the saddle bags and the two bags were tied together and draped over her saddle seat, best she could do. In truth with her and all this stuff it really only made her weigh the same as the man who rode her in so she should be fine.

The man in the stable asked, “So which way are you heading, do you need a map, I know a man …”

She just put up her left hand to the man and looked through the amulet again … and it pointed east … she said, “No, I don’t need a map, I have a guide.” He didn’t understand that but as they say in France, ‘C'est la vie’.

We pick up with her a week later as she was seen riding into Thomasville Georgia, she was covered in road dust and dressed in men’s clothes at that. Take away the hips sway and protruding chest, she would have looked like just about any man there … chaps, boots, vest, hat, neck scarf and jeans … very common in this town. But she wasn’t as just about every man in the locale was drawn to her, like cotton to a gin.

But for some reason she just wasn’t interested in the common man anymore … ever since Jean, she just lost interest. She threw out her list and her flirt, that was a start and started following the pointer in her amulet. She was here in this town, it was because this odd piece of jewelry … it lead her here … and she neared the end of her path … it was just ahead, and it showed that she now needed to go into the bar establishment here.

She rode up as men watched, she hopped off and stretched and came around to tie Di-Di up to the rail. She patted her nose and said, “Keep an eye on our stuff will you girl.” She’s done pretty good so far, a few towns back she kicked a man that had theft interests, the man may feel that one for a year or so.

She was knocking off dust as she hit the saloon doors … but as she was going in, another was coming out, they weren’t looking either … mass took over as it didn’t go well and she ended up on her backside. Now with her head down, she patted off a little more dust and looked up to see a hand coming down to her.

It was a man, he had dirty blonde hair and see through you blue eyes, that was in total contrast to her dark brown hair and matching brown and golden eyes … but they both caught each other in a short stare that lasted a good many seconds when he took her hand to help her up. But he didn’t say anything, it was just this eye to eye look until he got her standing. Then he went into this hand signaling, he was doing circles as he wiggle his fingers into several shapes.

She took the initiative and said, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking … but he was still not talking as he pulled back and pulled out a pad of paper, he scribbled something on it and showed it to her.

It said, ‘I wasn’t looking either … my name is Ranald Douglas, I’m a mute,’ as he did the mouth spreading his finger wide while shaking his head … she got it.

Her mouth went wide as she realized it and stated this, “Then it’s truly my pardon then … I never met a man that couldn’t talk before, have you been like this long?”

He did the hand signals again with a hand that drew a circle around his face … he shook his head and wrote, ‘All my life, pardon me for being rude but I was on my way home, but I must make know … are you truly okay?’ as he pointed to a wagon.

She replied with, “Certainly, it was just a bump … thank you for asking,” as she watched him walk past her.

With his back to her she brought up the amulet to the bar and the path changed, she rotated around and it was now pointing to the man, her mouth went even wider … this man, he was the one and she knew it now. She had to think fast.

Chloé spoke out, “Excuse me could you help me?” it was like he didn’t hear her, so as he sat on his wagon she came up to his side, she waved to him to get his attention and said, “Can you not hear me?”

And he shook his head to her, he touched his ear and spread his fingers again and she realized it and said it aloud, “You’re a deaf mute.”

He rapped his chest and pointed to her in acknowledgment, and she caught it.

She said, “A major pardon, I didn’t know … but can you help me, I was looking for a place to crash for a couple of days and I don’t see a bed house nearby here, do you know where I can find a place to stay for a couple of days?”

And she gave him the sad eyes that would have melted any heart, he put up a finger and started writing again. He showed it and this is what it said, ‘I live on a plantation up the road here with my adopted mother. We have open rooms, I’m sure my mother would let you stay,’ and he did another of these hand things, it was another ring around his face but this time with open fingers.

She asked, “I don’t understand, what are you doing with your hands?”

He jotted a quick note and showed it to her, it stated, “It’s sign language.”

She smiled and asked, “Then what did you say?”

He wrote something down but he was a bit lenient on showing her it. He bit his lower lip and then did, it said, “Your Beautiful.”

Talk about taking all the wind out of someone, she gasped as she looked to him. She said, “If the offer is still there … I would like to take you up on it … at your plantation.”

He eyes came down to her waist his head leaned and he pointed to the gun. She followed his gaze to the shotgun, she jumped and said, “It’s not what you think, it’s mostly just for show … I’m a woman … alone.”

Then he make it look like he was holding it and he pulled the trigger on his air gun and pointed to it. She knew what he meant, he wanted to know if she shot it, that leads to the next expected question. She answered them both as she said, “Yes, I’ve shot it once … I killed a man.” He reached for the reins and she put a hand on his arm as she begged, “Please, the man was evil, he would have raped women and killed ten times more in men, French men … it was the war in France.”

He went to pull away and she pulled out the amulet, and as she showed it to him, she stated this, “Please, no lies … this brought me to you … he called it a fate necklace … the man who gave it to me said that the one that can help me will break this.”

He brought a finger to his chest as he turned back to look at her … then he shook his head and looked down. Then she stated this, “When I got this, they said that the one at the end of this was already looking for someone … for me. Are you searching?”

That hit a cord as he looked low again … bit his lower lip gently and looked back to her, with sly eyes he pointed to the amulet with a come-here hand. Over her head went the lace and she looked deep into the piece, and then up to this man. She took a deep breath and handed it to him.

His touch did something … and it was fantastic as it was done right before his eyes … the piece exploded into a million bits … and was gone leaving only the lace falling to her hand. Both mouth’s dropped right there, he looked to her and she had tears, they were real and they were running down the dust on her cheeks leaving tracks across her face.

He finally bit as he nodded and patted the seat beside him. She said, “I have my horse, my things.”

He looked over his shoulder and he did this. His two hands came together, he made a hook with his first fingers and hooked them and pointed to the rail on the wagon, a tie off was there. Then he patted the seat again … and he watched as this pretty lady did what he pointed out to do, she tied up Di-Di and hopped up on the seat.

She turned to look at him and she said, “Your still sizing me up aren’t you.” And he nodded as he snapped the reins for the horse to go.

She followed up with this, “I don’t believe I mentioned my name, it’s Chloé,” and she held her hand out, not to shake, it was more like a queen would do.

He took it and turned it sideways and shook it like an American, she followed as she said, “I’ve never had a man be so quiet around me, this will take some time to get used to.”

He went to write something but he was trying to jostle the rains at the same time, Chloé grabbed the reins and said, “I’ll drive you write … you’re writing style, it’s lovely … you probably went to school for that … I only made it to fifth grade myself. How far did you get?”

At the top of the note he wrote, ‘All the way.’ The rest of the note went as such, ‘Chloé that’s French, it’s as beautiful as you are.’

She said, “Stop that, you’ll make me cry again. What are you scribbling down now …”

It said, ‘If you wouldn’t mind, tell me a little about yourself, I need to know if you’re the one I’ve been looking for too.’

And she started it up, “First it’s just Chloé. I grew up in a village north of Rouen, do you know where that is?” he shook his head but she noticed something, he was closely paying attention to her mouth of all things.

Then another thing dawned on her as she asked, “Hey how are you hearing me … I know your deaf, how do you know what I’m saying?”

And he showed her, he pointed to his mouth and made it look like he was talking, then he pointed to her mouth and she realized that he was reading her lips, the words that she says, he can make them words in his own mind. She admitted, “You can read my lips,” as she touched hers, and he nodded, patted his chest and pointed to her. The motion was interesting, she had to say that she must have hit the exactly meaning … something to remember.

So as he watched, she talked, “Let’s see, yes Rouen, it’s near Paris. We left the village in 1813 just as it was about to be ransacked by men, they most likely burned it to the ground. Our group, a man, four women and sixteen children made it to the Seine river, where we acquired a small military ship to get away. We only intended to use the ship until we got the kids somewhere safe, a monastery in the southern mountains, we never made it. We fought our way through the English, we did pretty good too. And after a few battles we ended up in Spain where we met the current king, while he was still a prince. After that all of our plans changed and we headed to the Caribbean and a small, deserted island which I lived on with those from the ship … and I was there up until about a month ago. Now there’s a hundred stories all thought that but that’s the condensed version.”

