Hiding In the Agora Marketplace

     Zammie had run past several fruit and vegetable stands when he saw a small animal pen filled with goats and chickens off to the side of the main street. The store owner was busy helping a couple of customers so Zammie was able to run around behind the pen and hide behind the fences and the goats without being noticed. He kept a close eye on the street and before long he spotted the two big guards running by. The deputy ran by first and a couple beats later Zammie saw the big red-headed leader. Zammie became nervous when the big soldier stopped to catch his breath. Then he became scared when the big soldier turned and appeared to be looking straight at Zammie.
     Can he see me?

Image from Student Handouts

     Suddenly the big soldier began walking towards the animal pen. Zammie’s heart began racing even faster. He looked around to see if he wasn’t fully concealed when he noticed that the sun was reflecting brightly off the gold hairpin he was holding.
     A bright flash had caught Isaak’s eye as his was running through the market square. He stopped because he could see a golden glimmer through the crowd coming from behind a goat pen on the other side of the street. He began to cross the street towards the glimmer when he saw it move. Now he thought he could make out the shape of kid kneeling behind the roaming animals.
     Isaak pushed his way through the small crowd of people and ran behind the pen to where he had seen the
glimmer. He was ready to capture that disrespectful thief. When Isaak arrived behind the pen, however, all he saw was the golden hairpin sitting in the dirt. Zammie was nowhere to be found.

--Hiding in the market

from Time Trip #1 (Chapter 15)

Image from Occupations in Ancient Greece

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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Sarees

The house was very cozy and was decorated with all sorts of colorful East Indian artwork and small Hindu statues. Kyla noticed the family photos on the wall of Ramesh’s daughters dressed up in beautiful silk Indian sarees when they were younger. Zammie could hear the sounds of a TV coming from the hallway. After waiting for a couple of moments they heard someone walking down the hall towards the front room. Ramesh entered the room and greeted the children with a smile. He carried a plastic tray with two glasses of iced tea on it.           
“Hello, children, how are you doing?” he asked them.            
  “Hello, Mister G,” the children said in unison.           
“Here you go.” He offered the tray and both cousins grabbed a glass. The children took big gulps of their tea. It was a sweet, chai mix that they loved. It tasted of cinnamon and apples.

-- Talking with Ramesh 

from Time Trip #2 (Kindle Locations 253-264). 

Images from Saree Dreams

   

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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The Underground Railroad

TIME TRIP

ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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Adventure 2 Now Available!

TIME TRIP

ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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Amazon Summary for Adventure 2

After returning home upon completion of their first time trip, Zammie and Kyla are eager to travel back in time again. On this second voyage they arrive in Maryland in the cold December of 1850, eleven years prior to the U.S. Civil War. Their journey exposes them firsthand to witness and learn about many of the drudges of a slave's life: the endless labor, the dreaded auction block, and the vile punishments. All of this culminates into a difficult escape from captivity along the famed Underground Railroad.

The two cousins meet a young Harriet Tubman who has decided to help lead other fugitive slaves towards the free state of Pennsylvania for the first time. This group includes three of Harriet's brothers plus one of their wives and a young infant. Along their trek they must outwit bloodhounds, find safe harbors for food and shelter in the wilderness, and avoid a cold-blooded bounty hunter who is relentlessly tracking after them.

Cover from the book Harriet Tubman by Ann Petry

The story is a balanced mix of dramatic narrative and historical context. The reader will gain a much better understanding of the plight of runaway slaves along the Mid-Atlantic States both from the perspective of their immediate needs of food, shelter, and safety, and the bigger picture regarding the U.S. legal environment and the differing attitudes of the free population in the years leading up to the Civil War.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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Crossing the Delaware Bay

“Who’s the captain of this vessel?” asked the man in the scarf.

          “That be me, sir,” said Abraham, the black captain.

          “That’s Abraham Walker,” said the officer. “He sails up and down this bay all the time.”

          Police Officer Terry Jenkins was a friend of Abraham’s but today he had to travel around with a bounty hunter from the South who was out searching for runaways. It wasn’t the officer’s favorite thing to do, but the law did require him to accompany these slave-catchers when they had the proper search warrants even if it meant having to inspect the boats of the free blacks that he knew personally.

          “Who you out lookin’ for today, Constable Jenkins?” asked Abraham.

          “Two runaways from Kentucky,” said the officer. “Two men, one in his forties and one in his twenties.”

          “You have any runways on this boat?” asked the man in the scarf.

          “No, sir. You know we don’t cater to no runaways, Constable Jenkins,” said Abraham.

          “I understand, Captain Walker, but we hafta check all the same.”

          As the Officer’s boat slowly pulled level with the Liberator the man in the scarf held up his wanted poster and began comparing the drawings on the parchment with the black faces in the boat.

          Harriet’s heart was thumping furiously as was everyone else’s in her crew. Of the nine legitimate crew members on the boat five of them were black and the other four were white. Harriet noticed the man in the scarf checking and re-checking as he looked at Henry.

          “You there,” he said pointing at Henry.

          Henry looked around then looked at the man. “Me, sir?”

          “Yes, you. What’s your name?”

          “I-Isaac, sir. Isaac Green, sir.” Harriet had already told everyone to use a fake name if ever questioned by strangers they didn’t trust.

          “Where you from, Isaac?”

          “Wilmin’ton, sir.”

          “Isaac Green from Wilmington, sir. I can vouch for him,” said Abraham.

          The man in the scarf appeared to have hit a dead end.

          “Alright, that’s enough,” said Officer Jenkins. “On your way, Captain Walker.”

          “Thank you, Constab—“

          “Wait!” interrupted the man in the scarf. “What about those kids?” He was pointing at Kyla and Zammie. “What’re you doing with children onboard a shipping vessel?”

-- Crossing the Delaware Bay

from Time Trip #2 (Chapter 22)

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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What Northerners Look Like

The group made their way in the darkness through the cold and mud. Kyla wondered what sorts of scary animals were watching them from the dark woods as they wandered by. She could hear dogs (or wolves?) baying in the distance and perched crows cawing loudly from nearby trees.

Harriet walked in front. Ben followed her. Jane was next. She kept Baby Claire bundled up in a blanket that was tied over one of her shoulders like a sling. Zammie and Kyla followed Jane, and Robert and Henry brought up the rear.

“I hear they got sharp teeth, and noses like pigs,” said Henry.

“Who does?” asked Robert.

“Northerners,” answered Henry.

“Pig noses?”

“Yeah, and certain ones, if you make ‘em mad, they’ll beat ya and leave ya in the streets to be eaten by the rats. And they say the rats are as big as ponies.”

“That’s nonsense,” said Robert.

“It’s true,” said Henry. “Masser told me so.”

“You’re master told you that?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you know all masters say that junk about Northerners so slaves’ll be too scared to run away?”

Henry thought about that for a moment.

“Really?” he asked. “So they don’t got pig noses?”

 -- Through the woods

from Time Trip #2 (Chapter 11) 

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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Food from Time Trip #1, Part 3

Fire-roasted Eel

"The four of them had returned to the beach and were gathered around a small campfire they had built near the boat. It was early afternoon, and Vinnie had already caught an eel and had bought some bread and olive oil for the lunch he was preparing for the children."

-- from Time Trip #1 (Chapter 12)

Eel has a very soft texture and a relatively sweet flavor to it. Click here for a series of potential recipes for eel available from Food Network.

Image of an eel by Kim Fair

Eel fillets

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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