My Brother's Keeper My America 1 by Mary Pope Osborne

My Brother's Keeper: Virginia's Diary (Dear America)
    Mary Pope Osborne
    Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 1863

    June 20, 1863
    Here begins the writing of Virginia B. Dickens, sister of Jedidiah Dickens who has trusted her with the keeping of his journal, as he has gone to help our Uncle Jack hide his horses from Confederate raiders who roam the countryside.
    I, Virginia B. Dickens, am sitting on top of Cemetery Hill in the town of Gettysburg, in the State of Pennsylvania.
    Songbirds. Gravestones. Blue sky. Green grass.
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    Later
    I do not know what else to say.
    I have been sitting here on Cemetery Hill for half an hour.
    Jed told me that I am to write what I hear and what I see. He told me to write what I truly feel and truly think. Above all, Jed said, be honest.
    Well, to be honest, I don't think I have heard or seen anything worth writing about.
    All I hear are birds singing the same songs over and over.
    All 1 see are old tombstones. One of them has my mother's name on it.
    What do I truly feel?
    Right now I truly feel a little angry at Jed and Pa for going to Uncle Jack's without me.
    Pa said he did not want to put me in harm's
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    way. So I am to stay at Reverend McCully's for a few days, until Pa and Jed get back.
    For goodness sakes, Pa! I am nine years old now! I do everything with you and Jed!
    And what do I truly think?
    What I truly think is this: I do not know how to keep this journal. Everything I have written so far is angry or foolish.
    So good-bye for now.
    Late at ni^ht
    The McCullys are all asleep.
    I am writing by candlelight in the attic room I share with Jane Ellen.
    Jane Ellen is Reverend McCully's younger sister from Philadelphia. She is eighteen years old, the same as Jed. She has moved here only recently. After our summer recess,
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    she will be the new school mistress at my school.
    What do I truly feel right now?
    To be honest, I feel a little angry at Jane Ellen.
    Before she went to sleep, Jane Ellen asked me all sorts of questions about Jed.
    1 told her Jed loves to read and write. I told her he writes every day. While he is away, he wants me to write for him.
    Jane Ellen said she also loves to read and write. Then she said I had a wonderful brother. She thought he was quite handsome, too.
    If 1 was honest, I'd have to say I did not like hearing Jane Ellen praise Jed this way. She has only met him once -- the day he brought me here. How could she know how wonderful he is?
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    June 21, 1863
    I am sitting on top of Cemetery Hill.
    I feel a bit guilty for not offering to help Mrs. McCully this morning.
    When I left her house, she asked where I was going. I told her I had to go write in Jed's journal. She just nodded and told me to come back for the noon meal.
    Mrs. McCully is too busy to pay much attention to my comings and goings. With three-year-old twins, a new baby, and Reverend McCully away in Philadelphia, she has more than enough to think about.
    I know I should offer to help her. But Jane Ellen is there to do that. My job is to write in Jed's journal while he is away.
    "Be my eyes and my ears in Gettysburg," he told me.
    That is the biggest job I have ever had.

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    So, what do my eyes see for you right now, Jed? They see a wheat field, an apple orchard, and a cornfield. They see riders on horseback coming down Emmitsburg Road.
    What do I feel?
    If I was honest, Jed, I would have to say I feel sad. Sad because those riders are not you and Pa.
    June 22, 1863
    We heard frightening news this morning.
    An old friend of Reverend McCully's came to visit. His name is Mr. Hoke. He works for a newspaper in Washington, D.C. He has come to Gettysburg to write a story about the Confederate army.
    Mr. Hoke said thousands of Rebels are riding through Pennsylvania. They are coming very close to Gettsyburg!

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    Pa and Jed had better hurry back before all those Rebels get between them and home.
    June 23, 1863
    On the way to the store this morning, Mrs. McCully and I