Ranald, he was highly educated and very knowledgeable, he wanted more but he didn’t want to direct this conversation, this was hers. So he shrugged his shoulders as if he was asking why, he even mouthed it a little.

Talk about an open question and she bit on it as she said, “I looked in a mirror and I didn’t like what I saw … I had an option, the amulet and I took it … and I left all I was before behind,” she giggled and said, “I left them with my ghost and nothing more.” He took it, but he knew there was more, and it sounded exciting.

Chloé saw something ahead, it was white and it was something growing along the road … and there were fields of it as she asked, “What is this … it looks so pure.”

And the note stated this, ‘The white is cotton, this is the family plantation, it’s called ‘Willow Oak’, see the driveway up ahead on the left, take that,’ as he pointed ahead.

Before they got to the turnout another wagon passed them going into town, they waved and the man at the reins said, “G-day Ranald.” He waved back, Chloé did more of a pasay wave but the couple stared at her for some reason.

She watched them long, it’s been a long time since she seen this kind of openness from people, like it was twenty years ago in France.

Ranald brought her back with a side nudge as they were at the turn off … she took it and followed the worn road in. There were black people in the fields, she pointed to them and asked, “Slaves?”

Ranald shook his head as he scribbled out a note, it said, ‘Mother released them and they work for a 30% share of the profits now.’

That was courteous, and she kept to the straight road to the back of the property, a house was there, not grand with pillars on the porch or anything, but a respectable house of size. There was a barn to the left side and a string of houses on the right, worker housing she suspected. Ranald pointed to the barn and to a corral and they stopped, he tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to a stall inside and to her horse … she understood.

So as he unhitch the horse, she took her Di-Di into the cooler barn, she led her into a stall and spun her around. Now it was an unload as she started with the saddle to the top of the railing, then saddle bags on top of that and her cotton bags over that. She topped it off with her weapons, it started with the saddle bag, an item was not sitting well inside it, it was the lady killer and she drew it out and hung it on the saddle horn. Next was the shotgun as she unstrapped it and a unbuckle and it hung the same way … the last item was a folded knife, the assassins blade and she slipped it into the holster with the shotgun. Chloé then went for her bridle and got her free from all her garb, over the fence it went just as the stall gate closed.

She turned to see Ranald there, he was watching, how long who knew … but he had a harness in hand, she took it and put it on when she heard a loud pompous woman’s voice say, “Well I’ll be … I thought they were lying to me in the house … you brought a woman home with you … finally.”

He caught half of that and proceeded thusly, hands were up and open as he waved them, it was obviously a word to her, and he followed it up with a lot of hand signals, he was flying through them as she said, “Slow it down there son, I’m an old woman, you’re going too fast for me.”

He did and she caught it all this time, she leaned out and looked to Chloé and said, “Are you sure, I like her already, she can put away a horse and she looks sturdy.” He had his fists on his hips, obviously posturing as she succeeded and said, “Hello there Chloé is it, mines Nadia … Chloé that’s French, been a while since I went through Paris.”

And Chloé stated, “I would wait some more until they get the mess with Napolean done, he almost let the English take over, I was there.”

Chloé stepped out of the stall and walked over to the woman, she put out her hand as Ranald did on the wagon … she took it and gasped. She said, “My dear, you’re a mess, have you seen yourself. Now, now, Ranald, get her inside take her in through the wet-room and we’ll get a bath going, you look about my size … Elizabeth start the big kettle.” As she left she shot a couple of hand signals at him.

They were left standing side by side both in a little shock and awe, she bumped him and got his attention. She turned to him and asked, “Do I look that bad?” He slowly shook his head, then he turned that into a slow nod. Then she asked this, “I must have looked like that all the way from town, that man in the wagon, why didn’t you tell me?” He did a sorry grin and he took a finger and tapped his heart as he shook his head. She got it, he didn’t have the heart. She said, “Then lead on, which way?”

A few moments later and they were inside the wet room, and Chloé heard Nadia as she said, “If you would, change into the robe and slippers, we just got done mopping the floor.”

And she did as she took off her hat and scarf, she dropped off boots, socks and then went for her top, that was when she heard the shuffle, she turned around and saw, he spun around too, to hide his innocence … she liked that too. She continued on until she tapped his shoulder and he slowly peeked around. Imagine the relief when he saw she had covered herself up.

He gestured into the house and she heard Nadia say, “Second door on the left, I’ll be right there with towels and clothes.”

She made it their first and opened the door, a tub half full was waiting for her, as she went in Nadia was there with a handful, she looked at Ranald and said, “Are you still here, don’t be a pest, go have a seat in the den, she’ll come out when she’s ready.”

She followed Chloé in and closed the door. Chloé then asked, “He’s shy and all alone in his silence, has he always been that way?”

And Nadia said, “He was toting bags for ship arrivals in Albany New York … he was seven. He was the same then as he is now.”

Chloé then asked, “You’re comments when we arrived, can I say that he hasn’t been with too many women?” She may have not wanted to admit it aloud as she held up two fingers.

Then she said, “Well I’ll leave you alone, when you’re done, I’m just down the hall, the kitchen is on the right and the living room and den are on the left … enjoy.”

What a change of events, it’s only been an hour since she got off her horse in town, was this luck or fate, why did the Guarantor give her that amulet in the first place, and why was it that he wouldn’t even touch it … was that just a show?

It was then she saw her face in the silver mirror above the sink and she saw her face, her jaw dropped, she had sweat streaks from hair to chin … like the warpaint on an Indian … her head hung low as she shook her head. She said aloud, “That took a lot not to say something.”

She turned to the tub and the robe came off as she put a hand into the water, she swirled it once to feel the temperature, it was like the water on the island and she did a splashdown into the water and just laid there with it up to her neck. A moment later and it was head-under for a good rinse before a duly needed scrubbing … everywhere.

She was done and mostly dressed and there was a knock at the door, a woman’s voice said, “How you doing missy, can I come in?”

Chloé called out, “I’m proper … come on in.” They had her in a pair of overhauls and a loose puffy white shirt her, drips from her wet hair made it look almost transparent in spots.

It wasn’t Nadia this time but a fair sized black woman, she said, “There now you look like a lady, I couldn’t believe it when I saw you two come in, I thought he might have picked up some derelict. Now don’t you mess with all this, this is what I do every day girl. Here, I cleaned up your boots for you to wear … Ranald and the miss are in the den, she’s ready for you, Ranald, he might take a little longer.” It was hard to know what she meant by that, for some reason there was a lot of hope in this house.

Chloé came out into the hall, she looked right, that was the way she came in. She could if she wanted to … run for the hills … the door was open. But that meant all the lesson was all for naught. She looked left and she took it to the first arch, it was on the right and yes it went in to a kitchen … and WOW, what a kitchen, they had a hood over an indoor open fire pit and two full sized stoves outside of that … Aurélie would have been floored. Three islands and a pantry the size of most houses.

Three ladies were there, more of the past slaves that stayed around, why not … they have everything they need right here … now why did that sound familiar. She smiled to them and they responded the same, as she turned one of them said, “She’s so pretty.”

She came back out into the hallway, they have wallpaper and hanging pictures of men … they have dates, it looks like past owners of this plantation. And in wonder she looked up, there was a chandelier in the hallway, crystal and candles all over it. She turned right to continue her search and headed to the next arch on the left, it was the living room with enough seating for at least twenty, there was a grand piano, she knew how to play one of those. Oh and a bay window out to a patio and to a large pond further back … a hand came to her mouth as she looked out.

