American Rebirth

by Norma Jean Lutz

Maydean had eaten quickly. Now she hopped to her feet, and Janie watched her spread two slices of bread with butter and wrap them in newspaper. “Only two of your friends gonna eat, I’ll wager,” she said. Then she put on her jacket and stuffed the food into her pockets. “Come on, Janie. Dr. Hull’s gonna be ready in no time.”

  Mrs. Hull called to them from the side room. They found her in a storage room full of linens, pillows, and blankets. Janie had not seen so many linens since Rubyhill’s Big House before the war. Mrs. Hull loaded both girls down with heavy blankets and quilts then led the way to the front door.

  Before long, a team of two large, black draft horses pulled a long vehicle up to the porch. Janie had never seen such a thing as this sleigh. It looked like a passenger wagon, long with three wide bench seats, but it sat on runners instead of wheels. It was so big she could understand why two horses were needed to pull it. Dr. Hull occupied the driver’s seat.

  Blankets and girls were loaded onto the sleigh. Dr. Hull bundled each girl in an extra blanket, waved to Mrs. Hull, and started the huge horses down the snowy drive. Janie barely blinked, it all happened so fast.

  Maydean called out directions to Dr. Hull. The sleigh was able to move quickly over the accumulating snow. Within ten minutes, they arrived at the maple grove.

  Janie looked quickly for her friends. Finally she saw the pile of snow-covered blankets with Nathan and Aleta peering out from under. As she drew closer, Janie noted fear in their eyes.

  Janie watched Aleta scrutinize the situation of a white man coming for them in a horse-drawn sleigh. Aleta frowned, but when she saw Janie wave at her from behind Dr. Hull, she stopped frowning.

  Without further ado, Aleta sprang into action. She gathered the dry blankets offered her and wrapped them around Lucy and Blue, who both lay still. She helped Nathan brush the wet snow off himself then dried herself off. Janie jumped out of the sleigh, gathered all their gear, and threw it into the back of the sleigh.

  Dr. Hull introduced himself to Aleta then made a quick assessment of the sick youths. He took off one glove and pressed his fingers to each of their necks. He ran his bare hand over their feverish faces. He lifted their eyelids and looked at their eyes. Then he bodily picked up Blue and placed him in the sleigh. He stepped back and did the same with Lucy; then he tucked blankets around their deeply sleeping forms.

  Janie’s jaw dropped at the white man’s strength and quick agility. He was a farmer, of course, used to hauling and lifting. But to Janie, he seemed kind of old for such strength. Of course Lucy didn’t weigh much, and Blue had dropped weight in the past couple weeks. Still, Dr. Hull surely was a strong man.

  Before long, the sleigh was loaded with people, and Maydean handed out the buttered bread. Dr. Hull slapped the reins, and off they went into the snow, the runners hissing as they traveled over the ground. Their return to the Hull farm was slowed only a little by the extra weight.

  Once they arrived at the farm and unloaded the wagon, much to Janie’s surprise, Mrs. Hull said there were beds ready upstairs for Janie, Aleta, and Nathan. She also had made up beds for Blue and Lucy in two back rooms on the first floor. “Dr. Hull and I sleep downstairs,” she explained, “and we must be close to these two tonight. When they are well, they will move upstairs.”

  Janie and Aleta looked at each other quickly. A white woman wants us to sleep in her house?

  Aleta offered to help Mrs. Hull with Blue and Lucy, but the older woman refused. “Thee must get into dry clothes, dear. Betsy will bring up warm water and towels so thee can bathe. We have clothes in the wardrobes upstairs, and something will fit. Betsy will help thee look.”

  A smiling young woman with blond braids pinned up appeared in the doorway. She wore an apron over her calico dress. “I’m

  Betsy. Come on upstairs.”

  Mrs. Hull added one more thing. “We shall eat supper in an hour, and afterward I shall expect all of thee to take thy rest for as long as thee can. Thy friends are in Dr. Hull’s capable hands and God’s, as well.”

  Maydean moved to the kitchen while the others followed Betsy up the steep stairs. Aleta and Janie would share a big, four-poster bed in a large room in the front part of the upstairs. A smaller trundle bed was tucked underneath the high bed. Across the hall, Nathan would sleep on one of two single beds.

