My Dear Sister,
I usually write you short letters but this letter has to be long because so much has happened since my last letter. Yesterday morning when I woke up, the house was bustling. All the maids here were busy preparing the house for the party. It was very grand.
The first thing I did when I woke up was go to the field to see Keeya. I met her by the Jack and I told her about our plan. It was hard to tell her because of the language barrier, but one thing I've learned from living here is that there is more than one way to communicate. I drew out the plan on my letter paper and showed it to her. She understood. She is very smart.
When I went to see her I handed her a black dress. I found it in Berthe's closet where my blue dress was. At that time my blue dress was lying on my bed alongside a black dress for me. Keeya took the dress from me. She smiled. She knew that tonight she would see her sister.
After seeing Keeya, I walked back to the house. I spent the afternoon helping get ready for the party. I made table centerpieces out of orange flowers. The party started at six o'clock. I watched from the top of the stairs as people from all over the area came to the party. I had my blue dress on over the black dress. The blue dress was big and puffy enough that you couldn't tell the small black dress was on underneath.
I walked down the stairs and out to the patio where Jack was waiting. "Hello," I said.
"Hi, Lorraine, how are you?" Jack asked. There were too many people around for him to call me Azelma.
"I'm fine. I'm also nervous. I hope everything goes okay," I said.
Jack nodded. "I know. But we can't do anything until it gets dark, so let's just go to the party."
"Yes," I said. "Just act normal. We'll speak in English and I'll try to blend in. We'll go at nightfall."
Jack agreed. He took my arm and we proceeded into the party. The last time I was at a party was Cosette and Marius' wedding. This party was very different. I was so angry at the wedding. I was in so much pain and despair. I felt so different today. I was exited today. Part of me was scared to death but the other part was thrilled to have come up with this plan. I didn't feel so alone today. I had Jack with me and Keeya out waiting for me.
There was a band at the party. They played music and Jack and I danced. I wasn't very graceful but Jack was an excellent dancer. He tried to show me how to do different dances that everyone here seemed to know but me. Well me and Father. Father stayed off to the side by himself and watched. I bet he was lonely without Mother. All of this change must have been very hard on him too. He just handled it differently than me.
It felt good dancing with Jack. I felt something that I had never felt before. His eyes sparkled. His hair fell perfectly into place. We danced until we realized the sun had gone down. "Jack, we must go," I said.
"Alright. You sure you want to do this?"
"Definitely," I said. Jack nodded and took my hand. We ran outside to the the stable. I pulled off my blue dress so just my black dress was on. Jack buttoned up his jacked so none of the white part showed. We had to make sure no one could see us.
"This party will probably go on well into the night," Jack said.
"And even when it's over no one will look for us. They'll just assume we went to sleep," I said.
We ran silently to the gate of the plantation where Keeya was waiting wearing her black dress. "Sister?" She asked in English. She had picked up on a few English words.
"Soon," Jack said. We left the plantation gates. In the night dressed in black we were practically invisible. We walked down the road in the darkness. It reminded me of when you and I used to run Father's errands, but this time I felt like I was doing good.
The three of us kept close together. The streets were empty. We tried to be as silent as possible. The road was rough and my feet hurt. It was farther away than we had thought. Then I heard something and stopped. "Carriage coming. Hide," I said.
We gathered behind a bush. "Don't make a sound," Jack said. I kept still and peered over the edge of the Bush at the passing carriage. The driver didn't see us, thankfully.
"Scared," Keeya said. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking.
"We'll get you to your sister soon," I said. I rose from behind the bush. Jack and Keeya followed me. We kept walking down the road. After about an hour of walking we reached a gate.
"This is the place," Jack said. He lifted the latch. From the gate another road led down to the plantation. "I'll go see whose home," Jack said. "I saw the couple that lives here at the party but you never know.
He began to walk down. I stayed with Keeya. I knew that soon she'd be able to see her sister. And though she can't stay here forever with her, at least they'd be able to see each other again. I wished I could have that with you.
About fifteen minutes later Jack came back panting. "The watchman is here. He's sitting outside the slave houses. He almost saw me."
"We must distract him," I say. "One of us has to make him see us and think we're a slave trying to escape."
"That's too dangerous," Jack said.
"What do you think we should do then?" I asked.
"I don't know," Jack said. "I guess I'll do the distraction."
"You sure?" I asked.
"If I get caught I'll be let off easy because they know me. Our families are friends." Jack said.
We walked towards where the slave house were. Jack ran off to where the watchman was. I watched from a hiding place with Keeya.
Jack made the grass russle as he ran into the crops. The watchmen shouted "Who's there? Show yourself!" Jack started running around in the tall crops and the watchman chased after him.
"Let's go," I told Keeya. We took each other's hands and went to the houses. We looked into the windows until we found one where her sister was sleeping. Keeya's face lit up with excitement. "Wait over there. I'll go get her," I said. Keeya understood and went over to where I told her.
I slowly opened the door and nestled Keeya's sister. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at the sight of me.
I grabbed her hand. She got up and we walked out of the tiny little house. We walked over to the tree where Keeya was standing. It was hidden from the houses. At first we couldn't see Keeya standing there. When the sisters finally saw each other they ran to each other.
Her sister jumped into Keeya's arms. They spoke to each other in their native language and Keeya started crying. I took a step away. They needed to be alone.
I looked as the watchman walked back to his seat grumbling angrily to himself. Jack walked up beside me. "I out ran him," Jack said.
"Look," I said. I pointed to Keeya and her sister. It was beautiful to watch them reunite. They were both so happy to see each other.
"We did the right thing, doing this," Jack said.
"We can't leave her here," I said. "We have to take her sister with us."
"It'll be really hard for us to hide her."
"It'll be harder to leave her here," I said. "I can't do it."
"Me neither," Jack said.
So the four of us started going back to our house. Jack held my hand, I held Keeya's and Keeya held her sister's. It was very dark. Her sister whimpered. "Shh Natta," Keeya said. Natta was about ten. The walk back was very hard for her.
When we were about halfway home, we ran into another problem. People were starting to leave the party and there were many carriages going down the street. We had to walk in the woods. It was quite frightening. I was glad I had my friends there. I squeezed Jack's hand.
By the time we got home it was very late and we were all exhausted. Keeya hugged her sister goodbye and went back to the slave houses. Jack and I took Natta into the stable where my blue dress was. Natta lied down on some hay and fell asleep. I covered her with a blanket so she couldn't be seen.
Then Jack and I went inside the house. He walked with me until we reached the stairs. The house was empty now. "We did it," I said.
"We can't hide her forever," Jack said.
"We'll figure it out as we go," I said. "We figured it out this far."
"You're amazing," Jack told me.
"So are you," I said.
"Good night, Azelma," Jack said. As I turned to go upstairs Jack leaned towards me and kissed my cheek. I smiled at him and ran upstairs. When I got into my room I squealed silently to myself. We did it. We did it. I fell backwards onto my bed and smiled. It was hard to remember a time when I was happier than I was now.
Jack was right. It will be hard to hide Natta here. It will be very hard. But something inside me knew I had to do it. I finally felt like I was important.
Keep sending me good luck,
Your Sister, Azelma