Then she turned around and looked up … it was more chandelier’s, she put her hands out and spun around under one. Then out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, it was Nadia and Ranald in the den, it was fully open and they were just sitting there watching her. She did a bashful smile and waved to them as she said, “It’s beautiful, Ranald said it was the family home, how long have you lived here?”

Nadia took this and said, “Only since he was seven, let’s see that’s twenty-two years come fall.”

Chloé slipped over to the den and said, “I didn’t mean to burden anyone here … if need be I can pay or work for my for my boarding …”

And Nadia said, “Nonsense, if there’s something this place doesn’t need more of is money, but you can help if you like, there’s always something going on. Say do you like peanuts … if you haven’t noticed, we have bowls filled with roasted nuts all over the house … you don’t happen to know anyone that would want to buy them?”

And Chloé chuckled as she said, “Nope nothing comes to mind … you know, I don’t think I ever tried a peanut before.”

Nadia noted this, “Well please do and all that you want to sample … so young lady, what’s your plans for your days ahead of you?” she got a look from Ranald and she pulled back and said, “Never mind that, we can talk later sweetie.”

Chloé looked to Ranald, it’s hard to say that a man is being quiet when he’s one that can’t speak. He has been sitting there, all through her show and now flashing back and for between his mother and her so he could read our lips. He saw she was looking to him, he held up a finger and signed out something to his mother.

And Nadia said, “He was wondering if you would like to go for a walk around the pond, he says it helps him think, I think it would be good for you to go with him, he won’t talk to me like that.”

Chloé nodded as she said, “I could go for that, my hair can dry in the breeze. Ranald, bring a note pad, I’m not too good on your hand signals yet,” he nodded, he’s always got one on the ready.

As they walked away from the house, Nadia was watching out the window … she spoke to no one and to all as she said, “She’s an angel of a sort, he needs an angel right now.”

The path around the pond was long, well over a mile, it had a gazebo directly across from the house with willows growing on both sides of it, God it was beautiful, green grass right up to a tulle lined pond. But the man with her barely look anywhere other than path straight ahead of them, she doubted he felt the wonder here.

 

[Haiku]

He walked with a purpose, strong and sturdy and with a solid pace that was more than Chloé was wanting to do so she took his elbow to slow him down, she kept it there to subdue him … but it didn’t change his gaze, it stayed steady ahead of them.

That didn’t stop Chloé, she was looking this way then that, a fish that jumped in the pond, a bird singing over there, oh there’s another in blue and yet another in red. And the songs they sung were fantastically brilliant and upbeat, almost wanting you to come out dancing with their song.

They came to a section of path with long wild oats on both sides and as soon as they entered them those that lived there took flight … it was dragonflies in every color, orange, red, blues and the shades, hundreds of shades and as they flew around them, his gaze still did not faulter. He was seeing all this, but he wasn’t seeing the feeling that one should get with it, it was like he was so focused on seeing that he’s forgetting to just look at the wonders.

Chloé saw that they were coming up on the gazebo and wanted to stop, maybe take off her shoes to feel the grass and feel the earth itself. She stopped at the crossing which ruined his pace once again, he should plan on that more in the future. But he looked to her and she said, “You walk too fast, can we take a break,” as she pointed to the gazebo. She wasn’t tired by no means, this lady here has stamina in a great many things, it was really just to disturb his focus … which it did as he bowed and gestured for her to lead.

This put him behind her, that in itself was a view even in the slightly baggy clothes that they had her in. The swaying and swinging, the rolling of the pelvic area to bring it all together … it was sultry to say the least.

She looked back to see him looking, she spun around to walk backwards and said, “It’s good to see that there is still a man in there somewhere, I was starting to wonder.”

She spun around as they came to the two steps up into the gazebo, it was a cute eight sided open platform three lattice walls up to a quant roof with the rest just handrails and more lattice below them. There was a bench seat looking out toward the house, she took advantage and sat down … he joined her but it seemed reluctant as he forced himself to do it.

He was looking ahead but he was still not seeing … but not her as she expounded as she saw something … it was a caterpillar, it was as big as a hand in length in this unique coloration of turquoise green. Her hands spread as she stated, “Oh my goodness, look at the size of that caterpillar, we had them in France but nothing like that,” as she worked off her shoes and socks and tossed them aside, rather sloppily too, normal for this lady.

She got down on her knees to get a closer look at this magnificent bug. The green was highlighted with several black spikes on each section, an orange-red tail and longer spikes coming out right behind the head of the same color.

He was still sitting as he presented her with a note, it said, ‘It’s a royal moth, Citheronia regalis, they live in the willows and fly north into the Appalachia mountains to mate. Common for monarch butterflies too but they go to Mexico.’

Chloé responded with this, “And I get the technical rundown, that must come from all the schooling … can I touch it … we had one we couldn’t in France,” he nodded and she touched it … it was so soft ... and terribly squishy.

It made her smile … and it was a mile wide as she reached for his hand, but he pulled away when she touched him. And she said, “Please for me .. touch it … it doesn’t bite.” He looked her with a side look … she knew he knew this already.

But he did follow her lead as he got down on his knees beside her … he hesitantly brought up a hand and touched it for a split second and pulled back. But she wasn’t happy with that as she grabbed it again and took it back as she guided a finger down the squishy bug, the spikes now fold away as they are just modified hairs, even the long ones. She saw something there, something that he may have not done since he was a babe … it was wonder … it was still there.

She stood up and took his hand, he followed as she left the gazebo and turned the corner out to the grassy knoll here … then she sat down crossed legged right in the grass. She patted the ground beside her for him to sit.

Ranald looked down at her and the eyes of a goddess looked up to him again … she broke barriers as he did finally sit down but with his knees bent toward his chest. She took advantage of this and untied his shoes, a low cut black pair, look to be size twelves, narrow toe. He let her … why … he didn’t know. But she continued and he let her until she even took off his fancy thin dress socks. He stuffed them in the shoes and set them off to the side, neatly.

She was still wanting more as she matched his seating position, but she was there wiggling her toes in the thick grown grass. She looked to him and pointed to his feet as she said, “I know you feel the grass, work them toes for me … there you go, it good to do this as often as possible, it grounds you out to the world, we all need this.” As she watched him he was trying as she stated this, “No harder, really scrunch your toes in it like this,” as she demonstrated it to him. She continued as she said, “I used to do this in the sand on the beach back on the island.”

She took a step back and really looked at him, he was handsome, the hair tossing in the breeze and those darn blue eyes. And somewhere along the way this man has given up his human side for logic and order … she kept up the smile hoping to break down a bit of the shield he held onto so tight.

It did a little as he turned to her, it was this smile, it was wide and showed a great many teeth … it wasn’t something he could copy, but he gave it a try with a curling lip on one side only.

Well she just couldn’t have that half-ass smile so she took this further and touched his face and added the other half. As she pulled her hand away she rolled his lower lip … it was on purpose to get a reaction … there wasn’t much until she brought the same finger up to her mouth and kissed it … that raised his eye brows a bit.

Chloé, she was a forward one, she’s showed this with many men … but this was a hard case and she pushed again and asked, “Have you kissed many women before,” he pulled back into his shell again, she went too far she could tell, but he did reply with him holding up a single finger.

She turned to him with her on bent knees and gave him a come here finger. He looked away and looked around, maybe he was looking for a watcher as she said, “There’s no one here but us, come try this,” as she pointed to her lips.

He was still sitting across from her as he peered under his arm to her, it was the shyness showing .. that and an area of total unknowing. He went to grab his shoes and she put a hand on his hand, he had goose bumps, fear driven ones. It was more submission as he did finally turn to her and matched it with both touching knees caps.

She said, “Close your eyes, I want you to feel this not see it … now close them … for me,” oh, there was those eyes melting him down again.

What could he do by comply because he was way out of his zone now … and she came to him and rubbed her lips on his, he responded with trying to feel for more … and she gave it to him with a kiss that would end wars. She pulled away and he was in a lizard more, she could have just pushed him over right there and he would have crumbled … but she didn’t and waited for him to open his eyes to see her again.

