The Invention of Wings

Charlotte reappears with her daughter, Sky, after 14 years’ absence. Charlotte has aged terribly; she is very thin and weak. They have been living on a rice plantation near Beaufort. Handful learns from Sky that they have attempted to escape three times before. Mauma’s back is covered with the scars from whipping, a brand, and her front teeth have been knocked out with a hammer for trying to escape. This time, they walked for three weeks to get to Charleston. Handful and Mauma struggle to find work for Sky to do, so that she will not be sold. They turn the garden over to her, and she works miracles in the overgrown, neglected yard.

Handful realizes that her mother is on the mend from her trials when she begins working on another quilt square, taking up her story again. Handful takes Sky to see where Denmark Vesey used to live, and she tells Sky about her brave, rebellious father.

In Philadelphia, Sarah lives with Lucretia Mott’s family. Lucretia is a Quaker minister and Sarah’s friend. Israel Morris visits Sarah twice a week, and they remain friends. Through her conversations with Lucretia, Sarah comes to the realization that she wants to become a Quaker minister and that she was born to fight for the abolition of slavery.