“You’re right about him not being involved, but Maddock has agreed to let us have a meeting at his place. In fact, one of the governor’s men has been invited just to make sure that everything is legal and proper. I’ve brought you a copy of our petition, and I doubt if there’s anything in it that would cause you a problem.”

“Well, I’ll think on it and then decide if I want to come to any kind of gathering.”

After Henry left, Ethan read the document and assessed the situation in his careful and methodical way. Although he had not been bothered personally, Ethan could see the need for more representation for the small farmers both in the colonial assembly and in the county seat. He shared Henry’s conviction that all the local officials were aligned with the governor and his council, and he felt that they should answer to the people in Orange County. One thing he particularly resented was the law that used his tax money to compensate slave owners if one of their slaves committed a serious crime and was imprisoned or executed.

This didn’t happen very often, because slaves were valuable and their owners were influential enough to save the life of one they really wanted to keep. But there was always a fear of a slave uprising, and examples had to be made. On several occasions, after a slave was hanged, his head was cut off and placed on a stake for viewing for several days, and on four occasions in North Carolina, for particularly heinous acts, slaves were burned at the stake.

He could tell that, in all these matters, things were getting worse. So far he had been able to pay his taxes on time, but, as was the case in all rural areas, cash money was scarce, even rarely used. Lately, Maddock had told him that future taxes would have to be paid in hard currency, but this was hard to believe, since most trade was by barter, with certificates for stored produce used as legal tender.

As Ethan thought about the situation, he was more inclined to go to the meeting and size up what the Regulators were doing. He saw no need to discuss the matter with Epsey, since this was primarily a man’s business. On the first Saturday, he just saddled his horse, said, “I’ll be gone for a few hours,” and rode off toward Maddock’s mill, about an hour’s ride from their farm.