Hopes for the Griot Hamlet

By Marie Milo

Hopes for the Griot Hamlet covers the lives and families of two eighteenth-century women from different parts of the world. They wind up living and working on a plantation in Virginia, where their lives intertwine during the period of slavery. Pages of the saga cover the greed, lust, ambition, jealousy, and even murder of some of its characters. Hopes for the Griot Hamlet demonstrates how God has worked in the lives of people throughout the ages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685703714

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Hopes for the Griot Hamlet

Marie Milo

ISBN 978-1-68570-370-7 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68570-371-4 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Marie Milo

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 publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Disclaimer

The main characters in this book are fictional. Any similarities to actual people is purely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Mary, an English Girl

Stephen Jones

Conversation with Stephen Jones

Decision Day

An Old Trunk

London

The Britannica

Meeting Lizzy

New Friends

Martha's Poem

A Flower Petal Drops

A Pact

Saying Goodbye

Port of Philadelphia

Accusations

Gloucester, Virginia

A Slave in the Field

The Plantation

Mary's Contract

Impending Motherhood

Chika, a Senegalese Girl

Kidnapped

Diaspora Maafa

Deplorable Conditions

Another Flower Petal Drops

Adofo Is There Too

United

Chesapeake Bay

First Day in Maryland

The Auction

Reunited

The Future

Imani

Expecting

The Meeting

Winter Work

Thompson's Plan

Mbali

An Earnest Conversation

Counting Slaves

A Proposal

Plan in Action

Oringo

Smith Visits the Plantation

Reflections

Adofo's Decision

Last Dinner Party

New Ownership

Letters

His Legacy

Shemei's Question

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson

Secret Communiqué

Thompson's Big Plans

Children of the Plantation

Milling

Creditors

Unwanted Visitors

Splitting Up Families

Twice Stolen

The Wake

Chika's Vision

Lookouts

Sawmill Planning

The Settlement

Mary's Recompense

Mulling It Over

1809

Clear Conscience

Brevity of Life

A Grieving Widower

The Sawmill's Initial Operation

Maybe It's Divine Retribution

Back in the Saddle

Called to Ministry

Young Romance

The Wooden Star

Work Year Round

Planning and Planting

A Wooden Heart

He Wants His Money

Doctor's Orders

A Summer Day in February

No Longer a Secret

Two Grandmothers

Quite a Fall

A Mother-and-Son Talk

The Funeral

Charting the Course

Mbali Speaks Truth to Power

A Mother-and-Daughter Talk

Samuel's Proposal

The Way of Life

Claudia's Visit

Samuel's Wedding

Mbali's Sorrows

The Word

Confrontation

1820

Not His Whole Life

A Broken Heart

Claudia's Demands

Message to Shemei

A Life-Changing Encounter

Sin

Oringo's Opportunity

Oringo to the Rescue

Goodbye to Fields and Family

The Jessie

Game Plan

Fishing

Roll Call

Mbali Comforts Chika

Shemei's Second Son

Spy Boat

Darby Creek

Welcomed in Darby

At Last

The Church Meeting

A Friend Indeed

The Grapevine

Claudia's Anx

Action Steps

The Evil Deed

The Cover-Up

Missing

Great Sorrow

Shemei's Reflections

Telling Chika

Preparing the Body

The Funeral Service

The Aftermath

A Vision

Child with a Gift

Rabies

Grandmothers

1841

1845

1854

Thompson Plantation Statistics

Brother against Brother

Plantation Update

Beginning of the Civil War

Cush's Call to Arms

Eli's Call to Arms

A Call to Freedom for Ezra

The Carnage of War

Ezra Fights

Battle of the Crater

Plantation Update

Asa Returns Home

Coming to Terms

Meeting with Former Slaves

The Wager

Imani Meets with Shemei

Chika Meets with Shemei

Chika's Discussion with Imani

Final Wishes

Appomattox

A Bittersweet Day

Easter Sunday

Plantation Visitors

Eli Returns to Gloucester County

Family Meeting

A Father-and-Son Talk

Travel Plans

The Journey

Chika Prepares to Leave the Plantation

On to Barbados

Back on the Plantation

Barbados

On to Cape Verde

Cape Verde

On to Abéné

The Griot

The Safari

The Celebration

Back to America

Premonition

Carmel Finds Cush

Back in America

Oringo's Home

Julia's News

Eli's Renewal

Bank of the Griot Hamlet

The Bakery

The Freedmen's School

The Birth of James Senegal Thompson

January 1867 Annual Meeting

Chika's Homegoing

Shemei's Will

Annual Results

Shemei's Homegoing

Mary and Samuel's Homegoing

Hopes for the Griot Hamlet

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Special Thank You

Thanks to my friend and photographer, the late Delton Boyd, for the photo of myself which was used for the cover of this book. Not only did Delton have a certain way with people, he also had a way with the camera that brought out the best features of whatever he was photographing. Rest in peace my friend.

