Abigail Brewster, Abby for short, was a rather naĂŻve 18-year-old, having led a sheltered, albeit pampered life on the plantation of her parents, Jackson and Rebecca Brewster.
Her naivetĂ© stemmed from the fierce protectionism her father displayed anytime the girl was exposed to outsiders. Sure Abby had been present during the frequent parties her parents threw, or attended, as a part of the southern society of the privileged class around central Georgia. Her debutante cotillion, though late in occurring due to Jacksonâs protectionism, was approaching.
Yet, in all of these parties, her father had hovered around her like a vulture waiting to swoop in on a dead carcass. Anytime a young man had gotten too friendly with Abby, he would move in and usher her away to another group that consisted primarily of other young women and girls.
His protectionism stemmed from his experiences with Abbyâs mother, Rebecca, when they were courting. Rebecca, though from outward appearances a proper lady, was a seething slut underneath. It was one of the things that had attracted Jackson to her.
Rebecca defiantly pushed the status quo of âsecond class citizenshipâ the women were compelled to live under in these earlier less enlightened times of the early 19th century south. She had had no qualms with giving herself over sexually to Jackson while they were courting, when discretion would allow them the opportunity. She justified it as part of her defiance, though truth be told, it was because Rebecca loved sex and had from the very first time she had blindly stumbled into it shortly after the onset of puberty.
âIf a man can cavort around shamelessly, why canât a woman?â Rebecca had said in justification to her love of sex with Jackson. Their frequent trysts fortunately didnât result in pregnancy, and Rebecca was always aware of the need for discretion. She had learned that she could enjoy whatever liberties she desired, just as a man could, if she only maintained discretion.
Rather than following the norm and making use of her charms then abandoning her perhaps with a label of shame on his tongue, Jackson had married the woman, because his romantic heart had fallen in love during the frequent tĂȘte-Ă -tĂȘtes where he and Rebecca would discuss her feelings regarding her pursuit of her lusty desires just as a man would, justifying it as a pursuit of equality for the sexes.
Susan B. Anthony whose times were decades in the future had nothing on Rebecca Brewster. Ms. Anthony, the most noted of the future suffragettes, was still a toddler when Rebecca had started her quiet campaign on behalf of women as justification of her slutty pursuits.
Abby had the same headstrong nature as her mother. Jackson had seen this at an early age and didnât want his only daughter to perhaps fall victim to the fate Rebecca had avoided. Being shamed by an unfortunate pregnancy or shunned and labeled a tramp by those she let sample her charms.
Jackson doted on the girl as compensation, for holding her a virtual prisoner. So though protected to this point and a virgin, she was extremely spoiled and could be rather precocious. All these things worried Jackson and so this guided his behavior in regard to his only daughter. He spoiled her to compensate for what he realized was over-protectionism.
Abby loved her father, but often resented his protectionism. She would have dearly loved to have the opportunity to spend time alone with the young sons of other plantation owners that often accompanied their fathers for business at Jackson Brewsterâs âShaded Oaksâ plantation. She had started getting funny feelings in her private parts, as she called them, at puberty when boys were around. She had even touched herself âdown thereâ on occasion and had found the activity pleasing. She was her motherâs daughter in most ways.
In spite of her resentment of her fatherâs behavior when young men were around, it wasnât unusual for her to be âin his hip pocketâ most of the day. Today was no exception.
The year was 1858. The season late spring. Jackson sat at a table on the large front verandah of the plantation house taking his morning coffee and reading the paper as he usually did during the more temperate months, Abigail sipping tea and chattering incessantly as was her nature when the two were together. Abby wore the flowing dress of her position in society. Actually it wasnât a dress, but layer upon layer of petticoats, covered with a lightweight lace coverlet that could be called a dress. Jackson, always the Southern gentleman, wore a three-piece suit in keeping with current style.
At first glance one would think the two were off to some formal get-together.