He cleared his throat and brought his hands into this, he took his two hands and narrowed the fingers to a point and touched them before his chest a couple of times. She looked at it and knew it was one of his signs but she knew naught which one it was. He changed direction and touched his lips again, that one she knew and she complied long enough to have him open his eyes to look at her right up close and personal … she stopped the kiss but the stare went on forever.

She pulled away enough to do the last sign he did and she did it and asked, “What does this mean?”

He wrote down, ‘More’.

She did the sign again and closed her eyes … he was inches away from a goddess … and what of his mother … was she right … was she a gift. He kissed her, a bit awkwardly … he bumped her nose to nose … they both chortled a bit but she kept her eyes closed … he came in and touched lips, this time a lot better … he let go first and she didn’t follow … as he opened his eyes he saw the smile again.

This is why she had to throw away the list … she didn’t have an educated good man on it.

The moment was over as she didn’t want to push it too much, she stood up and rounded up her boots and was waiting bare foot at the intersection. He was hustling to get his shoes on, obviously a tenderfoot … they met in the path, he stood tall and rigid … then he put his left elbow out as it was an accessory in a pocket knife.

There was one thing she never wanted to do to him, and that was to take the rigid out of the man, it has usages. She took his arm instead and they walked the path back … at her speed and he watched to make it so. They had to stop when the butterflies came off the water and flew inches above their heads … they had the most fantastic blend of yellows and black in a pattern shared by all of them … it was like the painter was going crazy out here.

She put her hand up into the flow of them and said, “We should have a painting of this.”

He caught that and he raped his chest as he wrote down, ‘I can paint, I have no paints, I’ll work on that.’

She palmed he cheek and said, “You must have the eye for that, I’m no artist.”

And he wrote, ‘You’re wrong, your eyes are art,” that drew a tear out of her.

She sucked her lip in and said, “So there is a smoothy in this man, an artful one at that … or is that art filled,” as they continued on to the house.

They got there and Nadia was there on the deck, yea she was watching the whole time, she had someone put up a triangular sail, might have come from a ship, but she had it staked and tied to a tree to give her some shade, it was actually working pretty darn good. she had a pitcher and a glasses of sweet tea that she was currently nursing.

Chloé didn’t want to dirty the deck so she set her boots on the edge and ran to the dock there, it went out far enough to bypass the cattails and she sat on the end of the dock with her feet in the water as she scrubbed them together to get the little dirt off that she picked up on the walk back … it wasn’t much.

They were watching all this, Nadia’s face couldn’t have been happier. Chloé got up and walked to the end of the dock … and she stopped. Then she gave Ranald the finger to come here … and Nadia nudged him quite hard in the hip to go attend to that ‘Come here’.

He looked back but complied as he rubbed his hip … she brought him in closer and whispered something to him and she pointed to the deck. Nadia watched as he looked and he repeated the point … he did the ‘Oh well’ look and waved her up into his arms … and he carried her the few feet over the dirt to sit her on the deck boards … and Nadia started breaking up over it.

She came to and patted the seat beside her and said, “Come sit here beside me my dear, I don’t want to have to talk over the boy.”

She did and he actually pulled the third chair around the table further so he could see both faces and sat down, it was actually out from under the sail so he got little shade from it … let’s call it the hot seat for now. Here he was, the odd man out, they were talking about him and he couldn’t even speak up about it … so he watched, the story of his life.

And the stories flew from both of them, so while he watched them for what they were saying, Chloé was watching his reactions to the talk. There was the ‘Oh God not again.’ look, the ‘Nix, Nix’ look and just a prefect head drop to submission.

Nadia finished off with her famed necklace endeavor always ending with her showing it … she still did, must be worth thousands. Nadia then said, “I think that’s enough punishment for the boy to live through today, I’ll go check up on dinner, see what Elizabeth is concocting for us tonight.”

She left and Chloé gave a tapping on the table to get Ranald to look her way, he was a few shades of red at the moment. But he shook it off to see her patting in the seat that Nadia was just sitting in .. he complied and handed her a note. She read it to herself, she already had a feeling about what it said anyway, he was ashamed of what she brought up, his college years, his successes and failures … but that’s what a mom should be doing … talking up their son … she had a right to be, the man that just sat down, he was just about the most intelligent man she ever met and he had the credentials to follow up with it. It was the work with sign language what was most impressive, he helped create it with Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet as they established the American School for the Deaf in Hartford … it’s just where he finished coming from before he ended up here. But as far as she could tell, it was all work, work, work, learn, and work some more … he learned the tools, all the tools and never did apply even one of them … he never took the time to also have fun … the day here showed it.

Although there was one thing, he liked the pirate tales, he wrote that one down, that was good as she had many more to tell.

But the dinner bell rang, it was dinner for all and most of it was … leaving … from Elizabeth she found out that the kitchen is for all, since she was brought up that way too she couldn’t see it any other way. The rest of the inhabitants here ate in an open kitchen, as they had done before coming to the America’s, the food that left was for them and it was the same. You see the black folks were free, they sat around eating good food, smoking pipes and sipping brandy … one of them would occasionally break out into song, usually on the weekend and under the stars … she was getting it from all sides today.

Dinner for the three of them was on a sideboards of an island in the kitchen, Nadia on the kitchen side and these two opposing her. Nadia said that dinner was middle eastern Georgian style from the other Georgia, so dinner was kabobs that had just about everything on them. Marinated pork, little potatoes, onion, tomatoes, bell peppers and a zucchini squash here and there. In the center of the table was another of their delicacies was what she called a Khachpuri, it was a open loaf of bread with two horns giving you a crusty chunk of break on both ends. The opening was filled with cheeses, roasted garlic and smoked onion baked in, it was topped with an egg added to it just as it came out of the oven, it was sunny side up in the middle of this creation. Now it was good just with the bread but it was over the top with the cheese sauce on the kabob pieces, you just used a kabob stick and pop your item on the end and plunge it right through the egg and into the cheese, maybe getting a little yoke on it too … it was O so divine and you got all the food groups on every stick … and lots of fattening cheese in every bite.

Chloé stopped before it was too late but she added, “I want to thank you for the fine meal, that cheese sauce, you should can that and sell it on the roadside. But I would have been fine with a smoked sausage from my saddle bag and a hunk of bread.”

And Nadia said, “Nonsense, it’s just as easy to add one to a crowd like this … and I forgot to tell you, the foodstuffs you had with you … well we gave it all to the pigs … no too worry, we can replace it all if you are planning on leaving … are you leaving?” she rolled that one into the conversation so smoothly, didn’t she.

Chloé smiled that wide smile as she said, “If it’s all right by you if I get back to you on that … if you’ll have me for another day or so.”

Chloé took a few of the table nuts and started eating them as Nadia said, “Dear, you take your time, this place seems to have lots of that.” But she was noticing her face as she continued with this, “What do you think, we’re calling them roasted with salt. We soak them in a salt brine and roast them to brown them.”

She ate a couple more and said, “Needs a beer, there pretty good, could use some honey too. We did that back home with hazel nuts.”

Now Nadia was a character, you could say her whole life she was looking for an angle. Right here she just heard three in a few short moments. The canning of the sauce, the nuts in drinking establishments and a new flavor with honey … she had to try it. on another island was a honey pot … she retrieved it and drizzled it all over the nuts in the bowl, then everyone took one … Ooo, it just made them sinful.

Nadia put up a finger as she took the bowl of nuts out the door to the other ladies. This left the twosome at the table again and Chloé asked, “Did I do something wrong?” and all she got from Ranald was a shrugged set of shoulders while he shook his head.

And a few moments later and she returned with Elizabeth and her three helpers as they attempt to do something new … honey roasting because the mix of salt and sweet honey seemed like a hit.

But while this was all going on Nadia said, “The men wanted to fire off your guns, their loaded and they want to store them in the locker here … can’t do that loaded. They’re in the barn waiting for you.”

