Second Daughter by Mildred Pitts; Walter Read Free Book Online Page A

Josiah asked.
    â€œIf the king would free me, then I’d surely fight for him!” I said. The silence frightened me and Bett grabbed me by my arm and pulled me from the group.
    â€œHow dare you speak when men are talking. Women are seen, not heard.”
    I was embarrassed and angry at Bett, but I felt some satisfaction when Agrippa said, “I wager the king’s men will offer freedom for your service long before the Colonials do.” He walked away from the group to get some food.
    The wedding celebration went on and on with dancing, singing, hand clapping, and feet stamping. The sun was long gone from the red horizon when Nance, Bett, and I entered the master’s house.

11
    The first winter of sharing Bett was not easy, but I soon became accustomed to spending Saturday nights and Sundays alone. My bed without her was cold and I missed the comfort of her voice and her silence. At first I could not sleep. Every sound seemed to be just outside my door, and the rustle of the wind in the trees, which once made me grateful to be inside, now made me want to leave the room and find a more secure place. How glad I was when Monday finally came, and the routine in the mistress’s house and in our little room began again.
    Snow and ice hampered travel, but there were still those who braved the weather to visit the master and carry on the talk in the upstairs room. After having listened to Grippy and the men, and thinking about the possibility of freedom, I was now more interested in what Bett had to report.
    One evening she rushed in late. “There is a newcomer in the meetings, a Master Sedgwick. He’s a big man with a pleasant face. I think he is a bit showy, but the men have all taken to him. They are now writing on paper things that they are ‘resolved’ to do. That word ‘resolved’ is said again and again. Oh, Aissa, if only I could read! They throw away a lot of words on paper that I’d like to read and learn what this is all about. Maybe I could understand the words they use, like entitled, liberties , and privileges.”
    Night after night, Bett brought more exciting news about the men’s talk she heard in the upstairs room. When she finally finished serving the guests and came to bed, she wanted to tell me what had happened. I was so sleepy most of the time, but I listened. I was often disappointed when the talk got underway, for it said little about us and our being free. But she was so excited that I forced my eyes and ears open to please her. Bett went on.
    â€œThere was one thing Sedgwick said that I will never forget. I said it over and over in my mind to remember it: ‘ We in the state of nature are equal, free and independent of each other, and have a right to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property.’ Aissa, you hear that?”
    â€œI’m listening, but what does that mean?”
    â€œThat means we should belong only to ourselves, not to the master, not the king, to nobody.”
    â€œWe belong to nobody. We have nobody to belong to,” I said.
    â€œWe belong to Master Ashley. Why do you always act as if you don’t know that we were born on Master Hogeboom’s place where Baaba and Yaaye were slaves and that we were slaves sold to Master Ashley?” I could tell when she was upset. She used baaba for father and yaaye for mother.
    â€œI belong to nobody.”
    â€œIt’s too bad that you never heard Baaba tell us many times how he became a captive.”
    â€œI don’t think I would have liked hearing that.”
    â€œIt’s something you should know, and I’m going to tell you. When Baaba was a young boy, there were wars and slave raids. His village was burned and many people were killed. Those who lived were taken to the village of their enemy. One day, some white men came with guns and gunpowder, and Baaba and others were traded for those things.
    â€œThey were blindfolded and made to walk many