Chapter 10

Grant led the group back into the main part of the house, only to be met by Beth.

“The seamstresses need you to try on a few things, so they know how to proceed.”

“Okay, I’ll have Sabrina come with me. Can you ask somebody to teach the Marion brothers about shooting a Glock? Unless we’ve some place where the sound won’t carry, I don’t want any actual rounds fired.”

“What caliber?”

“Let’s start with a nine, and then discuss it. Okay.”

“No problem. What about Eric?”

“Tell him I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Sabrina followed Grant back to his bedroom. They were both surprised to find Mark and Tracy helping the two women.

“I hope they’re not being a pest, Jane,” Grant said to the older of the two slaves.

“No, Sah! Being around such polite children is a pure joy for us. I hope we can soon be making clothes for them.”

“You will be,” proclaimed Sabrina, “because they’ll be my children to help raise.”

“You gonna marry massa Grant, mistress Sabrina?” asked Janice.

“I sure am.”

“Well, if his chil’n are like him, then you’ve found a good man.”

Grant proceeded to try on three outfits, and Sabrina was pleased with all of them. She was smart enough not to ask him his opinion.

“Yes, I think these will do for a start,” stated Sabrina. Jane and Janice can make some more when you return.”

“Remember, I’ll also be doing some shopping in New Bern, as I’ve also got to get some clothes for Gabe and Isaac.”

“That’s right, you do. It would be good if I went with you to help pick them out. Most of the clothes you need will be several steps above what the Marion boys will wear.”

“I’d like that too, but you need to be here waiting for me and planning your party.”

“Then see if you can find a valet; someone who’s trained to be a gentleman’s gentleman.”

“I’ll think about it, but I need to see what your brother wants.”

Janice looked puzzled when Grant left the room.

“Is something bothering you, Janice?” asked her mistress.

“The man that led us here, he looks similar to Tom, but he’s not Tom.”

“Tom was killed the other night by one of the Tories. Eric is one of Grant’s people who looks close enough to Tom to take his place. How did you know he wasn’t Tom?”

Tears rolled down the young slaves face while she explained, “I’ve warmed massa Tom’s bed for years.”

“Janice, did he force himself on you?”

“No ma’am. I’s chose him. He was so gentle and loving and always made sure my needs were taken care of. I’s been happy to have birthed his chil’n.”

“Thank you for telling me that, because it will just enhance my memories of him. At the same time, I’m depending on you to help Eric play the role of Tom.”

“Do you want me to warm his bed?”

“Only if that’s what you want. The important thing is to make sure no one beside the two of you know the truth and to offer any suggestions to help make this work, as it will be very important for Tom to continue to live.”

Janice asked, “What about the young man who replaced Joseph. He don’t act much like a slave.”

“He’s not, and he will also need the two of you to help him. He’s actually a soldier Grant has assigned to protect me.”

“A soldier,” said a shocked Jane, “but he’s black like us. Blacks can’t be soldiers.”

“He’s from a place and time where the slaves are free and can be most anything they want to be.”

“Is he an angel, cause that sure sounds like heaven?”

“Would you like to be free one day?” asked Sabrina.

“In some ways, but you and your family are good masters; much better than many of the plantations around us. I worry at times that something would happen to your family, and we would be sold to one of the cruel ones. But, we don’t know how to survive apart from being slaves. Even if the two of us could set up a sewing shop, no one would buy from us, nor would they sell to us. We couldn’t even rent or buy a place in a building. Our slavery is much deeper than a piece of paper saying that you bought us.”

Sabrina did something almost unheard of. She pulled the two slaves close to her, hugged them, and cried.

Grant went through the kitchen and out the rear door. As he stepped on the deck his senses were flooded by the tantalizing smell of frying chicken. His mouth was already watering when he headed down the steps to where Eric was waiting. He had all the men to gather around, including the three Marion brothers.

“First, I want to show everyone the modifications we’ve made to Isaac’s fowling piece.”

“Where are the flints and pan?” asked Gabe.

“The way this gun was made, we found we could bore out the pans and thread these nipples to replace them. When a percussion cap like this is pressed on the end of the nipple, it’s like pouring primer in the pan, except it’s not affected by rain and the powder can’t fall out or be blown away by the wind. When the hammer hits the cap, it causes a small explosion like the flash in your pan. That explosion travels through a hole in the nipple and ignites the powder in the barrel.”

“Will it work?”

“Let’s see. I’m going to use that jug of water hanging from that limb as a target.”

“That’s close to forty yards. That would be a difficult shot for a fouling piece.”

“Really?” Eric asked as he turned and fired.

All the downtimers were stunned as it blew the jug to bits, throwing water everywhere.

“Was that both barrels?” asked Isaac.

“Nope, just one. We might need to use a slightly different load and shot to actually hunt for birds, but this will definitely take down a man from a reasonable distance. Jerry, can you set that old piece of plywood in front of the tree?”

While Jerry did as asked, Eric explained, “Since you thought of forty yards as a long shot for this gun, what do you think would happen to a man standing twenty yards away?”

“Before you made the changes, he would be uncomfortably peppered with shot, but unless he lost an eye, it’s doubtful he would be seriously injured.”

Eric turned and fired at the piece of plywood Jerry had set in front of a tree. When the smoke cleared, they found that a hole almost as big as one of the tricorne hats worn by the downtimers.

Grant said to Eric, “I think you might need to adjust your load a little. It would be hard for even me to believe a man shot like that was hit with a fowling piece. At the same time, I love how easily you were able to convert it to use percussion caps.”

“Actually, Brad did most of the modifications to the gun, while Drew and I worked on the shell.”

“Well good job, everybody. Anything else to show us?”

“A couple of things. First is the Sharps breech loader I talked about.”

Eric held up a rifle and passed it around for everyone to see, followed by a .54 caliber Minié ball and a prepared paper cartridge.

“It also uses one of those caps you used with the fowling piece,” observed Gabe.

“Yes, it does, but here’s the best part.”

Eric opened the breech, inserted the paper cartridge and closed the breech. He placed a percussion cap on the nipple and declared the gun ready to fire.

“You don’t have to ram the load down the barrel?”

“No, but it would be smart to run a cleaning rod down the barrel after a few shots because this powder can build up pretty fast. It can be loaded and fired while hiding behind rocks, trees or even laying down. With a good horse, it could even be reloaded from horseback, though I wouldn’t want to bet my life on making it happen.”

“What kind of distance and how accurate is it?” asked Fran. “You know the Brown Bess the Red Coats use is easier to load than our rifles, but it’s not much more accurate than throwing rocks.”

“How accurate is your rifle?” asked Eric.

“A normal shot is a hundred yards, though in the right conditions someone like Gabe could hit a man at two hundred and fifty yards,” answered Fran.

“How about five hundred yards for an average shooter and a thousand yards for someone like Gabe?”

“If we could make enough and keep things a secret, this would drastically change any battle we’d have with the Red Coats.”

Grant stated, “We can set up a factory to build them, but it will be up to your people to keep the secret. My thought is to keep these guns in limited use for hit and run raids and minimize the knowledge available by others. Remember, also, that greed can play a big role in this as Britain will pay a lot for this information, as well as an example of the gun and some of the rounds. With their industrial capacity they could make thousands like this in just a few months.”

Eric added, “Also realize this gun was originally invented less than a hundred years ago. The modern weapons we have are even further advanced than this Sharps rifle is to your flintlock. Come, let me show everyone a few things.”

Grant interrupted, “Eric, before we go, do you have a forty magazine for a Glock?”

“Normal or extended?”