A Letter From Kit To Her Nursemaid Millicent By: Max Caspi

Dear Millicent,

I made it to America! I’m dearly sorry that I could not take you with me. You know I had to come here, that old man would have made me marry him. I needed the money for a boat ticket. I hope you are settling down in a nice spot with your new family.

While I was on the boat, a little girl was holding her doll up to see the water. She dropped it in and i went in and got it for her. Nat jumped in and came after me. When we got back on the boat i asked him why he jumped in. He said “You could be sure I wouldn’t have, had I any idea you could swim.”(9). The mother then claimed I was a witch. Twas like they have never seen someone swim. I met this nice man named John Holbrook. He was going to Connecticut to study with Dr.Bulkeley. The boat I took was gross and smelled very bad. I was not used to the smell. The captain’s son, Nat was my age. We did not like eachother very much. He walked me to my uncle’s house when he was leaving he told me “Remember, only the guilty ones stay afloat.” (30) The boat is the same way my journey has gone so far… pretty bad.

I met my uncle, aunt, and two cousins. When I got to Connecticut I went to my uncle’s house. My aunt greeted me at the door and asked “ Margaret?” (pg. 30)  I told her it was me. My cousin Mercy is very kind, but she disabled and can not do many things. We make cloth together. My cousin Judith is not as nice as Mercy but she tries to be nice. We churn soap and pick onions  together. My uncle’s name is Matthew. He takes things very seriously.

The first night I walked half-way down the stairs and heard Judith and Aunt Rachel talking. “ A five-year old could do better. As if things weren’t bad enough here in this house. If we had a cousin at all why couldn’t it be a boy?”(59) I ran up the stairs crying. I went to the bed and put my face into the pillow.

This boy William asked my uncle if he could “call on me” (65) which is saying he wants me to marry him, but I’m sure you knew that already. Twas very odd because we had just met briefly. He happens to be very wealthy.

The girls tried on my clothes. As they were trying them on Matthew walked in and yelled at them. I pleaded for them, told Matthew they were gifts, but he said he would not tolerate them wearing clothes like mine.

One night we had John Holbrook and Dr.Bulkeley over for dinner. Dr. Bulkeley started sharing his political preferences. That made my uncle start arguing with him. Then after a while, Mercy stopped them by asking Dr. Bulkeley to read from the bible. He said his throat was too dry to read so he told John to read. When they left, Uncle Matthew said that he would never invite them over again.

One day me and Judith were told to go to the onion field to pick onions. I saw this odd house and asked her who lives there. She told me that a widow named Hannah Tupper lives there. Judith also said that she came from Massachusetts with her husband, who built their house when they arrived.

I was offered a job to teach children how to read and write. I thought it would be fun to act out a story from the bible. Just when we were starting, my advisor Mr. Kimberely walked in. He told the kids to leave and told me I was fired. I ran out and let my feet take me anywhere.

One day I got very upset and went right to her house. My feet just took me there. She gave me advice on the school thing and compared my life in Connecticut so far as an African flower. She said it blooms only in African climates. But it doesn’t know it’s in Connecticut so it blooms anyway. I thought about it then went straight to Mr. Kimberely’s house.

Well, if you can’t tell, I’m not fitting in well with this puritan society. Life is very hard. I miss you Millicent. Please write back.

Sincerely,

Kit