Twelve year-old Lucy quickly
scurried up the dirt path to her small, one-room, brick cabin, quietly shutting
the door behind her. It was 1861 and the
War Between the states had just started.
Lucy, property and slave of James Clark, was
one of 35 slaves who had to keep their master's plantation functional. After lighting a nearby lamp, Lucy
rushed up to her sickly mamma, bursting to tell her about the war's latest
progress. Suddenly mamma collapsed,
clutching her chest in pain, screaming she told Lucy to get help.
Lucy stood in shock;
she could not move because she was so scared. Suddenly she regained herself and ran out of
the cabin blindly running down the path.
Dashing through the shadows of the nearby forest she stopped to regain
her breath. Lucy tried to figure out
where she could go to get help, if she went to her master, he might ignore her
since they were not exactly his favorite slaves. Remembering her Grandma Flora, she realized
that she would be the best person to help Mamma.
Quickly
she ran to Grandma Flora's house a third a mile a way. Gasping for
breath, she banged on the door. When there was no response she yanked
the door open. Stumbling into the house,
Lucy searched through the one-room cabin for a clue of Grandma Flora's
whereabouts. Realizing
Grandma Flora was not home at that late hour of the night she sank into a
nearby chair. Searching
through the thoughts in her head, she tried to make out what happened: her Mamma had chest pains; her Grandma Flora
was missing, and she was out of ideas. Suddenly it hit her! There was a doctor
named Charles, who lived a couple of miles from the plantation, and he could
help her mamma. Would she dare to
leave the plantation for the sake of her mamma's life? She had to take the
risk; it was the only idea she had left, and Dr. Charles was the only person
left who could help her mamma.
Rushing
out of the cabin, she started her long journey to the doctor's house. Frantically thinking the whole way about her
mother, she tried to figure out what was wrong with her. Suddenly it dawned on Lucy: her mother had a
heart attack! What was she to do
now? The only thing left was to run
faster to the doctor's house. Thirty
minutes later, Lucy dashed up the path to the doctor's house and banged on the
door. Doctor Charles yanked open the
door and told Lucy to calm down. Once
Lucy had caught her breath, he asked her to tell him what was wrong. Taking gasps between each word, Lucy was able
to tell the doctor that her mamma needed help and he was the only one available
that could help her. Surprised, Doctor Charles told Lucy he could help, but it
would be risky for him to be seen helping her mother, because he was a white
doctor. If Master James saw them, both Doctor Charles and Lucy
would get in trouble. Grabbing his bag, Doctor Charles and Lucy ran to the
stables. The doctor quickly harnessed up
the horses to his buggy, and he and Lucy rushed to her cabin.
When
they got there, Doctor Charles and Lucy hurried inside. Finding Lucy's mamma on the floor the
doctor and Lucy lifted her onto a nearby bed.
After examining Lucy's mamma, the doctor confirmed that she had
experienced a heart attack, but it was only a mild one and she would be able to
get up and move around within a week.
Thanking the doctor, Lucy escorted him to the door. Turning around, she ran to her mamma's side and cried until no more tears
could flow. Mamma softly fingered
Lucy's brown hair and whispered encouraging words to her. That night, both Lucy and Mamma fell asleep,
dreaming dreams of thankfulness, with the knowledge that everything would be
all right, thanks to the doctor who had risked his life to save Mamma.
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