War Comes to Willy Freeman!

9&10

I was told to stay out in the barn with Horace. But I didn't want to stay out there with him because I didn't want him to find out that I was a girl. I tried to wash my clothes when he wasn't around. Mr. Fraunces gave me a couple pennies a day, because I wasn't a slave so it would help me later in life. I knew I wasn't expected to stay forever but Mr.Fraunces didn't seem in a rush to get me out of there. Another thing I was worried about was about getting a letter to Aunt Betsy to tell her I was okay.  I didn't know how to wright or read so I couldn't wright it. But I knew Horace could read and wright so I could make him wright it for me. I found out from Mr. Fraunces where some places Ma could be. He said she could be in a prison ship but that it was very unlikely for her to be there. Then he said there is this place were black women and men live. It was a town that got burned now long ago. The people that live there use blankets or sheets to cover the holes in the left over houses. Then they live in the houses and try to work. He said it is a very sad town. It is called Canvas Town. i was going to go there to see if Ma was there.  I couldn't go for a while because I had work that I had to do. But the day came I had the afternoon off, it was in the middle of October. Horace and I walked up Broad Street and over Beaver Street. We got a lift from this man, he was a known smuggler, and he killed six men and so one. He rambled about all of that all the to Canvas Town. It was a pretty scary place! It smelled like charcoal and old garbage and rotten stuff. As we were walking down the street we can to the black man sitting in a whole were a window used to be. He was bruised and cut and had scars. I asked him if he has seen a pretty black woman about 30. He asked me what I was doing here. I said I was looking for my Ma. There was a woman that came to the door and said, don’t mind him, who’s your Ma? I said Lucy Freeman, I told her where we were from and that her skin was chocolate colored skin. The woman said she saw my Ma yesterday. She had a bad fever, so if I bring back some coppers of medicine then she would help me. She said come back after dark because the man will be gone. We went back to Mr. Fraunces tavern tell dark.  After we ate we grabbed some candles and lanterns and some coppers. There were no stars and you couldn't see the moon, just a little fog. About every two minutes I wanted to go back but I made Horace go with me so I had to go. Finally we got to Canvas Town. People were waving their pitch forks at us. Maybe Horace was right, we shouldn't have come. But there wasn't know way of turning back.  We were walking down the street, and we found her house. I went in through the hole. She was sleeping; I went and shook her to wake her up. Her face was stone cold dead! Just then I realized she was dead. I ran out of there and we made a run for it!

Now I didn't know if Ma was in Canvas Town or not. She could be anywhere she could have even died for all I know. I was lucky enough to be staying in one of the best taverns in New York. The one thing I found instructive was being a boy for a change, if Horace knew I was a girl then he would boss me around and tell me  to do this and do that. I still wanted to get a letter to Aunt Betsy and tell her I was okay. So I went and asked Mr. Fraunces if I could have Horace wright it for me. Mr. Fraunces said he could and he said there was this boy named Elizur Goodrich that lived in Greenwich that could take the letter down to Stanford. A couple days later and righting the note we sat off. It was beautiful in Greenwich. We didn't have any trouble finding him; he lived in the grandest house of all. I asked Mr. Goodrich servant if she could get him for me. She can back out and said, he doesn't have time for any nigger boy. So I told her the story about my Ma and Pa. Then a tall white man can out, and talked to me. He said he would take the letter for me. I told him thank you.  He said I have a very patriotic family. There was a pond down behind there house so Horace went down there to swim. But I wasn't going to swim, he would find out I was a girl. So I went and got some grapes from the field by there. It was getting late so I called for Horace, he didn't answer me. Then I thought maybe he drowned or something. I looked over there, there he was, and he came out of the water. But he was naked so I just started running back to the field like I lot something. He was running after me. Then I told him what I “lost” and he told me I would never find it. I finally told him I was a girl. He looked surprised and ran back other to the wagon to get dressed. I walked over to him. We talked about it and he said he will have to get used to it, but it’s nothing to be ashamed about. We didn't really talk when we were going home.