Sarah," I told him. He nodded his permission and I ran over to the form waiting in the distance. I hugged her. "Oh, I wanted you to come for supper."
"Ma was only middling well. I wanted to stay with her. Here, I have a present for you." And she handed me a small book-size package wrapped in brown burlap. "It's a diary. So you can keep the days. And so you won't forget to tell me everything."
"Remember, you promised to come and see me."
"I will, I will. Mayhap I'll come with Ma someday."
"Good. You do that. Is there something you wanted to tell me, Sarah?"
There was. I could tell by her hesitant manner.
She dug into the stones at her feet with her shoe. "Yes. Your aunt Catharine. Did you know she had a romance?"
"She's married. To Uncle Greene."
Sarah nodded. "A woman can have a romance when she is married."
I just stared at her. There was something meaningful in her eyes. And it connected with me. So
that
was the mystery I suspected about Aunt Catharine!
"Who with?" I asked. "And is it still going on?" My breath was caught and taken by the wind.
"Benjamin Franklin." The same wind took the name from her lips and carried it away.
I drew in my breath. The wind would not take the name from me. I would hold on to it. Forever.
Benjamin Franklin.
"How do you know?"
"My mother knows a lot of people. She told me. It's what they say. Your aunt Catharine and Benjamin Franklin have been close for years."
I believed Sarah. She didn't mouth off just to hear her own voice. "Ohhh," I said.
"It ought to be interesting, for you to be mindful of," Sarah said. "I just thought I'd tell you. In case he comes to visit. Mayhap he'll bring some of that electricity of his with him."
He's already brought it,
I thought.
We both giggled for a moment. Then Aunt Catharine called and I gave Sarah a final hug and ran back to the dock, hugged Pa, and got into the double ender to leave.
From the double ender I waved until I couldn't see them anymore. "I'll be back," I yelled. "I'll be back soon." But somehow I knew I wouldn't be.
CHAPTER THREE
A UNT CATHARINE and Uncle Greene's house was all white and three stories high, with a porch around the front. It lifted my spirits seeing it sitting there on the top of a ridge.
It reminded me of a wedding cake trying not to melt in the sun.
On an opposite slope, beyond a hill to the east, lay the quaint village of East Greenwich.
The first thing Uncle Greene did, after lifting me off the ground and pronouncing I was prettier than ever, was show me the Boston Post Road that passed by a short distance away.
"You and your aunt can go on a shopping trip to Boston," he said. "Or a jaunt to Providence. You will like it here, Caty Littlefield. I promise."
When Uncle Greene made a promise, he meant it. After all, he was a Rhode Island political leader.
He set me back down. "Do you like our house?"
"Yes, sir. It looks like a wedding cake."
He laughed. "Well, mayhap we can marry you from it someday."
"Take her upstairs to her room, please, Effie," Aunt Catharine requested.
Effie was a free black housekeeper. Uncle Greene did not believe in slavery. The same as my father.
But oh, my room!
It was all green and white! Green, my favorite color. How had Aunt Catharine known?
The walls were papered with a green and white design. The drapes bore the same pattern, and thin, pale green curtains hung straight across the windows. The furniture was of as solid a maple as you could find. The bedspreads carried the same green and white signature of the wallpaper and drapes. I remembered Pa reading me a story about a king in England who had his special colors carried by every knight and cavalier and on every horse and person who represented him.
I felt as if I were in a palace. I ran to look out the front window. And there was a honey locust tree spreading its crown, and birches and maples arching over the yard.
***
T HERE WAS COMPANY for dinner that night. As it turned out, they were Master Herbert and
"Ma was only middling well. I wanted to stay with her. Here, I have a present for you." And she handed me a small book-size package wrapped in brown burlap. "It's a diary. So you can keep the days. And so you won't forget to tell me everything."
"Remember, you promised to come and see me."
"I will, I will. Mayhap I'll come with Ma someday."
"Good. You do that. Is there something you wanted to tell me, Sarah?"
There was. I could tell by her hesitant manner.
She dug into the stones at her feet with her shoe. "Yes. Your aunt Catharine. Did you know she had a romance?"
"She's married. To Uncle Greene."
Sarah nodded. "A woman can have a romance when she is married."
I just stared at her. There was something meaningful in her eyes. And it connected with me. So
that
was the mystery I suspected about Aunt Catharine!
"Who with?" I asked. "And is it still going on?" My breath was caught and taken by the wind.
"Benjamin Franklin." The same wind took the name from her lips and carried it away.
I drew in my breath. The wind would not take the name from me. I would hold on to it. Forever.
Benjamin Franklin.
"How do you know?"
"My mother knows a lot of people. She told me. It's what they say. Your aunt Catharine and Benjamin Franklin have been close for years."
I believed Sarah. She didn't mouth off just to hear her own voice. "Ohhh," I said.
"It ought to be interesting, for you to be mindful of," Sarah said. "I just thought I'd tell you. In case he comes to visit. Mayhap he'll bring some of that electricity of his with him."
He's already brought it,
I thought.
We both giggled for a moment. Then Aunt Catharine called and I gave Sarah a final hug and ran back to the dock, hugged Pa, and got into the double ender to leave.
From the double ender I waved until I couldn't see them anymore. "I'll be back," I yelled. "I'll be back soon." But somehow I knew I wouldn't be.
CHAPTER THREE
A UNT CATHARINE and Uncle Greene's house was all white and three stories high, with a porch around the front. It lifted my spirits seeing it sitting there on the top of a ridge.
It reminded me of a wedding cake trying not to melt in the sun.
On an opposite slope, beyond a hill to the east, lay the quaint village of East Greenwich.
The first thing Uncle Greene did, after lifting me off the ground and pronouncing I was prettier than ever, was show me the Boston Post Road that passed by a short distance away.
"You and your aunt can go on a shopping trip to Boston," he said. "Or a jaunt to Providence. You will like it here, Caty Littlefield. I promise."
When Uncle Greene made a promise, he meant it. After all, he was a Rhode Island political leader.
He set me back down. "Do you like our house?"
"Yes, sir. It looks like a wedding cake."
He laughed. "Well, mayhap we can marry you from it someday."
"Take her upstairs to her room, please, Effie," Aunt Catharine requested.
Effie was a free black housekeeper. Uncle Greene did not believe in slavery. The same as my father.
But oh, my room!
It was all green and white! Green, my favorite color. How had Aunt Catharine known?
The walls were papered with a green and white design. The drapes bore the same pattern, and thin, pale green curtains hung straight across the windows. The furniture was of as solid a maple as you could find. The bedspreads carried the same green and white signature of the wallpaper and drapes. I remembered Pa reading me a story about a king in England who had his special colors carried by every knight and cavalier and on every horse and person who represented him.
I felt as if I were in a palace. I ran to look out the front window. And there was a honey locust tree spreading its crown, and birches and maples arching over the yard.
***
T HERE WAS COMPANY for dinner that night. As it turned out, they were Master Herbert and
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