Peachtree Plantation

Arnetia Maddux

Description

A fiction story that is based in the south, which follows a family of slave women named Amelia and her two daughter’s Anya and Hannah. There are many challenges the family face, when a painful secret is revealed. One of Ameila’s daughters Anya, seeks comfort and finds forbidden love in the arms of a plantation owner’s son.
Amelia and her two daughters, Anya and Hannah, are slaves in the South. Amelia holds tightly to a secret, but her eldest daughter Anya has a feeling it has something to do with the death of her father whose passing was accidental—or maybe not. Without the answers they seek, the women are sold and move to Peachtree Plantation.
The secret is later revealed when Anya learns why they had to leave their old owner’s home. She confronts her mother and lets her know their old owner lied about how her father died.
Anya then finds comfort with the Peachtree Plantation owner’s oldest son Craig Jr., and eventually falls in love with him. Craig’s love is tested when he has to go against his family to save Anya. Love between people of different races comes with obvious complications; are they both willing to risk it all to be together?

Sujets

• Historical
• Slavery
• Poetry
• History
• Love
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 15 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665737951
• Langue: English

Extrait

Peachtree Plantation
Arnetia Maddux


Copyright © 2023 Arnetia Maddux.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3794-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3795-1 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023901559
 
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 02/08/2023
Contents
Introduction
Poetry in Hand
Humming Bird
The Strength in Me

To all who fought and who fight for human rights, so the next generation can live the American dream.
Introduction
Peachtree Plantation is fiction, but its spirit is about the real fight for human rights many have undertaken, enabling the next generation to live the American dream. I want to thank my mother for always being my inspiration and for always encouraging my dreams of being a writer.
Poetry in Hand
Ink pen, you guide my fingers, and I’ll write the story at hand. It’s how I created a master piece, with everything I have. You let me know when my words are fully said and done and ready to be read, with the hint of poetic flow. I glide my words across this paper, leaving nothing out but letting the story be known. The details are fiction, but the story tells the truth about slavery that was here centuries ago. There are many stories that are unknown. But I hope you enjoy reading what’s in a writer’s mind, known as the writer’s pen, a unique style of poetry flow.


