Horizons of Heroes: Free and Wild

By Cameron Price

Cameron fostered great dreams as a child, and included serving his country like his father did--a World War II veteran and one of the first African American air force pilots. As Cameron matures he discovers that his color and ancestry will make achieving his dreams nearly impossible. Bigotry casts a long shadow and follows Cameron. However, it does not deter the young man from pursuing his desire to serve his country. Despite harsh challenges he begins basic training to become a full-fledged soldier. Cameron's story is one of friendship, love, espionage, and high stakes drama. Cameron and his mismatched friend travel the world free and wild where passion, intrigue, and major challenges confront them. Horizons of Heroes: Free and Wild is a riveting, funny, sexy novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publication Consultants
• Release date: Apr 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781594334511

Book preview

September

Chapter 1

The Beginning

Sworn into secrecy more than forty years ago, and prohibited by law, this is the story Cameron has been waiting to tell. As part of the United States Air Force Security Service, Cameron, with his top secret clearance, was forbidden to release anything he witnessed or took part in until twenty years had passed. The time has now more than passed, allowing him to explain an untold story in our nation’s history.

Cameron, Sergeant Stevens commanded, I want to talk to you after class."

Later, Sergeant Stevens said, "I do not know what is going on in that brain of yours. You are flunking this class, you are not getting the codes. I know you have the aptitude, boy, because I looked at your file. What is going on?.

I am trying, Cameron responded.

No, you are not trying and I am only going to tell you this once. If you do not pass the big test that’s coming in three weeks, I guarantee that you will be kicked out of the Air Force with a high probability of getting your butt shot in the combat jungles of Viet Nam. I do not know what is holding you back, Price, but get over it. Do you understand me?

Yes, sir, Cameron responded.

He walked back to his barrack alone with tears forming in his eyes. His life had now totally spiraled down to the ground. Sergeant Stevens’ words repeated in Cameron’s mind, three weeks and you will flunk out of the Air Force. Cameron had totally lost his motivation for advancement since Wilder University, except for making a fast buck!

It had all begun, years ago, when Cameron’s mother handed down the family ancestry to his siblings and him: The year was 1820, in western Africa, in land above what is now called Liberia. In the depths of arid grassland there was a savannah full of animals and game. A powerful king ruled the land. His name was Oliano. As the custom went, Oliano could have six wives, but he chose one wife, Guanda. Together they had six sons and two daughters.

As the sun glared down, Oliano’s youngest daughter, Kadema, gathered brush and tree limbs to help her mother build the king’s hut. Kadema was fourteen and had big brown eyes and long, brown, braided hair, and her smile lit up many of the men’s eyes in the tribe. She was daydreaming about her new life as a young married woman.

Oliano had just received a bride price of thirty cows for his blessing to permit Kadema to marry Suno, a young warrior.

Suddenly, far in the distance came a loud booming sound and word quickly spread that several large canoes had landed on the shore. Strange loud voices were rapidly approaching, causing the tribe members to go silent with significant concern. From across the field, outlandish men with broad brown hats appeared. They held sticks that blew fire and made frightening roaring sounds. Oliano gathered his sons and the tribe’s warriors to stop the advancement of men who were now stomping through the far edge of the village. As the warriors moved forward, they drew their spears and long knives to fight the attackers. The spears soared toward the strangers and in return the strangers shot fire through their sticks, injuring many. Kadema looked toward her father for help but he was lying helpless on the ground from a horrible wound.

One white skin man, whose eyes looked white, had missing front teeth, a pocked and scrubby face, approached Oliano. He grabbed Oliano’s Ida sword out of his hands and screamed words that Kadema could not understand. He forcefully plunged the sword into Oliano’s neck, cheering and laughing, causing Kadema to scream. The same white eyes looked down and the warrior grabbed her by the hair, dragging her toward a group of already captured tribal members. As the strange man dragged Kadema through the field, she saw many of her tribal members including her brothers lying on the ground wounded and screaming in pain while others were dead. She fought to get away to see her injured brothers a few feet away, but this time the white-eyed man hit her hard, knocking her unconscious as her body fell to the ground.

The pungent smells of salt water and rotting human flesh awakened Kadema, aboard a boat. She was in pain, bound by rope, and could barely breathe when she realized her mother and other tribe members were tied up near her in the bottom of the boat. Guanda yelled to her, These white eyes have destroyed our entire tribe! She then tearfully stated, They may take us to their tribe, so we must stick together. Oliano would want us to be strong.

There was little to eat, and the food was unlike anything Kadema had ever eaten. Weeks went by as the ship rocked back and forth violently. Kadema watched as members of her tribe died from starvation. They remained in the pit of the vessel for weeks, creating a stench worse than any rotting baboon, hyena, or ostrich she had ever smelled. The boat continued to sail through the summer days as the heat and stench permeated the ship. There was little water and more than half of the captured tribe had died before the vessel sailed into a harbor.

