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Chapter 5: Flight
All of Hannah’s senses were on edge. She smelled the heavy air that mixed nighttime moisture with the smells of the creek, cow manure, and Mama’s biscuits. She heard every creak in the house, as her parents shuffled about and her siblings snored. And then, finally, in the pitch around midnight, she heard the front…
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Chapter 4: McAllister’s Mill
Jennie set aside the stack of trousers and looked up at her mother. Sunlight streamed through the window of the small house on Breckenridge Street. Her mother had upholstery for a carriage at a small table in the front room. Her hair was pulled back, and beads of sweat had formed on her forehead. Georgia…
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Chapter 3: Past Due
Early morning, and Jack Skelly pulled a wagon behind him with newly sewn upholstery stacked up. Wes Culp walked next to him, a bag slung over his shoulder with his sandwich and an apple for lunch later in the day. Coming the opposite direction was Jennie Wade, blonde hair past her shoulders with a portion…
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Chapter 2: Runaway
On days like this, when no clouds hung in the sky and when no breeze cooled their sweat, Daddy was easy on them. He never stopped working the bean and cornfields himself, but he always let the girls, just a year apart in age, head over to Marsh Creek to wade in and cool off.…
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Chapter 1: Commitment
Two men with mustaches stared at young Jennie, their question hanging in the air. As Jennie struggled for words, she pictured Papa’s hands with a needle and thread—how deftly he moved among seams, tied off strands, started new lines, switched to scissors and back. Jennie took a deep breath and looked at the man in…