A/N: This dialogue is used to reflect the time period and make it as realistic as possible. It is not to offend people the wrong way. If you still feel offended after reading it, please don't write me about it because I'm warning you before reading the passage. Thanks!
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-Light Heart-
Light Heart had been captured in that snowy forest about two weeks ago. It was hard for her to keep track of the days or the time. She ached for her mother and wondered how her sister had fared. She was almost certain Walking Light would have made it home but unfortunately, the medicine had been on her person and she didn't know if Song Jay's condition had gotten better or worse.
After being pawned from one buyer to the next, she had ended up somewhere down south. It was the place her father would rarely speak of and she figured it was probably too horrific for him to relive. All she knew was that she feared everything and everyone. It was all so foreign to her.
So many pale skinned people. It frightened her. Most of them looked at her with disdain and hatred and the few that didn't, didn't seem to notice her all together. She had been grouped with her father's people in cramped cages with very little to eat and even less to bathe with.
It had only been today that she was given water to bathe... if one would call it that. She was stripped of all her deerskins along with the other girls who had been captured and had to stand there while a man threw river cold water on them. She waited for someone to give them something to wear but they never received anything except for a large block of metal that fastened around their necks. Each collar linked with a chain that could be used to pull at will by the pale skinned man.
Light Heart tried to be strong and not let her fear cause her to fall into hysteria. Other girls were silently crying and some were speaking in a language in hushed tones that she couldn't decipher. Her father had learned English and later the language of her mother's tribe. Light Heart had learned both from respective parents.
"Come on girl. Move," a man snarled, yanking at her chain. She felt vulnerable in her nakedness and tried to hide her body but the tug at her neck led her out of the makeshift tent that housed the girl slaves. The sun shone brightly and the birds chirped happily belying a pleasant day. It was unusually warm for this time of year and it made her wonder exactly how far away she was from home.
She followed the man up the wooden stairs, feeling her face heat up from embarrassment from the dozens of eyes gazing at her. Her head hung down, too ashamed to raise it until her father and mother came to mind. Her tribe. Her family. She would never be ashamed of who she was. She was her father's daughter. A man, who had been a slave, paid for his freedom and became his own man.
Light Heart raised her head just has she came to the middle of the platform and looked straight on into the distance, ignoring the leers and jeers from the crowd. The sun beamed on her naked form and the humidity caused a small sheen to form on her caramel skin. The collar made her neck itch and a pesky fly was buzzing incessantly around her ear but she remained still as a stone, looking straight ahead in all her naked splendor.
"Now right hea, I've got a fine chickadee," a voice to her right stated, his voice dripping in some accent she hadn't heard before. "I've got a half injin beauty that's never been plucked that's right for the pickin. She'd be good for some fun and I guarantee you, if my name ain't Jimmy Jones, she'll give you some good chil'lin to help with them crops if you pair her with a strong buck. Them hips are made for child bearin', I guarantee it."
Light Heart continued to look ahead, trying to ignore the stammer of her heart in her chest. Child bearing? And what kind of fun was he talking about? She struggled to stay calm and wished she could fly away like birds were off in the horizon.
"Let's start this biddin' at $500. Can I get $500?" he started.
"$500," a man's voice to her right called out.
"$550," another called. The crowd murmured with the sounds of light talk of the "injin beauty" before them and the fluttering of southern ladies fans to ward off the heat.
"$575," one competed.
"$600," another man wagered.
The bidding had a pregnant pause and the seller stepped up closer to her right and gestured down at her body.
"Come on folks," he tried to persuade, while mopping his brow with the soiled handkerchief in his hand. "This gal has no markings on her, nice set of teeth, and no signs of sickness. She'd be good as a lady's maid or help in them kitchens. Don't let this catch go by now."
"$650," the first voice countered.
"$800," another man fired.
Women twittered and fluttered their fans harder. "$1000," the first man called easily.
"$1000," the seller repeated happily. "Well Tom, I reckon that boss of yours needs a new wench huh?"
Light Heart couldn't help but turn her eyes to the man named Tom who had just offered $1000 for her. He wasn't much to look at with a wide rimmed black hat, a white loose shirt and dark pants. He lazily had a cigar hanging from his mouth and glanced around to see if anyone else would counter his offer.
No one objected and after all the necessities were out the way, she soon found herself in the possession of Tom, bought and paid for in the sum of $1000. The cost of her freedom.
Light Heart had been given a brown burlap oversized shirt to wear but her collar was left on. She was now at a huge estate that she could only gaze at in wonder. She was left standing at the front of a massive house on the steps while Tom went inside to fetch someone. Moments later, she stood face to face with an attractive pale faced woman in a concoction of laces and silks and a fan attached to her hand.
"Is this her then Tom?" she asked, eyeing her up and down.
"Yes ma'am," he answered, holding his hat in his hands.
The mistress of the house stepped outside from the see-through door and stepped closer to her. She circled around her until she was facing her again.
"How old are you?" she demanded to know.
Light Heart debated whether to answer or not. She was undecided if she should cooperate or refuse to do anything but thinking that refusing would only cause her more pain and heartache and interfere with her plans of escaping, she decided to make the most of what she was given and worry about escape when the moment presented itself.
