The Glory Field

Part 2 begins at the Live Oaks plantation, Curry Island, South Carolina. It is March 1864. The principal character in this section is Lizzy Lewis, who is thirteenyearsold. Lizzy's mother died due to the hard work in the rice plantations, and Lizzy is taken in by Moses and Saran.

Lizzy and the other slaves have been taken to the fields to work, even though it is a Sunday. Mister Joe Haynes, the overseer, is paying close attention to Moses. Lem and Joshua, Moses’s son and brother, respectively, have run away, and there are patrollers out looking for them. The patrollers eventually bring Lem back, but Joshua has escaped. Moses lives in the largest of the five slave cabins on the plantation and it is used for them to worship and come together when there is trouble. Saran, Grandma Dolly, Moses and the other slaves call on God to keep Lem safe when they see Mister Joe Haynes and two white men escorting Lem across the grounds.

Miss Julia, Old Master Lewis's daughter, gets Lizzy to the house in order to manipulate her into telling her what she knows about Lem and Joshua. Miss Julia and Lizzy drink tea and Miss Julia sweet talks Lizzy, even telling her that one day she is going to buy Lizzy from her father and set her free so that they can walk hand and hand in pretty dresses in Johnson City.

Lizzy is told by Master Lewis to return to the quarters, and she listens for a minute behind the door to see if she can hear anything about Joshua and Lem. When she arrives back, everyone asks her questions about what she heard. She tells them that Lem is tied to a tree out in the woods and tomorrow Master Lewis will take him to the Foster plantation. If Mr. Foster does not buy Lem, then they will sell him to Mr. Oakes, the slave trader. Moses and the family don’t trust Miss Julia. Grandma Dolly says, “And don't think you overheard nothing they don't want you to know. Anything you know is what they want you to know so they can use you” (30). Everybody in the slave quarters is wondering if Joshua is going to come back for Lem, as he knows which tree Lem is tied to.

Lizzy lies in bed and wonders about Lem. She wants to say goodbye to him, to “say something good to him so he wouldn't feel so all alone” (34). She waits till Moses and Saran are asleep then sneaks out of the cabin, taking a clay jug of water. She finds Lem tied to a tree, his face swollen and with blood on his cheek. Lizzy cleans him and offers him the water. As Lem is drinking, Lizzy feels a whip across her legs. Mister Joe Haynes is standing behind her. He whips her three times: once across her back, once on her ankles, and once across her hip. Haynes does not see Joshua as he runs out of the woods.

Joshua gets Haynes pinned to the ground and Lem yells to Lizzy to grab his rifle. Haynes begs for his life. Lizzy begs Joshua not to shoot Haynes. Joshua says that Lizzy has to run away with them, otherwise Master Lewis will whip and probably kill her. Lizzy can't believe that she has to go and won't be able to see Grandma Dolly or the rest of the family again. Joshua decides that she can run back to the quarters to say good-bye, but that she has to hurry.

Lizzy runs back to the quarters and tells everyone what has happened. Saran takes Lizzy's face in her hands and says, “When folks take your freedom, and the only way for you to get it is to risk dying for it, then dying comes when it wants to. You go on, you'll be all right. You young. You got plenty to live for” (50). Lizzy says her goodbyes and Saran tells her not to look back.

Lizzy returns to Joshua and Lem. She wonders if Lem and Joshua have killed Haynes. Joshua wants to take them to an abandoned smokehouse, but when they get close, they realize they’re not going to make it, so Lem and Lizzy hide up in some trees. Lizzy is feeling exhilarated at the thought of being free, and she contemplates these thoughts as she watches some white men out with children playing in the fields. Joshua leaves them, and Lizzy and Lem sleep in the trees. Lizzy realizes that something profound has happened to her.

When she wakes up, Lizzy remembers where she is and feels scared. She hears booming sounds in the distance. She climbs down the tree and Lem calls out to her. They decide that the sounds must be coming from the fighting of the Civil War, and that they have to keep moving because Haynes and the dogs are probably after them. They see some lights and head towards them, arriving in an encampment of Union soldiers. Lem and Lizzy are offered food and safety. They are told about the Yankee army, how there are many black soldiers, and that they plan to start a black regiment. The soldiers wake early the next day and prepare to move on. Lem and Lizzy are reunited with Joshua, and Lem and Joshua decide to join the Union army. They march down the road with the soldiers. Lizzy has an important decision to make: follow some people who are trying to escape North or follow the regiment. Lizzy “ran as fast as she could, her feet slapping against the hard road. When she got around the bend, the men were still in sight, tall and proud. She followed them, never looking back” (70).