Jenavrys

Young Jenavrys pulled her blanket up snug to her quivering chin. She closed tight her light gray eyes and tried to block the sounds coming from the room just a thin blanket curtain away from her. A tear escaped silently from the corner of her eye and slid into her ear. The sounds were frightening and she wanted them to just stop. She practically willed them to stop, yet they did not. They continued into the night and long past the point when Jenavrys had finally blocked them out by quietly crying herself to sleep.

A slender hand shook the girl tentatively before the sun had risen. A familiar voice called her name and she drifted up from her troubled dreams.

"Jena, wake up Jena. We have work. C'mon girl. Don't dally today."

Jenavrys pried her eyes open and rolled, using her legs in a canter lever action, to sit up on the edge of her cot. She stretched and stood in her bare feet and thin night dress. Then, as she dug out matted sleep from the corners of her eyes, she wandered out the door to the trench some ways from the hut. The morning predawn was brisk and by the time she had gathered up her night dress about her waist and squatted she was wide awake and shivering. As she relieved the pressure within her bladder, the Jenavrys looked around in the darkness. Not for the first time, she wished Garvin would build a proper toilet and not one open for the whole world. Grimacing, for not having the proper materials at hand, the girl used a portion of her night dress to wipe, then hurried back into the hut to help her sister with the duties of the day.

"There you are, girl. Quit sloughing and get in there and help with the cleaning."

Jenavrys ducked and slunk ever so cautiously past old Granny Hazrea. "Yes Mistress Hazrea."

Jena removed her night dress and put on her day's smock and apron. She then gathered her soiled night clothing and placed it with the other clothing destined for the day’s wash bin. Without saying a word, the girl dunked her hands in the soapy water bucket and then picked up a knife and began peeling potatoes for the morning soup. Dagnys looked at her little sister, then continued peeling and cutting up potatoes and onions.

Jenavrys knew her sister had been crying, again. She suspected Dagnys had only stopped just before she had come back into the hut. She didn't say anything, knowing there was nothing to say. They were here to pay debt price. There was nothing more to be done except to endure as best as they could and hope for a merciful end when it came.

Jenavrys knew they were lucky. Others she had seen who were sold to pay a debt were not treated so kindly. These poor wretches slept in the shed with the stock, were not clothed suitably and fed but once a day, if their work met approval. Garvin and Mistress Havrea treated them, if not like family, at least not like vermin.

A contract placed them indentured for five years to satisfy all domestic services demanded and required. Yaremka Zakarijkan actually wept when he handed his two youngest daughters over to Garvin. Yet, it was that or be hanged and all his family eventually fall prey to slavery. It was only five years because Yarem committed another ten percent of his yearly wages toward his annual payment on that same debt, for the next five years.

For the most part, the first year had not gone all that badly. There was hard work and many rules to learn as well as the home sickness to suffer through, yet they were treated well and never harshly punished for mistakes made or for those few rules broken. However, two months ago Dagnys' womanly cycles began. She was eleven and even Mistress Havrea was surprised she had started so early.

Jenavrys was confused by the whole change in how her older sister was treated from that point on. She had always thought that the woman's cycles was a glorious event and to be celebrated. She had been only three, but she remembered when her oldest sister Iendrys had started her cycles. There had been a ceremony celebrating her arrival into womanhood. She was hand fasted to a young man within the year and marriage was planned for five years later. In fact, Jenavrys had been eight when her oldest sister left her father's home and went to live with her young husband. It was a happy sadness for everyone.

Less than a year later, she and Dagnys left their father’s home in disgrace and entered into a life of slavery. Now, Dagnys couldn’t be hand fasted or enter into a marriage contract. She’d been despoiled. Garvin was well within the laws and his rights, even if the morality of what he did was low based. Mistress Havrea forced Dagnys to drink a foul tasting herbal mixture that poisoned her womb to ensure no bastard child would spring forth to curse her son. Dagnys must drink this after every encounter with Garvin. It was also decreed by law that she did so.

During every cycle, from five to ten days, depending on the bleeding, Dagnys was closed away into a place built specifically for the unclean passing. It was Jenavrys who brought her food and water during these times. She was not allowed to speak to her sister nor do more than place the food and drink through the opening under the heavy door. She knew her sister was completely naked on the other side and had only straw to sleep on and a bucket for toilet. Everyday, Jenavrys emptied the bucket and returned it, being sure to let Mistress Havrea inspect the contents before dumping it in the communal trough. Everyday fresh straw was pushed in after the soiled straw was pushed out.

With the maturing of her sister, their life had become desolate and full of despair and shame. Yet, what could be done about it? They would become criminal if they were to run away. Their father would be hunted down and hung for his debt for which their slavery was paying.

So, young Jenavrys and Dagnys performed their duties as best as they were able and never looked at each other lest they reveal the depth of their suffering to the other. They suffered their existence in silence, hiding their tears and their anguish, and obediently doing as they were told. This was what they must do. They still had three years and eight months left to pay their father's debt to Garvin Shudrak.

Jenavrys looked up at her sister as she scooped potatoes and onions into a wooden bowl. She watched from the corner of her eye as Dagnys wiped her cheeks and shuddered. She was crying again. Jenavrys felt her throat tighten and picked up a potato which blurred through her own tears. She brought up her wrist and wiped at her eyes. A defiant scowl clouded over Jenavrys face and at that very moment she made a secret vow. She would rather die as law breaker than suffer what her sister was now suffering and be shamed for life. As long as Garvin had one of them, he couldn’t have her father hanged. But Dagnys' slavery would become extended to cover Jena’s share of the debt. Therefore, Jena knew that she couldn’t leave until she too bled, otherwise, Dagnys's slavery could near be a life sentence.

So until then, Jenavrys would make plans and prepare herself. She had to do it right the first time. There was no second chance for a runaway slave. To runaway was immediate death upon being caught.

The only way a slave was not put to death, was if the balance of their slave debt was paid to the one who owned them. There were only a few legends told of runaways paying for their freedom and thus saving their own lives. More were told of the tragic who had run only to be caught and executed before they could gain the price of their freedom. Many more tales existed of those who had become highwaymen or sneak thieves to be hung with a bounty paid for their capture. So, Jenavrys knew she must do it right or not at all. She planned to raise the slave price for both herself and Dagnys once she got out on her own. She was still young enough to believe she could do this impossible thing.