The Undertakers by Nicole Glover

Author:Nicole Glover [Glover, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 9780358181804
Publisher: HMH Books
Published: 2021-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

WOLF

Interlude

May 1863

TEACH ISLAND, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

IT CAN’T BE COINCIDENCE,” Benjy said once again.

“Oh no, it’s much worse than that, it’s bad luck.” Hetty grunted as she stared at the chess set before her.

They sat in the shade of a Bottle Tree, on the grounds of what had once been known as the Biddle Manor. The tree, like the grand house, had been transformed lately, and like everything else on the island, it was for the best. Glass bottles of every possible color dangled from the limbs. When the sun shone through them at the right angle, rainbows danced along the ground. The bottles glowed at night as well, because they were charmed with powerful protective magics to capture bad spirits to keep them from causing harm.

Hearing the news Benjy had brought, Hetty hoped that magic could go a bit further.

“Doesn’t make it less real. A man with a scar on his face, caught somewhere he isn’t supposed to be​—​it means Nathan Payne didn’t drown like we hoped he did,” Benjy said.

“If he’s locked up and out of the way,” Hetty asked as Benjy moved his remaining knight along the board, “why should it be our problem?”

“Because if he’s here, it’s because he’s looking for us after what happened in Charleston.”

“The money people want for us isn’t that much.” Hetty reached for her bishop.

Benjy tapped the board. “I don’t think he cares about the money. And that’s check if you move a few more spaces down.”

“Why are you helping me win?” Hetty asked, her hand frozen over the piece.

“Because I’m going to see Payne and you need to stay here and out of trouble.”

Hetty sucked her teeth, taking offense at that last bit. “I’m not the one that was shot last month when we were in that swamp. Maybe you need my help keeping out of trouble.”

“Hetty,” he began, only to stop short because their hostess was approaching.

Pearl was born on this island, according to her. Her family and the others were used to white folks leaving them on their own during the summer, as the storms and heat spurred on a seasonal migration to the mainland. But with war and the Union army in and around Charleston, every slaveowner had packed and fled the island, leaving the lands in the hands of the people who knew it the best. Pearl and everyone who spent their lives on Teach Island didn’t consider themselves emancipated as much as claiming rights to what was theirs. They moved into their former masters’ homes, choosing with their pleasure from the large and spacious rooms, and built new structures on the island for a proper schoolhouse and a church. They even purchased acres of land through the new redistribution policies, in an effort to keep unscrupulous outsiders from staking claim on their homes. Out in Washington this was called the Port Royal Experiment, but as far as Hetty could see it was just people living the lives they were always meant to have in the first place.

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