Free Zeely by Virginia Hamilton

asked that tomorrow you meet her at the entrance to the catalpa forest. She wants to talk to you,” Uncle Ross said. “I think she’s heard some of the stories you’ve been telling about her.”
    Geeder sat quite still. She had expected something to happen. During the short time she had slept upstairs, before she found Uncle Ross and Toeboy talking, she had had the feeling of movement. Not dreaming, exactly, for she saw no pictures, but the feeling that there was something beyond her vision trying to catch up with her.
    “Did she say whether Toeboy could come to the meeting?” she asked Uncle Ross. She turned toward Toeboy but did not look at him.
    “Zeely Tayber didn’t mention Toeboy,” Uncle Ross said.
    “She said she wanted to see you.”
    “I promised Bennie Green I would help work on his tree house,” Toeboy said.
    “I’ll have to go by myself,” said Geeder. The thought at once pleased and frightened her.
    After they had eaten, and all night long, Geeder had a feeling that was a mixture of happiness and dread. She didn’t sleep much because of it. By the following day, she was shaking with excitement. Her meeting was for two o’clock, but by one, she was ready to meet Miss Zeely.
    Dressed for her meeting, Geeder wore shorts and a blouse with four strands of beads. One necklace was of painted and matched seeds from Haiti. The second consisted of large bloodstones and agates from India. The last two were selected from the glass beads she’d worn the night of the bonfire. Before leaving her room, Geeder looked closely at the photograph of the Watutsi woman.
    “ Is Zeely a queen?” she asked herself. “Did I make the whole thing up?”
    The photograph was creased from handling but the form of the woman shone true as ever. Geeder took a deep breath. There wasn’t any doubt in her mind that Zeely Tayber looked the same as the girl in the picture, and there wasn’t any doubt that Zeely Tayber was a queen.
    Geeder left the house at one thirty and walked toward the catalpa forest. The day was warm, with an unclouded, glazed sky. In the distance, there was haze, but around her, trees and road, bushes and fields, were crystal clear. The color of the catalpa trees was nearly black, with a tone of warm green somewhere deep within.
    Geeder spoke out loud as she walked. “All the time with the hogs,” she said, “she didn’t once say anything, not a word. Who would have thought she’d want me to be with her now!”
    Near the forest, an outgrowth of catalpas spread out on both sides of Leadback Road. They leaned high above Geeder, making a tunnel of branches and leaves. She entered the tunnel and the air turned cool. There was a hush of dampness and shade. The quiet of such great old trees made Geeder cautious, although they didn’t frighten her. She respected the green worms on the leaves by keeping an eye on them as she walked. When she neared the entrance of the forest, she saw a green coupe parked close by the trees. At first, she hadn’t seen it, for it was the exact color of the leaves. Standing in the entrance of the forest was Zeely Tayber. And Geeder, coming upon her all of a sudden, was shocked anew by her incredible height.

13
    GEEDER STOOD IN AMAZEMENT. Never had she seen Zeely dressed in such a way. She wore a length of varicolored silk wound around her delicate body and draped over her left shoulder. Around her head was a band of green silk, brilliant against her black hair. The long garment was beautiful and strange but the band around Zeely’s hair was what held Geeder’s attention. In her mind, she saw the picture of the Watutsi woman, the picture which right now she had hidden in her blouse. The Watutsi woman had worn such a headband.
    “I’m glad you’ve come,” Zeely said. Her voice was quiet, hardly above a whisper, and yet, it was perfectly clear. She smiled, adding, “Please follow me.” She turned and led the way into the forest. Geeder, still unable to speak,