After getting off the boat, Kadema learned they had arrived at a slave-trading port in the city of Annapolis, Maryland, America. Trembling, she grabbed her mother’s hand as the slaves were told to line up. The white men were yelling and waving their arms as Kadema’s tribe members were being sold. A man seized Guanda and took her to his cart as Kadema remained chained by herself. She screamed for her mother and watched her disappear in the commotion. Minutes after her mother was gone, Kadema was dragged to the front of the platform to be auctioned off. There she was sold to a white man named Master James Barrington.

Barrington was a wealthy middle-aged English businessman who had arrived in America in 1810 as a nobleman from southern England. He had traveled to Annapolis to gather more slaves to work his land in Brook, a town just outside the city of Annapolis. He took Kadema and nine other slave he had purchased back to the farm. Over time the plantation grew to more than sixteen hundred acres that Master Barrington managed with more than fifty slaves. As the years passed, James and his wife, Sarah, prospered. James, however, realized that Sarah was not going to be able to bear him children. This caused significant tension and discontent between the couple.

Kadema blossomed into a beautiful young woman, gaining the attention of many men, including Master Barrington. A loving relationship began and grew stronger, so Barrington decided to take Kadema out of the fields and into his main servants quarters. Eventually, he built Kadema her own servant’s building where they would spend many nights together making love. As tensions rose between his wife and him, Master Barrington spent more nights with Kadema. Eventually, their relationship grew beyond lust and he fell in love with her. Kadema became pregnant, which raised the suspicions of other workers, and most of all Sarah’s. Kadema gave birth to a healthy boy named George. George, to be sure, had Negro features but his gray eyes, very light skin, and straight hair made him stand out on the farm among the slaves. Sarah knew George was a bastard child of Barrington’s and refused to allow the baby to stay on the farm. She demanded that Master Barrington get rid of the bastard, because he was an embarrassment to the family. Master Barrington loved both George and Kadema and refused to banish either of them.

Barrington raised George as his son, imparting skills of not only reading and writing, but of running a plantation and assisting him in buying and selling crops. Young George loved his father. They spent many days fishing and riding horses together. When George turned eighteen, Sarah demanded that George leave the farm, as she would stand it no longer.

Reluctantly, Barrington took George on a very long journey to Moberly, Missouri. George was told that they were going to get special seeds and supplies for the farm. After a grueling trip, Barrington gave George two thousand dollars and a piece of paper that said he was a free man. George asked, Why are you doing this, father? Barrington replied, I cannot see you again. As a free man, I am giving you money to help you start your own farm and your own life. Barrington hugged his son for the last time and rode north toward home, leaving George to fend for himself.

George spent his money wisely and soon bought a farm in Missouri. He married a beautiful light-skin Negro woman named Isabel and they had twelve children. Years passed by as several generations of Barringtons worked on the farm and prospered. George’s progeny varied in appearance from African to white. They each had distinguishing features of gray eyes and straight hair. Even though they were all free, their white characteristics allowed greater acceptance into a white-dominated society without their being raped, kidnapped, killed, or made a slave.

In 1880, George had a great-grandson named Paige Barrington. Paige was the youngest of five children, three boys and two girls. Paige became a very handsome man with blond hair and gray eyes. He developed a stuttering problem as he matured, which kept him from receiving an adequate education. He completed his education through the sixth grade, then dropped out because of the torment he received from other students at his school. When he was nineteen, he found a job as a porter on a train.

One day after his twenty-first birthday, Paige met a young dark-skin Negro lady named Elizabeth. Elizabeth was the prettiest woman Paige had ever seen. She had twinkling brown eyes, long brown hair, and a smile that warmed his soul. Elizabeth came from a very wealthy colored family in Missouri. She was well-education, a teacher, and spoke five languages. Elizabeth fell in love with Paige instantly. Paige’s stuttering only enhanced Elizabeth’s love for him. She patiently spent many afternoons teaching Paige skills to overcome his stuttering.

Elizabeth’s family did not approve of her dating an uneducated porter. They had high standards and believed Paige was not suitable for their social standing. Elizabeth was in love and did not care what anyone thought, so she convinced Paige to elope. Once Elizabeth’s family found out that Elizabeth had married below her social status they disowned her as their daughter.

Paige and Elizabeth moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where they started their new life on a small dairy farm. They had seven children and money was scarce. The Great Depression hit soon after the family moved, causing their condition to worsen significantly. The farm produced few crops so there was not enough food to feed the family. To make ends meet, Paige and Elizabeth gave up on farming and sold their cows. Elizabeth found a part-time job working as a school teacher along with two other part- time jobs. Paige found a job outside town where he was an assistant steward on a train. Together they barely made enough to pay the mortgage on the farm and put food on the table, Their main concern was to keep the family together.

Elizabeth occasionally heard from her parents on holidays, but this year her parents begged her to return. They knew of her hardship and despised Paige for taking their daughter from them. They pleaded with Elizabeth to come back to Moberly with her children. Paige felt like a failure and knew Elizabeth’s family would be able to provide them with much more than he could. He turned to Elizabeth with a frail voice. Liz, darling, your parents are right. We can barely afford to feed the children and I want you to take them to your parents. Elizabeth grabbed Paige by his broad shoulders and said, Paige, we are home. We are a family and we will make it. I do not want to hear anything more of this.

