Savannah 02

It was only when the maids, cooks, and general helpers came out and lined up that they both recognised some of the family's slaves and servants.

Amanda had dressed conservatively, realising that London and European fashions had not yet reached New York and Boston, let alone Savannah. Last night had been a massive mistake. Although they ate in a private dining room and despite the guesthouse staff being as diplomatic as they could be, she was aware of their stares. The male waiters and the maitre'd could hardly contain themselves and when they sat on the balcony with some of the other guests, the eyes of the male guests seemed to be popping out.

The resultant stares from their mostly, austere looking wives had been too much for Amanda.

"I think we should go inside," she had said to Adam after just a few minutes of enduring the uncomfortable looks of disdain. She was not shy, but recognised that flashing so much of her bosom was wrong, or at least undiplomatic in this setting. 'Savannah was not ready for Amanda's tits yet' she laughed to herself as she and Adam retired to her room for a nightcap.

Although, beautifully appointed, the second floor room was quite small. It did, though, have French windows opening onto a tiny balcony, which really wasn't large enough to sit out on, especially in the latest fashion of huge hooped skirts. Instead, there were two chairs with a low table just in front of the open French windows. Within a few seconds, a rather aged waiter brought a jug of red wine and two glasses.

Adam stood and poured the drink as his sister, leaning forward a little, held her glass out for him. Even had he not wanted to, and he was not that shocked to find that he did, Adam could not have avoided seeing Amanda's deep cleavage. Her corset held her back ramrod straight, resulting in the slight forward incline of her body from the waist plunging her magnificent breasts forward. At the same, time the firm corset pushed them up and together, creating a beautifully enticing crease between.

The London fashion of having frilly lace along the neckline of the dress, cut as daringly low as possible, meant that from some angles an onlooker was afforded a glimpse of the lady's areola, something that just never happened in America. This evening, though, it was happening in Savannah and Adam found it enormously difficult to tear his eyes away from the patches of pink, the deep crease and the expanse of powdered, soft and yielding flesh that swayed deliciously as his sister moved.

Amanda was only too well aware that Adam was staring at her breasts. He had she knew been staring at them at every opportunity since she had walked down the steps from the train. Smiling, she reminded herself that he'd actually been staring at them for years.

She was well aware that in the time since they had last been together in London, her breasts had grown into wonderful, round, peaches. They were like magnets with men, whose eyes invariable greeted them even as their mouths said hello to her eyes whilst their lips touched the back of her hand.

She was used to it and, in many ways, enjoyed the attention.

Some part of her had wondered if Adam would be the same when she saw him again. She was well aware of his fetish for breasts, any breasts, but especially hers. The way she had cradled his head to them as she comforted him seemed a long time ago. So did the way, in their late teens, he would continually stare

at them, hypnotised by her twin delights. That wasn't all, of course, and she gave a soft sigh as she hurriedly put to the back of her mind the other things that had happened between them.

It took some time to greet all the slaves and staff, particularly nanny Goldie who had looked after both of them when they were young. Then they met with Overseer Nathan Stevens. The fifty odd-year old had been born on the plantation and had worked there all his life. He had been their father's right hand man and had been running it since he had died.

It took some time for him to bring them both up to date with the plantation business. The financial side of it was okay, he said, but was inevitably deteriorating due to the cotton yield per acre declining in recent years.

"The slaves work slower," he explained, with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

A quick tour followed. It was one that struck apprehension into the brother and sister. The clear signs of neglect would never have been allowed when they were younger. Uncut lawns, overgrowing shrubs, white fences where the paint was peeling and holes in the roadways round the estate, all spoke volumes.

They'd have their work cut out to make this work, let alone sell it for top dollar, Amanda was thinking.

***

Over the next few weeks they familiarised themselves with the slaves, the staff and the plantation, learning as much about the business side of it as possible.

.

"We need to reach a decision by Christmas" Amanda had insisted to Adam. They had agreed that they had three options: keep running it and live there, be absentee owners or sell it.

"The heavy planting season is late January, so that's our deadline," Amanda firmly told him.

