"Well," Mary Logan said at the dinner table one night. Her husband, David; her mother-in-law, known as "Big Ma"; and her children: Stacey, Cassie, Christopher-John, and Clayton Chester, known as "Little Man" all leaned forward, eager to hear what she would say next. She looked into their worried faces. They knew she'd been sick.
"What is it Mama?" ten-year-old Cassie asked.
"Go on, Mary," David said.
It was then that Mary realized she'd been hesitating. She wasn't quite sure how they'd react to the news.
"Well," she said again. "As you all know, I went to the doctor today."
"And?" thirteen-year-old Stacey pried.
"And… the doctor said I'm absolutely fine. In fact, I'll be having a baby."
She looked at the stunned faces of her children and Big Ma. Even David was silent for a moment before jumping out of his chair to excitedly hug her. He, Big Ma, Stacey, Cassie, Christopher-John, and Little Man all began to talk at once. David and Big Ma chattered on about the excitement of having a new baby in the house. Little Man and Christopher-John looked dumbfounded at the thought of not being the littlest Logan children anymore. Cassie and Stacey whined about having more work to do.
And then it was as if reality sunk into everyone's heads at once. Every single person at that table fell silent. They all knew- even Little Man- that they could hardly afford to feed and clothe seven people, let alone eight.
After a deafeningly long silence, David cleared his throat. "This is wonderful news, Mary. We've always wanted a big family."
"But with times so hard-"Mary started to argue.
But David held up his hand, silencing her. "We'll get by. We always do."
Mary sighed. "I suppose you're right."
And the family went back to their excited chatter.
Cassie felt like screaming. Why a new baby? Why now, during the Great Depression? It only meant less food, less space, and less money. The only "more" it came with was work.
It seemed like all Cassie did was work, work, and more work, especially after the baby was born.
Rose Logan was born a healthy baby, and Mama and Papa couldn't seem to stop holding her. All Cassie heard was, "Cassie, do this, I'm feeding the baby." Or, "Cassie, quiet down, the baby's almost asleep." Even worse was when Mama and Papa said Rose would share Cassie's room in a few months, when she was older.
Cassie's anger continued to build, until finally, a solution. She would run away. She wasn't exactly sure where she would go, but as long as she got away from that smelly baby, she would be okay.
The next morning, Cassie put on her cleanest dress, and left long before anyone else was up. Even little Rose was sleeping soundly.
"Goodbye, Rose," Cassie whispered to her baby sister. "Tell Mama and Papa that I love them." With that, Cassie slipped quietly out the door .
She felt a sense of freedom as soon as she stepped out into the early morning sky. She ran until she couldn't possibly run anymore. It felt so good to be free. Free from all of the feedings. Free from all of the diapers. Free from babies.
Before Cassie knew it, she was at the Wallace store. She was overcome with guilt, remembering Papa and Mama both telling her to stay away, that nothing good comes from the Wallace family.
But Cassie pushed all of her uneasy thoughts out of her mind. She had always been curious about what kind of stuff goes on at the Wallace store.
She peeked into the window, and when she saw no one from school or church that could see her and possibly tell her family that she'd been there, she decided it was safe to go in.
Mr. Wallace had just opened the store when she went in. There was nobody in there, aside from Mr. and Mrs. Wallace and a few of their sons.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Mr. Wallace said quizzically when he spotted Cassie. "Aren't you the Logan girl? I thought you were one of those boycotters."
"Uh… my mama doesn't know I'm here."
"Ah, so we have a runaway. I was wondering why you were here so early. Where you headed?"
"I… I don't know suh. Somewhere where my mama and papa ain't gonna find me."
"You know, girlie, I just might be able to offer you a deal." Mr. Wallace had a mischievous look on his face. "How about you stay here? I'll make sure you're hid well. You can do some work for us, and we'll give you food and a place to stay."
"I… I don't know," Cassie replied, backing up towards the door. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
"Come on, Miz Cassie. You know you're welcome to stay any time."
