Gunpowder and Tea Cakes: My Journey with Felicity

Felicity says she can do more than sew and bake. A girl can learn any trade such as Master Griffith’s. He frowns. it’s not an angry frown, but a thinking frown. Sibyl says she can be of service. She’s a strong and hard worker. She can do a little cipher work, too. Treat her fairly, and she’ll cause no complaint.

As he thinks, I ask him what a joiner does. The Master grabs something from the workbench and puts it on the counter. Two narrow pieces of wood have been put together to make two sides of a square. He shows how he used a peg to join the pieces together. It’s a picture frame. I thank him for explaining it.

Master Griffith turns back to Sibyl and asks if she really does want to learn the joiners’ trade. Sibyl catches her breath, and her eyes get a glassy look, as if she’s trying not to cry. She says the chance to learn from Master Griffith would be more than she ever dared to dream. She’s willing to pledge the next seven years to service.

I hold my breath. An apprenticeship would be more than just food and shelter. It’d mean she’d have a career. Just then, a customer comes into the shop. He says he is having a house built and needs door frames, window frames, and mantels. The Master looks down at Sibyl and says it’s done. She can start by sweeping up.

Felicity, Sibyl, and I retreat to one corner. I want to squeal and jump up and down, but that’s probably not a good idea, so I stuff my happiness down inside. Sibyl starts to cry and says she doesn’t know how to thank us. Felicity assures her that she hopes all goes well. Sibyl hugs us both, and then slips behind the counter to grab the broom propped up in one corner and gets to work.

When we get back outside, I exclaim that was a brilliant idea. Felicity says it’s hard for her to imagine her mom abandoning her. I think of my own mother. She went through three rounds of chemotherapy, trying to stay with us as long as she could. I slowly say that I think Sibyl’s mother didn’t mean to abandon her. She wanted to come back for Sibyl one day. And if she couldn’t, she knew that at the foundling home, Sibyl would at least learn some skill. I feel certain in my heart that must have been a big sacrifice for Sibyl’s mother.

Felicity says she thinks Sibyl will do well here. I nod. Now it’s time for me to go back to my father. I only have one parent left, and suddenly I know I really want to see him. Felicity says if I ever come back to Williamsburg, we can visit Sibyl to see how she’s doing. I agree, and I’d really like to see Felicity again, too.

Felicity takes off her cap and removes a purple ribbon. She wants to offer it to me as a token of friendship. I pull off my cap so I can offer a ribbon to exchange. I tell her to remember me; I do hope to come back someday. Felicity tucks my ribbon into her pocket, and I twine her ribbon through my fingers. I want to be sure it comes back to my own time with me.

After we say goodbye, I slip around the joiner’s shop and crouch down behind the big well in the back. When I stare at the lady’s face in the miniature, I briefly wonder if maybe she was a mother. Something in her eyes makes me believe she was. Then, the dizziness comes and I close my eyes.