Chapter 2
- Two days later -
"So, you go down the harbor and keep looking for officers or any other suspicious persons, while we are going to
load the boxes down the ship." Gerard Cuvee looked at Irina, who just colored her face with black coal. She was
wearing the clothes of a boy and with her long hair hidden under a boyish cap and her face dirty with coal she
looked like one of the boys who helped on the docks.
"What if I get caught?" Irina asked and Gerard shot her a warning look.
"You better take care not to." Was his only reply, then he turned to the three other men, discussing the details of
their plan. Irina sighed and closed her eyes, leaning at the cold stone wall of the fish hall in the harbor of Boston.
Finally Cuvee looked at her. "Don't sleep, wench! Move your ass down there to look out for spies!"
Irina shot him a dark look and went around the corner towards the docks. She sat down on one of the piles next to a
big ship, observing her surroundings, while Cuvee and his men went to the ship that was supposed to have their
boxes with weapons. Tonight a man would arrive and take the boxes down into the south to the front.
Irina knew him. He had also gotten the last boxes, and she knew she would have to sleep with him again.
She was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly caught glimpse of a man. Her heart seemed to stop for a second.
Jack Bristow. When he looked at her direction, she turned her head to the side, trying to cover her face with her
hand.
She decided not to move since that would only draw attention to her. So far everything seemed okay, his presence
here was obviously not about a suspicion for weapon trade, since he was more interested in the ship Irina sat in front
of. She cursed herself silently. There were dozens of ships in this harbor... why did she have to sit in front of this
one?
Jack Bristow was talking to a man, obviously the captain of the ship. When they were standing only seven meters
away, Irina turned her back towards them, trying not to seem nervous. She pulled the cap deeper into her face.
"I understand your concern, but I guarantee you, my goods are the best you can find western of the Atlantic! If you
want, I will show you an example. HEY, you!"
No reaction from anywhere.
"YOU, poor boy, do I pay you for sleeping? Get on that ship and take a bag of tea down here."
Irina turned a little – enough for her to know that the captain was addressing her. She jumped up and wanted to run
away, but the man was faster. He grabbed her arm hard and pulled her around, his hand lifted to slap her. She cried
out in fear, trying to shield her face and the man stopped.
"I'll be damned! You are not one of the boys I hired... in fact, I don't even think, you are a boy!" He tore the cap
from her head and her hair fell tousled around her face. She fought against the hard grip, kicking in panic. Finally
she gave up, not looking at either of the men.
"A woman... Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
She didn't react.
"Answer me, b, or I'll have to take you to the sheriff."
"It's okay!" Jack Bristow finally said. "I will take care of her. I know her."
The man lowered to Irina's ear. "This must be your lucky day, little one, but I warn you! If you ever dare to show up
near my ship, you'll be finding yourself in the sheriff's company."
He pushed her away from him, throwing her cap after her. Irina stumbled and grabbed her cap from the ground, then
she ran away as fast as she could.
"Excuse me for a little moment!" Jack said to the captain, then he followed her. He caught up with her in a small
alley, grabbing her hard and pressing her against the wall.
"Irina, nice to see you again."
She struggled against him panicked and he had to admit that she was strong for a woman, yet not strong enough to
escape his grip.
"Calm down, I only want to talk to you," he announced.
Irina finally surrendered to his grip but avoided his eyes. He touched her hair and wiped some of the coal dirt out of
her face, then he scanned her appearance.
"What is this about?"
"What is what about?" she asked as if she didn't know what he was talking about.
"Your outfit and your face to start with... is that a bruise?" He touched her cheek and she turned her head.
"This is nothing..."
"It looks bad. Who did that?"
"Nobody... I... I stumbled... I fell down chairs." She replied dismissive and for a long time he just looked at her
seriously.
"So, this is how you spend your days? Walking around at the docks in boy's clothes?"
"Yes..." she replied and he laughed amused.
"Well, I will tell you my little theory. Something is going on here, I assume weapons trade, since that is the most
committed crime lately. And given the fact that you stole a strategic plan from my house I assume that you are a spy
for the Confederate states."
