besides, the worst she could do is turn us away. Honestly, I'd march through Hades with a banner if it could help Joshua."
"But what if she puts a hex on you?" This was Ambrosia.
"Oh, I don't believe in that silly voodoo nonsense." Joy dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "And if one doesn't believe, one is perfectly safe."
Ram smiled at his young lady's fearlessness.
The logic of this was lost on Ambrosia, who was quite stricken with the entire idea, while Katie found Joy's courage remarkable. "Well, who's escorting you on this adventure?" she asked, looking around for Sammy or the Reverend.
"Escort?" Joy questioned with a glance at Cory.
Ram thought he could actually see her mischievous mind forming the lie before she announced: "Sammy's joining us at the crossroads."
"Even with him, I'll be praying for you," Katie said, but then was suddenly struck with a thought. "Joy darling! If you're really going to see that woman, I mean if you're quite determined,
then could you ask her something for me?" She rose from her seat to whisper something, and Joy leaned over to hear it. The whispered conference lasted a minute, finishing with: "It's so bad that I find I spend two days every month in bed. Will you ask her for me?"
Joy assured her friend she most certainly would and bid them all a good day. Katie watched her ride off and predictably, as was always the case whenever she chanced to meet Joy Claret in the company of others, especially Ambrosia, she faced an argument.
"I hardly believe my ears!" Ambrosia exclaimed. "Why, my mama's so right! She is the wildest thing! If she doesn't catch a husband real soon, she's as good as ruined!"
"She has had two proposals already and that is more than any of—”
Ambrosia never let her finish, "Doctor Reubens had the nerve to turn them down, too, as though she's going to get a better offer!"
"She introduced her darky." Melissa still didn't quite understand.
Katie addressed this first. "She doesn't think of Cory May as a darky. Not really. Why, they're more like friends or even sisters."
The contempt on Ambrosia's pretty face suggested this was beneath contemplation. "And Joy Claret's too good and charitable to ever be ruined!" Katie then addressed
Ambrosia's criticism.
"My mama says all her charity's for naught but to detract from her wildness. Visiting sick houses, sending those boring books to the infirmed and imagine, volunteering services at the Negro infirmary! The Negro infirmary!" She shuttered with disgust. "She just does it so folks will feel bad when they talk about her, but I refuse to be a hypocrite, and"—she leaned forward conspiratorially
—"did you see her skirt? Our field darkies wear better homespun than that!"
Katie blushed at her friend's cattiness, always embarrassed by such things. She hardly knew where to begin to defend Joy. Yet Melissa, with a far softer temperament, perceived Katie's difficulty and tried to ease between the two. "Is her family very poor?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Katie replied. "You see, her guardian, Dr. Joshua Reubens, is quite ill with consumption. It leaves him bedridden most of the time. Oh, but Joy Claret is so devoted to him! Their household is quite small, but still, they have almost no earnings to support it. They do have the Reverend Doddered with them, but his earnings are from Negro sermonizing and I'm afraid not very much. You see," she whispered, "the doctor refuses to lend their darkies out.
Somehow he even came up with enough money to send their man Sammy to trade school!"
They each knew what a pretty sum this generosity cost. Sending a darky to trade school was the ultimate reward for good service. Even the best and most wealthy families reserved the honor for precious few, maybe one Negro each generation.
"I suppose she didn't have the benefit of a finishin' school, then?" Melissa asked curiously, this being the distinguishing mark of a lady—one separating the clerical class from the menial.
It was the
"But what if she puts a hex on you?" This was Ambrosia.
"Oh, I don't believe in that silly voodoo nonsense." Joy dismissed this with a wave of her hand. "And if one doesn't believe, one is perfectly safe."
Ram smiled at his young lady's fearlessness.
The logic of this was lost on Ambrosia, who was quite stricken with the entire idea, while Katie found Joy's courage remarkable. "Well, who's escorting you on this adventure?" she asked, looking around for Sammy or the Reverend.
"Escort?" Joy questioned with a glance at Cory.
Ram thought he could actually see her mischievous mind forming the lie before she announced: "Sammy's joining us at the crossroads."
"Even with him, I'll be praying for you," Katie said, but then was suddenly struck with a thought. "Joy darling! If you're really going to see that woman, I mean if you're quite determined,
then could you ask her something for me?" She rose from her seat to whisper something, and Joy leaned over to hear it. The whispered conference lasted a minute, finishing with: "It's so bad that I find I spend two days every month in bed. Will you ask her for me?"
Joy assured her friend she most certainly would and bid them all a good day. Katie watched her ride off and predictably, as was always the case whenever she chanced to meet Joy Claret in the company of others, especially Ambrosia, she faced an argument.
"I hardly believe my ears!" Ambrosia exclaimed. "Why, my mama's so right! She is the wildest thing! If she doesn't catch a husband real soon, she's as good as ruined!"
"She has had two proposals already and that is more than any of—”
Ambrosia never let her finish, "Doctor Reubens had the nerve to turn them down, too, as though she's going to get a better offer!"
"She introduced her darky." Melissa still didn't quite understand.
Katie addressed this first. "She doesn't think of Cory May as a darky. Not really. Why, they're more like friends or even sisters."
The contempt on Ambrosia's pretty face suggested this was beneath contemplation. "And Joy Claret's too good and charitable to ever be ruined!" Katie then addressed
Ambrosia's criticism.
"My mama says all her charity's for naught but to detract from her wildness. Visiting sick houses, sending those boring books to the infirmed and imagine, volunteering services at the Negro infirmary! The Negro infirmary!" She shuttered with disgust. "She just does it so folks will feel bad when they talk about her, but I refuse to be a hypocrite, and"—she leaned forward conspiratorially
—"did you see her skirt? Our field darkies wear better homespun than that!"
Katie blushed at her friend's cattiness, always embarrassed by such things. She hardly knew where to begin to defend Joy. Yet Melissa, with a far softer temperament, perceived Katie's difficulty and tried to ease between the two. "Is her family very poor?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Katie replied. "You see, her guardian, Dr. Joshua Reubens, is quite ill with consumption. It leaves him bedridden most of the time. Oh, but Joy Claret is so devoted to him! Their household is quite small, but still, they have almost no earnings to support it. They do have the Reverend Doddered with them, but his earnings are from Negro sermonizing and I'm afraid not very much. You see," she whispered, "the doctor refuses to lend their darkies out.
Somehow he even came up with enough money to send their man Sammy to trade school!"
They each knew what a pretty sum this generosity cost. Sending a darky to trade school was the ultimate reward for good service. Even the best and most wealthy families reserved the honor for precious few, maybe one Negro each generation.
"I suppose she didn't have the benefit of a finishin' school, then?" Melissa asked curiously, this being the distinguishing mark of a lady—one separating the clerical class from the menial.
It was the
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