My Covert Bodyguard

44: Sloane

"I need to make an account and get in touch with her." I said, rushed.

"I thought you'd say that. Mikey has already made a virtually perfect fake account of an Anna Waltmann, a freshman in Lockwood Academy, who's as real as unicorns."

Brook took my phone and logged into it. "Just be really careful with what you post."

"Did you really just say that to me?"

"The internet's a scary place, Kyle." She deadpanned, and I actually laughed at that. She made a move to leave, but she hugged me before she left despite how sweaty I was.

"I miss her too." 

She then left me with the phone. I wanted to comment on her picture to let her know I saw the picture, but I couldn't think of what to say. Then I decided to go with something simple:

Miss you Cassie! When you visit we should go skating again!!

I made sure to add multiple exclamation marks. I also used the nickname Cassie, which no one else calls her, and I knew she liked it because she would moan lightly when I called her that. I couldn't imagine Cass had gone ice skating with any one else, or even that anyone at school actually missed her. It felt horrible to think that, but in a way I was relieved that, maybe, she was having a better time there than she did here. 

I pressed send. Within an hour, she replied, "Miss you too Anna!" with a wink and a kiss face. I held the phone to my chest, feeling ridiculous that my heart swelled so much with a few letters on a screen. I wanted to see her so badly.

* * * * *

Cass's POV:

"I suppose that's it for today." My tutor told me, and I sighed a breath of relief. Intense three hours of private studies was more informative and tiring than an entire day of school ever was. In those three hours I covered materials a lot harder and faster than anything I'd ever done at school, and I understood it so much better because I wasn't constantly dozing off. I was thankful I could have these lessons, because I didn't want to come out of this uneducated, but I wasn't going to deny the fact that this was hard. Plus, just because I was tutored didn't mean I got out of taking tests. In fact, she told me that I would have weekly "check-ups" where I would take a "worksheet" and keep the scores for "future use." Meaning, I actually had to study to keep my grades up to send to colleges, if I were to go.

Just as my tutor was leaving, Aunt Helen walked in.

"How was your lesson?"

I nodded. "Good. I finally understand trig." She smiled, and silently handed me a book. It seemed to be really old, and she held it like it was one of the most precious things in the planet, so I held it like that too. 

"What is this?" I asked, eyeing the red leather cover that was starting to fray on the edges.

"Open it." She said. I flipped open the cover to see, in sharp, neat cursive, the name Sloane Scarlett. The diary was dated 1828 to 1871. 

"Is this... Sloane Scarlett's diary?" 

She nodded. "Read the first page."

October 31, 1828

Today is a sad day for all. Jackson has been elected as president. He wishes to protect slaveowners, to persist in the injustice of what we have done. Although my own father is a slaveowner, and I live on the wealth of our cotton, I cannot live with the guilt I feel everyday upon seeing how the slaves are treated. They wear ragged clothes, are fed barely anything, and father beats them when they do not work fast enough. And how could they? They have ridges across their back like currents on the harbor. My heart aches for all, for slavery is poisoning not only the slaves, whom suffer much, but also the society in which slavery thrives.

"Sloane was 16 when Jackson was inaugurated. She was unique at the time, and was one of the earliest girls educated by the ideology of Republican motherhood. And she loved education, too, and was very much engaged in politics, and was a big part of the abolitionist movement."

I held the notebook more protectively. "That's...incredible."

"I know. Turn to September 1848."

September 22, 1848

Ever since the annexation of  Texas, the hazard for negroes in this country has increased. The South's infatuation with expanding and protecting slavery is advocated by all, especially by Polk. William and I have been part of the underground railroad, and we've managed to guide and safe keep several runaway slaves, but there are so many more who haven't been as lucky. I also met Harriet today. She is so brave and wise, I can tell she will not stop in her life until she and her brothers are free. I hope to see her again someday, and when I do, I hope she is free and as valiant as I know her now.

"Is this Harriet... Harriet Tubman?"

"Indeed. You know your American history, it seems."

"Oh my god. This is crazy. All of this is just so mind blowing."

Helen smiled. "I'm glad you appreciate this. Please, do read the rest on your own time."

I stared at the book in my hand as my great aunt said good night and left my room. I flipped to the last page, because I was curious where she left things off.

January 14, 1871

I have grown frail, and my sons are busy with their lives. Silver, my love, my darling daughter, takes care of my withering soul every waking minute. She understands me, and she values the same things as I do. I have every intention to pass down the Scarlett Legion, my life purpose, to Silver. There is a female understanding, of being undermined, undereducated, under-appreciated, and the craving for justice that we share. I am not scared to die, for I know I have spent my life fighting for what is right, and we have won. I will die knowing I have made a contribution to the world, however small, so that millions of negroes will be avenged. And this thought brings me peace, and it was worth every bit of my sacrifice, even losing the love of my life.

I went to bed with images of a green-eyed soldier fighting for justice in the civil war.

* * * * *

Yay 2 updates in a day! I'm so glad my AP US history class has come in handy now :P Also, if anyone is offended by the use of 'negro,' I mean no disrespect or offensive connotation. I wanted to be historically accurate, and that was simply how African Americans were called back then.  I hope you think this is really cool, because integrating history in this story just makes it seem so much more realistic.