Candle in the Darkness - Lynn N. Austin [27]
The grove fell silent. Eli had everyone’s full attention. Even the women had stopped fanning themselves.
“Now, I know them overseers be mean men. I know they be hateful men. But we can’t be deciding for ourself what God should do and who He should kill. We can’t be telling God how to run His business. We got to wait for the fullness of time. We got to trust God’s mercy and justice. When time come for us to be free—and it will come! Oh, yes sir, it will surely come!”
“Preach it, brother!”
“When the time come for our freedom, we won’t have to lift a finger against our enemies. ‘Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay.’ We just have to sit back and watch—just like the Israelites sit back and watch. And God gonna send His plagues down upon this land. Grasshoppers . . . and hail . . . and ruined crops . . . and dying cattle. God gonna send His plagues on this here land while we just sit back. And in the end, when God finish showing white folks His power, our time finally gonna come! We gonna be free!”
This time there were no shouts. The people simply stared at Eli—unbelieving, yet yearning to believe.
“You say we not have to fight for our freedom, Eli?” someone in the crowd finally asked.
“Yes sir, that’s what gonna happen. The Bible say it ain’t by the sword that they won the land, nor did their own arm bring them victory. God do it for them, with His right hand, because He loved them. It ain’t gonna be our power but God’s power that set us free! And when He set us free, brothers and sisters, we be free indeed!”
The people were on their feet as one, clapping, dancing, shouting. Someone started singing a song about freedom. Above it all I heard Eli shouting, “ ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.’ ”
I felt the thrill I always felt at Eli’s conviction and faith. Then Jonathan tapped my shoulder and motioned for me to follow him.
“You aren’t going to tell your father, are you?” I whispered when we were back on the path again. “You heard what Eli said— they won’t lift a finger.”
“I heard, but . . . what did he mean? God isn’t going to set the slaves free. Slavery is part of God’s plan. It’s in the Bible.”
“But the story Eli told is in the Bible, too. God did set the Israelites free. And they didn’t have to fight the Egyptians. Pharaoh let them all go free after the firstborn sons died.”
Jonathan waved impatiently. “I know the story. But those slaves weren’t Negroes. The black race is cursed by God. Their skin color is the mark of Cain.”
“How can you think that way? You said Josiah is your best friend.”
“He is. But he’s still a Negro. And he belongs to me, just like Tessie belongs to you.”
“She doesn’t belong to me—”
“Okay then, to your father. They’re our slaves, Carrie. Nothing is ever going to change that.”
Jonathan and Eli couldn’t both be right.
As I finally crawled back into bed that night, I decided I believed Eli. I hid the words he’d spoken in my heart. Still, I couldn’t imagine what he’d meant when he said God would show white folks His power—ruined crops and dying cattle. I was one of those white folks. And even though Eli had said the slaves shouldn’t lift a finger against me, his words scared me to death.
Chapter Five
The next morning at breakfast I asked Daddy if I could stay at Hilltop instead of going home with him. He considered it for a long moment without answering. “Please,” I begged, “Jonathan and I are just becoming friends—and I don’t have any friends back home.”
“All right,” he finally agreed. “But Tessie and Eli will have to come back to Richmond with me.”
I knew Daddy needed Eli to drive the carriage home, but I couldn’t understand why Tessie had to leave, too. I’d never been without my mammy before, and I didn’t want to be without her now.
“Why, Daddy? Why can’t Tessie stay here with me?”
“Because there are plenty of servants to help out around here. Tessie is needed back home.” He