Calico Girl

Callie rode on the horse with the lieutenant, while Mama and Little Charlie rode with Papa.

She could not say she understood her feelings. They were leaving the only home she had ever known and they did not ask the master or mistress for their permission. Callie felt that she had slipped out of her own skin.

As they rode off through the gates of Belle Hill Plantation, Callie looked back at the house. Her old life flashed in front of her. She could not help but wonder if this was the life she would truly leave behind. It had been all she ever knew. The Big House of Master and Mistress Warren had always been so full of life and so big and grand. There was always much coming and going. Now the house and the farm looked so small, so hollow and empty, as if there were no life to live there ever again.

With every step of the horses’ feet, as the estate became smaller and smaller to her eyes, she prayed and hoped that they were gone from there for good. She was glad to be leaving this place where a person had no choice, no say in his or her life.