Our Kansas Home
By Deborah Hopkinson and Patrick Faricy
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About this ebook
Papa is in danger for helping to rescue a free-state settler who was unjustly arrested by Kansas's proslavery sheriff. He has gone into hiding, and Momma and the Keller children are alone in their remote cabin while marauding border ruffians are roaming the countryside, looking for livestock to steal.
But there's a lot more at stake at the Keller homestead than their chickens and cows. Charlie has come upon Lizzie, a runaway slave girl trying to make her way to freedom in Canada, and the Kellers are hiding her at their cabin. With the violence in Kansas Territory escalating, the Underground Railroad isn't running. Can Charlie and his family keep Lizzie safe until she can escape from Kansas?
Deborah Hopkinson
Deborah Hopkinson is the author of Small Places, Close to Home and Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen, among more than fifty acclaimed works for young readers including picture books, middle-grade fiction, and nonfiction that help bring history and research alive. Deborah lives near Portland, Oregon with her family and a menagerie of pets. You can visit her online at www.deborahhopkinson.com.
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Our Kansas Home - Deborah Hopkinson
CHAPTER ONE
KANSAS TERRITORY May 1856
Charlie Keller ran down the muddy road clutching two crinkled dollar bills in his hand.
Calico, ribbon, and candy for Sadie,
Charlie sang to himself. He didn’t want to forget anything. "Calico, ribbon, and candy for Sadie.
I promised Papa we’d meet him in ten minutes, Lion,
Charlie told the golden dog trotting at his side. So stay close.
Lion barked and flashed his big dog grin.
Charlie laughed. Finding Lion was the best thing that had happened to him since moving to Kansas. There was only one problem: Lion liked to wander.
It’s dangerous for Lion to roam the prairie,
Papa had warned last fall, after Lion had run off for two days. Besides, a dog costs money to feed. If we’re going to keep Lion, he has to stick close and learn to be a watchdog.
Ida Jane had chimed in. You’re nine now, Charlie. You and Lion just can’t wander around looking at birds and plants all day. You have to train him.
Bossy Ida Jane! But Charlie knew his older sister was right, and so Charlie had worked hard with Lion all winter. Now Lion could sit, stay, and come when called.
At least Lion could do all these things at home. But would Lion obey Charlie in the busy town of Lawrence?
Charlie stopped outside the store. Time for Lion’s first test.
Stay,
Charlie commanded. Lion’s bright brown eyes sparkled. He wagged his tail, back and forth, back and forth. Then he plopped down. Perfect.
Good dog. I’ll be right back.
Charlie patted Lion’s head, turned, and—bam! He bumped right into a man with a long, sad face.
Oh, sorry, Mr. Dillon,
said Charlie. Sometimes people called Ed Dillon Wooden Ed.
He had a shop in town where he built wooden chairs and tables.
Why, Charlie Keller of Spring Creek! Where’s your pa?
asked Ed.
Papa’s buying cornmeal, molasses, and …,
Charlie began.
Wooden Ed held up his hand. Hold on. Haven’t you heard? The town’s in danger. Sheriff Samuel Jones and his border ruffians are set to attack the Free State Hotel this very afternoon.
Charlie’s eyes widened. Sheriff Jones and his border ruffians!
Charlie knew the border ruffians were rough men, willing to fight to make Kansas a slave state someday. But Charlie’s family, and most people in Lawrence, wanted Kansas Territory to enter the Union as a free state, where owning slaves wouldn’t be allowed.
The whole country is watching Kansas,
Papa had told Charlie. If proslavery folks win here, slavery is sure to spread into other new territories in the West.
And the proslavery side was winning. Last year some proslavery men from Missouri had pretended to live in Kansas, so they could vote in the Kansas election. And they had won. That’s why Kansas Territory had proslavery men like Sheriff Jones in charge.
Papa was still angry about the bogus
election. It wasn’t fair,
he told Charlie. "But now we’re expected to obey their