Chapter 1

April, 1693 Virginia territory
Charles City Shire

A small group of young children sat under a tree laughing as the evening sun began its descent toward the horizon. The plantation stretched out over the rolling hills behind them covered with tobacco plants. All the children lived here with their families. The social structure among the children did not follow convention as the children of the plantation owners freely mixed with the children of the plantation workers. Ideas of "class" had not yet entered their world.

Some distance away, a woman emerged from the largest house on the plantation and looked toward the children.

"Abigail!"

A young blonde girl in the center of the group made a face. Her mother often called to her when she was most immersed in her favorite games. With a sigh, she looked at her playmates with a look of resignation, rose to her feet, waved goodbye and ran toward her mother's voice.

"Yes Mother...coming!"

Hannah Berkeley stood on the porch of the large dwelling with a young boy by her side and watched her pretty daughter run toward her. She turned to the boy.
"You were right, Thomas...she was over by the woods again."
"I knew she would be, Mama."

Abigail slowed as she approached the porch and playfully made a face at Thomas. She was a bright and happy child, with a love of reading and playing games. Despite her mild teasing, she was deeply devoted to her younger brother Thomas and would defend him fiercely if anyone dared to abuse him verbally or physically.

"Mother, we were going to play 'Ring around the Roses'...can I not remain with my friends a while longer?"
Hannah pinched her daughter's cheek.
"Your desire for games is never wanting, is it?" Hannah gently chided her daughter, "...But it is time for our supper...and afterward your lessons...quick now...in you go!"

Abigail obediently strode past her mother with only a slight hint of reluctance. Though games were a passion, supper and lessons also had an allure. She took her brother's hand and led him inside.

Hannah, at age 28, was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and a pleasant demeanor which made her well-liked by everyone who knew her. Many men had secretly coveted her for years but at the same time other women could not resent her for it. She was English and deeply religious, as were most in the Shire...but also well-educated. She had strived to pass on her love of knowledge to her two children and taught them well. Abigail the eldest at 12 and Thomas, age 10.

The Berkeleys were not aristocrats, but were very well positioned within the Shire as successful planters. Captaine Gabriell Berkley had made quite a business out of his tobacco plantation. Several dozen indentured servants from England and Africa lived and worked on the land and were treated well. Many had successfully completed their 4 years and moved on to become land owners themselves. Others opted to stay with the family beyond their term of service. All admired and respected Gabriell Berkley and his family as honorable.

Hannah followed her children into the large house and went to help the cook with the table settings. Her husband had recently procured some new utensils from England that she was eager to try. She adjusted her cap and apron and approached their African cook, Tituba.
"Tis certain that Gabriell shall bring quite the appetite for this meal...should we prepare a grand feast?"
Tituba smiled warmly at Hannah. Since immigrating to Jamestown a few years before, Tituba had enjoyed her stay with the Berkeleys. The promise of land had been the lure, but one never knew what sort of arrangement would await upon disembarking the ship. The entire Berkeley family was a godsend for her and her family. They felt at home here.

Supper began. Tituba set the food on the table as Hannah gathered the family. The children took their places first. Last as usual was Gabriell. He arrived this time with his brother, Nathaniel, and both sat together at the head of the table immersed in a nonstop flurry of discussion. Gabriell was the eldest brother, well-mannered, gregarious, and handsome. Nathaniel was smaller of frame with a less pleasant demeanor and physical appearance.
"You should consider it well, Gabriell. 'Tis currently the manner of doing business."
"I will give it my full attention later, brother...my hunger insists that we begin! The apple brown betty demands our endearment!"
Gabriell winked at his children with the last statement. Abigail and Thomas beamed at their father and all bowed their heads in prayer.

The after supper routine. The family gathered together in the big front room for instruction for the children. Abigail always looked forward to this. She loved reading. In particular she always hoped for a chance to read from her favorite...the play-book of Romeo and Juliet. This evening, her father had decided on a different assignment.

"Read 'The Country-mans Apocrapha' from the almanac, please Abigail."

"Yes father." Abigail said with some audible disappointment in her voice. She began as instructed.

"If Stars do Rule the World, then never fancy
What's told from them is wrought by Nigromancy,
Th' admiring Rusticks faith will shrink perhaps,
Hearing the Tidings of such After claps.
Who marvels not? The Sun shall once stand still,
Whilst that the Earth shall round him dance his fill.
Signes in the Sky shall now be seen; for there,
A fiery Dog will chase a skittish Hare."

"Very good, Abigail. It's an older passage, but I quite enjoy it. You read it aloud so very well."
Abigail smiled broadly at her father's praise. She sensed opportunity and seized upon it.
"Can I not now read from Romeo and Juliet, father?"
Gabriell smiled at his daughter.
"Child...you will make me regretful of ever fostering your curiosity toward those play-books."
Abigail looked downward and smiled...knowing full well that her father loved to tease her about her favorite story...but that he ultimately always appeased her wishes.

Gabriell reached for the copy of Romeo and Juliet that he had brought with him from England a few years before. He paused to gaze at it for a moment.
"Tis a shame. I fear the name William Shakespeare shall disappear from the history books. Rare is it to find a person today who is aware of his great works. We may be in possession of one of the few copies of his plays in the colonies."
He handed the play-book to his daughter and took pleasure in the way her eyes lit up as she accepted it from him.