Thank you to all the photographers, artists and other creators who were thoughtful enough to place their works in the public domain so that they could be shared with others.

Thank you to the Westerville Public Library of Westerville, Ohio for providing materials that enhanced my understanding of life in America during the late 1700s.

The cover photo is in the public domain. The following is specific information regarding the photo.

Title: General Sherman Tree, in Sequoia National Park: Largest known living single-stem tree on Earth

Author: Jim Bahn

Source: Sherman Tree

Date: Taken on September 7, 2008

License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

Additional Information: No changes were made to the photo which appears at: File:General Sherman tree looking up.jpg—Wikimedia Commons

This book is dedicated to the God I serve. It is also dedicated to my son, Ali Milo; my sister, Dianne Thompson; and to the memories of my parents, Evan Alexander and Pansy Thompson, as well as to the memory of my brother, Adofo Omowale.

Mary, an English Girl

Mary needed to escape from her life of drudgery. Her future in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England was grim. As a seventeen-year-old young unmarried woman with no education from a family of little means and no prospective husband on the horizon, Mary was eager to leave her life in England behind. Mary was born in the winter of 1778 on a snowy and quiet night in Yorkshire, England. Although it was bitterly cold outside, the room in which Mary was born was warm as there were logs of hardwood on the fire that had been burning in the stove for hours. Mary's aunt Ruth assisted her mother, Esther, in the birthing process. Mary was born with two very noticeable birthmarks. One was a large port-wine scar below her left eye. The other was a blackish-brown marking on the middle of her right thigh. This last birthmark was very noticeable as it was in stark contrast to her pale-white skin.

Esther was not married to Mary's father, who denied that the child was even his. Esther worked as a charwoman. She would clean the homes of well-to-do families within walking distance of the run-down shed of a home she shared with her sister, Ruth. As Mary grew older, she could see that they were quite poor. Her mother and her aunt Ruth never married. Esther never had any other children. The three women all did the same type of work. They all cleaned the homes and washed the clothes of wealthy people throughout town.

Mary had never been to London although she had heard so much about this bustling city. London was a little over two hundred miles from her Yorkshire home.

When Mary turned twelve, it was time for her to start working and to help put food on the table. Esther started taking her to work with her. Mary would be instructed to clean the cookroom. While she was cleaning, she would daydream of visiting London. In her mind, she would fancy herself riding in a beautiful carriage, wearing a fancy ball gown. Her face would be painted in such a way that her facial birthmark would be concealed. Her mousy-blond hair would be worn in an exotic updo that would have cascading curls all about her and would fall gently below her shoulders. She imagined herself going someplace very elegant; perhaps she would be going to a ball or to an exciting dinner party. The more she worked with her mother, the more she would daydream and escape from the drudgery of her daily boring and tedious labor of cleaning the cookrooms of a seemingly endless number of Yorkshire homes.

When Mary was sixteen, she realized that she was still daydreaming about riding a beautiful carriage in London while wearing a lovely gown and having her face and hair fully done up for the occasion. Mary was beginning to realize that her dream was just a dream. She had never even been to London. She had no education and no skills. All she really knew how to do was to clean cookrooms. Mary knew that she wasn't considered beautiful. However, with her long blond hair and gray eyes, she was an attractive girl. She wasn't very tall, about average height for girls of that time period. Mary was small waisted and buxom. She had big feet and big hands for her size. She was beginning to attract the unwanted attention of men around her. Even though the frocks she wore to work were frumpy and ill fitting, she caught glances from men on the sometimes-mean streets of Yorkshire.

The only thing Mary enjoyed at work was overhearing the conversations of families in the various homes she cleaned. Depending on the time of day she was assigned to clean the home, she would overhear conversations of the first-, middle-, or end-of-the-day meals. Most of those conversations amongst family members were of little or no interest to Mary, but sometimes dinner guests would appear. These conversations were more spirited, and the topics of conversation were more wide ranging.

