Jubilee

The freedman officially introduces himself as Innis Brown. Vyry thanks him for helping with Lillian. He then announces that he’ll be moving along. He admits, though, that he was hoping that Vyry and her children would join him on his journey, so that he won’t be lonely. Jim begs the man to stay. When he tells Vyry his story, he says that he’s been working as a field hand “ever since [he] was big enough to hold a hoe” (329). Vyry bristles at this, given her low opinion of field hands. Nevertheless, she invites Brown to sleep in her cabin, while she stays in the Big House to look after Lillian.

Summer arrives. The corn “[is] tasseling in the fields” (329). One morning, Vyry finds a cow standing at the kitchen’s back door, having just given birth to a calf that no one can find until Brown and Jim go to search for it. Just before dusk, Brown arrives back with the calf in his arms. Meanwhile, Vyry encourages Lillian to eat, with no success. Brown tells Vyry more about himself, particularly about his dream to own his own farm. Vyry worries about getting too close to him, given that she’s still in love with Randall Ware. While lying in bed one night, she thinks that she hears a whip-poor-will, but it’s just her imagination. The summer days roll along and she hears nothing from Ware. She busies herself with chores and sings to pass the time.

By September, Lillian’s head heals, but she has become incapable of caring for herself, even performing tasks as simple as dressing herself. Old Doc reappears one day that month while Vyry is taking a cake out of the oven. He asks how Lillian, whom he still refers to as Vyry’s “young mistress” (335), is doing. Vyry confesses that Lillian isn’t in her right mind. Old Doc asks if Vyry knows of any relatives who can look after Lillian. Vyry mentions Lillian’s aunt, Miss Lucy, one of John Dutton’s Alabamian relatives who used to visit during Christmases. She’s unsure, however, of where Miss Lucy resides. Old Doc says that he’ll inquire around and, again, tells Vyry to look after Lillian in the meantime.

At harvest time, Vyry takes her children into the fields to help Innis Brown pick cotton—a job that neither she nor the children perform adeptly. Brown then asks if she’s decided about whether to go or to remain in Georgia. He asks Vyry to marry him and leave with him. However, Vyry insists that Randall Ware isn’t dead. Moreover, she doesn’t feel right about leaving Lillian alone. Brown asks if Vyry will go with him after Lillian’s aunt arrives. Vyry tells him that, if her husband hasn’t arrived by then, she’ll consider it.

Vyry prepares for Christmas and Innis Brown helps by going with her and the children into the nearby woods to find various nuts. Though Lillian’s head has healed, her mind hasn’t; she regresses to her childhood. One day, she enters Vyry’s cabin and asks to play with her, now that she no longer has anyone with whom she can play. Vyry also worries about Randall Ware. She goes to Ware’s old shop and sees that the place has long been abandoned. There are field rats running around. After witnessing this, Vyry decides that she’ll leave Shady Oaks and marry Brown at Christmas.

Miss Lucy and her husband, Mr. Porter, arrive three days before Christmas. Vyry explains what’s wrong with Lillian, believing that the young woman began to deteriorate mentally after her father died. Miss Lucy explains that John Dutton’s mother was the sister of Miss Lucy’s mother. However, Miss Lucy’s mother married a poor man and the family never owned slaves. Instead, they performed trades, something that Salina looked down upon. Vyry cooks two dinners that Christmas. For the white people, she prepares a ham, sweet potatoes, and okra. For her family, she prepares the possum that Brown and Jim caught in a trap, along with collard greens, okra, and sweet potato pone.

When it comes time for Lillian to leave, Vyry tries to give Miss Lucy many of the things that they hid from the Union soldiers. Miss Lucy insists that they can’t take so many things and insists that Vyry keep some for herself. Vyry insists on not keeping anything, sensing that someone will accuse her of having stolen “Big Missy’s things” (346). These include “the gold and silver plate and the precious jewels and gold money” (346). Before leaving, Miss Lucy tells Vyry that there’s plenty of land for homesteading in Alabama, and that she and Mr. Porter live “in the south end of Butler County at a little place called Georgiana” (346). The first day of 1866 is Vyry’s last day on the plantation. Old Doc comes to say goodbye. He also brings news of the death of the banker, Barrow, and of how Barrow’s daughter has just married Grimes. Grimes’ wife, Jane, died during the war while staying with her family. Old Doc figures that poor whites will have a better chance to make a living now, after the end of slavery. He kisses Lillian and her children goodbye and wishes Vyry and her family good luck in Alabama.