His smile looked very sinister and evil, He called me Miz, Cassie thought. Maybe this would be a nice place to stay after all.
"Well… okay," Cassie said with a smile after pondering it for a minute.
"Wonderful!" Mr. Wallace exclaimed. "Now come on, let's hide you before someone sees you."
Mr. Wallace led Cassie into a cold, dark room. "This is where you can stay," he said. "From now on, you do whatever me, my wife, or any of my children tell you, understand?"
Cassie couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Did you understand me girl? Maybe I should repeat it in a way you would understand. You are my slave now."
So Cassie was forced into slavery by the Wallace family. She wasn't allowed out of the house, of course, because Mr. Wallace was afraid of the sheriff, since slavery is officially illegal. She worked hard all day, rising before dawn to fix breakfast, and then cooking, cleaning, and doing everything for the Wallaces. By the time she was dismissed to her bedchamber at night, she was so exhausted she didn't even think about how hard the floor was underneath her.
One night, though, Cassie lay awake, full of homesickness and regret. She had left home specifically to avoid all of the work that little Rose had brought on, but now she had to do so much more. She did chores for her family because they were a family, and everybody pitched in. But now, instead of being at home, teaching Rose how to crawl, walk, and talk, like a good big sister should, she was stuck here, illegally working for the evil Wallaces. Cassie felt like such a fool for allowing herself to be tricked into this, and also for leaving home in the first place. She couldn't stop the tears from falling at this point. Why haven't Mama and Papa found her?
Then Cassie decided: she would sneak into the storeroom at a time when it was sure to be crowded. There had to be somebody she would know. She wasn't allowed in the store; she was forced to stay in the house. But then, if the Wallaces could break the rules, so could she.
The perfect opportunity came the next day. Cassie woke up early and began to do her chores, trying with all her might to avoid Mrs. Wallace's whiplashes that often came when Cassie got the pettiest details wrong.
But when Mrs. Wallace went into town, leaving specific instructions for Cassie to clean the house from top to bottom while she was gone, Cassie peeked into the store. She saw Jeremy Simms come in and hand a list to Mr. Wallace. When Mr. Wallace went to the back of the store, probably to get something from the list, she ran over to Jeremy. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cassie put a finger to her lips, silencing him.
"Help!" Cassie whispered frantically, but as quietly as she could. Then she ran back into the house before Mr. Wallace could see her. She felt certain that Jeremy would tell Papa that she was here, and he would know what to do.
And he did. Cassie was in the middle of serving dinner to the starving Wallace family when there was a knock at the door. Mr. Wallace opened it, after loudly complaining about visitors at dinnertime. Standing outside were Papa and the sheriff, who witnessed Mrs. Wallace smacking Cassie across the face for not running to hide.
"Papa!" Cassie shrieked, throwing herself into his open arms.
"Oh, Cassie." Papa said, beginning to cry. "We were so worried about you!"
"I'm afraid what you've done is illegal," the sheriff said to Mr. Wallace.
"Humph," was Mr. Wallace's reply.
"Come on, Cassie girl. Your mama's gonna wanna see ya," Papa said. They walked out to the wagon and drove home.
When they got there, Papa said, "We'll talk about this tomorrow. Right now you're gonna let everyone know you're okay. Then you're gonna take a bath, get somethin' to eat, and go to bed."
"Okay," Cassie said, not even bothering to argue about how early it was. A hot meal, a hot bath, and a soft bed sounded very nice.
"Cassie!" Mama cried, pulling Cassie into her arms and sobbing uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry!" Cassie exclaimed as she gave each of her brothers a hug. "I never should have run away." Tears were now streaming down Cassie's face too.
"It's all right, Cassie," Mama said reassuringly. "The important thing is, you're here now."
"Yeah, "Cassie said looking into the cradle next to her where beautiful Baby Rose was sleeping. " It's good to be home!"