  Each bed was made up with flannel sheets, warm quilts, and pillows—truly a new experience for the young former slaves. None of them had ever slept in such luxury. None of them had ever slept in a bed. None had even slept in an actual house before now.

  Just as Mrs. Hull had predicted, the wardrobes held clean clothes that fit all three young people. Betsy chatted away as she handed out dresses, pants, shirts, nightgowns, and warm socks.

  “Before the war, slaves escaping to the north stayed here, so Mrs. Hull always had good clothes on hand for them to wear in their new life,” she said. “Sometimes they stayed a long time gaining their health before moving on. Dr. Hull is a gifted doctor. And Mrs. Hull is a wonderful nurse.”

  Nathan piped up. “Why do they talk that way?”

  “They’re Quakers,” Betsy explained. “That’s the way they talk. They believe it’s a way of treating everyone equally under God.”

  “Aren’t you their daughter?” asked Nathan.

  “I’m a distant cousin—from the Methodist side of the family.” Betsy laughed. “I work here for room and board and some money, which I’m saving. I plan to move to Detroit, Michigan, next year to attend teachers’ college.”

  Janie felt a twinge of envy. How smart this young woman must be. And so kind. What a good teacher she would make. Janie noticed Aleta eyeing the young woman with approval as well. The two were about the same age.

  “So now, does everyone have towels and dry clothes?” asked Betsy. “And nightclothes, too?” Of course Betsy couldn’t know that the Rubyhill youths had never slept in nightclothes, only in their day clothes. And they never told her. They simply nodded gratefully.

  “Fine, then. I’m going downstairs. During cold weather, we eat in the kitchen, so come there when you’re ready.” She smiled once more and headed downstairs.

  Janie and Aleta looked at each other. They were too exhausted to say much. Besides, Nathan had been talking for everyone ever since they got to the Hull farm.

  “Did you see them horses? They moved through that snow like it was shallow water. Big, healthy animals, too. What was that thing we rode in? It was so fast! Look at these pillows! Beds look so good, I may jus’ sleep all day. Food smells good, too. Cain’t wait to eat …”

  And on and on. Finally Aleta shushed him and sent him to get ready in his own room.

  Aleta was quiet at first as they washed at the basins of soapy water. Finally she spoke. “Janie, I sure am thankful you were listening to the Lord this morning. I don’t know where we’d be. I don’t know if any of us woulda lived ‘til morning. I don’t know….” Aleta stopped and sighed.

  Janie reached over and squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’m thankful, too. These are nice people. And so’s Maydean.”

  Aleta shook her head slowly. “I was wrong about her.”

  “How were you supposed to know?” asked Janie. “She looks a fright.” Janie shrugged. “And she’s white.”

  “Still no excuse to think the evil thoughts I was having,” said Aleta. She pulled on a blue wool dress and a white pinafore apron over it. “Oh, this feels so good. Thank You, Jesus.”

  Janie dressed quickly in the warm, dry clothes Betsy had laid out for her. “Ready to go downstairs?”

  “I sure am, little sis.”

  In the kitchen, the large oak table was set. There was a place for everyone who could sit and eat—Dr. and Mrs. Hull, Betsy, Aleta, Nathan, Janie, and Maydean, who had washed her hands and face, Janie noticed. Janie could see now that the girl had freckles.

  Betsy placed a large, lovely serving dish of piping hot chicken stew on the table. The stew was loaded with carrots, potatoes, and onions. Mrs. Hull sliced bread
on a wooden board.

  As the supper table was being made ready, Dr. Hull filled everyone in on how the patients were. He kept it brief. “They both have fevers. We shall stay up with them, as fevers have the habit of rising at night. We will know more by morning. In the meantime, let us pray for thy friends.”

  Dr. Hull bowed his head and said grace, adding special prayers for Blue and Lucy. After the “amen,” Janie glanced at Aleta. Janie realized once again the burden Aleta had carried all day and all the night before. Aleta’s relief was clear. Having these kind people take that burden and carry it for now was a godsend.

  At first, Aleta and Nathan stared at their dishes of bread and stew without touching any of it. This was the first hot meal they’d seen in weeks. But their awe did not last long. Soon both were devouring the delicious supper along with everyone else.

  Mrs. Hull and Betsy replenished the food throughout the meal, and the youths—including Maydean—ate until they were satisfied. Even then, they mopped their plates clean with their bread crusts.