For the first time she looked at him, her eyes showing her shock. "I'm not a spy..."
"Then explain it to me... why did you steal and who did you steal for?"
"I did not steal for anyone..."
"I heard your words that night when you got up. I wasn't asleep. You said, that time you were sorry. So it wasn't the
first time you stole and if you didn't work for anyone, you could have just not done it if you felt sorry. By the way,
you forgot your shoes."
"I know..." Irina murmured and touched her bruise instinctively. He touched her hand softly and lifted her chin.
"Irina, if you talk to me I might be able to help you. Whoever threatens you or ..." he looked at her bruise. "... did
that to you committed a crime, which I can reproach him for."
"No, I'm sorry..." she whispered and freed herself softly from him. "There are things, that you couldn't change even
if you were the president himself."
She turned to go away, but he held her softly back. "I went to that place the last two nights, looking for you."
"I wasn't there..." she replied lowly and he chuckled.
"Yes, that's what I noticed..."
"Why were you looking for me? Because of the plan I stole?"
"No..." He played with her hand. "I was just kind of hoping, we could meet again..."
"I'm married, Mr. Bristow." She replied, trying to sound cold and dismissive.
"Yes," he replied. "But how can you consider your marriage valid if your husband asks you to sleep with other men
– and beats you in return?"
"It's complicated..." she replied and Jack smiled into her hair.
"So I was right... it was him, wasn't it?" He stated dryly. She gasped for air in shock as she realized that he had
tricked her to get an answer.
"Listen, I... feel honored that I fulfilled your needs that well that you want me again, but I can't. Yet I'm sure there
are other women – even younger ones – who will fulfill your needs with the same qualities or even better."
He pressed her against the wall. "This is not just about fulfillment of my needs. It's so much more..."
"Please, don't..." She felt her voice breaking and turned her head to the side when she realized that he had the
qualities of a man she had always dreamed of. Someone who would protect her, love her and never hurt her. "You
shouldn't even think something like that. You are... a renowned man in society and I'm just a..."
"Shhh..." he silenced her by placing his finger over her lips. "If that's the only way you can accept it, I will pay you
again. Name a price."
"Four thousand." She replied in await of him losing interest, but instead, he nodded.
"Done."
"You must be crazy..." she exclaimed and freed herself from him, walking a few meters before she stopped abruptly.
"I have a question. Hypothetically, if there was a black woman, a slave, who has run away from her plantation in the
south and is now hiding here in Boston, would there be any way to guarantee her safety and free her from her old
owner, without her being punished for running away?"
Jack thought for a little moment, then he nodded. "Yes... not by law, but if a white person would pay the owner the
price for her. Or, if she has enough money, she can pay the price herself."
Irina turned and looked at him, then she approached him slowly. "Okay..." she whispered. "I will meet with you
again, if you pay the price for such a woman. She's a friend of mine. Of course I would meet with you three or four
times since I know it's a huge amount of money you are spending."
He returned her look seriously, and wanted to tell her that he didn't want anything in return, but then he thought
about it. If he refused her offer, he would probably never see her again.
"Ten meetings and I will take care of a job and a home for your friend." He said and Irina gasped for air, wanting to
turn his offer down. Then she thought about it. Phillis would be safe, she would be free and earn money – she would
have a future.
"What kind of job?" she asked and Jack shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. Is she able to read and write?"
"Yes, she's good at that. I taught her."
He shot her an amazed look. "Well... then I might get her a job as a secretary."
"Fine..." she murmured and closed her eyes for a moment. "I will do it. Ten meetings. But I can't tell you when
those will be. I have to be careful. My husband mustn't know. And old rule, payment first."
"Of course." He replied amused, smiling at her and she smiled back softly. "Do you know the name of her owner?"
"Yes... Arvin Sloane. My husband lost his plantation to him in a poker game so now he's the new owner. It's in
Virginia."
"I'll contact him." Jack promised. "How can I find you?"
"You don't. I will find you..." she replied and he closed the distance between them.
