Old Churches, Older Churches and the Secrets They Kept

By Sandy Black

This is Sandy Black's second book in a trilogy. Her resident cats continue their journey from Old Barns, Red Barns, and the Stories They Tell, to Old Churches, Older Churches, and the Secrets They Kept and beyond. Sandy Black also supports the Tunnel2Towers Foundation, a nonprofit organization which gifts mortgage free homes to the families of f

• Language: English
• Publisher: MainSpring Books
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781641337830

Sandy Black

Sandy Black is a recognized expert on knitting, both by hand and machine. As designer and director of the successful Sandy Black Original Knits label from the late 1970s to the 1980s, Sandy sold her innovative fashion knitwear to prestigious stores in the USA, Japan, Italy, Germany, Australia, Canada and the UK. After twenty years in business, she became a university lecturer, leading undergraduate and postgraduate academic programmes in textiles and fashion in Brighton and London. She has written pioneering books on knitwear in fashion, the socio-cultural history and technical evolution of knitting. Sandy is currently Professor of Fashion and Textile Design and Technology in the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London.

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Copyright © 2022 by Sandy Black.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ISBN 978-1-64133-783-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901983

2022.05.11

MainSpring Books

5901 W. Century Blvd

Suite 750

Los Angeles, CA, US, 90045

www.mainspringbooks.com

Chapter One

No Matter You Can’t Read or Write—Just Follow the Drinking Gourd

S

isters Mable and Maude

Brown have taken their usual seats in the second row of pews.

As requested, Haus Funeral Home delivered one hundred new fans. ‘Kitty Kinder’ says they look like the big sticks Ole’ Doc Martin uses to look at your throat—stuck on a piece of cardboard.

Today they have a purpose—a secret purpose. Rumor has it that a visitor is expected today.

Slave owner, Master Bellamy, called the sheriff ‘cause he has another runaway slave. Third one this month, and he is really mad.

Benjamin Haley’s wife and four children have recently been sold and shipped to another state. That day Benjamin vowed to escape slavery even at the high price he might have to pay for his freedom. If caught, Master Bellamy has been known to hand out punishment by whipping, hanging, and even branding his slaves to show ownership. Benjamin has chosen to trust the Underground Railroad. ‘Kitty Kinder’ asks, If there’s an underground railroad, where’s the tracks? I replied, we are a house of worship and prayer, but also serve those who deserve to be free from the bondage of slavery. Under our floors lay such a man.

Pastor Pat says today we need to pray harder, and be calm. Sisters Mable and Maude are sitting right on the trap door over the stairs going below to the small crawl space tunnel. Their oversized mumu dresses covering most of the second pew.

Pastor says slave catchers