The Widow of Rose Hill (The Women of Rose Hill Book 2), стр. 43
“I would be proud to teach you to read, Carolina,” she finally said, her voice full of emotion.
Carolina’s eyes rounded. “You would?”
“Yes, I would.” Natalie smiled. “We can begin this afternoon if you like.”
A smile wider than Natalie had ever seen before filled Carolina’s face. “I would, Miz Natalie. I shore enough would.”
After the servant departed, Natalie stared out the window, half listening to Samuel’s chatter about kings and princes. A warm tear trailed down her cheek, and she wiped it away. Six years ago, she’d come to Rose Hill a spoiled, self-centered young woman who never gave a second thought to the slaves or to anyone else. Adella tried to talk to her about it on more than one occasion, but Natalie wouldn’t listen. It had taken war and hardship and pain to pry her eyes open so she could see herself for the first time. Oh, how she prayed God approved of the woman she was becoming, one hard-fought struggle at a time.
“Mama, do you like my cat?”
She smiled at her son. “Very much.” She snagged him into a ticklish embrace and planted a kiss on his soft cheek as he snuggled against her. “Your mama is going to be a teacher, Samuel,” she whispered into his hair, contentment rising up from somewhere deep, practically filling her to overflowing. “What do you think about that?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Laughter and happy voices drifted to where Levi and Moses worked on the final repairs to the barn roof. Although Moses hadn’t at first been keen on being up so high, more than once, Levi found the man staring off into the distance. The view was amazing.
“It doesn’t sound like much work is getting done down there,” he said, lifting the canteen of lukewarm water to his lips. With the barn roof being far more difficult to access than those of the house and quarter cabins, they’d limited the number of trips up and down the steep ladder by bringing all their supplies, water, and even their lunch in the first few trips.
Moses grinned. “I’s thinkin’ the same thing, suh. Thought at first it just the chillens, but I fairly certain I heard my Harriet and Carolina, too. Don’t know what they’s doin’, but it shore sound joyful.”
Joyful. Yes, it did sound joyful. Levi suspected the former slaves hadn’t had much opportunity to experience that feeling. What joy was there in bondage? In being owned by another human being?
He recalled the day Pa had handed him the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, hailed as the greatest book of the ages. Levi had been eighteen years old, full of himself and his dreams and eager to start his military career at West Point. Slavery was an evil institution, to be sure, but he couldn’t see that it had anything to do with him. His future was in the frontier, where slavery wasn’t permitted. Pa was insistent, however, that Levi read it, and the book very nearly changed the course of his life.
Glancing over to Moses where he carefully fit a new shingle into place, Levi wondered what that man would think of the sensational book. Levi suspected every slave could relate to the trials and tribulations the book’s characters experienced. Even President Lincoln, it was said, credited Harriet Beecher Stowe’s work as being a catalyst for the war. With the horrors of slavery exposed, the people in the north became incensed. Levi himself had considered abandoning his plans to attend West Point and instead join the abolitionist movement and help slaves attain freedom through the Underground Railroad. Pa declared Levi could do more good for bondsmen as a statesman or lawyer, careers that many military men chose after serving. He’d heeded Pa’s advice to continue with his plans, but the fire in his belly to help slaves gain their freedom had never waned.
Levi hammered several more shingles into place and surveyed their work. “I believe that should do it, Moses. You’ll know when the next rainstorm comes if you have a few gaps here and there, but I feel certain we’ve patched it well.”
“Yessuh, I think you’s right. I ’spect I’ll go down yonder and take a look to see if daylight comes through, just to be sure.”
They carefully made their way to the ground. While Moses entered the cavernous building, the laughter coming from the side of the main house had Levi curious. Not wishing to disturb whomever he found enjoying themselves, he quietly made his way to the end of the porch and peered around the corner.
Just down from the house in the shade of a giant tree, Natalie sat on the grass with Harriet, Carolina, and Lottie, whom Levi recalled was Eunice’s maid. The three servants’ backs were to him, but he could clearly see Natalie. Samuel and Isaac lay on their stomachs nearby, their knees bent and bare feet waving in the air, obscuring from Levi’s view whatever it was they were looking at.
Natalie held up a child’s slate. “This is the letter B,” she said, making sure each woman noted the large, handwritten letter. “Remember, it is the second letter in the alphabet. A, B, C, D, and so on. Book begins with the letter B. Boy. Baby. Bird. B. Buh. Now, try to find the letter B in your book.”
Levi watched, stunned, as the women each took a book from her lap and began searching the printed words for the letter. Every so often, someone would look up to study the slate, then bend her head back to the book.
“Here it is,” Carolina shouted a few moments later. The others cheered and laughed. She handed the book to Natalie, pointing to the letter.
Natalie smiled and nodded, speaking in tones too low for Levi to make out the words.
“Well, I’ll be.” Moses’ incredulous voice sounded from behind Levi.
He turned to find a matching expression on the man’s face. “I take it you didn’t know Mrs. Ellis was giving reading lessons.”
“I shore