"How do I know you are actually planning to meet with me? I mean, if I don't know where to find you, you could
just disappear again."
"Despite the job I'm doing, I have dignity." She replied, her eyes holding his. "And if you help my friend and
manage to free her, I owe you more than I have. I won't betray you... Meet me in the 'Blue Star', where we met for
the first time. I can't tell you which evening I'll be there, but I promise I will pay my dues." She turned in shock,
when she heard voices approaching from the docks. "I have to go..."
"Irina..." His voice held her back. "What's your friend's name?"
"Phillis!" she replied, then she rushed away, disappearing around the next corner. Jack Bristow looked after her and
sighed. What was he doing here? She had stolen from him, most likely she was working for southern spies and yet,
instead of arresting and interrogating her, he made deals with her.
He turned and went slowly back to the harbor, confused by the feelings he carried in his heart for the first time.
Irina ran along the dark alleys of Boston until she finally reached the point where she was supposed to meet with her
husband and his accomplices.
"What took you so long?" Gerard snapped at her angrily and she looked at him coldly.
"I was being followed. It took me some time to get rid of him..."
"See what I mean?" Cuvee asked to his friends. "Never give any important tasks to your wife."
Irina sighed and turned. "I'm going home, if you don't mind."
And without waiting for any reaction, she went away from the small group, her mind drifting away to the nice
gentleman who had promised to help Phillis.
It was already late night, when Irina entered the small bar. She scanned the room and her face brightened when she
saw Jack sitting at the bar. Ignoring the words the men around her threw at her, she went straight towards him and
slid to the chair next to him, smiling at the woman behind the bar.
"Hi, Emma... could you give me a vodka, please?"
"Sure!" the woman replied, eyeing her interested as she turned to talk to Jack.
"Hi..." she said and looked at him, not knowing what else to say. He simply returned her gaze, adoring her
appearance.
"Hi!" he finally replied and took a sip of his drink. "You look... gorgeous."
"Thank you..." she murmured and took the vodka, Emma gave to her.
"So, Irina..." The woman leaned on the table. "How is your husband?"
"Drunk, I suppose... as always? How is yours?"
"In bed with some slut from the harbor I suppose... as always!" she replied and winked at her. "Good for us, right?
So we can do whatever we want, without someone peeking over our shoulders and telling us what to do..."
"Yeah... great!" Irina murmured, not convinced and Emma turned when a man from the other end of the bar table
yelled something at her. Irina turned her attention back to Jack and smiled.
"So? Could you arrange something?" she asked and downed her vodka. Without turning a hair she put the glass back
to the table.
He pulled out an envelope which he handed to her. She shook her head confused.
"What's that?"
"Open it!" he simply replied and took another sip of his drink when she started to open it. Curiously she pulled out
the white sheets of paper and unfolded it, then she read carefully.
It was the seller's contract which proved that Phillis was now property of Jack Bristow, the second paper confirmed
that he had given her unrestricted freedom and she didn't belong to anyone anymore. Irina looked in disbelief at the
papers, then raised her eyes to Jack.
"That's so... I don't know what to say... thank you!" she whispered.
"Make sure, she never loses either one of those sheets. She doesn't have any restrictions from now on. She'll be
allowed to work and earn money as any free white woman does, but she needs those papers to prove it."
Irina smiled happily and pecked him softly on the cheek. "I owe you..." she whispered into his ear and he laid his
arms to her waist, pulling her closer and burying his face at the crook of her neck.
"You are so beautiful..." he whispered and she smiled, her arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him closer,
her hands softly stroking through his hair.
"Lead the way..." she whispered into his ear and he brought some distance between them.
"Do you really want this?" he asked and she smiled softly, then she laid her lips to his in the lightest touch.
"Of course..." Her voice was low and he nodded.
"Of course," he repeated her sentence and got up. "Then let's go."
Jack left a few coins to pay for their drinks and they exited through the door. When they were out in the streets
walking next to each other, Irina finally asked the questions she was curious to hear the answer to.
