The Underground Railroad Twins: A Middle-Grade Fantasy Adventure

By Lisa Tasca Oatway

Join the Stonehart siblings on their next fantastical journey, which immerses them into the secrets of the Underground Railroad in the mid-1800s, when enslaved people are seeking freedom and a better life. In this episode they meet twin girls with secrets of their own, who need help to be reunited with their parents. Together, the Stoneharts pool their knowledge and talents to devise a rescue plan, but not without encountering threats. How will they manage to deliver the twins to their ultimate destination of freedom without risking their own lives?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Jun 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9780228896210

Lisa Tasca Oatway

LISA TASCA OATWAY was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. From a young age, she has loved to read for both entertainment and education. The idea to share her love of Canadian heritage with young audiences was first nurtured while raising her family, where she would encourage her children to make up stories on family trips travelling to beautiful destinations. Lisa would embellish the stories with her own details, and hence the idea of the Blue Crescent Moon series was hatched. She currently makes her home in Caledon, Ontario, with her husband, while her children, who are all young adults, are busy reading, travelling and living in the province of Ontario.

Book preview

Contents

Chapter 1. The Vacation

Chapter 2. Jamie

Chapter 3. The Promise

Chapter 4. The Itinerary

Chapter 5. Tori

Chapter 6. Mom’s Hunch

Chapter 7. All about Baseball

Chapter 8. Trip to The Buxton Museum

Chapter 9. The Buxton Museum

Chapter 10. The Barn

Chapter 11. The Twins

Chapter 12. The Plan

Chapter 13. The Rescue

Chapter 14. The Diagnosis

Chapter 15. The Twins’ Story

Chapter 16. The Cover-up

Chapter 17. The Stranger

Chapter 18. The Twins’ Story, Continued

Chapter 19. The Station Master

Chapter 20. The Station Master’s Plan

Chapter 21. The Trip North

Chapter 22. The Safehouse

Chapter 23. The Reverend’s Hospitality

Chapter 24. The Hostile Encounter

Chapter 25. Time for the Truth

Chapter 26. The Homecoming Celebration

Chapter 27. The Reunion

Chapter 28. Mammie and Pappie’s Story

Chapter 29. The Reveals

Chapter 30. The Wagon Ride Back

Chapter 31. The Kindness of Strangers

Author’s Notes

Bibliography

1

The Vacation

The beginning of the school summer break has finally arrived! The Stonehart family will be starting their vacation in two days’ time, after Jamie’s next physiotherapy appointment. Their destination this summer is Ontario, their native province, and a beautiful and lush region in central Canada. Ontario is known for its vast wilderness that makes for breathtaking camping trips, the rushing majesty of Niagara Falls, and the hustle and bustle of the country’s largest city – Toronto. It’s also known for Buxton, the site of a Black settlement that was one of several established in the province during the 1800s.

The family has been preparing for months for their summer trip. Their destination was originally Canada’s most western province, British Columbia: home to marine life, towering forests, and the Rocky Mountains. However, plans needed to be changed when Jamie, the youngest son and third child in the family, severely fractured his right leg. In early spring, he was sliding into second base during tryouts for the Under 11 Rep Baseball team when the injury happened. After weeks of getting around on crutches, eliciting the sympathy of all he would meet, it was time for Jamie to begin physiotherapy – or physio for short – to strengthen and regain the full use of his leg. His appointments were scheduled twice a week for eight weeks, which meant that travelling out of province for any duration of time was out of the question. Jamie’s siblings were getting used to flying to their vacation destinations, but they had to hide their disappointment at not being able to enjoy an airplane experience this summer.

The Stonehart family is a family of six. Stephanie is the mom, David is the dad, and together they have four children. Daniel (Danny) is the oldest and is thirteen years old; Veronica (Ronni) is eleven, and James (Jamie) is nine. The youngest child is Victoria, who’s better known as Tori, and she’s seven years old.

The family has travelled on many vacations together, and their most recent one was a trip this past winter to Nova Scotia, a Maritime Province in eastern Canada. It took them to various military sites and museums, on a whaling expedition, and led them to have a rare encounter with a young victim of the 1917 Halifax Harbour explosion.

As with their past family trips, each Stonehart family member gets to choose a place they are interested in visiting while on vacation. The family spends weeks researching to end up with a short list that they then plot out to create their itinerary. Tori, the youngest Stonehart, is forever asking questions and found out that itinerary is a fancy word for travel plan. All the family’s work on British Columbia’s points of interest had to be put aside after Jamie’s accident, when the family discovered the physio appointments meant they needed to stay near their home in rural Ontario.

The family is discussing their Ontario itinerary one night at dinner. The kids are disappointed with their predicament, and Ronni sums up the kids’ thoughts with, Places in your own backyard are never as interesting as other places. Why did you have to break your leg, Jamie?