"Father...why is it that no others in the Shire know of Shakespeare?"

"Well daughter, there were many among those who traveled to the colonies years ago who consider the performance of plays to be immoral. I hold out hope that idea will fall out of favor soon. Those of us who came over later are more open to the theater."

Abigail paused to consider.
"I cannot comprehend it father...the stories are so beautiful."

"One must be cautious, Abigail. An observance of religious faith is indeed a very good thing, but the idea that god would frown upon the performance of a play as a practice strains the bounds of faith." "Let us not forget the tragic occurrences this year past in Salem and the unfortunate 'witch trials'. Religion must guide us, but never consume us."

Abigail nodded and began as Tituba stoked the hearth nearby.

"SCENE II. Capulet's orchard...Enter Romeo...
ROMEO
He jests at scars that never felt a wound.

JULIET appears above at a window

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she..."

Nathaniel cleared his throat.
"Pardon me, Abigail...if I may take this opportunity to speak with your father?"

Abigail fell silent and obediently sat down on her chair. She did manage to irritably glance at her uncle as she did so.

"Gabriell...I do wish you would give some thought to what I proposed for the plantation."
Gabriell made no attempt to hide his displeasure at his brother's interruption of Abigail's reading.

"Frankly Nathaniel, I find this practice of enslavement to be distasteful in its entirety. Some planters are now placing the considerations of expense above considerations of morality. We are making quite enough profit to sustain us. Indentured servitude is a fair bargain for all parties. Is enough...not sufficient?"

"At least consider extending the contracts of servants to the seven years that is common practice. A four year term is too brief to be of any use."

"Again brother, we are not starving. And you will note that the number of those who choose to remain with us is plentiful."

Nathaniel snorted. "For a price! ...Your stubbornness is a vexing thing, brother. Other plantations will flourish while we flounder in our...morality!"

"That's quite enough, brother! You have my answer. Let us speak of it no more."

Nathaniel stood outside in the dark. Through the walls of the house, he could hear his niece reading from the play-book. He glanced through the window at the happy family gathered around listening to her read and burned with indignation.
"You are a fool, brother...yet you are in possession of all..."

He turned away from the window with the image of Hannah still in his mind. So sure he had been years before that she would be his wife. But instead it had been Gabriell who captured her heart. Always it was Gabriell who won the day...no matter the task, no matter the contest.
"...it is unjust" he grumbled.

Nathaniel folded his arms over his chest and stared out into the night sky. He could not help resenting his brother...his love for Hannah remained strong through the years. Nathaniel had not taken a wife due to this. No other woman could compare to her in his eyes.

In his eyes, the children should be his. Part of Nathaniel was certain that had Hannah agreed to be his bride, she would have been able to bear more children. Though Nathaniel tried to endear himself to them, the children never quite warmed to him. His brusque manner was off-putting and they no doubt sensed his seething resentment of their father. Young Abigail looked almost exactly like Hannah so her rejection was worst of all.

Feeling a bit cursed by god, Nathaniel had began to harbor forbidden thoughts. Knowing his niece would soon be of age, he considered the idea of stealing her and escaping into other territories in the Colonies or even the unexplored wilderness. If he couldn't have Hannah, Abigail could be his second chance. But these were only fantasies born in the dark of night while staring at a blank ceiling...morning chased them away. It was a foolish and dangerous thinking.

Heaving a sigh, Nathaniel turned to the house and gazed once more at Hannah through the window. There was nothing to comfort him this night. He turned away and whistled sharply. A large wolf emerged from the shadows and bounded to his side. Most would recoil in terror at the sight of the carnivore, but Nathaniel showed no fear. He reached down and stroked the animal's head. The wolf remained stoic but tilted his head to the side with pleasure at his master's touch.
"Good Fala."

No other human could approach Fala and Nathaniel did nothing to discourage the wolf's behavior. Solitude was something that was part of his nature after all these years alone. They were a pack of two. Other settlers and the servants avoided them.

"Let us go home, Fala."

If nothing else, he knew he had the canine's undying affection after nurturing him from a pup. A deep sigh escaped him that came from a hopeless place. Nathaniel decided at that moment that he was destined to live out his days alone. He shot one glance back at his brother's house and felt the bitterness rise in him once more.

The two companions walked off into the dark woods separating the Berkeley brothers' houses. The dark enveloped them. But it was a walk they had taken together many times. Nathaniel touched the blunderbuss pistol in his belt as a matter of habit. One good thing his brother had done for him was to obtain that handy weapon. It could fire several pellets at close range...useful against multiple enemies. Nathaniel was not timid or cowardly and Fala was ever vigilant, but it never hurt to be prepared. Especially this night when it seemed he could FEEL the darkness. They walked on. Fala guided them. One more bend in the path and his house would be in view. One more bend...

In the inky black, the figure of a man seemed to appear before them in an instant. Fala instantly exploded with a fury Nathaniel had never seen from him before. Fala did not charge...but instead backed away slowly. Nathaniel had barely a moment to consider how odd this was before the man was upon him.