‘Don’t fret bout Sydney. She just jealous. Full up with envy. All she doing is throwing stones at Massa favourite,’ McKellar said. ‘If anything happen,’ looking at her straight, ‘me know what to do. Come to me. Ask me. And me will do it.’

Stella nodded, and a secret smile passed between them.

‘What news? Is true soldiers catch the Rose Hall runaway slave dem?’

‘All five of dem.’

‘How come you don’t hide dem up in Maroon town?’

Robert looked round to see if anybody listening.

‘Must speak quiet, woman. Everywhere you look is ears.’ Then Robert looked at me, looked at Stella. ‘And some big ears with big eyes staring at us.’

‘Don’t fret bout little Will. Him know what going happen if open him mouth.’

Robert lowered him voice. ‘Stealing from backra is one thing. Runaway, even worse. But burning down backra canefield dem? Is like pushing a stick in a wasp nest and poking it round. Dem runaways know not to make dem way to Maroon town. Treaty with backra mean we have to catch dem, turn dem in. Nobody going hide dem runaways. Bring trouble down pon our heads.’

‘How they catch dem?’

‘How you think?’ filling him pipe and lighting it. ‘Slave lead soldiers right to where the runaway dem was hiding. Get a big reward.’

‘Not right. Not right,’ Stella say. ‘What going happen now?’

‘They dead already. Get whipped so much they can’t stand up.

Rub lime juice and pepper into the wound dem. Slow burn dem. Chop off foot, chop off leg, chop off hand, chop off arm. Chop off dem head. Put the heads on a spike by the gate to the plantation. Make dem stay there, till dem turn rotten, fall off.’

‘Lawd have mercy on dem souls!’

‘One of dem was a woman. Backra treat her no different.’

‘Is a wicked thing, this. A wicked, wicked thing. Backra think him own us, but all him ever going get is the husk.’

And with that, Stella took one long drink of rum.

Later when we got back to the plantation, she gave me a beating to show me what going happen if I ran round telling secrets, even to Calla. I didn’t need the glimmering to learn that lesson.

Seem like a long time ago I was going to market with Stella, but that Maroon man, Robert McKellar, him still friendly. Come visit sometimes. Bring him permission note to show Massa him out looking for runaways, but I know him also coming to see Stella. At night, when she sneak out to visit him, don’t sleep in her hut, I say nothing. I learn long time ago to keep me mouth shut, not get mixed up in nobody business.