Black White, and Gray

Sold

It is 1692 and my name is Hope Kingston. I lived on the moors of England all my life; little did I know that one day that would all change…

It wasn’t the best day to go out, the wind was picking up and the gray clouds were guarantying a storm. Lightning flashed in the distance, and the thunder crashed right over the house. Winter was coming of that I was sure.
The lightning flashed and the kitchen I was sitting in lit up. There was no way I was letting my mother go out in this storm. I put my bare feet down on the cold stone floor and ran into the small rug in front of the stove. She was going to get some more cloth for blankets and clothes, and since my father was in the local pub, as usual, she had to go. She was so stubborn about these things to. If only I could convince her not to.
I heard the front door open and hurried through the kitchen door into the front room, but to late, the front door closed before I could say any thing. I rushed to the front door. The cold air seemed to push past as I opened it. I stuck my head out to see her disappear over the hill. I was pelted by rain as I stepped out onto the wet ground and shouted her name, but the wind swept my thin voice away.
After a while I decided to go to my bed the house was getting awfully cold and I couldn’t do any thing about it. The first step had just creaked under my foot when the door banged open and some one yelled about how cold it was inside. The door closed again and I took another step this one didn’t creak so I set my foot on the next step and pressed. Before it had a chance to make a sound I heard a voice behind me and I stopped in my tracks.
“Where do you think you are going?”
The words were slurred and I could barely under stand what he said. I turned around to see my father there drunk as ever.
“To my room.”
“Oh no you aren’t. Your going to heat this place up, and were is your mother?” I noticed he hadn’t sobered up a bit, so I hurried to answer him.
“She went out to buy more cloth, and she just left so she won’t be back for some time.”
We stood staring at each other, and then he shouted at me to go get firewood. I ran upstairs and grabbed my coat and boots. Then rushed back down the stairs and out the door.
The strong wind almost blew me away as I slipped outside. I ran quickly to the barn where we kept the wood, and pulled the door open. It was a heavy wooden door, and by all accounts I shouldn’t have been able to open it if not for the wind pulling at it as well.
Closing it was another matter; I pushed and pulled, until finally the wind was shut out. Then I looked around. The wood was in the corner, but that could wait. Why not take as long as possible to go back inside? I pulled the coat closer around me. It was warmer in here than in the house, but it was still cold. My mom might not be back till morning, so it would be my job to do dinner. I walked over to where the storage was kept, to find it almost empty. As evidence of my slim figure the fishing business had had a bad year. My father worked on one of the fishing boats in town and every month I secretly hoped he wouldn’t return. It was horrible for me to think this way, Mama would be devastated, but I still hoped.
That’s how I got my name. Mama said that I was her hope that Papa would change. I had to laugh at that. He would never change, and if anything I would never be the cause of his changing.
I looked down at the poor quality of the apples. Mama had bought them just a week ago, and they were already going bad. I picked one up. It had multiple bruises, perfect for making applesauce. I pulled out a few more, and was just putting them in the basket, when I heard hoof beats outside.
You almost couldn’t hear them because of the wind and rain. I suspected Mama had gotten her wits about her and had come back, but when the door to the barn opened it wasn’t Mama. It was a man I had never seen around the house before. Papa was always bringing drinking buddies home when mom wasn’t here, but he was a new one. He brought his horse inside the barn, and then went to work on closing the door. He was pulling it all wrong, so I watched to see what would happen. After about ten minuets of pulling he gave up, giving the door a kick, and swearing at it.
The swearing should have given me a clue. I should have run right then and there. Papa did drink, but he never swore, and despised men who did. He would never have brought some one like this to the house. But I didn’t run and I would soon find out that that decision would change my life.
I walked over, and he watched as I easily pulled it shut. Then I turned to look at him. He was tall, taller than Papa, and had long black hair. His pale skin was slightly red from the cold outside and the stubble of a week old beard covered his cheeks and chin.
He handed me the rains for his horse, and then walked to the door. I watched as he tried to open it. I almost laughed. Once again he was pulling it all wrong. I tied the horse to the post, and pulled the door open. He said nothing, and walked out into the storm. I quickly closed the door again, and walked back to the horse. It was a dark brown color, the breed of which I couldn’t tell. We had two horses, one was Papa’s, cinnamon an old worn down mare and the other was mama’s caramel a spry young horse that was barely old enough to ride. The only other animal was the ginger cat that wandered our small farm and on occasion came to visit the house.
