A letter from Kit

Shane Southgate                                                                                                  Period 4

Dear neighbor Humphrey,

Hello! I have recently moved to Connecticut. I currently miss you and the neighbors very much. So far, it has been a very rough journey for me. After my Grandpa’s passing, I had to sell everything in order to afford my passage. I did not enjoy the ship ride at all. it was filthy and smelly, “That stable spell, I’ll never get it out of my hair!” (22). Also everyone had accused me of being a witch. We had to sail an extra 9 days because of a lack of wind. “Everyone thought the ship was bewitched’ (14) They blamed it on me. There was also a  cruel woman named the Goodwife Cruff whom Nat had forced me to have supper with since the captains wife Mistress Eaton had left the ship because, she loves tending her garden. The Goodwife Cruff had made me stand behind the dinner table and only let me eat scraps of food.Her daughter Prudence had dropped her doll in the water at the edge of the boat. When I dived in the water and returned  it to the poor little girl, “Everyone stared at me in shock, horror, and anger” (9) Of course Goodwife Cruff had yelled at me too, but her daughter Prudence continued to stare at me worshipingly. There was another boy named Nat, but he did not enjoy my company on the boat as well as the others. He was upset since I got his only pair of clothing drenched with the cold ocean water and called our ship The Dolphin filthy. I told him “The ship smells of horses!” (23) since he had insulted me with a comment  on how I grew up Barbados . I’m pretty sure he also thinks that I am a witch as well as the members on the ship. There was a kind man on the boat though. His name is John Holbroook. “ He is the only one who does not begrudge my existence.” (17) we have conversations but I do not have much in common with him. He is hard working and went to Harvard for a short period of time, but he could just not afford it and is coming to Connecticut to be taught by a man named Reverend Bulkeley. He is also very religious. I was a little bit disappointed at  my look at Connecticut. It was very dull, gray, and boring. The society is also very strict.

They believe you must work in order to get into heaven. Due to this, I have had to work a lot more during my stay in Connecticut. once I had arrived in Connecticut I was excited to meet my new family. My new family is my two  cousins, and my aunt and uncle. First there is Mercy. Mercy has a disorder in her leg and must remain on a wheel chair. She is also very sweet to me. She is unable to walk to church every day because of this. My Aunt Rachel is so kind. She also had mistaken me for my Mother when I had first arrived! She had responded: “Margaret?’ (30)  She was overjoyed to see me. She even offered me, Captain Eaton and his men some breakfast. Then there is my cousin Judith. She attempted to be kind to me at first but then decided she did not enjoy my company. I let her and Mercy try on my frilly dresses and Judith was happy because wearing nice dresses was not aloud in their society. But Aunt Rachel told her that she must share a bed with me and this had upset her. she had responded: “ If we had to have a cousin, why couldn’t it have been a boy?” (49) This had driven me into tears because she assumes that I am useless, and can’t do work. Then there is my Uncle Matthew. He hates me. From the start he questioned my large amount of bags, and why I did not write. Also when I had allowed Mercy Judith, and Aunt Rachel to try on my frilly dresses, Uncle Matthew had gotten furious! He had ordered them to return my dresses to me.

Life in Connecticut is too difficult for me. The society is way too different. They are very serious about their religion. I honestly do not think I can fit into this round head society. Infact when Dr. Bulkeley, William Ashby and John Holbrook who are all religious servicemen   had come for dinner at our place Dr. Bulkeley and Uncle Matthew had gotten into an argument. Dr. Bulkeley is a royalist and is loyal to the king. But Uncle Matthew had different beliefs, and is not loyal to the king. They had argued throughout the whole course of the dinne. But Mercy had asked Dr. Bulkeley to read a verse from the bible to prevent them from arguing. Also William Ashby, wishes to date me but I feel I can’t talk to him. Everytime he visits on saturday, he barely speaks, and their tends to be an argument between Dr. Bulkeley and Uncle Matthew. I have recently tried to understand him better because Mercy told me that Uncle Matthew had two boys in the past but they had sadly passed due to illnesses.  But There is also some good news about Connecticut. Me and Mercy now have the opportunity to teach young children reading and writing in the house. At the end of each lesson, we get paid in money, or food. It has been fun so far. I have methods to keep their restless little bodies interested. I come up with rhyming sentences, and I let them act out stories in the bible. The children are always so happy! Also recently Judith told me about a woman named The Widow Tupper and claims that she is a witch. She told me that she is the only woman who lives by Blackbird Pond and lives with a few cats. But I met her. She is far from being a witch! She was so sweet and kind to me. I had mysteriously waken up near Blackbird Pond and she had found me there. She had offered me something to eat, and let me into her house. She is also very interesting. She is a widow and had moved to Connecticut with her husband Thomas had built them their house. They moved because, back in Massachusetts where they had come from, Quakers were being branded. They just couldn’t stand that. She is also the only one that takes an interest in my life in Barbados, and my Grandfather. She also has a friend that sends her flowers from many different parts of the world. She’s interesting no?

Please try and write to me soon my dear neighbor Humphrey. I miss you very much and I wish i could return to Barbados. I wish to visit you soon. Fare well Humphrey.

Sincerely, Katherine Tyler