Nothing like running out to the firing range right after dinner, so it was back out to the deck and put on her boots again. Then it was out to the barn with Ranald in tow. He stopped at the door and leaned against the doorframe while this show started, always the watcher.

She stepped closer and they had did the food item, that was both cotton bags, like she said, insignificant to replace. The saddle bags were still over the saddle and the weapons slung on the horn of the saddle, the black knife right where she left it. She started with a visit to her horse … someone has been working her, gave her a bath and another fine brushing, she had water and oats and was happy to see her as she stomped her foot. She came out to a friendly lineup of men, six of them, must be workers here but they had one thing in common, they loved the look of the shotgun, just who didn’t.

She slipped in her blade to her beltline and looked to them as she said, “Where can we do this, you got a spot,” and they pointed out the back and she loaded up on her shoulder and said, “Lead on.”

And seven men crossed to a back field, the cotton was just picked so it was still pretty empty … they set up two bales of hay with an old rag, a red ‘X’ on it … it was a good fifty feet away.

She looked to Ranald and said, “You want to do the honors?” and his hands came up fast and with a heavy shaking of his head, he wasn’t game.

Then one of the men said, “How bout you tellin us what you got there fine lady.”

Reasonable request, “What I first have it something we called the lady killer, not that it kills ladies but that it typically a model that is used primarily by women. I’ve see single and double barrels on them, this one with four, this would scare the balls off a man it this was pointed a them,” she got a few giggles and nods on that.” She pointed to a man and said, “You game, it’s got a kick.”

And he stepped up, he let his straw hat fall back on its lace as he hefted the piece. He said, “Names Benji, it’s heavy … can I shoot all at once?” she nodded. And he brought it up and lined up a shot, they were ribbing him behind them, that was until he pulled both triggers and all four popped off almost at once and all went silent. He was a little off center, but it completely took out one of the four lines of the ‘X’. Now they were talking nice and there were a few ‘Aya’s’ in the group. Benji said, “I be tellin you what, I see a lady comin at me with that, I run … thanks.”

She looked at the biggest one, he had a vest on that was open … and mighty finely built, she knew. She said, “How about you shoot the big one, come on over big boy, I’ll let you shoot this hog. What I have here is a ten gage shotgun, someone has cut the barrels and remade the grip to this holster style. Here hold it upright, it doesn’t have a safety so be careful. Now just like the pistol it has two triggers, give it both rounds and please hold on because … she’s got a kick.

The man he shuffled his shoulders and took a couple of deep breaths … he brought it up and aimed … it was totally quiet and he pulled the triggers fast. This was quick but it was like it was in slow motion, the blast left the barrels as sparks spread out, the man holding the rifle held on but his footing was bad as he got pushed back and looked like he was heading for the ground well behind them. The shot in the meantime kept on going and it tore through not only the target but both hay bales leaving a head sized hole clear through.

We shift the view to behind the bales from the hole side, a man is flying and landing on his ass and then one by one, six men poked heads in at several angles in the hole, the final was the man on his back sitting up to look through. There was a round of applause and a lot of head shaking as they got the big guy back up.

Then after the quiet Benji asked, “Say lady, you be a pirate?”

She smiles that smile as she said, “I thought I was one … but when I was about to become one … I left it. I did look good in the garb.”

Benji then noted, “Then you be usin swords, shooting cannons an sailing high seas … what you leave for?”

And she pointed to a man standing behind them and said, “That man there,” it was Ranald.

Benji said, “Smart man, good choice, now let me clean these up, I put in the cabinet, Ranald show you.”

So as the men went to the hay bales to get a closer look at the damage, our Chloé sultrily stepped over to Ranald and pumped her eyebrows at him. But he was ready with a note, it said, ‘What’s with black thing you put behind you?’ & ‘And you shot that gun?’

She took it one at a time, she pulled out her knife and the other men saw this and turned to watch her as she opened it up and said, “It’s an assassins blade from Turkey I believe,” it was a twelve inch blade and she closed it back up and put it away. Then she said, “As for the rifle, I only shot it once, I had a lot of adrenaline in me at the time … and I was extremely pissed off.”

Benji said, “That do it, see wife like that once.” as he brushed off the back of the big guy.

They left them to this as our couple took the less obstructive path back through the barn and back to the house. And she dropped her boots off in the wet room again, she was running on socks now. Now there was smells of honey and sugars and it led them back to the kitchen and the nuts.

They came in with Nadia saying, “We need to figure this out, the honey crystalizes, we see it in the honey pot, we just need that on the nuts after they cook … keep thinking about this, we’ll start up in the morning again. We may need an after sprinkle of something to sugar them up.”

Then she turned to Chloé and said, “You young lady, we have two barns absolutely stuffed with peanuts, it so many the rats don’t even want them. You … you just may have given us a way to get rid of them … this sweet nut … and getting them into bars, well that’s my idea but you started it by saying it would go good with a beer. A bitter beer or ale with salt always enhances the taste, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. You don’t have any idea on what to do with sweet potatoes other than making a pie do you?” and of course she had one in hand right at that moment. She asked, “Care for a slice?”

Of course everyone took a piece … and it was excellent, kind of like a pumpkin and naturally sweet. Ranald was watching Chloé lick the crumbs off the fork as she stated this, “I love your crust, you should sell these at the weekend market, do you have one of those?”

She just hit her again as her mouth went wide and she said, “No, no we don’t … I’ll make some calls on people tomorrow,” and she came up and kissed her. As she pulled away she said, “You sure are an obscure angel … I need to go jot down some notes, the ladies got you in the Gold room for tonight … that’s next door to Ranald, he can show you the way.”

From the look on his face he didn’t know this either. Chloé said, “I like her, she’s got initiative, I tell you that.”

She went to pick up the dishes and he wrote, ‘Just leave it, they’ll clean it up in the morning.’

But she didn’t stop as she set them in the wash bowl as she said, “No time like the present,” she threw a cloth to him and said, “Give the table a quick wipe down … go on, it won’t hurt you.”

Then as he was getting done she walked right past him and crossed into the living room, he dropped the rag in a ball on the table and followed her. The sun was setting giving the sky a beautiful overglow as she went to the window to experience it, he took up a strong stance in the middle of the room to watch. He noticed this, she was like a child that was kept in a room all her life and finally set loose … and to think she was always like this every day of her life. It was like a new day every day to bring life to the world around her … he was never like this.

She turned around as a lady came in a lit the lamps in the room, that lit up the piano and she went right to it and sat down … she went through the cords from bottom to top in perfect order and timing … it alone was truly wonderful.

But through it all, Ranald just stood there, in his quiet world. He looked slightly disturbed so she asked, “Why the long face?”

He scribbled out a note and it said, ‘Music, I read about it many times, if I could hear one thing, it would be music.’

Chloé had a hand to her mouth as she read it, then her eyes turned to him as she said, “My you are deep man after all, this is profound. Tell you what, come sit beside me,” as she made room and patted the seat. She looked straight at him and the seat again, as if it was now an order … and would you believe it … he complied, this was very unlike for him.

She took his right hand and put it on top of the music shelf right beside the rack for the music. Then she took his left hand and held it as she said, “I need you to feel the music, part of that is understanding the piano. Now I’m putting your hand on my leg, and it’s not what you think, I need you to feel why the music as it changes, I do that with the foot pedal,” as she put his hand on her leg.

And she started playing ‘Debussy’s Clair de Lune’, it starts slow and she worked it as she swayed to the side to give the sound real feeling. But that was what he was doing was feeling, his mouth went wide and a tear fell … his hands went up and he started waving them for her to stop. With his first finger, he pointed to the spot he had his hand just on.

