Halfway to Freedom
High School: Grades 9–12
Story
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Mary laughed again. "Yes, I'm the lady of the house. But I'm the maid, too, when I have a special visitor." Hannah knew she meant a runaway. Giving shelter to a slave was a crime, and Mary probably didn't want to risk the possibility that her maid might discover a fugitive slave.
"Mama!" A petite girl with pigtails tied with blue ribbons bounced into the kitchen. "Look at the snow! Where's Papa?"
"Papa went to his shop on Dearborn Street early this morning. You will do you lessons at home today because of the snow," Mary replied. She gestured toward Hannah. "She's our special visitor. You remember the rules about our special visitors?"
The child nodded solemnly.
"Very good. Lavinia Jones, please meet our visitor," Mary introduced Hannah. "Dear friend, please meet my daughter, Lavinia Jones."
During breakfast, the seven-year-old chattered merrily. Lavinia was in second grade, and, apparently, she was a good student. She described the schoolhouse, her teacher, and her lessons. Then she talked about her friends. "Rachel lives near the river because her father's a sailor. Amanda has a pet kitten; her father's a waiter at the hotel. My very, very best friend is Sarah. Her papa's a barber. I wish my papa was a barber," Lavinia added. "He's a good tailor, though. He has his own shop where he cleans and repairs clothes for the important men of Chicago."
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"My other friend is Sarah's older brother, Shepherd. He's sixteen," Lavinia continued. "He takes care of the horses at the hotel, but his mama named him 'Shepherd' so he'd be a minister and take care of God's sheep." Lavinia turned to her mother. "Will he come tonight?"
"Maybe," Mary answered, as she handed Lavinia a McGuffey Reader.
The world Lavinia described sounded unbelievable to Hannah. Slavery was not allowed in the state of Illinois, she knew. She had heard several free blacks lived in Chicago. A city where black men ran businesses, black children went to school, and black Christians had their own churches must be a marvelous place! Hannah felt like a stranger, standing outside a window, peering into a beautiful house where she could never live.
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