Becoming Americans Read Online Free PDF Page A

indeed, Harper told his children, if their mother's death was to have a meaning it must be the force for them to push ahead and prosper.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â He was unrelenting to his crew during the next weeks. Evelyn was a constant distraction for him at first, for she seldom relented from her self-torture. Mary Bishop, his only female servant, proved to be of little use. She'd been saved from a life of crime and degradation by authorities that'd picked her up a final time and ordered her to Virginia, but she knew nothing of housekeeping, and had no exposure to the kindness that might have helped poor Evelyn. Brinson agreed to exchange her for a seasoned female servant of his own who was well trained, but who had only two years remaining of her service. Mary still had her full five years ahead and she was strong and healthy, if not too bright.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Drusilla, the new woman, was both capable and demanding. The boys and the men soon found that any moments spared for rest were not spent within sight of Drusilla. She always had tasks that needed doing.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Unhappily, though, she was of little help to Evelyn, except to keep the child sedated by the dark brew she, too, knew how to make.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Opeechcot, alone, could distract the girl. Saving the child's life had given him a sense of protective proprietorship. With the permission of Barnes and Harper he built a hogan near the settlement, and when not busy with the men or boys, he'd be seen smoking tobacco with Evelyn. She would sit by his fire smoking from his long clay pipe, then pass it back. They never spoke, though he would end their sessions by fingering her blonde hair then, placing his hand upon her head, would mumble some strange words. These times would calm her for some hours, and then Drusilla would have to give the child her drink.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Their daily menu changed when Drusilla came. She made it clear to Francis that, if he expected to maintain the pace of work he was demanding of his crew—if he expected, even, to survive the winter—he'd best worry more about their food supplies and housing, and less about clearing more land than he could handle with a limit of strong arms. She spared no words, since she knew that he needed her right now more than he needed the men.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â The pine thicket that was cleared, he could consider a gift from God, she said. That, and the two acres of oaks the boys had girdled, would grow more tobacco than they could tend. Killing trees should be done in the dark of the moon, anyway. He'd best be concentrating on getting the house built before winter.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Harper knew, immediately, that she was right, and he redirected energies and priorities. He instructed Billy Forrest to see that a short, temporary pier was built into Pine Haven. A pier waist-high would be enough, just past the small, breaking waves where a low shallop could tie up and unload the building supplies he'd bring back. Then he set off with Opeechcot, knowing that his son and daughter and Richard and Billy would be provided for by Drusilla.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Billy and the boys worked diligently—their pace had been established. A series of locust poles was pounded into the soft sand to extend thirty feet into the water at high tide. These were connected and braced with a floor on top that they constructed of split oak boards. The work was completed in four days, then Drusilla let them rest.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â That night they feasted better than they'd ever eaten in their lives. Even Evelyn had come out of her stupor to participate. All afternoon Drusilla had made the child sit by the open fire and turn the iron spit that speared the chunk of venison left from Opeechcot's last kill, four days ago. When that was done, Drusilla skewered several birds that she'd trapped and cleaned and Evelyn turned the spit, watching the birds roast and