She interpreted it as, “What is this, is that what you want to know?” as he nodded, and she took this and threw this at him. She turned to him and said, “If I may, you do this to yourself, I see you always looking and I know that it’s because you can’t hear … what I see is that you are overloading one sense for the lack of another. What you need to do is to find other ways to do the same thing. Take the piano, it’s a beautiful instrument to me, I hear the rolls and the sound creates images to me … you can do the same but by feel rather than by hearing it … you have to feel the sounds. Now put your hand on the piano again,” he did and her leg, it flared another emotion in her … but she continued, “Now feel the difference between these two notes … this is a ‘C’ … now here is an ‘E’ … you feel the difference,” and he nodded. She kept it up and said, “Now when you feel this sequence, I want you to turn the page here for me … here I’ll play it again … got it … good. Now, let’s try this again from the beginning.”

Nadia was watching this whole time in the den as she sat behind the desk, for this she got up and went to the separation between room and looked on as her little man was blooming before her eyes. It started slow with a simple rhythm, then it expanded as more and more keys were hit, she grounded out then next with a pedal and the swaying started, not her she was already there, it was him as he closed his eyes to the mood. And as she pounded the keys and slammed with her head, he did too.

They finished the song, a full six pages, she helped him when to turn the pages on three, the forth one he got all on his own, he was counting the number of note bars. It was rewarded with applause from Nadia and our lamp lady, Beth. They blushed as they both went a few shades redder. Nadia shooed Beth away and she returned to her desk and work.

Ranald turned to her with a note that said, ‘How do you live each minute like this, such energy, vigor and stamina, kindness and purpose.’

She just said, “Someone’s got to be or we all walk around like statues all the time,” was she insinuating something there.

But her energy was running low, there was a stretch and a yawn as she stood up, then she said, “Ooo, if you don’t mind, I slept under a tree in a puddle last night, some shuteye would come in nice right about now.”

And he jumped up to the rescue before his mother comes and nudges him again. He stood before her and looked up as he pointed the same, she got it as she said, “It’s upstairs, I got it, lead the way.”

But instead he put out the elbow again … and she took it. why because the stairway up was wide enough for two to easily ascend. He went by one room and patted the door and his chest.

So she said, “Got it, this is your room … can I come in … just to look mind you.” He thought about it hard and finally shook his head.

As they continued to the next room he was writing … and it looked like a paragraph this time … but he seemed to hold it as he opened the door for her and presented the room.

And what a room it was, yep it was gold alright and tall … well done too. The bed, pillows, wall paper, and the ottoman were in the same fabric pattern, a fine yellow that went well with the golden highlights of the oversized bed frame. There was a fireplace, but that wasn’t needed tonight, it had a floor length mirror above it the roof was so high, it had a picture of a man on it, he was familiar.

He watched and he waited for her to pause the examination, she did and he handed her the note, it said, ‘Everything in here is from France, the bed, the chairs and the painting, Nadia thinks it’s Napoleon.”

Chloé shook her head and said, “No that’s the king of Spain, if you were to put them side by side they would look like brothers only from different mothers.”

He scribbled out, “Are you sure?”

And she said, “Yes, I’m positive, I sat on his left hand for dinner, it was this scrumptious shrimp gumbo and a cheesecake for desert.” She held onto the rest. But she added, “He loved his mirrors, I must have seen a hundred paintings just like this, he’s younger in this one than when I met him.”

She turned to him with her hands in her lap and she was looking at him … it took him a minute and she realized he was the problem, he was still in the room. He touched his chest and to the door, then he bowed to her as he left and gave her two hand signals. She said, “Tomorrow you’re going to have to teach me a few of those … ah hand words … Good night,” as she waved to him.

The door closed and she looked around, there was a pee bowl and she had to go … but she also remembered the double outhouse outside. So she skirted her way out and downstairs to the lower floor and outside, one door was open and she used it. There was a voice to the side of her, it was Beth as she said, “The ladies can use the bowl if you like, I don’t mind cleaning it.”

And she replied with, “If it was an emergency, I would. But I don’t mind bringing it out here either, much cleaner … goodnight,” as she left.

And trot she did into the house and upstairs again to find Ranald there standing at his door, he must have heard the noise. He quickly closed the door leaving himself in the hallway … she looked at this poor soul. She knew men, and there was no man that wouldn’t submit to her draw if she put it out there … but for this one … she didn’t … but she did wipe a finger across his chest as she swept past just for a keepsake as she was saying, “Just using the lavatory,” and she was gone as she skipped away to her room.

Back in the room she had a deeper look around, she had none of her gear, but this is Chloé, she would have no problem sleeping in the raw, not at all on a bed like this. But she at least need a place to hang these things up she has on … so she went for the standing closet, it was some fine work … she opened the doors and her saddle bags and clothes were inside all neatly stacked for her, and they were cleaned. But there was something hanging there too, she took a sleeve and rubbed it between her fingers, it was a night shirt, puffy long sleeves and Oh so soft cotton. It’s been a while since she saw one of these, she bit her lip and brought it up to smell it, it was cedar and roses … yep down it came and off came her clothes, it slipped over her head and she buttoned it up, not all the way. She looked at the bed and it wasn’t long before she ran and cannon balled into the bed, pillows went flying.

Ranald was right next door oblivious of what she was doing … he was wanting to know trust me … but he felt he failed to some level for his appearance in the hall … was he always doomed to failure with women … what would his mother say … or …

He was doomed of one thing, that was to pace the floor as he reviewed his day … at least she slept.

She had a dream, it was a round castle and every time she made a lap around it, she went up a level … but there was no people to be found … she leaned out and looked up, there she found people and they were waving her up … so she started running round and round … she leaned out again and now they were just above her on the next level … for some reason she got on the top of the railing and jumped up and wrapped her arms around one of them … and she woke.

She had her arms wrapped around a pillow, it was aglow outside and the sun was soon to come over the horizon so she sat upright and stretched, she kind of forgot where she was as she looked around … it was a nice room but that picture above the fireplace, it just has to go … too many memories.

She got up, the light was coming in through double doors, Oh and it went out to a short balcony. So the doors came open and she stepped outside and with her hands out she took a deep breath just as the first sun beams hit her. And with that white night shirt on … she glowed and many saw, Benji was there and said, “Top of the day, how’s the lady today?”

She said few words, it was, “Refreshed … and good morning all.” She got waves from many as she waved back.

Then from below on the deck was Nadia who was having breakfast outside today, she said, “Oh darling, how are you, did you see that sunrise, it was just for you honey. Get yourself together and come on down, you want coffee or tea?”

She shouted out “Tea please,” as she cut back inside.

A few minutes later she showed up at the table outside and sat in the same seat, thinking about it this was probably his seat, Ranald’s. She looked up cautiously while holding onto the seat arms and said, “I couldn’t help but wonder, this is your son’s seat isn’t it.”

She patted her hand and said, “Don’t you worry dear, he can just use my seat when I’m gone.”

She took a drink of her tea, and with a surprised look she said, “Your leaving?”

And Nadia spilled her beans as she said, “Yes, one more time, I want to do the world tour all the way through China this time. But not for a bit, I still have a couple of things to do first. You could help me with one of them if you would.”

So Chloé noted this, “Well lord knows that I’m game for just about anything … what did you have in mind?”

She rolled it out and said, “A man I know, he’s looking for an item I have, he said he wants to give it to the queen of England, a kind of peace offering for some privileges for him and his brother here in America. I think he had sights on being a senator one day, maybe you know him, it Pierre Lafitte.”

And tea came out of her nose as she gasped.

Nadia looked to her as she was reaching for air and she asked, “Are you okay sweetie,” as she regained and waved her off she noted this, “Do you know the man?” and she nodded.

She finally said, “Yes, I know of him … tell me more.” Although Nadia had her doubts to this.

But she continued as she said, “The necklace,” as she showed it again, “I guess the Queen want’s it badly … badly enough to send out a man Burney to find it. he actually just contacted me just two weeks ago on to see if I still had it … don’t tell Ranald but they offered $40,000.”