Now, now, says Mom, There are lots of fascinating places in our own ‘backyard’, as you call it Ronni. Not to mention, it’s a pretty huge backyard. Jamie didn’t will nor want his accident to happen. Besides, we support each other as a family! And if you recall missy, you had a concussion before our winter trip to Nova Scotia, which we had to alter our travel plans for. How much fun was that change in plans? We work as a team and solve things that come our way together.

And I had temporary blindness before our trip to Alberta last summer, chimes in Tori.

It seems we’re taking turns at having setbacks before our trips. Let’s hope this isn’t a trend, says Dad with a wink, or Danny, you’re next in line. As your mom suggests, we’ll have just as much fun visiting local sites as we do travelling to distant ones. We may even be able to schedule hotel stays during weekends when we have a bit more time between physio appointments.

Hurray! exclaims Tori. I like staying at hotels.

And I like the different foods we get to try when we travel, says Jamie, feeling somewhat better. He was feeling guilty thinking about how his misfortune had impacted his family’s travel plans.

So, I don’t want to hear any more moaning about spending our summer vacation in Ontario, says Mom firmly. We’re lucky we have such a vast and varied backyard at our doorstep to visit and learn about.

And with that, the kids shift their point of view and earnestly begin to discuss the various places they’d like to visit, while anticipating the adventures that await them.

2

Jamie

Jamie was devastated after his injury. Not only did he shatter his leg, but so too his hopes of having a chance to join the prestigious rep baseball league. He had been training to become an elite player for years – even in T-ball, at the age of four, he started to demonstrate real talent.

T-ball is a modified version of baseball for young children, where rather than having a pitcher pitch the ball to the hitter, the baseball sits on top of a coil in the shape of an upside-down ‘T’. The hitter then swings at the ball, and if they hit it, runs the bases according to the rules of baseball. The opposing team tries to get the runner out at one of the three bases, before a run is scored when the runner crosses home plate.

Jamie’s love of baseball started as a wee boy, when Dad had bought him his very own child’s plastic baseball bat and ball. The thick yellow bat was practically bigger than Jamie, but that did not discourage him. He would wield it mightily, and connected with every ball that Mom or Dad would throw to him. The bat became his favourite possession and he would take it to bed every night, tucking it in beside him, just as his younger sister Tori did with her favourite doll.

Jamie’s ability to catch and throw the baseball, as well as swing the bat and launch the ball far, have been improving every year since. He has been one of the best players on each of his teams. Perhaps the real gift that Jamie has demonstrated is how he always takes the time to help other players improve their game, whether they are on his team or the opposing one. Often, Jamie’s coaches find him sharing his techniques on or off the field with other players – not in a boastful manner, but rather with genuine intent to help. This generosity has made Jamie a very popular and confident young man. His siblings often tease him, but Jamie takes it all in stride with a shrug and a grin, followed by his trademark ‘ha-ha’ guffaw.

One day years ago, Danny, a good baseball player in his own right, was watching his brother’s T-ball game with the rest of the family. Danny noticed that Jamie was tossing the ball underhand to a female team member on the sidelines while their team was taking turns batting. She would fumble the catch then drop the ball and get frustrated. Jamie would run over, pick up the ball, and throw it again. After a few attempts, Jamie realized that Rosie, the young girl he was tossing the ball to, wasn’t holding her baseball glove properly. So, he ran over to her and showed her how to cradle the glove with her other hand and hold it close to her body. Wouldn’t you know, that small tweak made the difference! Rosie was catching the ball every time that Jamie threw it to her after the adjustment. This happened several times until Jamie was called up to bat next. Rosie was so grateful to Jamie that she ran to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek to show her appreciation. Jamie did his natural thing and shrugged and grinned, then nodded his acceptance before making his way to bat.

Danny teased Jamie at length after the game, calling Rosie Jamie’s girlfriend, and asked if he enjoyed his first kiss. Ronni joined in too, poking fun as only siblings can. But Jamie would not be intimidated. Ha-ha, he said after listening to their banter for a while. Maybe you’re both jealous that your teammates don’t treat you in the same way! And that remark pretty much put an end to the mocking and teasing. Home run, Jamie!

3

The Promise

Dad was with Jamie at the tryout the day Jamie fractured his leg. Jamie was having a great day, as he was fielding the ball well and made a few spectacular diving catches. He hit a couple of long balls as well, and was feeling good about impressing the coaches. After one particular hit to centre field, Jamie ran super fast to first base, rounded it, and decided to advance to second – thinking that a slide into second would definitely earn the coaches’ respect. The centre fielder was a very strong player and managed to get the ball quickly and accurately to the second baseman who was standing over the bag, in an attempt to tag Jamie out. Jamie came barrelling towards second base at