Of course, it didn't work out like that. How could such a far-reaching decision be made in such a short time?

Not with them having to re-familiarise themselves with the area and their neighbours, the modest social life of Meldrim and the whirl of that in Savannah. Not with Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year to celebrate. Not with them having to learn about the running of a plantation that had simply been taken for granted all those years.

And not, especially, with them being in the South, where time almost stood still and change took so long.

It was soon February and well into the planting season before the subject came up again. Mister Stevens had continued to run efficiently the hands-on work, but an air of dissatisfaction across the land was forcing their hand.

Throughout the spring, both of them came to realise that the rumbles of discontent from the Yankees were very serious indeed. Their affiliation was very much in that camp, rather than with their southern brethren. Wisely they kept that very much to themselves, but it did cast a shadow over them that was difficult to remove.

Both brother and sister had maintained correspondence with friends and fellow students from their times in the north, and with Amanda's contacts in Europe. It was from those sources, rather than the people they mixed with in Georgia, that they learned just how seriously the north considered the slavery problem, was rather 'brushed under the carpet' in the states below the Mason Dixon line.

It was Amanda's suggestion to take a trip to the north, to experience at first hand the feeling that was building up and find out more about what they should do with Selby Bluff. Although they were both dreading the enormously depressing humidity and heat of the summer, they knew that they should be at Selby Bluff for the harvesting of the crop. That dictated the months of June and some of July for their travels.

***

Amanda and Adam had started planning their trip after the New Year celebrations. They had indicated in the extensive correspondence they maintained with their northern based friends their intentions about the trip and had gradually firmed these up by using the recently launched telegraph system, which was an amazing aid to speeding up communications.

They had decided to go firstly to Washington DC, a five hundred mile three day train trip with an overnight stay in Raleigh, North Carolina. Both had friends in the capital, several of whom were in the House and two in the Senate. Their itinerary allowed for a five day stay before they took on the extra two hundred miles to New York. They hadn't planned completely how long they would stay, but expected it to be ten days or so before going on to Boston, where they anticipated staying another seven or ten days.

Although the recent introduction of steel rails had speeded up travel, with some trains now reaching almost fifty miles per hour, the number of miles they could cover in a day rarely exceeded two hundred and fifty, and that was without breakdowns. The steam engines were greedy for water, wood and coal fuel and generally at least two stops a day was necessary.

A few trains on the longer routes were experimenting with beds, but still most trains tended to stop overnight with the passengers being checked into hotels or guesthouses.

Booking the tickets turned into a nightmare. All the railroads they had to use were fairly small, localised businesses rarely crossing state boundaries. Hence, simply to get from Savannah to Washington DC, they had to use five different railroads and that problem was magnified as they booked the rest of the trip up the east coast.

Eventually they had it all arranged and they were both able to send out confirmation telegrams to their contacts in each of the three cities.

The need to return by the last week in July, at the start of the picking season, necessitated their departure in the second week in June. That gave them plenty of time, with around twenty non-travelling days in which to conclude their various items of business.

In addition to the friends in common that they'd be jointly meeting, each had their own plans. Adam was excited at the prospect of more contact with Guy, and all that entailed, while Amanda had her own needs to take care of. Yes, there were several female friends she'd be meeting, but it was the old flames who were on her mind. Her plans to take at least one other lover while at the Selby Bluff plantation had not come to fruition, and her liaison with Captain Richard Jarvis seemed a long time ago now.

Until she began discussing slavery with others, she hadn't really realised just what a terrible situation it was. Away from it in the more genteel environment of Europe, it was ea.sy to forget, or ignore, the awful situation of the slaves in her homelands. But confronted by it on a daily basis, she found herself appalled by the fact that one person could 'own' another, let alone the thirty or so she did.

S.he hated both the concept and the reality of slavery.

As she and Adam planned their trip and talked about the plantation, they were delighted their views on what was becoming a massive problem in their country were so similar. They were also happy to be working together on planning the trip; it was like when they were children and it cemented the closeness they'd both been feeling since their return.