  Now Janie’s stomach was so full that it made her extremely sleepy. As the Hulls and Betsy talked, Janie caught herself nodding off. She jerked her head up and made herself keep her eyes open.

  That’s when she saw that both Aleta and Nathan had fallen sound asleep in their chairs.

  Mrs. Hull smiled at her husband. He nodded and rose. The strong man picked Nathan right up off his chair and carried him upstairs. Betsy and Mrs. Hull pulled Aleta to her feet and helped her up the stairs. Janie managed to bid Maydean good night and get herself up the stairs, too, holding onto the banister the whole sleepy way.

  In their bedroom, Janie and Aleta struggled into flannel nightgowns and fell into bed. Aleta rose up once more to put out the lamp, and the two girls were asleep within minutes.

  It would be a long time before the Rubyhill Five traveled again.

  CHAPTER 12

  Wintering

  Janie, what you got there?” Maydean pointed to the bodice of Janie’s dress. It had become a bit of a nervous habit for Janie to trace the outline of that dangling cross through the fabric of her clothes. Since arriving at the Hulls, Aleta had frowned gently at Janie every time she saw her do it. But Aleta wasn’t in the room right now.

  Janie pulled out the cross. “Nathan found this buried with Miz Laura’s silver, back at Rubyhill. Miz Laura told us to take whatever we wanted, so Nathan gave me this.”

  Maydean’s blue eyes twinkled. “That makes Nathan your beau.” “What’s a beau?” asked Janie.

  Maydean tossed her red mane of hair and grinned. “Somebody who’s sweet on you.”

  Janie shook her head. “No, Nathan’s like a brother.”

  The two girls sat cross-legged on the braided rug next to a crackling fire in the front-room fireplace. The snow that had brought the Rubyhill Five to the Hull farmhouse had stopped, leaving behind a world of white. Maydean had gone home after supper the previous night but returned through the snow in the morning.

  She had joined them all for hot oatmeal, and Mrs. Hull had invited her to spend the day.

  The house had been quiet since breakfast. Mrs. Hull reported that Dr. Hull was in the back bedrooms, tending to Blue and Lucy. She said he would speak to everyone about it later.

  Maydean reached out and gently touched the cross. “Can I look at it?” she asked.

  Janie nodded. She took the chain off and handed it to the redhead. Maydean turned the pewter cross over in her hand. “What’s it say here on the back?”

  “You can’t read?” Janie blurted out. She thought all white people could read.

  A dark cloud seemed to spread across Maydean’s freckled face. She shook her head. She seemed embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry, Maydean,” Janie said quickly. “I don’t know no black folks who can read, that’s for sure. But I just figured all white folks could.” She paused. “That wasn’t too smart of me.”

  “My granddaddy won’t let me go to school,” Maydean said. “And he can’t read hisself.” She stopped talking. After a short uncomfortable silence, Maydean handed the cross back. “It’s real pretty, Janie,” she said.

  “Thanks, Maydean,” said Janie. “You know,” she added, “your name’s real pretty, too.”

  Maydean’s face lit up. “You think so?”

  Janie nodded. “I never heard the name before.”

  “I’m named for my mommy and daddy—May and Dean, see?”

  “How come you live with your granddaddy and not with them?” asked Janie.

  The cloud came back to Maydean’s face. “They’s both dead.” It seemed Janie was bringing up difficult subjects for Maydean today. She said no more.

  But a memory nudged her until it came full into the light. Suddenly Janie remembered something she’d forgotten for many years. “Oh my,” she said aloud.

  “What?” asked Maydean.

  “I just recollected my momma telling me my name used to be Georgeanna. I was named after my poppa and her, too—George and Anna.” Janie sat and let the memory sink in. “Georgeanna,” she said again.

  “That’s real pretty. How’s come you’re called Janie then?” asked Maydean.

  Janie thought hard until the reason finally surfaced. “I recollect what Momma said now. Master’s wife said Georgeanna was too fine a name for a black baby. She’s the one that named me Janie.”

  Maydean stared at Janie for a moment. “How come she did that if you wasn’t her baby?”

  “That’s how it was in those days,” Janie said. She looked at her new friend. “My momma didn’t have no choice, Maydean. We was slaves.”