"So, how much did you have to pay for Phillis?"
"Does that matter?"
"It does to me." She replied and wrapped her arms around her body. "I want to pay my debts in full."
"May I ask you something first? Why are you spying for the confederates and then breaking their laws and risking
everything by hiding a slave?"
"Sometimes the things we want to do and the things we have to do are different ones," she replied. "You're avoiding
my question... so, how much?"
"Eight thousand."
"Eight..." she gasped for air in shock. "That's so much more than I expected..."
"Irina!" He stopped and took her hand. "Don't worry, the deal was ten meetings, and that's it. I won't ever reproach
you for more than that."
When they had entered his house, Irina was still slightly shocked at the huge amount of money which he seemed to
not even bother to have spent. Well, he was rich, she thought to herself. What was a huge amount to her was
probably very little to him.
"Bedroom again?" she asked, still a little distracted and he seemed to consider his answer for a little while.
"That depends."
"On what?" she asked. "As I said, I'm very open... with a few restrictions of course..."
"Well, then this shouldn't be a problem: This time I want you to honestly enjoy this."
He scanned her reaction as she shook her head. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you might think I didn't notice that, but last time you were not even close to enjoying anything."
"Excuse me... I... did I do something wrong? I mean, did I not perform to your satisfaction? I thought you wanted
me again?"
"Oh, I do, and this is not about me. It's about you." He explained and went into his living room to pour two glasses
of whiskey for them. She followed him, totally set off.
"About me," she repeated his words and took the whiskey he gave her.
"Yes. Okay, let me put this in other words. I want the beautiful woman I see, not the whore."
Irina looked at him, her eyes just returning his gaze in disbelief and confusion, not knowing what he wanted from
her.
"I'm not sure I understand – neither do I know how to fulfill your wish. Do you want me to dress into something
else? I can wear the dress of a woman from your class if that's what you want me to. Or..."
"No. No..." He laid his finger to her lips. "I'm sorry for confusing you. Actually I only want you to like this..." He
ran his finger over her chin down her neck. "Or this..." His lips followed the path his fingers had went earlier.
"I do like it." She replied and he laughed.
"No, not fake-like. Really like." He replied and she brought some distance between them.
"Wait a moment... are you expecting me to like having sex with you?"
He wondered for a moment why he had not just chosen exactly those words. Most likely because she was a woman
and the women he usually met weren't used to direct expressions – another amazing side on her.
"Yes..." he simply replied, drinking a sip from his whisky.
She put her glass to the table and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that's one of the wishes I can't fulfill."
"Why?"
"Why?" she repeated his question in disbelief, her voice not hiding anger anymore. "Isn't that obvious? You really
expect me to enjoy doing..." she cut herself off and held her head to calm herself down. He looked at her for a long
time, then he put down his glass and went to her, his hand softly touching her cheek.
"If you had the choice, would you sleep with me?"
She smiled sadly. "If I had the choice, Jack, I would never ever sleep with anybody again. I like you, I really do.
You're a gentlemen, not like the others, but still..."
"Okay..." he whispered softly and took his glass, then he handed her hers again. "Do you know how to play chess?"
"Chess? Yes, of course, but..."
"Then let's play some chess." He said cheerfully and sat down on the chess table next to the fireplace.
She just stared at him, obviously unsure about what to do and thinking about whether he was serious or not.
"You want me to play chess with you? What about..."
"I won't sleep with you if you don't truly want me to." He simply replied and held up the figures. "Black or white,
what do you want?"
"Black..." she replied courteously, since the person with the white figures was the one who started the game and was
allowed to make the first move. Jack laughed amused at her behaved choice.
"You obviously know the rules, but so do I. If you're playing with a lady, the lady always play with the white
figures..."
"Excuse me, are you making fun of me?" Irina asked, still unsure whether Jack was just drunk or actually crazy.
"No." He replied honestly. "I told you I was interested in you. I want to learn more about you... have a little fun with
you. Something you enjoy too. If sex is out of the question, I thought, chess might be an alternative."
