Summary

During “The Ravaging” (the town’s name for the epidemic), Bruh Abel tackled the misgivings about Rue by coming to stay with her so he could watch her (165 – 179). Rue tried to get him drunk and he pretended to fall asleep, but followed her when she sneaked out to the church. There she met Varina, who was still alive but in hiding, unaware that the war was over. Rue had cared for her while she was ill, and kept her in ignorance. When Bruh Abel turned up, Varina hid in an underground jail where May Belle had once been imprisoned, and Rue distracted him by pretending to be emotional and ready for his spiritual help. In 1860, during “Slaverytime” (180 – 190), one of the children found a mysterious dead man, with the metal collar of a runaway round his neck. The community kept this secret from Marse...