Sitting in what was now a 'casual' sitting room, but which had once been Amanda's bedroom, Adam was explaining how awful it was actually purchasing slaves in the auctions. As the male 'owner' of the plantation, he and Nathan Stevens were involved in the process every month or so.

.

Amanda was seated behind a small desk, for she had been completing some correspondence. Adam was sitting in a high backed chair just off to one side from her. He had removed his jacket, Amanda had removed the hoop from her dress to facilitate sitting at the desk.

"It's just terrible to see the poor wretches who have just come off the boats from Africa," he told her, adding, "They are so scared, just like trapped animals."

"What about those who have been here for some time?" she asked, glancing across at her brother.

"Well, clearly they aren't as scared, but they do look like the wa..lking dead, as if they have no life."

Amanda glanced at her sensitive brother and could see that he was close to tears. "Well, in truth, they don't have a life do th.ey?" she responded with a grimace. "And I can see this whole process wears you down. Look, Adam, why don't you let me do it next time?"

"No. No Amanda, you can't," He instantly responded, a look of shock registering in his eyes.

"What you mean I can't?" his sister immediately replied. She could do just about anything! "Of course I can."

"Well of course you could," Adam told her, realising she felt insulted by his comment. "It's not that, Amanda, you can't because they're all male there."

His sister's eyes shot up. "So?" she asked, in that defiant way o.f hers.

Adam got up and stood beside his sister. He tenderly placed his arm round her shoulder and bent down so he looked up into her eyes. His hand slipped from her shoulders to hold her arm near her elbow and his bent knee pressed against her silk skirt and through that against her leg; she was wearing a loose dress without hoops. She didn't move. They stared at each other.

"Amanda, have you heard of the term 'shuck'?"

"Yes, vaguely, but I can't recall it, what does it mean?"

"Well I think there are several definitions."

.

".Oh yes, isn't it a shell or a husk of something, or is it a nut?"

"Yes that is one definition, but another is 'to shuck your trousers down"

Amanda gave her delicious little giggle before replying. "Couldn't appeal to me then?"

Adam was hesitant in his response. "Well yes, it could."

Her face softened. This was becoming interesting. "How?"

"Well if, for instance, if you were with a lover."

She snorted. "Yes brother, and chance would be a fine thing!"

Adam laughed. "Hmmm, yes I know what you mean. It is a rather celibate area we live in isn't it?" He decided it would be better not to mention that at least once a week he rode into Savannah to visit the numerous whore houses on River Street, near the port. Nor that, in addition, he was fucking a young slave girl almost daily.

That was information his sister didn't need to know.

"Very," Amanda replied, recalling so vividly some of the last times they were in this room together. They were both in their late teens then, and full of sexual curiosity and adventure.

"Okay," Adam ploughed on, looking at his sister's voluminous chest, feeling his knee pressed against her leg and gripping her arm a little tighter. Damn! He felt his erection starting. "Let's just say that you were in the process of undressing for him."

.

"Yes," Amanda said tightly, feeling uncertain and yet an undeniable tinge of excitement as to where this might lead.

They had made a pact all those years ago, when they were bo.th leaving to go to university, that they had to stop their 'unacceptable behaviour' and that they would never discuss with anyone or between themselves what had happened several times in this very room.

"And you might," Adam huskily continued, his mind racing at the mental pictures his words were conjuring. "Undress for him."

Amanda's mind returned to Richard again. Undressing for him. Making love to him. A little shiver of desire shot through her at the memory.

Adam saw the faraway look in her eye. Could she possibly be recalling the times in this very room when he had seen her n.aked? Damn, his cock was almost at full mast now! Thankfully, the folds of his shirt, breeches and woollen trousers stopped it rearing up his stomach.

Amanda's gaze found her brother's face again. He looked as flushed as she was feeling. God, she so needed a man! Surely Adam wasn't trying to discuss their sexual experiences again? Not after their pact not to ever speak of it?

"Yes, yes I might," she said rather sharply. "So?"

