Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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how you guys is Chapter 25 today, and I'm just
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gonna start reading because the quote is really long and
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it's in really old timey language.
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And, um, I think it's confusing.
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So here we go.
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The day the ships are to leave, I go to
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Captain Smith captain to tell him to help him gather
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his belongings.
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He is able to take a few painful steps with
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the King now, but it's still hard for him to
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get around.
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Everyone says he's returning to England to get better medicine
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than we have here, but I know he would stay
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if they had not robbed him of his authority and
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his power to help our colony.
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Captain Smith holds two strings of beads in his hand.
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They're a new kind blue with intricate designs made by
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layers in the glass.
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They're worth a fortune and trading because the Indians prise
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them so much, he looks at the bead.
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Sadly, I will not need these for now, he says.
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He holds them out for me to take use them
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to trade this winter when the hunger sets in, I'm
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stunned. I have never before touched these new world diamonds
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as a servant.
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I did not feel I have the right to now.
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I'm no longer a servant.
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Slowly, I take the beads from him.
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They feel cold and smooth in my hand.
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I took them into the buckskin, carrying pouch, hanging up
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my waist.
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Captain Smith looks at me hard.
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Samuel, It will not be easy here.
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Things will happen that make you angry.
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But do not let your anger get the best of
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you. Channel it.
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Let it give you strength for what?
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You conducive to change things, to make things better.
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Do you understand?
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Ends. Words wiser, I nod.
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I have watched him do this over and over.
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The shifting of anger into calm action.
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I understand.
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I tell him He looks around the cabin as if
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he is wanting to remember it Always.
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My throat is tight with tears, but I will not
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let them fall.
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I remember the first time I saw Captain Smith on
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the docks at Blackwall.
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How strong and brash he seemed.
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I remember how I hated the idea of serving him
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and learning from him.
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Then I think of how much I have learned from
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him, how much I have changed because of him.
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I I search for the right words to say what
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I feel, but I can't find them.
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I'm sorry to see you go, sir.
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I say finally, Captain Smith stands a little straighter.
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I'll be back.
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He assures me I'm not done with James Town yet.
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Then he does something that surprises me almost as much
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as the beads he reaches out his hand to shake
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Mine is if I am his equal as if I
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am a man.
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His hand is lettering Callous from the hard work he
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has done here.
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So is mine.
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I suppose we shake hands heartily.
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Have a good voyage, sir.
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I say we begin the slow, painful walk to the
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ship's him with his cane and me carrying a sack
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of belongings.
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I want to find you alive and well.
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When I returned Samuel, he says good natured Lee.
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No starving, no dying from the summer sickness.
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No getting shot full of arrows.
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I grin.
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Yes, sir.
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I say his order.
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Suit me just fine.
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John Laden joins us and gives Captain Smith a strong
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shoulder to lean on as he struggles to walk.
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You have been a just leader, Captain.
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He says, What will we do without you?
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You experience settlers know a thing or two about survival.
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Captain Smith says maybe these newcomers will learn from you.
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Others joined us until we're small.
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Not of men walking slowly out the Fort Gates and
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down to the river.
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The men have each something to say.
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You were the best president we ever had, sir.
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You did more work than any of those gentlemen who
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will trade with the natives with you gone, sir.
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Have a safe journey.
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Captain Smith.
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The longboats air ready to are already making their trips
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back and forth to the mother Ship's Richard is there,
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waiting for his turn.
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He will Still he was still asleep when I left
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the cabin this morning.
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So this is the first.
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I've had a chance to talk with him.
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Samuel. He calls to me as I approach.
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Are you sure you don't want to come?
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Think of all you're missing the seasickness, the rats that
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storm's week after week.
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In the nice dark Tween deck, I take a deep
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breath as if I'm savoring my men.
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My memory of the journey Ah, the stench and the
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way the slop buckets slashed all over the place in
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rough seas.
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I touched my hand to my heart.
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I will miss it, Richard laughs.
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Maybe you should come back with us, he says.
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You could be an actor in one of master Shakespeare's
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new plays.
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There are plenty of good things I can think about.
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Think of about England.
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Fields of heather blooming in the countryside, London's busy, exciting
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streets, the chance to visit my mom's grave.
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But I will stay here in Jamestown.
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I touched the beads through the soft buckskin of my
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carrying pouch.
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I suppose you'll miss me terribly, too, I say to
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Richard, continuing the foolery.
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Who will you have to fistfight with?
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What if I'm not there?
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He crosses his arms over his chest, and we just
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looked at each other.
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The truth is, I will miss him terribly.
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Richard, get yourself in that longboat or you're staying here!
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Henry shouts.
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He is helping with the launch, and he has no
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patience. There is no time for long goodbyes.
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Eyeball it, my fist and tap my chest than my
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forehead. Then Richard's chest and his forehead.
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Good bye, friend.
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I say.
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Captain Smith and Richard Reid, the longboat to the ship.
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It is not easy for Captain Smith to climb the
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rope ladder to the deck.
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But Richard and some of the sailors help him, and
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he makes it.
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They turned for one last look at the Virginia shoreline
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in our fort in the group of us waving to
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them. Then they're ushered below the Tween deck for the
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long journey home.
