47

"Naw it ain't," I cried, putting my hands to my head. "I just saw her last week swinging on the swing in the garden with her girlfriends."

"She was probably already sick but it was only since then that the infection entered her brain."

"Don't say that!" I yelled. I didn't want to hear something that might cause the beautiful Miss Eloise to die.

"We have to go looking for herbs," John said, not seeming to be very concerned. "Tobias gave us permission to wander around the woods here gathering the medicines they think we'll need to save her life."

With that John got up and strode off into the woods. I followed him, somehow realizing that these were the first steps to an education that would take me I knew not where.

12

As soon as we were off the path John took me by the wrist and again we ran on the wind over boulders and through thick bushes, past trees that were ancient giants looming over dark forest undergrowth.

At one point we came to a field of wild strawberries. John stopped there and took off his new/old work shirt to gather the berries for our lunch. It was then that I remembered the molasses cookies Flore pi

John told me that the forest we were in was very old and filled with spices and fungi that were wonderful for the human anatomy.

"What do gnats got to do wit' men?" I asked, trying to put together the strange sounds he uttered.

"Not gnat man" he said. "Human anatomy. That is the study of the parts of the human body."

"Who told you about gnat man meV

Tall John smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I am not what I appear to be," he said. "I come from far, far away as I have already told you. This body of mine, though completely human, was created by what my people call science. Because of this I have a great deal of knowledge about the human body. I know all of the mechanics it is only the human heart that I fail to understand."

"And do you know what mushrooms will get the bugs outta Miss Eloise's brain?" I asked, unconcerned with his silly notions.

"Yes," he said. "There are a few herbs that will assist her healing. And also you need proper rest and nutrition after that infection in your hand and the burn on your shoulder. You need sustenance."

"I don' care about me," I said. "I just wa

John held up a finger and I knew that he wanted me to remember his admonition.

"It don't mattah if you call'im Master or Tobias," I continued. "If he figures out that you jes' wa

John smiled and said, "You love that little child Eloise don't you, Forty-seven?"

"She's like the angels that Brother Bob talks on and on about at his sermons."

"She's just a person."

"No," I complained. "She's the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Eighty-four is just as beautiful in her own way," my new friend argued.

"How can you say somethin' like that, boy?" I said. "Eighty-four's black and ugly with nappy hair and liver lips. She couldn't even hold a candle to Miss Eloise."

"Come with me," Tall John said.

He jumped up from where we were and led me a short way down an animal path to a wide, still pond.

"Look," he said. "Look at yourself in the water."

The water was absolutely motionless and reflective like a polished mirror. I could see my whole image from head to toe.

"Take off that shirt, Forty-seven."

I did as he told me, standing naked at the pond's edge.

When I looked down into the reflective pool I could see that my skin was very dark and that my body was like a man's but smaller. My hair was wild and every which way, but I looked like I imagined myself.

"You have a perfect face and body and the strength to run all day without aches and pains," John said. "You have big, inquisitive eyes and a heart that's open to the pain of others. You love Eloise and so she is beautiful to you, but Eighty-four needs your love too. And if you gave it to her you would see her beauty even as you see it in the white child."

"But beauty just is," I said. "I can't make somethin' lovely jes' by savin' so."

John waved his hand and my image in the pond changed into Big Mama Flore. She was just sitting there shelling peas and throwing them into a basket. My heart opened up when I saw Flore.

"Is she beautiful?" John asked.

"Oh, yes," I cried. "She's the most beautiful thing in all

the world."

"She has black skin and nappy hair," John argued. "She

has big lips and ashy elbows."

I turned away from the image in the water and asked, "Are you a angel?"

"No, Forty-seven. I'm just a helper."

"What you helpin'?"

"I'm helping you to save the universe."

"But I'm just a nig " I stopped myself in the middle of the prohibited word.

"All of my people," John said, "my whole race says a prayer for you every night. They have given you their blessings and their hope. A black-ski

When Tall John from beyond Africa spoke I almost believed what he said. There was so much confidence in his tone that you were compelled to believe him.

I took a deep breath and felt the weight of his words on my shoulders. I didn't even know where Universe was, or how big it was. I figured that it must have been at least as big as Georgia, and Georgia, I knew, was so big that it would take a strong man three weeks to walk from one end to the other.

"Boy, what you yammerin' about?" I asked. "I'm just a nigger, born a slave."

"No," John said. "You are Forty-seven. You are the hope of your world and mine and all that lies between."

"You is crazy, boy."

Instead of answering John laughed and pushed me into the pond. The shock of the cold water and of peaceful John pushing me made me laugh so hard that I couldn't climb out again. But then John held out his hand and made like he was going to help me. But the minute I pulled against him he pushed me in again. He stood there at the water line laughing at me.

"Help me out, fool," I said.

And when he stuck out his hand I grabbed on and let my weight go, pulling him in with me. He started sputtering and trying to jump out of the pond. But every time he got his footing I pushed him back again. We were laughing so hard that finally we climbed up to the shore and fell down in the mud.

That was one of the happiest moments I've had in the nearly two hundred years of my long life here on Earth. Before that day I never knew what it was to laugh without worrying that somebody might hear and come and thump

my head. I never knew what it was like to lie there next to your best friend in the whole world and not have a care.

I had eaten strawberries and cookies and went splashing in a forbidden pond.

It was forbidden because all things that were fun or free were forbidden to slaves. I didn't know exactly who owned those strawberries but one thing for sure it was a white man.

But none of that mattered because there I was, alone in the woods with the most wonderful person I had ever known. When he looked at me he liked my black skin and dusty hair, he thought that I was a hero and who was I to say no?

After a long while lying in the mud I waded out into the water to wash my skin and rough blouse. When we were ready to go John looked up at the sky and scowled.