Freewater

Sanzi awakens on Remembrance Day, which commemorates the founding of Freewater. She misses her patrolling father, David, but her mother, Mrs. Light, and older sister, Juna, are present. Mrs. Light and Juna are preparing acorns, berries, and herbs for a “memory circle” ceremony. Sanzi doesn’t want to help, instead dressing like Suleman with a bow and arrows. She had a dream in which she was a hero, and thinks it was a premonition. Juna tells her not to leave, as she needs to be present for the ceremony. Sanzi says she’ll return in time.

The Big Tree in the center of Freewater is blooming and producing acorns, which the people eat for good luck. Sanzi instead retrieves Ibra’s 14-year-old son Billy from their cabin, a boy who speaks with a stutter. Billy doesn’t want to get in trouble, but Sanzi convinces him to leave with her.

Sanzi and Billy encounter another child around their age named Ferdinand, who teases Sanzi for wanting to be like Suleman. Suleman is the one who found Ferdinand and brought him to Freewater; Sanzi wishes this hadn’t happened because she dislikes Ferdinand. When Ferdinand arrived, he only had a knife, which he carries everywhere. People in Freewater don’t have many tools, so knives like Ferdinand’s are especially needed for cutting wood and plants. Sanzi wants to be helpful like Ferdinand, who leaves to join the woodcutters.

Billy could have joined the woodcutters, but doesn’t like leaving Freewater as it reminds him of being chased by trackers. David led Billy and his father to Freewater. Sanzi says in her dream, she and her friends caught a “beast.” She has her own tree-trunk boat like Suleman, which they row down the river.

Billy and Sanzi reach a bank and practice shooting arrows; they climb trees using ropes. Sanzi plans to swoop down to attack the “beast” once it arrives. Billy looks back to Freewater and reflects that it’s existed for 15 years without being discovered by anyone dangerous. Since he escaped enslavement, he knows life beyond Freewater is not what Sanzi thinks it is. She thinks she hears the beast she’s been waiting for.

Sanzi’s “beasts” are three hogs nearby. Billy chases the hogs in the right direction, so Sanzi can swoop down on her rope and shoot them with arrows. She misses and blames her mother, who is calling and standing nearby, furious.

Anna doesn’t remember her mother, who was sold elsewhere. She herself has been sold many times because she makes plantation owners uncomfortable with her hope. She has an arrow-shaped scar pointing North, which was allegedly cut by her mother as a reminder to meet her North one day. Anna’s uncertain how old she is, but assumes she’s around 12. Now that Homer’s gone, she is determined to run away and find her mother. She thinks Viola’s upcoming wedding might be a good opportunity to escape because everyone will be busy.

Anna checks on Rose, who is sleeping, and Mrs. Petunia. Old Joe checks on Rose as well. He hasn’t heard where her children specifically are. He also made maypop water, which includes crushed maypop petals steeped in whiskey stolen from Crumb, who drinks heavily enough to not notice. Joe says the water will help Rose sleep, then leaves. Suddenly, Rose wakes up screaming for her children. She tries to get out of bed, but is too sick, so Mrs. Petunia gives her a sip of maypop water, which makes her sleep again.

The enslaved people only get new clothes once per year, with them getting outfits before Viola’s wedding so they look nice. Rose sleeps through the following morning, and Anna thinks she can use the maypop water in her escape plan.

Mrs. Light scolds Sanzi because everyone is already gathered for the “memory circle” ceremony, and Sanzi was putting herself at risk rather than helping. She leads Sanzi and Billy to Big Tree. Billy will be drumming in the ceremony as usual. The children all have parts to read in telling the story of Freewater’s founding. Sanzi’s sister Juna was the first child born in Freewater, so she starts: Freewater’s founding started with six people—David, Mrs. Light, Suleman, Jupiter, Gus, and Mrs. Faith—running from the same plantation. The owner owed money due to gambling, so those owed tied him up. They took four enslaved people, but Freewater’s six founders ran with supplies into the swamp. The six walked for a few days until they found Big Tree, which provided shelter and food. They made marks in the tree to track the passage of time. They also found a knife and bowl there, which gave them hope to build Freewater. They built cabins and a small farm, hunting and gathering food. During the ceremony, Ferdinand finds Sanzi’s bow and starts firing arrows until she yells for him to stop, which irks Mrs. Light. Since Freewater was founded, 43 new people have arrived and 21 children have been born. To celebrate, they eat acorns and berries from Big Tree like they did in the past. Suddenly, a horn blows, signaling danger and interrupting the festivities. Everyone runs the same way.

Sanzi follows the group but realizes she left her bow and arrows behind, so she runs back to get them. A man named Turner (Two Shoes) carries her to the secret hideout. Mrs. Light prays to Mother Swamp for protection. After a few hours, another horn blows to signal that the coast is clear. Mrs. Light tells Sanzi that the reason they have rules is for everyone’s protection: Even one person’s capture could endanger the whole community.

In a meeting, Sky tells the community that she saw men marking trees to cut. Lumber company workers have been in the forest before, but now they’re cutting trees closer to Freewater. Jupiter suggests cutting one of their bridges and building a new bridge that leads directly to a lake for easier escape; everyone agrees. When it comes time to make another mark on Big Tree to indicate the passage of another day, Mrs. Light invites Billy to do so. However, a horn sounds, indicating David, Ibra, and Daria’s return with Homer and Ada.