I dried the horse down, and put it in Caramel’s stall, then took the saddle, and made sure it was dry. He had left his saddlebags with the horse, and I figured just a peek wouldn’t’ hurt. I sat down in the hay, and pulled them over to me. I had a little trouble undoing the clasp, and when I eventually did my fingers hurt from pulling. I opened the bag and leaned over to look in. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. A small handgun, some papers, and food. I closed it, placed them on the saddle, and then picked up my basket. Before leaving I put various other items in for dinner tonight. Then walked to the door. I had to set the basket down to open the door, then I pushed it outside, and shut the door behind me. I picked up the basket and ran to the house hoping not to get too wet.
By the time I got inside I was soaked. I looked around the front room; there was no one in sight. Father must have taken the stranger into the kitchen to sit by the fire. I peeled off my jacket, and pulled off my boots. I put them by the front door, and picked up my basket. I walked quickly to the kitchen door, and slowly pushed it open. I put my head down, as was expected of me.
The man and Papa were sitting at the table. Papa had gotten out whiskey and the two of them were drinking. I set about making the fire warmer, which was hard with the wet wood. Finally I had a nice fire going and I stepped over to pick up the things to make dinner, but Papa spoke before I got there. “Go up to your room.”
I went up to my room, not wanting to get in trouble and huddled under the blankets. There was something about this man. Something that wasn’t good for me. I just had that feeling. I looked out the window at the still pounding rain. Lightning flashed, and thunder sounded, rattling the house.
An hour or so later my door was opened and I was taken out of my bed. Papa lifted me up by my arm, and dragged me down the stairs. He threw me down at the feet of the stranger. I landed on my hands and knees, making them hurt. The man put a hand under my chin and lifted me slowly to my feet. He looked me over for a moment, and then nodded.
”She’ll do fine.”
I looked away from the man and over to Papa. He didn’t make eye contact with me, but nodded to the man.
“A hundred. Like we agreed?”
The man nodded, and took a hold of my arm. He fished the money out of his pocket, and handed it to my father. My father took it greedily, then motioned to the door. “You can go now.”
I was dragged out of the house, and into the barn. I was shocked. My father, my own father had just sold me to a stranger. He made me sit on the hay then set to work putting the saddle back on the horse. I wasn’t being held in place, maybe I could run, but would he catch me? I decided to try. I slowly got to my feet, his back was too me so seeing me for now wasn’t an issue. I tensed myself then darted for the door, hoping to open it quickly, but as I pulled on the door he caught my wrist and pulled me back over to the horse. He had gotten the saddle on by now and he lifted me onto it when we got back, then climbed up behind me. He wrapped his arms around me and took the reigns in his hands. We road out of the barn, and into the pounding rain me shoeless and freezing, already soaked as we made it to the gate of the farm.
Hours later we stopped in town at the local bar. He got down from the horse, and then took me down. The reigns were handed to a boy I took to be the stable boy and I was pulled inside. As the door opened to a private room I glimpsed the only man in the room, sitting in a chair opposite the door. He had ivory skin and sandy brown hair, though he was dazzlingly handsome. As soon as we entered the room I was forced to stare at the floor instead of the man in the chair, then shoved to my knees, the hard wooden floor yielding nothing. I was somewhat aware of the man that was sitting in the chair looking at me, then the one holding me spoke.
”Well Mr. Movont? What do you think of her?”
”How old is she?” His voice was soft and velvety, a sweet honey sound. compared the man holding me this man sounded much more inviting.
”Ten.”
”Too young.”
”If I come back to you in a few years will you reconcider?”
Mr. Movont nodded. “We’ll see.”
The man holding me, the name of whom I still didn’t know, dragged me back out of the room. I was reluctant to leave, but a quick slap across my face reminded me who I was with. I was pulled through the bar, and I debated on weather or not to call for help from someone, but all of the men here looked just as horrible as the man dragging me.
He took me too a home on the outskirts of town that was rather large, but rundown. I was pulled through the door and across the grand front hall. there were people here and there that glanced in my direction, but quickly went back to what they were doing, acting as if it were normal. The air began to grow fowl as we decended the stairs and I tried not to wrinkle my nose to it. We came to a door at the bottom of the stairs with a bolt across it. a man standing beside it pulled the bolt away and opened the door. it became clearly obvious of where the stench was coming from as it blasted from the room and washed over me. It was dark inside, but I could make out sort of cages along the walls. In each cage was a set of bunk beds, with mattresses made of straw. Here and there a figure of a person sitting on the bottom bunk was distinguishable, while in other places it was only a huddled mass of cloth with an occasional limb.
He took me over to a cage, and began to unlock the door. A woman was sitting on the bed though it was hard to make her out in the non existant light and her clothes didn’t help to make her any more visible. She looked up briefly at the two of us, and then quickly looked down before the man holding me noticed. He unlocked the door, and shoved me inside.