Mary was like a fly on the wall. No one paid much attention to her presence as they spoke freely. A topic of frequent discussion at the last meal of the day was foreign affairs. One evening, as the custard was being served, the topic of something called colonies came up. Mary had an inquiring mind and was always curious about things going on in the world. She was intrigued about places far away. To her, London was far away, especially since she had never been there. These colonies which were spoken of were apparently much farther away than London. They were across the Atlantic Ocean.

It was the summer of 1794. Mary overheard that a man named George Washington was president of these colonies. One of the gentlemen who regularly stayed for dinner at one of the homes Mary cleaned had a rather loud voice and could easily be heard even with the adjacent door closed. She didn't have to strain to hear him as she did with some of the others who came to eat, drink liquor, and talk about politics and things going on in England and around the world. This was like being at school for Mary. She was always learning something new and exciting from these overheard conversations. Sometimes the women would join in and discuss the latest fashion trends. Often the topic of the night would be about trade with the American colonies. The colonies produced lots of tobacco. This commodity sold well in England and other European countries. Negroes from the continent of Africa were sold into slavery to grow and harvest tobacco as well as other crops. Mary had never seen a Negro. She realized that many thought they were lower members of society.

European indentured servants were also field-workers on American plantations but to a lesser extent. Mary wondered what it would be like to be on a big ship traveling across the ocean to a new world. Did the sun shine brighter over there? Was the sky bluer in this new land? Did it rain as much over there as in Yorkshire?

Stephen Jones

Stephen Jones, the man with the loud, booming voice, owned several tobacco shops in Yorkshire, London, and other cities throughout England. This particular evening, he was grumbling about how he was paying too much to have tobacco imported from America. He said that, every time he turned around, the price was going up. This was eating into his profits. He said he needed to control the entire process of tobacco production. To this end, he stated he was planning a trip to America the following spring. He would sail from Southampton as soon as he could get his affairs in order.

While sipping a mug of ale, Stephen said he was going to travel with several people under contract. This meant indentured servants. He said he didn't want a bunch of smelly, stupid Negroes around him all day and all night and that he would prefer to have White servants even if they cost him more.

I'm looking for two young men and two young women to serve me personally and to work on the tobacco farm as needed when we arrive in America. I'll pay for their passage, but they'll have to sign an agreement which will call for them to work for me exclusively for three years.

This sounded reasonable to Mary as she stood near the door listening from the cook room, where she was supposed to be cleaning floors, countertops, and utensils. She would finally have the opportunity to visit London, and then she would live in America! Mary loved her mother and her aunt Ruth and would hate leaving them behind, but she knew her future in Yorkshire would be bleak and boring. She couldn't take this existence much longer. She made up her mind; she was going to talk to Mr. Jones about working for him under a contract.

After work, Mary went straight home. She couldn't sleep much that night because she kept thinking about the conversation she overheard and how it could impact her life. Should she discuss what she was planning with her mother or not? Maybe she should first have a conversation with Mr. Jones. Mary did not know how to get in touch with Jones. It would have been awkward and maybe inappropriate to ask the lady of the house she cleaned for information on him. She had no idea when or if he would be back to dinner at the home she cleaned.

Months had gone by since that night when Mr. Jones came to dinner. Mary kept listening for his voice in the next room but to no avail. Then one evening, she heard the loud, booming voice of Mr. Jones. Mary decided she would leave the same time as he and try to talk to him privately. It was late in the evening when the dinner conversation started to dissipate. Mary was in the cookroom pretending to work when the lady of the house, Mrs. Holmes, came into the room and saw that there was no more work that needed to be done that evening. She wondered why Mary was just hanging around. She thought that perhaps Mary thought she was going to be paid more for putting in extra time. Mrs. Holmes showed her displeasure with Mary by escorting her to the door and slamming the door behind her.

It was now early November, and it was a cold, blustery night. The leaves had fallen off the trees and were blowing in the wind. The night air made Mary shiver as she stood alone in the dark contemplating her next move. A horse and buggy were in front of the grand old house. Mary stood alongside one of the deciduous trees, which hid her from view by anyone either in the house or in the buggy. Mary saw the carriage driver from a distance and wondered if she should venture having a chat with him about Mr. Jones.

She had been waiting for Mr. Jones to appear for over an hour in the cold when suddenly a light rain started to fall gently on everything around, including Mary's bare head. She quickly donned her dirty work bonnet, which she pulled from her bag, and she instantly felt a bit warmer. She tied it under her chin and decided to walk over and chat with the carriage driver to see what she could find out about Mr. Jones and his upcoming travel to America. She didn't like talking to strangers, especially strange men. Mary wasn't a particularly religious young woman, but she prayed that neither this driver nor Mr. Jones would think that she was too forward of a woman.

