burning eyes. "The child?"
"Yes."
"Don't think of the child, for we all go togetherâthe three of us, to a better world and happier days."
"Happy days will soon be here."
"Never, not on this island. Come, it's time to leave."
"No," I said.
He grasped my hands. I thought he meant to drag me over the cliff. I did not move. I could not move. A stricken look crossed his face and he backed away. He stood among the rocks on the edge of the cliff, but in a moment he was gone. The gray sky enclosed him. I ran to the cliff, praying that I had dreamed an awful dream.
From far below rose a faint sound. I imagined that it was his voice calling to me. I took one heavy step, but my body stirred again. And I moved no farther. Our child bound me to the earth that I stood upon, bound me to life forever.
----
Afterword
When Captain Dumont learned that Jost van Prok had fled the day before his home burned to the ground, he took Raisha to the French island of Martinique. Here she worked in his household, caring for his children. Her daughter was born some months later. After a year, under the French laws, she was no longer a slave. She was free and her daughter was free.
Scott O'Dell is a Newbery Medalist, a three-time Newbery Honor Book winner, a two-time winner of the German Jugendbuchpreis, winner of the deGrummond and Regina medals, and a recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Author Medal, the highest international recognition for a body of work by an author of children's books.
----
"Yes."
"Don't think of the child, for we all go togetherâthe three of us, to a better world and happier days."
"Happy days will soon be here."
"Never, not on this island. Come, it's time to leave."
"No," I said.
He grasped my hands. I thought he meant to drag me over the cliff. I did not move. I could not move. A stricken look crossed his face and he backed away. He stood among the rocks on the edge of the cliff, but in a moment he was gone. The gray sky enclosed him. I ran to the cliff, praying that I had dreamed an awful dream.
From far below rose a faint sound. I imagined that it was his voice calling to me. I took one heavy step, but my body stirred again. And I moved no farther. Our child bound me to the earth that I stood upon, bound me to life forever.
----
Afterword
When Captain Dumont learned that Jost van Prok had fled the day before his home burned to the ground, he took Raisha to the French island of Martinique. Here she worked in his household, caring for his children. Her daughter was born some months later. After a year, under the French laws, she was no longer a slave. She was free and her daughter was free.
Scott O'Dell is a Newbery Medalist, a three-time Newbery Honor Book winner, a two-time winner of the German Jugendbuchpreis, winner of the deGrummond and Regina medals, and a recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Author Medal, the highest international recognition for a body of work by an author of children's books.
----
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