Ka-ching went her eyes as she stated, “Wow, that is a shiny penny … so what did you want from me?”

And Nadia said, “I need a guard … you know just in case. Benji is going to deliver it to Burney kind of privately so nobody knows where it came from. If you would just go along with him and you know show off those guns you have and detour any aggressor. All you got to do is get it there, nothing else. They are paying me in gold bricks and delivering them to my bank in New York in three weeks if all goes well. Then I’m off to Europe.”

Chloé asked, “What about this land, the plantation?”

And she stated this, “Oh, it’ll run just like it did when I was here, maybe a little less frenzied without me and my ideas. So what about the transport need I have, or is this Lafitte man going to be a problem?”

She then asked, “As long as we’re not dealing directly with the Lafitte family … I guess it should be okay but just in and out fast, I can’t hang around those people anymore … you probably know some of those kind that are like that.”

She nodded as she said, “Yes, there are a few ghosts in my closet I’d rather not meet. And getting rid of this necklace lets loose with another … I want to thank you for doing this, I’m planning on tomorrow, it’s a four hour ride, there and back … I’ll tell Benji.”

And breakfast was served, scrambled eggs, sausages, cheese and biscuits and Chloé made a biscuit sandwich, as Nadia looked at her she said, “On the ship we used to do this all the time, it was grab and go chow.” And Nadia just got another idea.

Ranald showed up … finally … a little bit late for hot food, it was still warm and he ate his fill. And it was time to get to work as Nadia said, “Now I need to run to town, I got a few ideas to spread around … I should be back by dinner,” as she ambled away.

 

[Haiku]

So Chloé was out for adventure and a look around the plantation and she had her shadow the whole way, what he must have thought of her. Yes they had cotton, fields of it but she was curious about how to gin worked and actually got involved with some hands on, even shoveling away the seeds as they piled up on them. Then somehow she got Ranald and her in the pig pen, he lost a shoe on the first step … it was okay as the pig found it for him and added a couple of chews. Then after all that she helped in the chicken coop, there were eggs to gather and a standard in all chicken coops, there was always poop to shovel out to the drying pile, it was fertilizer for the cotton around here.

The two of them were done by three as they stepped in front of the kitchen window, it didn’t take a moment before Elizabeth saw them and waved them in. She caught them in at the mud room, now she was worse but they were both a sight, feathers over cotton dust, very high in pollen, Ranald pointed that out. But the mud, it was to their knees and he was in socks stringing along behind him.

Elizabeth just laughed and said, “Lady, you are just what we need around here, and you both are a sight. How about we keep this to this bathroom and take this one at a time, shall we let the lady of the house go first?”

And of all things she said, “No, I can wait on the deck, can I have a taste of the latest version of the peanuts and a sweet tea please, and call when you’re ready for me.”

Beth met her there and it was hard not to laugh with the feathers in her hair like that. She said, “I want you to know, there has never been a lady of the house like you dear … enjoy and tell us what you think of these ones. We got cinnamon with the garlic but I think we still need a sprinkle of sugar ground to a dust on them,” as she turned away. They were much better, the honey is crystalizing better.

But then she was alone, she looked down at herself … then she leaned out to look into the pond … she looked inside, there was no one to see her … the shirt she had on today was long, Nadia said she would get some that would fit her better today while she was out. She bit her lip and did another look around and she was alone … so she did the unthinkable … she removed her boots and socks as they got tossed aside … then she looked inside again and did it … she unclipped her overhauls and let them drop as she pulled down the shirt and up on the legs of her underwear and retied them … it was good enough to cover her … and she took off running across path and right up the dock … she flew and did a perfect cannon ball right into the pond and as she came to the surface she started swimming around, a back stroke and a butterfly and then just floating around on her back for a bit.

And maybe it was a bit too long as Ranald was at the dock with a robe across his arm. She sucked in her lips and did a slow paddle up to the end of the dock, from up above he was seeing a figure that was undeniably well formed, the water, well it just about made everything transparent. She got the end and saw a man on edge, he did know what to do with someone like her.

She helped by saying, “Hold up the robe on your right arm and give me a block.” He did and as it blocked the view from the little houses … there was a few quick objections from the other men there.

She hopped out of the pond and got up pressed chest to chest with him and the top was even thinner than it was below, it wasn’t hiding anything … and she was touching him with them. He did his duty by wrapping the rope and letting her get her arms in … and he saw everything. He also found out that she doesn’t wear a bustier. She closed the robe and leaned forward, she kissed him and made her way to the house, that seemed to make everything better as he smiled to a few hoot calls from the men who were watching and rooting for him whether he wants it or not.

Ranald took it to the deck and stood there waiting and watching, he reviewed his day, the cotton gin, the chickens and pigs, just how did she get him in the pig pen. It was the carefree attitude, it was not ‘why she was like she was’, it was him and why isn’t he like her. He stood there long, enough for her to come out to see him standing there … she joined him as she pulled on his elbow again.

She said, “We got an hour before dinner, you want to walk the circle again … I’m game if you want to,” he nodded and they started the loop.

She listened and waited until she heard a bird in the distance and she was ready this time as she said, “Here hold onto this can, not with a grip like that, gently by your fingertips … that’s it … here now stop and feel that.”

He was confused at first, then a bird song rang out and his mouth opened and smiled … he turned to get it clearer and focus on it and he found it chirping up in a tree. Then another started up and he swung to find it, it was blue.

She said, “I don’t know how it does that but that can let you feel the bird song, you like it?”

And that kicked out a massage and it said, ‘A simple can acts as a rudimentary resonator, amplifying and altering sound waves that enter it, particularly those with wavelengths similar to the can's dimensions. The can's shape and size influence which frequencies are enhanced,’ as they continued walking.

And she said, “Figures that you’d know how it all works, my technical man … say the women of the house are calling me the lady of the house, is that at your request? It’s just I’ve been a lot of things and almost many others, but I have never thought of myself as a lady of any house.”

That brought out another note that said, ‘The "Lady of the house" refers to the female head of a household, often associated with managing the home and family. It's a term that can carry connotations of both authority and responsibility,’

And she replied with this, “So says the walking encyclopedia … I don’t want to lie to you, I’ve known a few men in my life … probably more than the average woman … but I never met one like you before … it must be why I like you so much.” Then she looked to his chest and said, “Oh, it looks like I dampened your shirt earlier,” as she brushed at it she noted, “Well, that should dry by the time were done.”

He looked down and saw what she was speaking of and yes, he had two perfect circles of wetness there from her wet embrace. There was nothing he could do about it now so he chuckled and had a couple of head shakes as he walked proud the rest of the way around listen-feeling the birds as they walked along.

They were at the table when Nadia came home, he had dried off by then thank goodness so he didn’t need to explain to his mother … that would have been a good one.

Dinner tonight was fried chicken and grits, with a side of cornbread … and the nuts were even better as they added some onion powder and the powdered sugar but just a sprinkle.

Now Nadia was busy, she got the locals together and the first country market was in two weeks where all of them could share and sell goods and food, get them back to the old ways of life. They would have to plan on what they’re going to have on the first day.

Next was the nuts, she got buy-in from all six bars in town to freely supply the nuts as long as they’re buying beers as they seem to feed each other, especially the sweet ones. She also sent a few telegrams to other local towns, she’s calling them Honey-C’s nuts for Chloé.

She also sent a confirmation to Burney for a 2:00 meeting tomorrow in the stock yards, that was in the French section of Tallahassee. And would you believe it, the road that passes the front of this plantation is the same one that heads right into the stock yards in Tallahassee, no turns needed.

They went to bed in separate rooms … now you know that she’s always ready … what she was waiting for was him to make a move … but if this takes more than a week she may have to take things into her own hands. You see sex for her was always granted, it was her gift to mankind and boy did she give it … and her not just jumping in bed with the man was a different kind of lesson for her too. But it also gives her some room to work with on this.