Mary started walking toward the carriage. As she walked, the horse turned its head in her direction and neighed as she approached. The startled man in the carriage quickly opened the carriage door. He was a gruff-looking young man with reddish-brown hair that was somewhat disheveled. He was a tall man with a large build. When he looked at Mary and saw that she wasn't well dressed, he knew right away that she was a working person and considered lower class. He didn't say Hello, how may I help you?

He asked in an agitated manner, What do you want?

Mary told him her name. She said she was waiting to see Mr. Jones regarding a job. He wanted to know the particulars of the job she was interested in. She expressed her interest in going to the new country as soon as possible. She first reminded him that they had not been properly introduced. He said his name was Festus Thompson and that he had been Mr. Jones's driver for two years. He also made sure the various tobacco shops owned by Jones were well stocked.

Just then, the light from inside the house shone brightly as the front door opened, and Stephen Jones walked briskly toward the carriage. Jones shouted something to Thompson as he quickly entered the buggy, and Thompson drove off. Mary stood there devastated. After all the waiting in the dark and standing in the cold and pouring rain, he took off in a dash. She cried all the way home. Mary felt that she had missed an opportunity that would never come again. She wasn't going to get up the nerve again, so she might as well face up to her lackluster future as a chore woman in Yorkshire. This was her fate, or so she thought.

Conversation with Stephen Jones

Mary resumed her daily chores as weeks went by. Then one evening, while working in the cooking room of the home Jones occasionally visited, he reappeared. She didn't see him but recognized his overly loud voice in the adjacent room. Mary was the opposite of Stephen Jones as she was a soft-spoken, shy young woman. When her time at work that day ended, she gathered up her things and left for the evening. Mary never told her mother or her aunt about her one-time plans. There really wasn't anything to tell.

It was a Thursday evening when Mrs. Holmes came into the cook room. She walked straight up to Mary, who was almost finished washing the chore cloths and putting things away for the evening.

Mary, Mr. Jones would like to speak with you.

Mary asked, About what, ma'am?

You'll just have to find out from him yourself, Mary, Mrs. Holmes replied.

Mary was nervous about meeting him. She looked a mess and was tired from working all day. She wore an old brown bonnet with frills around the edges, a frumpy old gray flock with a bodice, and long sleeves which closed with black lace. The frock nearly reached the floor. Mary felt very inadequate. Nonetheless, she went into the parlor to meet with Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones was standing near a table with a candle on it. He turned toward Mary when she approached him. He had a pipe in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

He said, Hello, I'm Stephen Jones. You must be Mary.

She replied, Yes, sir, I'm Mary Higgins.

He then said, I understand that you are interested in pursuing work and life in the new colonies. I'm planning to arrive in Virginia on or about May 15. It's a six- or eight-week journey. I'll be leaving on March 20 with several other people, including indentured servants. I'm going to Virginia to oversee the production of tobacco crops which supply my tobacco businesses here in England. I plan to stay in Virginia for a year and then return to England next summer. Correct me if I am wrong and pardon in advance my presumption that you do not have the ability to arrange for passage for yourself. Am I correct in making this assumption? Let me regress. First are you interested in going to the colonies?

Mary sheepishly replied, Yes, I am, sir. I'm very interested in trying life in one of the colonies. I have heard so much about this great new world, and I am very intrigued by it. I do not have any family or even friends in any of the colonies, but then again, I don't really have much family here to speak of, and I honestly don't have very many friends here either.

Mary looked rather sad as she made these pronouncements. She then stated that, even though she would very much like to go, she could not afford the passage. Stephen Jones looked directly at Mary as he continued to smoke his pipe the entire time while Mary was speaking. Now that she was finished speaking, he took a sip of the wine he was holding.

He gulped hard and then said, I will pay for a one-way passage to Philadelphia, which is a town in the colony of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is approximately 240 miles from the colony of Virginia, where my plantation is located. You will have to sign a written agreement stating, amongst other things, that you will work exclusively for me for a three-year period.

Mary said, If you please, sir, what does ‘amongst other things' mean?

Jones replied, It will all be written out for you. If you really want to go, I'll have the papers drawn up.

Mary replied, Sir, it's all so soon.

Jones stated, There are others interested in this opportunity. Let me know by Tuesday. I will be having dinner here then.

Mary asked, What kind of work will I be doing?

