Slave Girl Read Online Free Page A

cain’t be all that bad.
    Monday
    Miz Lilly favours her daughter Clarissa and I see why. She’s all growed up and married with children of her own near ’bout the same age as William. Aunt Tee say Miz
Lilly thought she was through havin’ babies, when along come William. She almost up and died tryin’ to get him borned. If it hadn’t been for Aunt Tee they say Miz Lilly would have
done died. The fancy doctors from over in Richmond had done everythin’, but Aunt Tee fixed up a potion and the next mornin’, little William come into this world feet first.
    “The tree with all its won-won-won” William was tryin’ to read a poem and got stuck on a easy word. His face turned all red. “What’s it say, Mama?”
    Miz Lilly is short tempered and quick to hit in good times. Today wasn’t one of her better days. She whacked William’s knuckles with a stick. “Wonderful!” she shouted.
“Wonderful. That’s a plain English word used by millions of people. Wonderful. Look at it. Say it. Won-der-ful!”
    William threw the book over his shoulder and stomped away. Miz Lilly followed close behind, threatenin’ to skin him alive. The lessons ended on that sour note.
    I looked in the hedges and found the book William had tossed away. I’ll give it back to the Missus in a bit, but not before I’ve had a chance to finish readin’ the rest of that
poem.
    Tuesday
    Wonder what a new pair of shoes feels like? It’s warm enough to go barefooted now. My feet are glad to be out of William’s old throwed away shoes. The ground feels
good comin’ up through my toes all soft and cushy-like. Maybe that’s how new shoes feel.
    Wednesday
    Mr Ben Tomson’s Betty came to Belmont to finish fittin’ a dress for the Missus. Betty is a good seamtress. Her mas’er hires her out to make clothes for people
far away. Makes weddin’ dresses, fancy party dresses – everythin’. Good as she is, though, Betty cain’t hold a candle to my mama when she was the seamtress. Here at Belmont.
Everybody say so.
    The ugliest dress in Virginia is bein’ made right here at Belmont for Miz Lilly. It is a shade of light green that looks washed out – no colour. I’d rather wear this little
plain cotton shirt I got on, with nothin’ underneath it, than all that grand mess she’s havin’ made.
    After Betty finished in the Big House, she stopped by to speak to Aunt Tee in the kitchen. I listened, careful not to jump into grown folk’s talk.
    Betty say Jasper and Naomi from over at the Teasdale Plantation runned away several weeks ago! The dogs was on they cents, when all of a sudden, they got all befuddled – went to
howlin’ and carryin’ on.
    “Heared red pepper will do that,” say Aunt Tee.
    Then Betty say somethin’ that make me listen real close. “Word tell, it was a white man that helped them get ’way on a railroad what runs under the ground – a one-eyed
white man, they says.”
    That set me to thinkin’. If the one-eyed man helped Jasper and Naomi run ’way then he must be what they calls a abolistine.
    Day later
    I cain’t stop thinkin’ ’bout the abolistines. Seems some white folks don’t want slavery. They be the abolistines. I can hardly demagine that – but
it makes me happy to know that them kind of people is out there somewhere. The white folks that is mas’ers wants to keep slavery. I know ’bout them. I want to know more ’bout the
abolistines. Where do they live? How many is it? Do they all wear patches over their eyes? Are they all men? One thing for sure is that the abolistines is helpin’ slaves to get to freedom,
and knowin’ that is good for now.
    Friday evenin’, April 29, 1859 (I think)
    Spicy and I was dustin’ the large parlour. Spicy broke a vase and Miz Lilly gave her a bad whuppin’ – ten hard swats across the back with a switch – look
more like a tree limb to me.
    Aunt Tee rubbed her wounds with a paste made from powdered oak leaves and rain water. Takes the sting out and