  The look Maydean gave Janie showed that Maydean had no clue what she was talking about. Janie wondered if maybe Maydean didn’t realize what a slave was. Who did Maydean think the Hulls had been hiding all those years?

  All Maydean said was, “You like being called Janie?”

  Janie shrugged. “Never been called nothin’ else.”

  A heavy curtain in the doorway was pulled aside, and Betsy stuck her head in. “Girls, come to the kitchen. Dr. Hull has some news.”

  The Hull kitchen was always so wonderfully warm that Janie loved simply walking into it. At the table sat Aleta, Nathan, and Dr. Hull. Mrs. Hull and Betsy scurried about making tea and scraping hot gingerbread out of a black skillet. Janie loved that part of being in the kitchen, too—the delicious, plentiful food. She and

  Maydean slid onto chairs and waited.

  Dr. Hull cleared his throat. “Good morning, everyone. I know all of thee must be worried about Blue and Lucy. Mrs. Hull and I tended to them throughout the night. The worst is over for young Blue; his fever broke as the sun came up.” The doctor paused. “Little Lucy is still in a bad way, I’m afraid. I suspect all of thee have lacked good nourishment for some time now, and that has weakened Lucy considerably. She has little to fight with.”

  Will Lucy die? The thought took hold inside Janie, and she was instantly sick to her stomach. She looked quickly at Nathan. Lucy was his twin, the only blood family he remembered having. Understandably, Nathan was fighting back tears.

  Mrs. Hull turned from the sideboard and spoke in her kind tone. “Dr. Hull and I are surprised that not all of thee fell ill the same way as Lucy and Blue, but we feel certain that possibility has passed. Praise God the fever did not spread further.” She looked at each brown face at the table. “Dr. Hull and I want to invite thee to stay with us through the winter to rest and fortify thy bodies for the journey to Chicago. Will thee stay with us? Until spring?”

  Numbly, all three Rubyhill youths nodded as one.

  “Good,” she said. She turned back to her tasks.

  “The more fortunate news for Lucy,” said Dr. Hull, “is that sometimes youths can handle a great deal more illness than adults. Lucy is ten, yes?”

  “We’ll be eleven soon, sir,” said Nathan in a tiny voice.

  Dr. Hull looked at Nathan a moment, then reached over and patted his shoulder. “Son, I assure thee that Mrs. Hu
ll and I will do all we can to help thy sister pull through. In the meantime, let us all pray for Lucy’s recovery.”

  With that, Dr. Hull lowered his head and began to pray aloud for Lucy’s survival, as well as for the continued recovery of Blue. Then he excused himself and returned to his patients.

  Except for the bustling noises Mrs. Hull and Betsy made, the kitchen was silent. Then Mrs. Hull sat down at the table.

  “While thee young ones are with us,” she said, “Betsy and I shall teach thee in the mornings. We shall meet here at the kitchen table.”

  Nathan looked up. “Teach us what, ma’am?”

  Mrs. Hull smiled gently. “To read, young man. And to do arithmetic. How does that sound?”

  Nathan slowly began to smile. Janie felt thrilled. She looked at Aleta, whose face once again wore a look of profound relief. Reading and working with numbers were skills they all knew they needed for the future in Chicago.

  Betsy spoke up. “Mrs. Hull will teach you arithmetic, and I will teach you to read. Frankly, I will appreciate the opportunity to try my hand at actually teaching. I need the practice, so you’ll be helping me as much as I hope to help you.”

  Janie looked at Maydean, but she could not read her facial expression. Should she ask if Maydean could join them? Would that embarrass Maydean, she being white? Janie decided to say nothing now but to approach Mrs. Hull about it later.

  Betsy placed a plate of gingerbread squares on the table and poured glasses of fresh milk for all. Then she poured herself a cup of tea and sat down next to Janie.

  “Miss Betsy,” Janie whispered.

  The blond girl looked at her.

  Janie pulled the cross out of her dress and lifted it from around her neck. “What does this say?” She handed the cross and its chain to Betsy.

  Betsy fingered the cross, smiled, and whispered back, “It says, ‘Make a joyful noise.’ It’s from the Bible.” She reached over and draped the chain back around Janie’s neck.

  Janie turned the phrase over in her mind. Make a joyful noise. The mystery was solved.

  How she wished she could tell Aunty Mil.