Millie's Faithful Heart

A Sneak and a ThiefI''m a slave owner! Millie Keith realized with horror. I have just bought a child by promising to play the piano! Now what do I do, Lord?Was it just a month ago that Millie was standing in front of her Bible study group in Pleasant Plains, Indiana, teaching that slavery was wrong? Coming to Roselands, her Uncle Dinsmore''s plantation, had seemed like an excellent way to learn the truth about the South, about slavery. I want to go home, Lord. So what if Dr. Chetwood recommended a milder climate for my lungs? He has been wrong before. This is a horrible place. No. Aunt Isabel is a horrible person. She knew the way I felt about slavery, and she used it against me quite cleverly. If I agree to play piano at Aunt Isabel''s parties, then little Laylie will belong to me. If I don''t buy the child, the young girl will be sent back to Meadshead to work endless hours in the fields. Her aunt''s perfume hung in the hallway where she had been standing only moments before, thick as cobwebs on the damp air. Has Aunt Isabel been reading my diary? How else could she have known my thoughts about slavery? About Cousin Horace''s slave?"Here you are!" Millie jumped at the sound of Louise''s voice. "Come to the nursery and tell us a story," the young girl demanded. "Jonati and Miss Worth and Father are trying to get a peppermint stick out of Enna''s nose, and Mother said you would tell us one.""A peppermint stick? How . . . ? Never mind. I can''t come right now; there is something I must do."Millie started toward her room, but Louise caught her hand. "You have to. Mother said she has a headache. She said you would tell us a story. Mother said!"Is this part of the bargain? Do I have to do everything Aunt Isabel orders? Millie''s head was still spinning as she allowed Louise to lead her down the carpeted hall. Long before they reached the nursery, she could hear Enna''s shrieks coming from Miss Worth''s apartments, where Jonati had apparently carried the child.Once Millie was safely in the nursery and the door was shut, Louise went to stand beside her sister Lora. The two girls wore matching ribbons and bows. Even the pouts on their lips matched, and said very plainly that they were not happy about being left alone. Walter, who was only four, looked worried as Millie picked him up and turned to Adelaide, the oldest, who had her arms crossed and was glaring at her brother Arthur. Arthur was very busy looking innocent, which meant he was guilty of something. In the short time that Millie had been at Roselands, she had learned that Arthur only possessed two looks: one sly, which meant he was planning something, and one innocent, which meant he had just committed a crime."How did baby Enna get a peppermint stick?" Millie asked."We don''t know," Adelaide said, still glaring. "But Arthur was in the corner with her.""I didn''t tell her to put it up her nose!" snarled Arthur."But you didn''t stop her either," said Adelaide, her frown growing darker."She puts everything up her nose!" Arthur said. "You know she does. Why does everyone think I am the guilty one? I''m not the only one around here who gets into trouble, you know.""That''s enough of that, I think," Millie said. "At least if you want to hear a story.""I don''t want a story," Arthur said defiantly. "I want a book."Millie looked at him in surprise. She had never seen Arthur with a book in his hand."I want Robin Hood," he demanded."Do you have a copy in the nursery?" Millie asked, forcing herself to be pleasant."No," Arthur said. "It''s in father''s library. We''ll go with you to get it.""All right," Millie agreed. "One chapter of Robin Hood. And then I have things I must do."Enna''s screams had quieted, and Millie assumed the peppermint stick had successfully been removed. She wished that Miss Worth or Jonati would appear and take the children in hand, but the door to Miss Worth''s apartment remained closed, with only sniffles and sobs seeping through. Millie sighed in resignation and led the children doFinley, Martha is the author of 'Millie's Faithful Heart ' with ISBN 9781928749127 and ISBN 1928749127.