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Chapters (153)
  1. Beulah Land
  2. Dedication
  3. PART ONE
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. PART TWO
  27. 1
  28. 2
  29. 3
  30. 4
  31. 5
  32. 6
  33. 7
  34. 8
  35. 9
  36. 10
  37. 11
  38. 12
  39. 13
  40. 14
  41. 15
  42. 16
  43. 17
  44. 18
  45. 19
  46. 20
  47. 21
  48. 22
  49. 23
  50. PART THREE
  51. 1
  52. 2
  53. 3
  54. 4
  55. 5
  56. 6
  57. 7
  58. 8
  59. 9
  60. 10
  61. 11
  62. 12
  63. 13
  64. 14
  65. 15
  66. 16
  67. 17
  68. 18
  69. 19
  70. 20
  71. 21
  72. 22
  73. 23
  74. 24
  75. PART FOUR
  76. 1
  77. 2
  78. 3
  79. 4
  80. 5
  81. 6
  82. 7
  83. 8
  84. 9
  85. 10
  86. 11
  87. 12
  88. 13
  89. 14
  90. 15
  91. 16
  92. 17
  93. 18
  94. 19
  95. 20
  96. 21
  97. 22
  98. 23
  99. 24
  100. PART FIVE
  101. 1
  102. 2
  103. 3
  104. 4
  105. 5
  106. 6
  107. 7
  108. 8
  109. 9
  110. 10
  111. 11
  112. 12
  113. 13
  114. 14
  115. 15
  116. 16
  117. 17
  118. 18
  119. 19
  120. 20
  121. 21
  122. 22
  123. PART SIX
  124. 1
  125. 2
  126. 3
  127. 4
  128. 5
  129. 6
  130. 7
  131. 8
  132. 9
  133. 10
  134. 11
  135. 12
  136. 13
  137. 14
  138. 15
  139. 16
  140. 17
  141. 18
  142. 19
  143. PART SEVEN
  144. 1
  145. 2
  146. 3
  147. 4
  148. 5
  149. 6
  150. 7
  151. 8
  152. Copyright
  153. Books by Lonnie Coleman published by Classica Libris (digital editions)

Roscoe nodded. “I have told her how it is to be, and she has agreed.”

“Has she?!” Deborah’s relief burst forth before she could think to hide it. Here was the solution to her problem, and the girl did not lose either—was not Roscoe the most important man on the plantation? She was more than lucky; she was blessed. A thought intruded. “But you are free, and she is not.”

Roscoe nodded. “It is my hope for you to agree,” he said carefully, “that should the time come for me to leave here, you will sell her to me.”

“I agree, of course,” Deborah said. “We have never separated husband and wife at Beulah Land.” Roscoe bowed his head again briefly, as if to set his seal on their understanding. Deborah stood. “We shall have the wedding in the dining room, and I shall have a parson come out from Highboro to say the marriage words over you.”

Again Roscoe nodded, then apparently feeling that enough had been settled for the moment, he turned to take his leave. His hand was on the doorknob when Deborah’s voice stopped him. “I think, Roscoe, that you must be called ‘Overseer’ from now on.”

He turned slowly and looked at her. “So be it,” he said, and then went out, closing the door quietly.

PART TWO

1828

1

Rooster, it happened, was the first of his generation to marry, and it came about in a simple and natural way. At twenty-two he was a man in body and mind. He had held to his resolve to avoid more schooling than Mr. Bartram provided, and he had become a keen and knowledgeable farmer, gradually taking on more and more of his father’s work and responsibilities, so that when Benjamin, in 1825, suffered a stroke of paralysis, Oaks was not without a master. Benjamin was fortunate enough to keep, or to regain, the use of his faculties, but he never walked again.

Monday Kendrick, who had married Flossie of Beulah Land and taken her to live at Oaks, assumed personal charge of his master. Monday was a giant of a man, six and a half feet tall, and he moved Benjamin from place to place as easily as another might move a child. The two men, who had always had a high regard for each other, became good friends. Without telling anyone but Rooster, Benjamin signed a legal paper which Felix had drawn up for him that gave Monday and Flossie and whatever children they might produce between them their freedom upon Benjamin’s death.