Paige and Elizabeth’s financial condition worsened until 1942, just as World War II broke out. Paige Jr. read in the paper that there were good jobs with high-paying wages available in Seattle. Paige Sr. went to Elizabeth and said, Honey, I want to take Paige Jr. to Seattle to see if we can find work. If we do, I will send for you. Elizabeth consented and gave Paige money from her little egg money savings.

Father and son worked their way to Seattle, eventually arriving by train. War production had taken over the country and jobs were available in Seattle to build planes, ships, and tanks. The best job that Paige Sr. could find was working at the Planter Mill company loading fifty-pound sacks of flour for shipment to the servicemen overseas. Paige Jr. decided that he wanted to join the army, where he could help the family by sending most of his wages back to his father. Within weeks, Paige Sr. sent for his family.

Elizabeth and the children arrived in Seattle. They rented a house near Twenty-Third and Madison Streets. A few months later, after combining their savings with the money they received from Paige Jr., they bought the house that they had rented.

Faith, the eldest daughter, was seventeen at the time of settling in Seattle. She was stunningly beautiful with natural blonde hair and gray eyes. Paige Sr. would not tolerate anyone dating Faith. Faith did exceedingly well in school and graduated as the first colored girl from Westside High School. She went on to college at the University of Washington in 1942. It was there one of her friends invited her to the dance.

(… It is important now, to take you back in time again to attain the known history of Cameron’s father’s family…).

The year was approximately 1908, in a city named Marshall, Texas. There was a young lady of nineteen. She was the daughter of a former slave. Her name was Aretha Baxter. Although she was free, she despised how her mother and she were treated by white folks. She had never known her Negro father. In a daily paper one day, Aretha read how people were striking it rich in Alaska with the discovery of gold. Aretha was a very strong-willed and independent young woman, bold and determined to find her own place in life. She talked her cousin Debra into traveling to Alaska with her to find gold. Their mothers were distraught at the thought of their young girls venturing off so far away. They tried to persuade them to stay but Aretha and Debra were stubborn and left the next day.

The train’s first major stop was in Oklahoma. When the girls got off the train to transfer to the train heading to Portland, Oregon, Aretha bumped into a tall, handsome white man who was walking along the railroad tracks near their passenger car. The man was more than 6 feet 4 inches tall and had fiery red hair and the bluest eyes Aretha had ever seen. After a small dispute and some laughs, she found herself surprisingly attracted to Mr. James Johnson. James was a recent immigrant from Sweden and currently worked on the railroad. James and Aretha had an instant connection. After Aretha told James of her dream to go to Alaska, the young people realized they were headed in the same direction. James asked if he could join her and her cousin Debra on their mission. The ladies looked at each other. With a smile, a wink, a blush, and a laugh, they quickly accepted. Filled with excitement they looked forward to the adventures that lay ahead.

On board the train to Portland, the three of them heard of an opportunity to buy a restaurant in Seattle. A passenger returning to Seattle told them that he had a restaurant for sale in Seattle located at First and Seneca. Aretha and James thought long and hard about this opportunity. They couldn’t pass up the offer and decided to change their plans. Initially, they hoped to grow the restaurant, sell it, and then continue their travel to Alaska within the next couple of years.

Once they arrived in Seattle, Debra decided to continue traveling to Alaska. She ended up meeting a colored man in Alaska, where they eventually got married and later settled down in Spokane, Washington.

Aretha and James purchased the restaurant and prepared unbelievably delicious meals. The food was a combination of southern Texan food and hearty Swedish delight lunches and dinners. There was very little hateful discrimination at the time as there were so very few Negro people living in Seattle. The restaurant quickly gained recognition, expanded and after three years of cooking, the couple had made enough money to buy a two- hundred-acre farm near the city of Little Rock, south of Olympia, the state capital.

James, finally after three years, proposed to Aretha. After the couple got married, Aretha became pregnant and had a delightful daughter with light brown curly hair, light skin, and hazel green eyes. They named her Priscilla and she grew up to become a lovely educated lady.

Debra and Aretha remained good friends throughout the years. When Aretha was on a trip visiting Debra in Spokane, she noticed a feed store that was selling a large flock of white turkeys. This breed of turkeys, with their large breast, was rare in the northwest. She gambled and decided to buy all forty turkeys to bring back with her to Little Rock. Under the loving attention of Aretha and James, the turkey population exploded on the farm. Their biggest challenge was how to fill all the orders they had received for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eventually, Aretha and James became the largest turkey farmers in Washington State.

Several years later, James died suddenly from a fever, and Aretha was grief stricken, lying awake at night with tears in her eyes thinking of him. James was like no man she had ever met and she missed him so much! She now had the responsibility of tending to the farm and raising her daughter all by herself. Following months of heartache and tears, it was Aretha’s strong determination not to fail made