Mary could not help laughing, but Maum Hannah looked very sad. "You's wrong, honey, I sins all de time. Every breath I breathe, every word I say is a sin. Dat's how-come I have to pray so much an' ask Him up yonder to help me be faithful an' hold out to de end." She wiped her eyes and got to her feet. Mary took her arm, and together they went down the aisle and down the steps of Heaven's Gate Church.
The misery in Maum Hannah's knee was much worse since she heard the indecent things the white people wanted the midwives to do when they caught children.
"You ought to sit down, at home, Auntie, an' let de misery rest."
Maum Hannah shook her head. Sitting still was the worst thing for it. She needed to stir around. A bed or a chair will trick you if you stay still on them long at a time. They will draw out your strength and leave you weak as water. A hot earthworm poultice would help her to shed the misery. It always helped her. When she got home she would brew some green walnut tea and get Keepsie to pour it on the ground near Ben's wood-pile where the worms were thick. They'd rise up and he could get her a plenty for a poultice. Earthworms are fine things to run out pains and miseries. Thank God for making plenty of them.