She went closer to the table and helped him to put the figures on, then she finally sat down and looked at him for a
long time.
"You don't need to feel bad about me not enjoying it, Jack. I'm just a whore – I'm used to it and it doesn't bother
me. It's just..." she searched for an appropriate word. "...a job." She finally ended the sentence and he held her eyes.
"I think you are lying."
"God, you make me feel bad. I shouldn't have told you anything about me, then you wouldn't feel bad about..."
"That's simply not true." He interrupted her.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked and laid her hand to his.
"A spy for the Confederate states does everything, even selling herself to a stranger, for giving a future to a slave
woman who has fled her owner. That's as contradictory as anything could be. Maybe you're fascinating me... You
can make your first move, I'm ready."
Irina took one of her peasants and moved it, not really interested in the game at the moment. A few more moves
passed in silence, then Jack drew his attention back on her.
"So, tell me about your husband."
"There's nothing to tell..." she replied.
"He drinks. That would be something to start with." Jack countered, thinking about his next move. Irina chuckled.
"You already know that."
"You could be a little more specific... this is not any kind of interrogation. Just some small-talk."
"Fine..." she replied and watched as his next move put her queen into danger. "My husband drinks with his friends
every evening. Actually he is always drunk. He plays poker, but is a constant loser. He lost his plantation in one of
those games and now I have to take care of the money. Which is hard to do since he loses most of it by playing.
That's pretty much the story."
She moved one of her unimportant peasants and he looked at her. "Are you kidding me?"
"What?" she asked confused, her eyes holding his. He pointed at her queen.
"What about her? Instead of this damned peasant you could have moved her to..."
"...C 9," she ended his sentence and nodded. "I know."
Now it was his part to be confused. He leaned back and shot her an amused look.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you mean? I'm playing chess - obviously!"
"You're letting me win." He corrected her. "That's not playing – that's FAKE-playing."
"Okay, could you stop telling me, everything I do is fake?" she countered slightly irritated, her eyes sparkling
challenging. "I thought, women must never win against men. It's just not appropriate for a woman to show her
intelligence when she's with a man."
"Some men might think that way – the ones who need to prove their strengths by making other people look bad. I
don't want to play this game to prove myself in any way I want to seriously play." He put Irina's peasant back and
moved her queen for her. "Otherwise I would feel insulted that you think, you have to let me win, because you don't
believe I could win in a real game."
"I didn't mean to!" Irina sighed and finally nodded. "Fine, let's play seriously! But I have to warn you. I'm good at
this game."
"So am I. And that's not a warning, that's a challenge." He smiled and made his next move. "So, you're usually
playing chess?"
"Yes. My father taught me. We used to play every evening when I was a child." She looked at the board in
consideration of her next move. "I continued playing with my husband, but he... well, let's just say, he overreacts a
little if he loses."
She didn't need to say more for him to know what she meant by those words. Again a few moves passed in silence.
"Why didn't you get a divorce?" he suddenly asked, not looking up from the game.
"Because I'm a woman. I can't prove anything and even if the local bureau would accept the divorce, my husband
would sue me in front of the Supreme Court, where I would have no chance, as you should know."
"Oh, I know women who have succeeded at the Supreme Court – especially when they have been abused." He
added and she avoided his eyes as he spoke out loud what was fact.
"Sure, but in my case... my husband has numerous proofs for my treason against the union. He would use them
shamelessly, and I would probably end up divorced, but also executed."
"You do have rights. The famous self-evident truths..."
"Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness. I know!" Irina correctly recited from the declaration. "But you miss a little
passage in there. Every MAN has those unalienable rights, that leaves out the women!"
Again she astounded him. He had actually never known a woman who was able to recite from the Declaration of
Independence – in fact most of them didn't even know what it was.
"That might be true, but men who abuse their women are to be punished. That's also a right. Not in the Declaration,
but every judge would be on your side."
"It's complicated..." Irina murmured, watching with frowned forehead as she lost another figure to him, his move
putting her tower in danger. He was indeed good at this game, she thought to herself.
