The TimberWolf Effect (Book I)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - Descendant of Thatcher

A week and a half had passed since the Mikawa fight. Grace was home and life had mostly returned to normal with a few small differences. Timber noticed how cold Grace was when speaking to Chad, and she kept shooting him dirty looks. Grace had become unpredictable and sometimes she would break down and cry. Other times, she would go outside with an air rifle and waste bullets, shooting them into tin cans. She had also become more protective of Timber and Emily. Neither of them minded. Chad had been banished to the office for the day. They only saw him during meals. Even then, Grace would glare at him from the other end of the table.

One Wednesday, Timber was having trouble sitting still during class. They had just finished the math lesson about double-digit multiplication and she was anxious to get started on her favorite subject; history. They were supposed to be starting a new topic and she couldn't have been more excited. She didn't know what they were going to be learning about but that didn't matter to her. She was bouncing in her seat slightly and she could see Xianna fighting back laughter when she saw her.

"Alright, now settle down please," said Mrs. Gibney. "I have to let you know that this new subject we're covering is, to some extent, sensitive for some. I am asking you to handle this maturely please."

The whole class sat unusually still. Even Timber stopped moving.

"We're going to talk about the history of slavery in the United States during the early years of this country. Slavery means that one human being is owned by another human being for the purpose of labor.

"Slavery in the United States was the legal institution of human enslavement of Africans and African Americans that existed in the United States of America in the 18th and 19th Centuries after we gained independence and before the end of the American Civil War. Slavery had been practiced in British North America from early colonial days and was legal in all Thirteen Colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, though more than half of our founding fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were against slavery and did everything they could to abolish it."

A hand went up in the air.

"It's illegal now, right?" asked Gina.

"Yes, slavery in the United States has been permanently banned, though it still happens in parts of Africa, China, and India, even today," replied Mrs. Gibney. "During and immediately following the Revolutionary War, abolitionist laws were passed in most Northern states and a movement developed to abolish slavery. Most of these states had more free labor than in the South and their economies were based on different industries. They got rid of slavery by the end of the 18th Century, some with gradual systems that kept adults as slaves for two decades. But the rapid expansion of the cotton industry in the Deep South after the invention of the cotton gin greatly increased demand for slave labor, and the Southern states continued as slave societies."

"So everyone picked cotton?" asked Kendra, forgetting to raise her hand.

"Some people worked in the houses," said Timber before Mrs. Gibney could reply. "They helped dress the women and take care of the children. They also cleaned, and cooked."

"That's right, Timber," said Mrs. Gibney.

She continued for another several minutes before she began to pass out sheets of paper for the class to read and a separate page with questions for them to answer. Timber sat there absorbing all of this new information like a sponge. She was both fascinated and disgusted by the history of slavery. She looked over at Gina who was struggling with this new information. She decided that she was going to ask Grace to take her to the library after school so she could learn more on her own. She noticed layers in the story she was reading and she wanted to pull it apart.