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 There have been many changes in
fourteen-year-old Meaghan's life; her father's death two years
previously, her mother's remarriage and resulting step-family, including
a much disliked stepsister, Laura, and a move from the city to the
country. Plagued by visions of darkness, the black hearse, the black
hole her Dad was put in, Meaghan is having difficulty coping with her
new life. She reaches out to the comfort of a next door neighbour, Sarah
Johnston, an elderly black woman who does her gardening at night and
appears to have an uncanny clairvoyant ability. Sarah tells Meaghan
about her ancestors who escaped to Canada on the Underground Railroad in
1849 and shows her the tiny money box her great grandmother brought with
her. When Meaghan opens the box it transports her back to 1849 to the
bleak reality of slavery among Sarah's ancestors. Using the tin box to
travel back and forth Meaghan becomes involved in effort to free Sarah's
ancestors. She turns to her new step-sister, Laura, for help.At first unwilling, Laura finds herself drawn into the escape plans and declaring a temporary truce, the step-sisters endure fear, cold, hunger and heart-breaking setbacks through swamps and mountains to bring Sarah's family to Canada. In doing so Laura and Meaghan cautiously begin to accept each other and learn a valuable lesson in dignity, self-worth and caring.
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