comfortable in the too-warm room.
Amy was having trouble going under for some reason. From his vantage point sitting with Joe on the sofa, Louis could see the anxiety etched in Amy’s face. But Dr. Sher was persistent, gently taking Amy through a series of breathing exercises.
Finally, Dr. Sher began slowly to count backward from ten. Louis watched as the tension melted from Amy’s face and her breathing deepened.
“We’re going back now, Amy,” Dr. Sher said. “Back through your childhood, back to when you were a baby.”
Amy’s eyelids fluttered but remained closed. Dr. Sher tried to elicit memories from Amy’s days on the farm as a child, but Amy did not seem to want to stay in that place.
“All right, I want you to go back even farther,” Dr. Sher said. “Go back to as far back as you can remember.”
The room was quiet except for Amy’s breathing and the ticking of the clock.
“Amy, where are you?” Dr. Sher asked softly.
“I’m not sure,” Amy whispered.
“Look down at your feet. Can you tell me what you are wearing?”
“Boots… black boots. Laced up around my ankles. They have mud on them, and one of the laces is broken. I had to tie it together.”
“Can you see anything else?”
“My skirt. There is mud on the bottom of it, too.” She frowned slightly before she went on. “It’s spring. I see a big house and a barn. I am in a carriage. Someone is bringing me to the house. I feel… afraid.”
“Are you at the farm?” Dr. Sher asked.
Amy nodded slowly. “Yes. I can see the oak tree in the front. But it’s smaller. Everything else looks different. The house looks different, newer and pretty, with white trim. A man and a woman are standing in front of it. They are waiting for me.”
“Do you know how old you are?”
“I… I am seventeen. I am very tired from the long journey. I miss my mother. She got sick from fever and died, and that is why I am here, because I have nowhere to go.”
“Can you tell me your name?”
“Isabel. My name is Isabel.”
“Do you know the man and the woman who are waiting for you?”
“No. I just know I am supposed to work for them now. The man is very tall and wears glasses. They reflect the sun like mirrors. He is smiling at me. The woman… doesn’t smile.”
“Can you tell me what year it is?” Dr. Sher asked.
“I… it is 1842.”
Louis heard Joe’s sharp intake of breath, but he didn’t look at her.
“Amy,” Dr. Sher said, “I want you to move ahead now. Go ahead a couple of years. What do you see now?”
“Snow. I had never seen snow before I came here,” Amy said. “It is very cold outside, but I am warm, because I am in the kitchen near the stove. I am holding a baby.”
“Is it your baby?”
Amy slowly shook her head. “It is Miz Phoebe’s daughter, Lucinda. I take care of her because Miz Phoebe stays in her room so much now. She is a very good baby and never cries. I love Lucinda.”
Louis thought about the photograph he had found in the old tin. Had Joe shown it to Amy? Had Amy found the Brandt family Bible? Is that where she saw the name Lucinda? Or was she remembering all of this simply as part of Geneva’s handed-down family “stories”?
“Oh…” Amy was grimacing.
“What’s wrong?” Dr. Sher asked.
“I didn’t do it! Don’t beat me, don’t beat me!”
“Who’s beating you?”
“Miz Phoebe,” Amy whispered. “She hates me so much. But I didn’t take her comb! He gave it to me and said it was mine to keep! He told me to hide it, but Miz Phoebe found it. It’s mine! Mr. Amos gave it to me!”
“Amy, move ahead,” Dr. Sher said firmly. “Go to a time when you are happiest. Can you do that?”
Amy’s breathing deepened again, and her expression became calm. For a long time, the room was quiet. Then Amy slowly brought up her arms, as if she were cradling something. She began to hum softly.
“Don’t cry,” she murmured. “Mama’s here, Charles. We’re safe now, Charles, we’re safe in the corn.”
Louis felt a trickle of sweat make its way slowly down his back.
“Charles is your son, Amy?” Dr. Sher asked.
She nodded.
“Who is Charles’s father?” Dr. Sher prodded.
Amy took a long time to answer, and when she did, it was in the softest of whispers. “Amos.” Her face creased into a frown that made her look suddenly much older. “Miz Phoebe tried to kill Charles. She took him one night and went to the creek to drown him. Amos stopped her. We… Amos has built us a house out in the cornfield. He is good to me.”
The mantel clock chimed two times.
Dr. Sher’s face had a sheen of sweat on it. She drew a handkerchief from her pocket, dabbed at her face, and looked down at Amy.
“I want you to go to the time when your breathing problems first started, Amy,” she said.
Amy didn’t respond.
“Can you do that? Can you tell me about the first time you felt like you couldn’t breathe?”
“I don’t…”
“I’m here with you, Amy,” Dr. Sher said softly. “It will be all right, I promise.”
The room fell quiet again.
“It’s dark tonight, no drinking gourd to light the way,” she said. “But the preacher says there’s a parcel coming. So I light a candle and put it in the parlor window.”
For a moment, Amy said nothing more.
“I am afraid,” she whispered.
“Why are you afraid?” Dr. Sher asked.
“The wind blows from the south tonight,” Amy said.
A loud
Again, it was silent, except for the sound of Amy’s breathing.
“He’s here,” Amy said suddenly.
“Who?” Dr. Sher pressed.
“He calls himself John.” Amy whispered another word that, to Louis, sounded like “lapel.” Then she was quiet again.
“He is so thin, and he is coughing,” she said. “His clothes are ragged. I give him one of Amos’s old coats and take him to the hiding place. It is so cold there, and I feel bad about leaving him, but he will be safe here until the shepherd comes.”
A small smile came to Amy’s face.
“He tells me about his wife, Fanny, back in New Orleans.” The smile faded. “She was taken from him. His son, too. Leaves stripped from the trees…
“He misses them so much. He says someday, when he is a free man, he will go back and find them.” Amy’s eyes fluttered. “He shows me her locket.”
Louis stiffened. Another long silence. He felt Joe shift on the cushions beside him. She had moved forward, her eyes intent on Amy’s face.
Amy’s face…
It had grown tight and contorted, and Louis had the crazy thought that she looked like someone who was