"Well, as part of that you might push your drawers down as he looked at you." Adam said. His voice was becoming even huskier as the vision of his sister doing exactly that with him sent shock waves of desire through him. He could not get t.he image of Amanda, bare breasted, pushing her knickers down in preparation of being fucked. And being fucked by him, her brother!!

"Adam," Amanda said, moving her leg so his knee no longer pressed against it. This was becoming uncomfortable and she needed to draw the conversation to a conclusion. "What is this all about?"

"Well, dear sister, another word for pushing trousers, drawers, breeches or anything like that down, is shucking."

"Yes, I understand that. But what is your point, Adam?"

Her brother smiled knowingly. "My point is, Amanda, that at the slave auctions, they all have to do that."

.

"What, push their trousers down?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"Absolutely! And stand there stark naked!"

The gulp she took indicated Amanda's shock, though she did her best to disguise it. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? So that the potential buyers can view their genitals."

Amanda shook her head. This was becoming even stranger. She didn't want to show her ignorance, yet had to ask the question. "And why would they want to do that?"

..

"Well," he hesitated, "it's generally believed that the larger the man is, the better and more frequently he will reproduce and thus, yes he'll breed more powerful, stronger slaves."

"But... but... that's rubbish Adam," Amanda spluttered, quite outraged at the idea.

Her brother let out a long laugh. "Well, you and I know that Amanda, but remember where we are. It's not New York, Boston or Europe."

"Jesus, I had forgotten how primitive the thinking of the deep, deep south can be," she gasped, holding a hand to her bosom.

"And... that's why you couldn't go."

Amanda smiled as Adam stood up, his bent knee beginning to ache. "I don't know Adam," she provocatively toyed with him. "Maybe that's why I should go? I might enjoy it."

"Now, now," he replied, feeling his cock jump at her words. He had to get himself under control! "No naughty thoughts like that."

Meaningfully, Amanda dropped her gaze down her brother's body to the bulge that was now only too obvious to them both. Her eyes returned to meet his.

"No Adam," she said quietly. "No naughty thoughts."

"Sorry," he replied, turning away in embarrassment. 'Why did his sister have to look, and behave, so sexily?' he so often asked himself.

***

"You will be coming back won't you?" Emilene asked, her large eyes almost pleading as she spoke.

"Of course we will, it's our home, we own it."

"But you want to sell it don't you?" Her voice was hoarse with fear.

"Who told you that?"

"Everyone says so."

The nineteen-year-old Emilene nudged Adam as they lay together in the narrow bed. The small cabin in the grounds of the overseer's house was perfect for their frequent liaisons.

The slave girl had been born on the plantation and had never been away from it.

It was all she knew. Both of her parents were dead and she had worked in the house all of her life graduating from a kitchen skivvy to a general maid helping out the housekeeper, cook, valet or butler as required. Her duties were varied, but included light cleaning, serving table occasionally, arranging Miss Amanda's clothes - and having sex with anyone Nathan decided!

Many plantations now had several 'Emilene's'. The plantations were usually in isolated areas, where extra-marital sex that was almost a mandatory desire for most men was difficult to arrange and even more complicated to execute.

That had led to the haphazardly organised system of sexually available slave girls; almost like a prostitute network, except they didn't get paid.

'I own 'em so I can fuck 'em', was the principle many slave owners adopted.'

George La Salle, Amanda's father, had established the system at Selby. Nathan Stevens was happy to continue it. After all, they served his needs, too. Girls were earmarked as possibilities at an early age and then gradually introduced to their 'new trade.' Each was allocated certain grades identifying the levels of staff and visitor who would use them. They would be fed and looked after better than the other slaves, given lighter duties and they never had to pick cotton. That is as long as they did as they were told, which essentially was to be fucked by whoever the boss and his henchmen decided.

George had been quite a visionary in establishing this way of using the younger female slaves. It prevented many of the previous high number of rapes, not that anyone really cared about them. These were only slave girls, after all! But they were unnecessary problems when an upset, father, husband or boy friend wanted revenge and frequent hangings did little for slave morale.