Painted Vessels by Gina Renee Freitag

Author:Gina Renee Freitag [Freitag, Gina Renee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781707062270
Publisher: Gina Renee Freitag
Published: 2020-06-08T22:00:00+00:00

JED

Jed knelt next to the wooden chest in the young couple’s tent and watched Eli dig through its contents. What could cause so much fear and hesitation in the boy? Eli pulled a canvas bag out of the chest and set it on his lap. It was the same bag he had been carrying when he ran into Jed’s vardo as the caravan was preparing to leave Ashbrook back in June. Jed never noticed it again after they had reached Clackton, and he had forgotten all about it. Seeing it now reminded him of the stubborn way Eli had held onto it, refusing to let it out of his sight.

After the wedding ceremony, Jed had found the bag sitting against a tree. The boy must have set it there when he took his bath. In all the excitement, it had been forgotten, and whoever emptied the tub had failed to see it. It might still be there to this day if Jed hadn’t stumbled upon it in the twilight. He put it in the newlyweds’ makeshift tent, and now—nearly four months later—he was looking at it once more as Eli held it reluctantly between his knees.

“When Ada and I were locked in those cages,” he began, “there were usually four or five men who never left the rock quarry, but only one of them held the key. I know this because he always let in the man who marked up Ada’s arm each night. I think it was his job to be our guard. Even though there were others, the man with the key was the only one who stayed close to us the whole time. The rest of them sat at a distance and played cards.”

Eli paused briefly. His hands seemed to have a mind of their own as his grip on the bag repeatedly squeezed and relaxed. “He would stand outside Ada’s cage and stare at her. He said awful things that made her cry. That’s how I found out those numbers on her arm were bids. He told her she brought in higher bids than he had ever seen before. He said the men who bid on her were willing to pay a high price for an ‘untouched’ souvenir from their travels to our country. Whoever won the bid would be able to show off his wealth by parading her around, and he could loan her out, over and over, to barter for more power and loyalty.”

Jed could hear disgust in the boy’s voice; he felt it too. What had happened to these kids was unimaginable! Eli proceeded to relay more of their story. “I hated listening to that man’s voice and seeing how his words upset Ada, but every time he focused on her and ignored me, I was able to work loose one of the bars. Then one morning, all the men except for him left the quarry. He seemed anxious, and after a while, he left too.” Eli fidgeted with the straps as he spoke.

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