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Soon after Captain Smith leaves, it is clear that we
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don't have nearly enough food to get us through the
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winter. When Chief Power Tin sends word that he will
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trade for corn, Captain Radcliffe goes strutting around the fort
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full of his own importance.
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I will take 50 men, he announces we have piles
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of copper and beads and we'll bring back plenty of
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corn to feed everyone.
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Captain Smith was not the only man skilled in trading.
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You will see how quickly we forget he was ever
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here. The new columnists are happy.
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They trust Captain Radcliffe and they feel confident will be
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eating well all winter.
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But I still see that noose ready to strangle our
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colony. Then something happens That does give me hope.
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Hope for me and John Laden and his family.
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Master Percy says we will build a fort at point
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Comfort about 30 miles down river from Jamestown, near where
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the river meets the Chesapeake Bay.
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From there, we will be able to protect James Town
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from a Spanish invasion Will stop the Spanish ships before
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they even enter the river.
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Soldiers will work to pile up dirt and mount artillery.
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John Layton and I are being sent to build cabins
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for the fort.
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We will call our Fort Algernon.
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I fear what will happen in Jamestown this winter with
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its overcrowding and lack of food.
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And Jamestown is the heart of our colony.
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I believe that if the natives attack, it is James
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Town. They will attack.
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But at point comfort, we will only have about 30
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men to feed.
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We'll have our own hogs, fish to catch and oysters
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to dig.
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We will be just across the river from the war
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school Yak village, where the people have become like my
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family and very near the he coughed ins who have
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been our friends because Captain Smith often stopped in to
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see them on his voyages.
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I have the blue beads and mild gone Quinn Words.
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I will be very glad to spend the winner at
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Point Comfort.
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Instead of Jamestown, I happily gather up my belongings for
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the move to point comfort.
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Then I go to the Laden's cabin toe, offer help
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with them, offer to help them pack.
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When I entered their cabin, John is packing up his
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carpentry tools and is sitting quietly watching him while Baby
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Virginia sleeps in her cradle.
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Are you packed already?
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Then I asked him.
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She looks down and shakes her head.
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John doesn't even glance at me.
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I frown.
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Why not?
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I asked.
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The barge will leave tomorrow morning.
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She isn't coming, John says quietly.
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What? I blurt out.
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But you have to come.
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No, I do not an informs me.
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I finally have lots of other women here to talk
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to and help me with the baby.
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And I want to stay safe within the Palisades.
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Not out there in the open, unprotected from the Indians.
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John will come to visit me whenever he can.
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I will stay here in Jamestown Ice, better not believing
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what I'm hearing.
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It is much safer at point comfort, I tell her.
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Our neighbors are that he coughed inns, our friends in
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the War Square.
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Jax. I know everyone in the village by name.
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I can trade if we run short of food and
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shakes her head.
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I've made up my mind, she says.
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You won't be safe within the Palisade.
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I insist.
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New settlers have made war with the path power tins.
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John John.
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Tell her what it was like when we first got
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here, how we couldn't even step outside the Palisade to
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hunt without being shot at.
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And men starved John stops working for a moment.
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I told her.
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He says she is stubborn and knows what she wants,
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then order her to leave Jamestown and nearly shouted, John
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looks up at me!
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One eyebrow raised, I realized that I have set a
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stupid thing.
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It is not in his nature to order his wife
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to do something against her will.
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She wants to stay with the other women, he says.
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I won't take that away from her and crosses her
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arms over her chest and gives me a self satisfied
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look. Besides, she says, our leaders are not at war
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with the power tins.
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Chief Power Tin just invited Captain Radcliffe to come to
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wear a loco Moco to trade.
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They will have a feast and entertain them with dances
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just like you told me about.
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And they'll come back with lots of corn.
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We will have all that we need to eat in
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Jamestown this winter.
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We won't even have to go outside of the palisade.
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I want a grabber and shaker shout into her face.
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There is no safety in Jamestown.
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I'm seething with anger.
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What can't they see?
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Why won't they listen to me?
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I want to punch something, eyeballing my fists, ready to
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slug the wall.
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Then an image flashes in my mind of Captain Smith
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ready to lose control of his anger.
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Then of him taking a deep breath, focusing, calming, devising
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a plan.
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I care.
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I hear Captain Smith's voice in my head.
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Samuel, do not let your anger get the best of
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you. Channel it.
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Let it give you strength to change things.
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I take a breath.
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Try to calm the fury inside me.
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I walk over to the cradle where Baby Virginia is
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sleeping. She is wrapped in a blanket, her eyes fluttering
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and sleep her little mouth making sucking motions.
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She is so new, so innocent.
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I look it.
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Anne. She is young and innocent to Onley.
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15. Wow!
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She's young and she is naive.
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She trust Captain Radcliffe to keep her safe and fed.
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Suddenly it is Reverend Hunts Voice I hear in my
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head You must learn to make decisions out of love,
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Not out of fear.
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I take another deep breath.
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My anger is focused.
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I have made a decision.
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I have a plan.
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I believe Reverend Hunt would approve.
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I have made this decision out of love.
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I am about to steal a baby.
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Okay. There's only two more chapters, by the way.