Mayflower Girl

Mayflower Girl — page 3 — Chapter One Goodbye Homeland Remember take your trunk and your coat We must get to the shipyard No time to waste Mr Allerton barked at his thirteen year-old daughter Yes Papa Remember nodded She knew her father was tense He had been planning their journey to America for months They’d already sold their small tidy home in Holland along with most of their belongings Papa insisted that they sell even their furniture to raise the money for the family to make the passage Besides they couldn’t take the furniture with them to the New World Remember was smart enough to realize that Papa didn’t plan on ever returning home to Holland This was it This was goodbye 6

Mayflower Girl — page 4 — Remember took a slow look around the dim sitting room Only the wooden chairs and table remained near the fireplace Even though Mama and Papa had lived in England before immigrating to Holland this was the only home Remember knew She took a deep breath and brushed a tear away Mama came into the room and wrapped her arms around her daughter Child it is time to leave Mama whispered in Remember’s ear and kissed her forehead Mama took hold of Remember’s hand and led her out of their old home Bartholomew Remember’s eight-year-old brother was already seated in the wagon next to Papa He was practically giddy with anticipation He loved dangerous adventures America was the most dangerous adventure of all and he was eager to go Bartle as they called him hoped to see Indians in 7

Mayflower Girl — page 5 — America Mary sat behind Bartholomew Mary Remember’s ten-year-old sister was more cautious and melancholy than Bartholomew She was sad to leave behind her pet cat and her friends Mary worried about traveling on board a ship across a huge and terrible sea Remember heard Mary crying in bed at night about leaving home and going to sea But there was nothing the girls could do to change their father’s mind about America He had decided that England was not safe for Separatists like themselves nor did he want his children to lose their English heritage and become Dutch from growing up in Holland It was the right time he said to make the journey to America and start an English colony a true Separatists homeland where they could all worship God as they wished No more harassment from the King of England and the Popish laws no more discrimination That’s what their father dreamt of 8

Mayflower Girl — page 6 — Mama helped Remember into the wagon Their last trunk was secured in the back The horses slowly clip-clopped down the cobblestone street in Leyden toward Delftshaven where they would find the ship Remember turned to look at her home one final time The windows were boarded No smoke rose from the chimney No festive flowers bloomed in the window boxes Their home looked lonely dreary as it waited for its next family As the Allerton family arrived at the shipyard other Separatists bustled around the Speedwell loading trunks provisions barrels of fresh water and tools while crew men wrestled with live chickens pigs and goats It is a small ship Mary whispered to 9

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