Freewater greets the patrollers, and welcomes Homer and Ada. Mrs. Light sends Sanzi and Juna to sleep at Billy, Ibra, and Mrs. Faith’s cabin so she can take care of Homer and Ada, who have wounds. Ada is excited to see Two Shoes (Turner).

Suleman sets fire to a barn on a plantation. The animals inside wail until an overseer runs over with water and calls people to help. While they’re distracted, Suleman sneaks into a laundry shed and takes clothes and other supplies, and then hides in the woods. Eventually, a woman, man, and baby appear, wanting to seize the chance to escape. Suleman offers to guide them to a safe place.

Nora searches her father’s library and locates a book about flowers to bring to Rose. Old Joe enters with whiskey and glasses, followed by Crumb and three business associates for “Dismal Swamp Shingle and Lumber (DSSL)” (142). Mr. McGrath, the father of Viola’s fiancé, says three enslaved people escaped his plantation this year, and while two were recaptured, the third was not, and he suspects he’s in the swamp. Mr. Boyd agrees there are formerly enslaved people in the swamps because someone stole from him. The other men tell Crumb to try harder to catch Homer and Ada, yet claim they don’t have enough “manpower” to do so themselves. Crumb suggests they hire militia men. They split the cost to hire such men. Eavesdropping, Nora is disturbed because she always thought Rose, Homer, and Ada were “different” from other enslaved people, and that her father was “different” from Stokes. She runs to the kitchen, where she finds Anna with the flower book. Anna says Nora should put it back because if Crumb sees Rose with the book, he’ll whip her. Nora starts questioning her family’s morals and reevaluating her own.

Homer recalls the night he and Ada escaped: Having reached the swamp with their mother, Homer wanted to go back and get Anna. Mama went back to do so, but got caught. Turner (Two Shoes) appears and Ada mentions that his daughter, Minnie, started walking, and Old Joe made a wooden doll for her like he does for the other children. Turner tells the siblings to run along, and Homer tells Ada to stay away from Turner because he gets a bad feeling from him.

Juna shows Homer and Ada to the river, where they can drink water. On the way, they pass people cooking, mending cabins, stretching animal skins, and performing other tasks. Ada asks if there’s a Big House, master, or mistress, but Juna explains there are none of these things. She says Turner is helpful but quiet and still relatively new. Freewater is preparing for a wedding between Daria and Ibra, and some people are making clothes for Daria. Ada is still worried about being punished by a mistress for picking flowers.

Billy clears paths in the woods to make Juna’s traveling easier, regardless of whether or not she acknowledges him, because he has a crush. He knows she’ll take the new children to the river to drink water because she did the same for him when he arrived at age eight.

Juna takes Homer and Ada to pick grapes and honey for breakfast. Sanzi and Ferdinand are nearby and arguing: She tries to shoot his knife from his hand using her arrow, but instead shoots his hand.

Mrs. Petunia’s eyesight is poor, so she cooks chicken until it burns under Anna’s watch. Anna offers to catch fish for dinner instead. She baits her fishing line in the river, then gathers maypop flowers in a jar. She retrieves a fish, and Mrs. Petunia fries it for dinner. Crumb requests whiskey, so Anna uses the opportunity to add some to her jar of maypop flowers. The Crumbs aren’t happy with Mrs. Petunia’s cooking, and Viola is worried Rose won’t be better in time for her wedding. Crumb says militia men are coming in a few weeks to help capture Homer and Ada. Mrs. Crumb says they can’t be around during the wedding. Anna buries her jar of maypop water to steep.

Mrs. Light takes Sanzi’s bow and arrows away. Sanzi helps David prepare for his next expedition, but he forbids her from joining. She instead accompanies her mother to pick ginger and gather wood to make rope. She leads the way home to demonstrate her strong sense of direction. Mrs. Light shares a secret: When she and David ran away, they had a one-day-old baby with them, but after a few days walking through the swamp, he died. The baby was what made them run away. This gives Sanzi more perspective on the outside world, but she doesn’t fully understand its dangers.

Homer and Ada have been in Freewater for 21 days. Both children have adjusted and no longer worry as much about Stokes or the Crumbs suddenly showing up. However, Homer is starting to forget the path from Southerland plantation to Freewater. After their first few evenings with Mrs. Light, Homer and Ada moved into the cabin with Billy, Ibra, and Mrs. Faith, who is Freewater’s oldest woman. Ada asks why Ibra is always so cheerful, and he says it’s because his son Billy isn’t enslaved anymore.

Homer and Billy help pick corn from a small farm; Ada runs off to pick flowers. Homer and Billy agree work feels different in Freewater because nobody is threatening them. Billy reveals his father Ibra directly worked for the overseer at their plantation, and had to brand other enslaved people—including him. This led to Billy developing a stutter, and father and son escaped not long afterward but couldn’t take Billy’s mother with them. They were only able to escape because the overseer assumed they would not attempt it without Billy’s mother. She was sold elsewhere, but they don’t know where. In the swamp, Billy and Ibra encountered David, who brought them to Freewater. Suddenly, Homer can’t find Ada.