Jones stated, You'll be doing whatever I ask you to do, but it will be mostly cleaning and eventually supervising my house staff. If you want a return passage to England, you'll have to work another three years.

Decision Day

Mary replied that she would let him know her decision by Tuesday. He nodded to her and then turned his head to speak to another dinner guest of Mr. and Mrs. Holmes. Mary walked back into the cookroom contemplating the conversation which just took place. She had less than a week to make a major decision which would affect the rest of her life. It was time to talk to her mother and aunt to see how they felt about it. Three years was a long time to have to work to pay off passage to the colonies, but still it presented an opportunity in her mind which was greater than the payment it would extract from her. If things didn't work out and she wanted to return to England, she would have to work another three years for passage back home.

She was trying to size up Mr. Jones. Was he the sort of man she should work for? Even though he had a rather loud voice, he didn't seem gruff and totally unrefined. He was a businessman and seemed to stay focused on business. It didn't appear that he was a married man as he always came to dinner at the Holmeses' home without a wife. If he had a wife, why had she never accompanied him to these dinner get-togethers? He appeared to be a man who was well off financially. He also seemed to be somewhat well educated. Even though he was loud, his diction was spot on. Mary considered herself to be a good judge of character. He might be a man who drove a hard bargain, but Mary didn't get the impression that he was a dishonest and untrustworthy man. This was vitally important to Mary because her life would be in his hands.

When Mary arrived at home, she told her mother about her conversation with Mr. Jones. Esther was very protective of her daughter. She told Mary that she thought the whole thing was very foolhardy. Why on earth would she consider going to the colonies that were so far away? What if she got into trouble and needed help from friends or family? Who would be there to help her? She didn't know or trust this Mr. Jones's intentions.

Esther told Mary, Yes, we are poor, but we have each other. How will your aunt and I know how you are doing over there? Does this mean that we will never see you again? as she choked back tears.

Mary replied, I will write you often. If things don't work out, I will work another three years to buy my passage to return here.

Esther said, That will be at least six years, three years for your passage there and three years to pay for your passage back here.

Aunt Ruth interjected, By then, you'll be an old lady.

This statement made both Esther and Mary laugh.

Mary said, I just turned seventeen. If that ends up being the case, I will only be twenty-three when I return. Mother, I love you, but I want to see and experience more of the world, so please give me your blessings.

As Esther cried, she said she understood although it would be hard letting her go.

Esther said, Mary, I give you my blessings in all you do, and may God be with you.

Now that Mary had this conversation with Esther, she would meet with Stephen Jones on Tuesday and give him her decision. Mary stared into the afternoon sky and prayed that it was the right thing to do.

Mary was back at work. It was decision-day Tuesday. Dinner was being served in the next room. She had made up her mind and was rehearsing in her head what she was going to say. Just then, a maid came and said she was wanted in the parlor. As she walked in, she saw Stephen Jones sign papers, which he then handed to her along with the quill he was holding.

Mary said, Sir, I haven't said I agreed to anything.

Jones replied, I assumed you would.

He read the key terms of the contract to her. One of the terms of the contract stated that, if she became pregnant during her tenure, this would add an additional two years of service. Mary didn't like these terms but still wanted to take the opportunity. She signed the contract. Jones told her when they would be sailing to the colonies and asked her if she had any questions. The only question that came to Mary's mind had to do with the place she always wanted to see, the place which was about two hundred miles away but seemed as far away as the colonies of Pennsylvania or Virginia. Mary, after all, was only seventeen years old and, in many ways, was still childlike.

Her only question to Stephen Jones was Will we be stopping in London?

The question surprised Mr. Jones.

He replied, "Yes, I have some business to tend to in London, then we will leave from Southampton, which is 112 kilometers from London. We'll sail on the Britannica through the English Channel to the Atlantic Ocean and arrive at Philadelphia's port, where I have additional business to tend to before heading to Virginia. The voyage is a long, harsh one, especially for anyone traveling in steerage, which is how you will be traveling. I suggest that you bring as much food and water as you can, enough to last at least seven weeks. Food and water will be supplied, but it will not be sufficient, and it will not be of high quality. Raisins, salted fish and meats, dried beans, and peas would be good food choices.

