Summary

The story begins with Mary, nicknamed Molly, Jemison’s family in their home finishing dinner, and her father, Thomas, asking her to go to Neighbor Dixon’s house to borrow his horse to pull their plow during the planting of corn the following day. At first, she is daydreaming and doesn’t obey which makes her siblings, Tom, John, and Betsey, give each other the look that says, “She’s in trouble now!” Her mom, Jane, doesn’t want her to be sent out in the dark because it could be dangerous. They live on a frontier of widely spaced homes and undeveloped land. Her dad insists that she go tonight, sleep at the Dixon’s house, and can get up at sun-up to come back with the horse. Jane does not argue with Thomas; she simply continues to take care of 3-year-old Matthew...