Freedom Papers

The captain promises Belle he will give her freedom papers. He finally keeps his word one Christmas, sending them his wife’s Christmas gifts. However, Mrs. Pyke takes the papers and hides them. Lavinia finds them years later, but she has an accident and cannot get them to Belle. Belle’s son Jamie finds them and gives them to Belle.

Laudanum Bottles

Mrs. Pyke is addicted to laudanum throughout most of the novel, a medication the servants called black drops. Later, Lavinia finds a stash of six bottles of laudanum and uses them herself to deal with Marshall’s violence and cruelty.

Floor Plank

Jimmy steals floor planks out of the smoke house in order to provide his family with much needed salt. Lavinia later sees his mother, Ida, cooking with a piece of this wood.

Whips

Jimmy is beaten to death with whips after...