"Read it to me again, Miss Cora!" Eva exclaimed wiping tears from her face.
"'That on the first day of January in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom,'" Cora McCluen recited and looked up from the paper. "You are free, Mammie! Free!" A smile creased Cora's weathered face.
"Oh, Miss Cora, I don't know how ya did it! Thank ya. God bless ya!" The two women embraced. "Tell me da story again! Puh-lease." Cora wiped a tear from her face now.
"Honestly, Mammy, I scarcely believe I had anything to do with ̶"
"Poppycock!" Eva pushed her index finger to Cora's lips. "I know ya did! Ya and...what was 'is name again?...Levis?"
"Levi," Cora gently corrected Eva.
"Lookit, if you won't tell ma the story ah-gain, den I must. E'erybody must know it! Y'all are amazin'! An' da people need t'know it!" Cora flopped into a nearby parlor chair and placed her face in her hands.
"It weren't nothing!" Eva scowled, put her hands on her hips.
"Freein' a bucha us colored folks...I about three an' a half millin...tis hardly nothin', Miss Cora!" Cora looked up briefly.
"Mammie, I'm sure Mister Lincoln already had dis planned ̶"
"I tell ya, ya're amazin'; ya and dat Levi-fella. Lookit, when I learn myself to write, I's gonna make sure yer stories are told. Y'hear me? I promise ya!" Eva's stern look softened. "Nah tell me da story a-gain." Cora closed her eyes and a small smile formed.
"Very well, Mammy Eva..."
YOU ARE READING
Undeterred
Historical FictionCora McCluen knows that "all men are created equal" and "...created in God's image" so why is Mammy Eva not allowed to do everything she can? Cora sets out North to explain this to President Lincoln and makes a few new friends along the way. Can she...
