LITMIR.BIZ

      For Brian and Hollyberry Oursie Bear with love

      CONTENTS

1. Grand Pré

2. Crossing the Isthmus

3. Tatamagouche

       4. To St. Peter’s

       5. Whycocomagh

       6. Westmount and Louisbourg

       7. Amazing Excitement

       8. War

       Selected Reading and Websites

1 Grand Pré

      Fenced-in yard of Saint-Charles-des-Mines Church, Sunset, September 9, 1755

      “Courage, my dear, you must muster all of your courage,” Nola’s father said. “Your mother and I beg you to show your love by escaping Grand Pré this very night. Tomorrow will be too late. First thing in the morning the British soldiers will be shoving all men and boys onto those awful transport boats. That will be the end of our life here in lovely Acadia. We’ll be landless and treated like dirt wherever we go. But you, Nola, with daring and luck, can get away to start a new life. We want you to escape to become our beacon of hope. Get away, dear daughter. Go to Louisbourg, or somewhere else that’s safe.”

      “But, Papa, no! I want to help you and Mama here. I want us to stay together as a family.”

      “In a better world that would be the right thing to do, but we must accept that our life here is over. Be strong, my love. We’ve worked out a plan for you and fifty other girls and fifty boys to escape. You’re a leader. We’re depending on you to help lead those young people to a place where you can live free from these dreadful British soldiers.”

      “What about Mama? Will she stay with you?”

      “Yes, we’ll work together to survive as best we can. The plan is for you, as soon as it’s dark, to help our friend, Hector, and the others to escape from this church that’s become a prison. You and the girls must prepare hollows in the dikes by the west side of the Gaspereau River beforehand so the others have a place to hide from the soldiers. When the soldiers give up searching, the whole group is to scramble over to where our small fishing sloops are stored. Our hope is that those trusty shallops will carry you away from Grand Pré to a new life.”

      “Has Hector agreed to this? Is he ready?”

      “Yes, Hector’s very keen. He’s sick to death of being shoved around by the military.”

      “Papa, if I do this, I may never see you or Mama again.”

      Her father hugged her tightly, tears welling up. “Don’t despair, ma petite fille. We must hope that someday, somewhere, we’ll be reunited in a place that’s safer than Grand Pré has become.”

      Unable to stifle her own sobs, Nola mustered all her strength and turned away from her distraught father. Looking up, she saw a surly sky forming — a southeaster was coming in. That could bring cover and a good wind for an escape. Perhaps she could make it all happen, after all. Slowly, optimism began to fill her as she contemplated the implications of the advancing storm. She walked nervously past the heavily guarded priest’s house used as a headquarters by the British, and studiously avoiding eye contact with the soldiers, went straight to the spot in a field where her best friend, Jocelyne, was picking corn. On reaching her friend, she whispered nervously, “Jocelyne, have you heard about the escape plan?”

      “Yes, Nola, my mother told me. Our parents have come up with an excellent plan. It’s scary, but I think we can do it. There are only three hundred soldiers here, and we’re almost three thousand. It won’t be easy. Those soldiers are tough, and they aren’t playing games. Some of the meaner ones seem to enjoy harassing us.”

      “I know what you mean. Yesterday one of them tried to touch me, but I shrieked so loudly he ran off. It was lucky for me there were others around when that happened. It’s going to be difficult and scary, but the more I think about it the more I believe escaping is the right thing to do.” Hesitating for a moment, Nola continued. “Let’s get a crew of girls together without attracting undue attention and start loading food in our shallops.”

      “Oh, I’m so glad you’ve agreed to come,” Jocelyne said, reaching over and giving her friend a big hug. “I’ve got some corn here, and near our house there are apples, wheat, carrots, and turnips.”

      “That’s my Jocelyne! If you could butcher a few dozen chickens, that would help, but you must do it quietly or don’t do it at all. And try to get some blankets to protect us from the weather. There’s not much time before Hector and company will be looking for our signals, so do what you can in the next few hours and then hide by the shallops. On second thought, I’d best get the rest of the girls and start digging

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