âFather, what does that headline in the paper mean?â
Jackson closed the paper from the business pages where the current cotton futures were quoted and looked again at the headline and story he had read earlier. In big bold letters the paper declared âSlave Uprising Quelled at Peach Orchard Farms.â The other bold headline questioned, âIs Secession and War Inevitable?â
âWhich one honey?â
âThe one on War, Daddy.â
âIt simply states that if the Federal government continues to trample on Stateâs rights the Southern states will have no choice other than to secede and create a country of their own. To do so will likely result in civil war between the southern and northern states. The article says it appears to be the only possible conclusion to this whole slavery abolition issue. The Federal government is stacking the deck against the slave states by only allowing new states that ban slavery to join the Union. Once Congress is stocked with legislators that oppose slavery a vote to ban it will take place. This over sight by the Federal government violates the constitutional provisions of strong state governments that rule themselves.â
Abby thought her father the smartest man alive and his explanation seemed to indicate this fact, once again. Her concerns were entirely self-centered though.
âBut daddy war will mess up my cotillion, wonât it?â
âNo baby if war does come it is still years away and the Southern delegation in the Federal Congress is doing what it can to prevent secession and the inevitable war that would follow. It is only if the Federal government continues to try to run roughshod over the states in violation of the constitution that secession and civil war would result.â
A buggy turns the corner off the little dirt road into the entrance of Shaded Oaks Plantation. The wooden sign built into the stone revetment that adorned either side of the entrance road, simply stated âShaded Oaks, Cotton and Premium Stallion Service, Proprietor Jackson Brewsterâ The huge tree, cotton boll and stallion burnt into the plank of wood, along with a huge O with a curly-que top.
The occupants of the wagon were Thomas Kincaid and his 18-year-old daughter Cynthia. No strangers to Shaded Oaks, they were always in attendance when the Brewsterâs threw one of their gala parties. Thomas Kincaid and Jackson Brewster had attended school together and Cynthia and Abby were friends, since childhood.
Abby loved when the Kincaidâs visited, because Cynthia, or Cyn for short, would tell her stories of âsparkingâ with boys when she could steel away from her parents watchful eyes. Abby had no experience, with her fatherâs over-protectiveness, in this regard and the stories thrilled her and titillated her senses. Cyn told good stories.
Stories of clandestine trysts, stories of stealing away with one handsome boy or another and allowing them access to her charms and the young womanâs body that hid under layer upon unending layer of petticoats, bloomers and corset-like bodices. Cyn was still a virgin like Abby, but to hear her tell it you would think she was the biggest whore in all of Baldwin County, Georgia.
Her stories of allowing the boys to slip their hands under her petticoats and into her bloomers, only to stop them if they tried to take things further, thrilled Abby.
Abby would have let them go further. At least in her mind anyway. Many were the nights she had lain in bed, the oppressive heat and humidity preventing sleep from easily steeling up and overtaking the senses. On these nights Abbyâs hand would slip under her gown and into her bloomers and touch her self âdown thereâ.
Her mind would be on the one story that she was the most fond of in Cynâs repertoire of decadent tales.
Cyn had told her of witnessing two slaves actually having sex in the barn one day. The details of how his male part had disappeared into her female part were so exacting, Abby was able to paint a fairly accurate picture in her mind of an event, she had yet to witness, let alone experience, on her own.
Cyn had told Abby how she had used her finger that night to reenact the event in the privacy of her room, her finger serving as the thrusting male part. Cyn had confided how it had hurt when she had gotten a bit exuberant as her excitation grew, thrusting her probing digit deeper into her love canal, and had experienced pain and found blood in her bloomers the next day.
So though Abby routinely rimmed the entrance of her pleasure palace, she wouldnât allow her finger to slip inside. Besides the stiff little nub above the tiny hole was so much more sensitive and pleasure producing if she showed it attention. Her interest in sex was growing by the day, so Abby looked forward to these visits.
The Kincaidâs buggy comes to a stop under one of the stately Oaks the plantation is named for and Thomas exits the buggy and secures the horse that pulls it to the hitching rack then goes to the opposite side of the buggy to help his daughter exit. The two start up the stone walkway to the front of the palatial mansion and Jackson Brewster hails his longtime friend.
âThomas, welcome. What brings you by this morning?â Jackson lays the paper he was reading on the table as he stands to greet his company.
Abbyâs greeting to her friend isnât quite as subdued.
âCyn! I was so bored. It is such a welcome sight to see you here.â
The two girls draw a few feet away from their parents and begin to chatter, while the two men discuss their business.
âToday is the day you are breeding Firestorm to Coquette. I thought to come by and witness how my investment is being utilized. Your stud fees for Firestorm are outrageous.â