Narrator . On the sunny morning of January 1, 1842, on Peachtree Plantation, a horse galloped down the dusty road. In the back of the carriage, a young slave girl named Anya sat with her mother, Amelia; her sister, Hannah; and their slave owner, Master John Pete. Anya rested her face in the palm of her left hand while staring at the trees, as if she was traveling on a journey to somewhere beyond, a place only she could see. Anya was confused, and she did not know why Master John Pete had sold her family to Master Craig Baits. Anya knew her mother was very close to Master Pete’s wife, Caitlyn, and she herself was close to their oldest daughter, Margaret. Anya understood they were slaves, but still they had shared a bond with the family over the years.
For as long as she could remember, Anya had heard horror stories about Amelia’s younger life before she had been sold to Master Pete. Amelia always told her girls there was another side of slavery that they had not been exposed to. Amelia’s father had been sold when she was a little girl, and her mother had died when she was fifteen years old. Amelia had been repeatedly raped by her previous owner and gotten pregnant two times. With both pregnancies, after the delivery, her rapist had quickly taken the baby away. Amelia had never gotten the chance to see her babies, and she always wondered if they were still alive.
Amelia’s girls knew how lucky they were not to have experienced physical abuse, but they did hear rude comments from Master Pete’s guests, who would come over to the house for dinners or events. Anya and Amelia would get the worst treatment. The guests would call them niggers and talk about how black they were as they served them at these festivities, and it was hurtful. They would never comment about Hannah because she was light-skinned. Anya always wondered why her sister was so light, since they did have the same father.
However, when Master Pete’s guests started talking about the slaves, he would start preaching a sermon, trying to defend his slaves. Anya always heard Master Pete say, “They are human beings but not our equals; but God created them for a reason.”
Anya hated to hear these discussions as she served, and she wondered if Master Pete’s guests knew the slaves who worked day and night had dreams, hopes, and desires, too.
In the beginning, Amelia did not always work in Master Pete’s household. When Amelia had arrived at Master Pete’s house at Valley Fields Plantation on March 10, 1825, she had been very scared. Amelia’s previous owner had lost interest in her and sold her to Master Pete. When Amelia stepped out of the horse carriage, she’d was escorted right onto the fields to work.
Amelia noticed that Master Pete had two foremen who worked on the plantation. There was a stocky man named Sammy and his brother-in-law, Carl. They were the overseers of the plantation, and they made sure all the slaves were doing their work properly. After a while, Amelia felt more at ease because Master Pete was so welcoming, and he was so different from her previous owner.
Amelia quickly settled in and became friends with an older lady named Shelby. They shared a living space in an old, rundown shack on Master Pete’s property. There were several small shacks where the slaves lived throughout the cotton fields. Sammy and Carl would walk through the fields, but they never abused the slaves. They followed Master Pete’s lead on not abusing the slaves, because he felt the best work was done when the slaves didn’t feel threatened. Master Pete had Shelby teach Amelia how to pick cotton, and after a while, Amelia fell right in with the daily routine. Amelia started to have the feeling of comfort that she’d lost when her mother had passed away. Shelby became like a mother figure, and she loved her dearly.
One day, Amelia was in the fields working and saw Master Pete pull up in his horse carriage with a new slave. Amelia found out later that evening from Shelby that the new slave was Ben Larkins, and he was going to work off the plantation with Master Pete to install windows. Shelby told Amelia Master Pete had another business outside of the cotton field, and he had three other slaves who worked with him as well. A few weeks passed by, and all the slaves had a get-together one night to celebrate Shelby’s birthday. The night of the celebration, Amelia was sitting by her shack, and Ben came over and started making small talk. From that night on, they were inseparable. And not soon after, the slaves arranged a ceremony for marriage. One year later, Shelby passed away on June 13, 1826. Amelia felt a deep loss but eventually was able to move on.
In the same year, Master Pete’s wife, Caitlyn, became pregnant with their first daughter, Margaret. There was talk that they had been trying for years to have a baby, but the missus always miscarried. But this time was different. Caitlyn carried this baby to full term, and she was ready to give birth any day. One night, Amelia heard Master Pete yelling for help, and all the slaves came out of their shacks. Amelia and Ben stepped out of their shack as well, and Master Pete said, “My wife is in labor, and she is bleeding everywhere. I don’t think the midwife will arrive in time to help her.”
Amelia told Master Pete she could help with the delivery. Ben asked in a whisper if she was sure, because if something went wrong, they might blame her. Amelia told Ben she had seen it done before, and besides, Master Pete looked desperate.
Caitlyn had her daughter that night, September 13, 1826, and she was deeply grateful once she saw her daughter Margaret. Caitlyn appreciated what Amelia had done for her, and from then on, they shared a bond.
One year later, Amelia had her first baby, Anya, on May 31, 1827. She was delivered by one of the elder slaves. Eight years passed, and Caitlyn became pregnant again with her second daughter, Josie. Caitlyn asked Amelia to help with the delivery with her second child, and Amelia proudly said yes. When Caitlyn was ready to give birth to her second child, Amelia was right there to help with the delivery. Amelia did not know her life would change after that night.
Soon after Amelia found out she was pregnant again with her second daughter, Hannah, she befriended one of the slaves, Nyssa. Anya now was eight years old, and she loved to play with Nyssa’s daughter Delia, who was the same age. Anya and Delia played during their downtime and would run up and down the fields together every day. As the months went along, and the time came for Amelia to have her baby, Nyssa was there to help with the delivery. Ben was by Amelia’s side, holding her hand, while Anya and Delia watched in the corner. When Amelia gave that final push, Anya saw a pale baby come out, and she was very happy to be a big sister.
A few weeks passed by, and Anya was getting used to her new baby sister. Everything was normal until one day when Anya was outside playing with Delia, she heard her parents arguing from their shack. Anya did not know why they were arguing, but her father left the shack mad. Anya saw her mother crying and tried to console her. Anya asked her mother why her father had left, and Amelia said he’d gone to install windows with Master Pete.
That night, Master Pete came to the shack, and Amelia knew something was wrong. Master Pete opened the door and entered the shack.
Master Pete: Hello, Amelia. I hate to tell you this, but Ben is dead.
Narrator. Amelia stood there in shock and then fell to her knees, crying.
Master Pete: Amelia, Ben was putting in one of the glass windows, and it fell on top of him. He died instantly, and we already buried him. I am sorry, Amelia, for your loss.
Narrator. When Master Pete left the shack, Amelia told Anya to watch her sister. Amelia went straight to Nyssa’s shack