Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity

Felicity immediately turns to me and tells me that I should not speak of this to anyone. Relief washes over me like a flood. I should have known Felicity would not be cruel to anyone! I promise I won’t say anything, and I ask what night-walking is. Felicity says it’s when a slave creeps away from the quarter at night.

Dinah says Judith’s mother died of a fever a month ago, and her father lives at the next plantation over. She wanted to take Judith for a visit. When Felicity asks how far away the next plantation is, Dinah responds it’s just a few miles.

I’m shocked! She’s trying to walk a few miles with a little girl, after a full day of working in the fields! But I also understand wanting Judith to see her dad. Felicity tells her she must return to the quarter at once! She can’t be seen by anyone else. She decides that we will help Dinah and Judith get back.

Felicity and I tie our mounts off at the trail, and Dinah leads the way back to the quarter. My eyes have adjusted to the dark, but she must have vision like a cat!

When she pauses, I whisper to ask if she’d like me to carry Judith. Dinah murmurs soothingly as she passes the child to me. We don’t walk too far by the time my arms start to ache, but I’m determined to give Dinah a rest. Dinah must be exhausted.

When I start to hear voices drifting through the night, Dinah leaves the lane and cuts through the woods. When we reach the forest edge, the voices rise in song. I see a group of small cabins ahead—the slave quarter. The cabins have garden patches behind them, enclosed by fencing. There’s a chicken coop, too.

Dinah stops and reaches for Judith. She can take it from here. I can’t bear to turn around and walk away, so I whisper how sorry I am about her situation. She must feel so helpless.

Dinah stares at me. After a long moment, she responds that none of them in the quarter are helpless.

I feel like she’s trying to tell me something.