Bring a small receptacle to accommodate any results of seasickness or other stomach ailments. Also bring your own personal chamber pot as well as other personal effects. Bring your own eating and drinking utensils, plates, cups, forks, spoons, and knives. I don't know it for a fact, but it is believed in some circles that diseases are spread on the ship by using the ship's eating utensils. Many people will become very ill on this voyage. Some will even die. I don't want you to be one of them. You won't be of any use to anyone then. I'll be traveling in another part of the vessel. I don't expect to see you again until we reach Philadelphia. My driver, Festus Thompson, will ring for you at 6:00 a.m. next Thursday. That will be all for now.

Mary's head was reeling. She had so much to do before leaving England.

When Mary arrived home, she told her mother and aunt of the instructions she received from Stephen Jones. Esther was sad that the day of Mary's departure was so close, but she tried her best to put on a brave front and to help Mary prepare for her journey as much as she could. They had a close relationship which was about to be severed by distance and time. Aunt Ruth was also saddened by Mary's impending departure. She had had a premonition that things would not work out for Mary, but she didn't want to share her premonition with Esther or with Mary. She silently prayed that she was wrong—that things would turn out well for her beloved niece whom she helped bring into the world.

An Old Trunk

A neighbor of Esther's gave her a worn old trunk for Mary's travels. They were grateful for it even though Mary didn't have a lot of clothing to pack. Esther made sure Mary had a warm blanket and that any rips or holes in the blanket as well as her clothing had been mended. Spare utensils had been packed, along with food items which would not easily perish or spoil on a long journey.

It was hard scraping up enough money to buy food for Mary, which was expected to last at least seven weeks, but they managed to fill more than half of the trunk with food. Aunt Ruth had a good mind for numbers and cautioned Mary about making the food supply last throughout the journey. Esther gave her daughter specific instructions on what to eat each day to make the food last. Aunt Ruth knew from what she had heard about these trips that passengers frequently suffered from thirst. She was able to secure a barrel with an inner liner made of clay, which could hold eight gallons of water. This, too, had to fit into the trunk along with the food, eating utensils, and Mary's clothing.

Aunt Ruth was a very intelligent woman, and in many ways, she was ahead of her time. She intuitively knew that hands should be washed prior to eating to keep from getting sick. She advised Mary to do so before every meal, suggesting that she use seawater for this task. She also advised Mary to wash herself off every day and to use a damp cloth to wash from her face down to her toes and everywhere in between. She even gave her instructions on hanging out the cloth to dry each day and to wash the cloth itself at least once each week. She gave Mary several old rags for this purpose.

Aunt Ruth also supplied Mary with a thin rope for hanging these items. She told Mary she could use salt water for washing her clothes too. She pondered how Mary could get seawater for tending to these personal chores. She was sure Mary was clueless as to how to obtain water, but she ventured to ask her anyway.

Mary replied, I imagine there's an area on the ship for doing laundry.

Aunt Ruth stated, Make sure you inquire early on in your trip.

She remained leery of Mary's upcoming voyage, but she didn't want to transfer her concerns onto Mary or Esther. Aunt Ruth believed in prayer, so she prayed. Esther wasn't a praying woman. Neither was Mary. She felt that something bad was going to happen to Mary. Nevertheless, Aunt Ruth prayed that Mary would survive whatever she was going to go through. She prayed fervently for Mary's survival.

Esther asked Mary, Do you think you'll have a cabinmate?

Mary responded, I must admit, Mum. I really don't know more than I've already told you. Mum, I'm becoming afraid of all these unknown elements. I want to change my mind and stay.

We want you to stay, Mary, but would you be happy with your decision to stay? Esther asked her only child.

No, I probably wouldn't. I feel I have to go for better or for worse, Mary replied.

Suddenly Aunt Ruth called out, I forgot to mention about your hair. Make sure you brush it every day and clean the brush regularly. You should wear a night bonnet every night. You don't want to pick up any lice for heaven's sake. Be sure to wash your hair at least once a week.

Esther chimed in, Promise me this. Be very cautious around strangers, especially men. Remember everything we've taught you.

Festus Thompson arrived early to pick up Mary. Mary, Esther, and Aunt Ruth were all anxiously awaiting his arrival. He knocked on the door and asked Mary for her things to take to the carriage. Mary just had the trunk and a small cloth bag, which she carried herself. She quickly kissed and said goodbye to her mother and aunt. She didn't want to cry, but she did.

Write as often as you can to let us know how you are getting along, Esther said.

Mary turned away from them and went out the door.

As Esther and Aunt Ruth heard the horses' hooves and looked at the carriage wheels rotating, Esther yelled out, I forgot to tell her to take good care of her feet. I forgot to tell her—

Then she collapsed into Aunt Ruth's arms as the carriage rounded