The marrow arrived and they were ready by 11:30 to leave, Benji carried the necklace in a small leather purse that was just the size of it, he covered that with a three-hole burlap sack that hung long to cover it up.

As for Chloé, she armed up with her tighter clothes and vest. What most in the household missed on it was the three throwing knives tucked inside, she felt them to make sure they were still okay. She had fresh loads in all guns and she was strapped with them and her knife … this really was one dangerous woman like this.

He kissed her and she read this note, ‘Please don’t go getting hurt over this … if you need to … ride home fast where it’s safe.’

The mounted up and they trotted off for the main road, she turned back to see him still looking her way and she blew him a kiss … and they were gone as they turned onto the road. All the others left but Ranald stood there and did his normal and stared off into the void, it was this darn heart feelings, feelings for her … it was changing the world on him … or more like he was changing his world for her. He went inside before there was more guilt that showed.

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The ride was quick, they made it a good half hour before the meeting, they dropped off the horses as a stable next door, there were a lot of horses there, there must be an event to this location soon, they looked to be preparing for it. So they ambled around with others there and listened … they talk said that there was a meeting happening on the following day, a meeting of rich men and English lords. There was something about helping them recover the southern American states of all things.

It also gave them time to look at the interaction location, it was off to the front of the stock pens and they found a small dingy there, it was unusable for a boat but for a seat it was right nice. Benji took a seat and Chloé found a narrow spot close enough to watch but not be seen … and they waited.

Now for how hidden Chloé was … she was actually able to see quite a lot … and this is what she saw.

Three men showed up, and one of them she recognized, it was Pierre Lafitte … the other two men weren’t recognizable … that means they never saw her before either. One was a burly dude, wide, tall and healthy looking, he carried two saddle bags, one on each shoulder, and he had a pasay face as he awaited his orders. That came as he pushed a man forward to the boat stall as Pierre held just outside the area and watched. Chloé could hear a little bit and she heard the name ‘Burney’, he must be the tethered one that sat opposing Benji.

He was prepared as he brought out glasses and a Lupe, and Benji opened the purse to show the necklace, he didn’t remove it for it was easily seen for what it was.

Now gems of the day, rubies and emeralds were more common, then you get the exotic sapphires and right now diamonds were the least common. So having a nine inch string with a total carat weight of fifty, it was impressive and you almost didn’t need a Lupe to look at them, you just feel their weight. And Nadia was wearing them all this time, she’s probably relieved not to be wearing them anymore.

Chloé overheard him say, “This is them … there is no doubt.”

And the big guy, he dropped two saddle bags on his lap and said, “Payment in full.”

Now this was not expected, the gold was supposed to be delivered differently … but he wasn’t complaining as he smiled and nodded.

Burney rose up and the big man pushed him forward and sunk a twelve inch blade deep into his back and he fell to the ground. Benji saw this and the big man looked back to him, but he kept his composure as he saluted him … and the big guy left with the bag and handed it to Pierre.

Now she knew this man, giving away money was never part of him unless there was purpose … but if given the chance, he would steal it back. He was looking at Benji right now and she was sure that he was either thinking this or he was planning on it from the beginning. She bet the later.

He walked away and didn’t look back, that means someone else was. Benji got up and he sneaked past the body of Burney, he shook his head as, who knows how he found out about the necklace. This just goes to show you that evil can be hidden but it calls to others like them, they just saw a few of them.

Benji said, “Stay low and take one of these, the men be watching still … we get out, turn right we get out under railings there.”

They did make it back to the stable, and they did get the hell out of there fast … but they didn’t go north as others were watching … they went south and went downtown.

It was like every eye was on them, they were literally carrying a hundred and thirty pounds of gold in the two bags … so they smiled to people as they passed by and even waving to a youngling that was waving to them. But as soon as they could and in the middle of people, they turned right and went west four blocks through an alley. Chloé stopped them to listen and she got what she wanted … followers … at least she knew where they were.

So it off and zig-zagging through this town, houses were nice here in this neighborhood and they kept moving as they got to a park and quickly scooted across it and stopped in the far trees and bushes. Chloé looked back, there were six men and they scattered as they lost the trail. She thought it a little funny that she was trying to lose men, it’s usually the other way around.

As soon as they went back to comb the neighborhood Chloé took off north up and around a few more plantations and they connected up with their road north-east to home again.

What they didn’t see was the brothers Lafitte, Jean kept saying that he saw Charli and Pierre kept telling him that he was daft and seeing ghosts … nothing more. They thing was that he did see her as they rode away … twice.

They came into the plantation to a pacing Ranald because they were two hours late, he for sure had a book for her to read by now.

The gold, well that was the unexpected and Nadia tried her best but she couldn’t get it all to pack into the vault, she took the half-full saddle bag to bed with her, tomorrow it’s off to the bank with the rest.

Ranald gave her a hug of his life, she didn’t know if he was mad or happy to see her back, but she took it either way. And no she didn’t sleep with him tonight, he didn’t make the right advances yet.

That didn’t happen for another week and it took some coaxing, the next day Nadia left and left her as the ‘Lady of the House’.

Two years later she was on a country stage doing ‘McBeth’, hey it was the entertainment of the day so most of the town was there. So was one more, it was the old Indian from the port, the Guarantor and she saw him as he smiled, this story worked out after all.



In Remembrance …

Ranald Douglas, "outdoor photographer," active 1870s, a photo had an inscription on the rear, it said, New Jersey School for the deaf and mute "View of Beverly from rear of Deaf-Mute Inst." In his handwriting

Nadia, was Comtesse de la Motte & Jeanne de la Motte, her real name was Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Remy and she was the one who acquired the necklace from Marie Antoninette’s jeweler in 1780, she forged her signature and slept with men to get the others.

American Sign Language (ASL) is a complex, fully developed visual-spatial language utilized by the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities in the United States and parts of Canada. ASL has a rich history that reflects the resilience and determination of the Deaf community in seeking recognition and social equality. This essay will provide an overview of the origins of ASL, its development over time, the influences of other sign languages and linguistic communities on its evolution, and the key historical figures, educational institutions, and milestones that have contributed to its growth and recognition as a distinct and valuable language.

Origins of ASL

The roots of ASL can be traced back to the early 19th century, with the merging of local sign languages and the Old French Sign Language (OFSL) brought to the United States by Laurent Clerc, a Deaf educator from France (Lane, Hoffmeister, & Bahan, 1996). In 1817, Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, an American educator, established the American School for the Deaf (ASD) in Hartford, Connecticut, which became the cradle of ASL (Lane et al., 1996). The ASD provided an environment where the combination of OFSL and the regional sign languages of Martha’s Vineyard, Henniker, and Sandy River Valley, among others, gave birth to what we now know as ASL (Groce, 1985).

Development of ASL

ASL continued to develop and evolve throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Its expansion was propelled by the establishment of more schools for the Deaf, such as the New York Institution for the Deaf in 1818 and the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in 1820 (Gannon, 1981). As the Deaf community grew, so did the linguistic diversity of ASL, as regional variations and dialects emerged (Lucas, Bayley, & Valli, 2001).

One of the most significant milestones in the development of ASL was the publication of the first ASL dictionary by William Stokoe in 1960 (Stokoe, 1960). Stokoe’s work demonstrated that ASL possessed a linguistic structure and grammar distinct from English, contributing to its recognition as a bona fide language (Stokoe, 1960). Subsequent research further established ASL as a complex and robust language with its own syntax, morphology, phonology, and semantics (Klima & Bellugi, 1979).

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Ranald took the top one, below is a picture of the whole property, Nadia paid for it.

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From what I could find, he never had any children, that may have been because Chloé had spoiled herself and couldn’t have them.

 

[Haiku]

This is a chapter of a new book I’m working on, it’s currently called Swashbuckler and I’m now half way done. If anything this is entertainment for a bit, Enjoy … Haiku …

18288 words, and 58 pages.

 

[Haiku]

Here is the PDF, easier reading, Haiku ...