”Alicia this is your new bunk mate.” he slammed the door behind me, and locked it, the sound of the mettle ringing in my ears. I fell to my hands and knees, and then quickly got up. He walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. As soon as the door was shut someone lit a candle, then more came to light around the barn as they passed on the flame.
The light filled the barn until finally everyone could be seen. Alicia looked at me, then stood. She was only slightly older than my mother would have been. Her black hair was tangled, and there was mud and dirt on her face clothing, and any other exposed skin. Her smell wasn’t much better. As I looked around I realized that most of these people had probably not taken a bath for months.
Alicia stepped forward and made me look at her. “You listen to me young one. The top bunk is mine, as is the bottom one. You want somewhere to sleep you’ll sleep on the floor. Got it?” her tone was forceful, and she griped the sides of my face hard. I wiggled free of her hand, and nodded slowly, looking at the ground.
A voice came from across the barn, and Alicia looked up. She glared a bit when she saw who has spoken.
“Leave her be Alicia. Look at the poor thing. She looks to be only eight.” it was a man’s voice, deep and warm. When I turned to look at him I found him in the cell across from us. From what I could see he had dark brownish hair. He was tall and muscular, but I couldn’t tell much else.
“I don’t see you stuck with the little brat.” she looked down at me, almost glaring.
Another voice, this one older came from somewhere near the door. “Candles out and get in bed.”
Alicia climbed up onto the top bunk nimbly, and then motioned for me to take the bottom one. I was a bit confused, but took the bunk anyways, and huddled under the threadbare blanket. The door opened, and the man stepped in again. He opened one of the far doors, and dragged a young woman out. She began to sob as he pulled her by her hair out of the door. He shut it behind him, and the bolt was slid into place.
Tears came to my eyes as it finaly hit me I was never going to see my mother again. I huddled further under the blanked, but that didn’t last long as I was dragged from the bed, and was thrown to the floor. “That is where you’ll sleep.”
I looked up to find Alicia standing above me. She climbed back up onto the top bunk, and I leaned against the bars, wrapping myself in the blanket. Sleep didn’t come for a very long time, and it was only out of exhostion that it finally came.
A light filled the room an I was thrown abruptly into conciousness. Three or four men came in, and unlocked the doors. Each of them had a whip in hand. All of the people walked out of their cages, and when the door to ours was unlocked Alicia climbed out of the bed. I slowly got to my feet, and dropped the blanket on the bed. I was still cold, and a little sore from the night before. My limbs felt like lead as I walked out of the cage, and into the small crowd. I felt a hand on my shoulder as we formed a sort of line, apparently for breakfast, and looked up.
“Hello. I’m sorry about last night. Don’t mind Alicia. There’s a possibility she’ll get nicer.” it was the man who had stood up for me the night before.
When I didn’t say anything he sighed.
“I understand this is going to be hard for you. If you just do what you’re told they’ll be kinder.”
I still said nothing. Someone in front of me cleared their throat, and I turned around and took the plate from the man standing there. I went to a table that was in the center of the room, and sat at the far empty end. The man that had tried to comfort me went and sat by a young woman, and put his arm around her. The woman that had been dragged out of the room the night before was sitting with a man that was holding her close, and stroking her hair.
I glanced around once, and then began to eat the little bit of breakfast we got. When I was done I was grabbed by my arm and dragged up the stairs.
I was taken into a room and thrown inside. It was bare except for a barred window and the wooden floor didn’t help my already sore knees. I crawled over to a wall, and pulled my knees up to my chest, huddling into a corner.
My dress was dirty from spending the night on the filthy basement floor. The door opened, and the man that owned the place stepped inside. He had a whip in his hand, and when I looked up he chuckled. “Well. How about we teach you a few manners. Get up.”
I hesitated, and then got slowly to my feet. The hesitation cost me as the whip snapped across my knees. I fell to the ground again, and held in a cry of pain. He hadn’t broken the skin, but it still stung. He grabbed me by the arm, and forced me to my feet. “Before you get up you say. ‘Yes sir’.”
“Yes sir…” I mumbled weakly.
“Good.” he dropped me and let me fall to the ground. “Now get up.”
“Yes sir.” I mumbled, and got slowly to my feet.
Once I was on my feet he hit me hard across the face, and I was thrown to the ground again. “Do it quickly. Don’t hesitate.” I curled up as he raised the whip and it snapped across my side. “Maybe pain will give you an idea.” It snapped over and over, filling me with pain. My mind began to grow fuzzy and finally my vision went black and I fell unconscious.