Free Daughter of Twin Oaks by Lauraine Snelling Page A

“Don’ ask. Just say I heard tell of it.”
    “Oh.” Was this one of those places where runaway slaves could stop in safety? And had her people ever thought of running off? What did they talk about down in the quarters when the marse wasn’t around?
    “Lynnie?” Thaddy’s voice came thinly from the wagon bed. “Lynnie?”
    Jesselynn trotted to the wagon and lifted her little brother out of his nest. “Shush. You musn’t talk loud.” She kissed his cheek, pink from sleep, and settled him on her hip. “Come, let’s go.”
    She sent an inquiring look Meshach’s way, and he nodded.
    “Just stay close.”
    When trees and low bushes screened them from camp, she pushed down his diapers and let him pee in the creek, much to his delight. Then while he threw twigs and pebbles in the clear water, she relieved herself, thinking immediately of the niceties of home. She would have had a pitcher of warm water to wash with, one of the household slaves would have emptied the slop jar, and breakfast would have been ready when she descended the stairs. But that was home, and this was now.
    Dipping her handkerchief in the water, she used it to wash Thaddy’s hands and face.
    “Cold.” He pulled away, scrunching up his face. “No more.”
    “Be a big boy, Thaddy.”
    “Go home now?”
    I wish we could . Instead she knelt down in front of him and, laying her hands along his cheeks, looked deep in his eyes. “Listen to me, Thaddy, and listen good. Call me Jesse from now on, you hear me?”
    “Lynnie.”
    “Not anymore, little brother.” She shook her head. “Not anymore, and don’t you forget it. Now, what is my name?” She dropped her hands to his shoulders and shook him gently.
    His lower lip came out, and his eyes narrowed. At that moment he looked so much like his older brother Zachary that she blinked.
    “No. Jes-sie-lynn,” he said slowly.
    Jesselynn sighed and rocked back on her heels. Right enough, she’d approached him the wrong way. One thing this child didn’t lack was southern backbone. He’d go along nice as you please until … She’d just come up against that until .
    How much do you tell a two-and-a-half-year-old child?
    Seeking to corral her thoughts, Jesselynn picked up a stick with a caterpillar attached. She handed it to Thaddeus, sure that it would distract him for a moment while she thought what to do.
    He held on to the stick and giggled as the fuzzy caterpillar humped his back feet up to his front.
    “Thaddy, how would you like to play a game with me?”
    He studied the now extended caterpillar.
    Jesselynn sighed and got to her feet. Dipping her handkerchief again, she washed her own face and hands, ran damp fingers through her shorn hair, and set her hat back in place. They were ready for the day, and all she could think of was a hot meal and a soft bed, or any bed for that matter.
    She took her little brother’s hand. “Bet you don’t know what my new name is.”
    “Jesselynn Marie Highwood.” He glanced from the stick up to her, then grinned. “Jesse. Me new name?”
    She let out a sigh of relief. Not a bad idea . How could this child be so smart? “Sure, what would you like?”
    “Meshach.”
    “Ah, that’s a good name, but it already belongs to Meshach over there. Think of another.” They wound through the trees as they talked, Thaddeus all the time careful to keep his caterpillar on the stick.
    “Joshwa.” He stopped walking and looked up at her. “My daddy gone to heaven name, huh?”
    Her eyes flooded. Pain gripped her heart. She sank to her knees and pulled Thaddeus into her arms, hugging him close so he couldn’t see her tears. “That’s a fine name. One I’m proud to call you by.” She sniffed and relinquished him when he squirmed.
    “Oh, my catepiwar.” He looked around on the leaf-strewn ground. “Find him.”
    Jesselynn rocked back on her heels just in time to see that the caterpillar had been smashed by her knee. She fluffed some leaves over it and,