"You know what would be really fair?" she asked, while thinking about how to rescue her tower.
"What?" he asked and looked at her interested.
"If women were equal. Allowed to take part in elections and choose their own husbands – or decide not to marry if
they don't want to. You might not see it that way, you are a man, but..."
"Oh, I agree with you. Some of my colleagues always say, that women are not smart enough to make decisions of
their own – especially political ones. But then I look at you and think, that you are more intelligent than the smartest
of them." Despite her best efforts he managed to make her lose her tower.
"You're very charming, Jack, but you shouldn't overestimate my abilities."
She made her next move quickly, taking his figure who had just beaten her tower. He sighed frustrated and she
laughed.
"You wanted me to actually play!"
"And I still do, I just have to get used to the fact that I finally found somebody who's equal in this game." He
murmured, scanning the board for possibilities.
They spent the whole night playing chess, the games lasting longer every time and the uneasiness they had started
with vanished as the time went by. Jack noticed satisfied that Irina was really enjoying the time. He wondered more
than once how easy she was to talk to. With the other women he met at balls, he always had to think about how to
choose his next words, because one wrong word could cause one of those women to break down in a hysterical
tirade of tears. One of the reasons why he hated to attend balls. He was single and so all the single ladies of Boston
tried to go for him. Irina was different. He could talk to her, actually have a discussion with her because she wasn't
afraid to contradict him. Her presence was refreshing.
"I don't believe that!" he finally exclaimed as she had won the game. "How did you see that move... I would have
never seen it."
"It's just easy! Your queen was so exposed... a six year old would have seen that." She replied laughing and he
smiled at her.
"I want another game. We are two against two." He challenged and she nodded.
"You want to lose again? Fine with me!" she replied and wanted to rearrange the figures, when she suddenly got
aware of the dawn. The first sunbeams were already lightening the room. She jumped up in shock.
"My God... I have to go home!" she exclaimed and looked at Jack. "I'm sorry, but I didn't notice how much time
has passed and my husband doesn't know I was gone. He thinks I'm sleeping and if he finds out..." She turned to go,
but Jack held her back softly.
"Thank you... I really enjoyed this night – your company." He corrected and she smiled back at him.
"So did I."
As she met his eyes, the tenderness in them hit her like a wave. She felt like drowning in them without being able to
fight it, a feeling that was so new and intense that it scared her.
His eyes went to her lips. When she noticed where his mind drifted to, she closed the distance between them, their
lips as close as they could be without touching, her body firmly pressed to his. Suddenly his closeness made her feel
dizzy.
Their lips brushed in the slightest kiss that could barely be called a touch at all, then Jack pushed her softly away,
bringing distance between them.
"You need to go!" he said, trying to make his mind work rationally.
"Yes..." she nodded, still confused by the sudden feelings that had taken possession of her whole body. She tried to
stop her body from shivering - the sudden loss of his warmth making her aware of how cold it was. She turned and
went to the door, her mind like miles away.
"Irina!" Jack suddenly held her back and she turned. He held up her shoes. "Don't you need those?"
She looked down at her bare feet and nodded. "Oh my god... yes, thank you." She took her shoes out of his hand.
"Oh, um... shall I come here next time or do you prefer to continue meeting in the bar?"
"No." He replied. "No, you can come here if you want. I'll be here. When will the next time be?"
"When I... don't have other duties." She murmured, then she turned and left the house. Jack went back into his
living room and poured another glass of Whiskey which he downed in once. He knew, that he was seriously falling
in love with that fascinating woman – and he also knew, that there were just so many problems with that, he didn't
even know where to start with.
Irina ran along the streets, only slowing down when she got near the house. She was tired like hell and longed for
her bed.
Carefully she opened the door to her house and entered the kitchen. Gerard was sitting at the table, his head lying on
his arms. He was sleeping soundly – obviously he was totally drunk.
Well, good for her. For the first time she was happy that he had drunk too much. She went up the stairs without
making any noise and let herself sink into bed. When she was lucky she would at least get a few hours of sleep.
