Chapter 1

Jenny and I sat on the floor of our tiny room, each lost in our own thoughts. We had been thrown into an unfamiliar world after the passing of our father, entrusted to a new master who seemed just as uncertain and inexperienced as we were. We weren’t trained slaves yet. Our father had tried his best to train us, but his sudden illness had cut our lessons short. We had been gifted to our new master by our father in his will, an unexpected and unconventional move that left us unsure of our place in his household. What was strange was that our new master had no previous experience with slaves. However, despite our lack of training, we were determined to make ourselves useful to him in any way we could. Only one week had elapsed since our arrival to this house, but we were already tending to household chores and trying to please him.

“Girls, - our new master had told us the day we arrived - your father was my childhood friend, and although we had not seen each other in decades, I thought I knew him well. I was really shocked to know that he was a slave master.” His voice was deep, but conveyed kindness. Jenny and I exchanged a look, unsure of how to respond. Our father had never presented himself in public as a slave owner, and it was a shock for many to discover this side of him after his death.

“I still don’t know why he willed you to me as your new master instead of to somebody who did know what he was doing,” he continued, “but if your father decided to put both of you under my care, I will honor his wishes.”

We nodded, grateful for his kind words. Despite our reservations, we could not deny that he had treated us with kindness and respect. Perhaps, in time, we could build a new life here and find some measure of happiness.

However, today I couldn’t help but feel a sense of sadness and longing for the life we had known before. Our father had been our only family, our guide and master, and now we were at the mercy of a man we barely knew. There was another pressing issue: with Christmas approaching, we wanted to show our gratitude with a gift. I looked up at Jenny, hoping she would have an idea.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” she said confidently, flashing me a determined smile. “We just have to think about what he really likes.”

I nodded in agreement, but my brow furrowed as I tried to think of what our new master truly enjoyed. In the short time we had known him, he had kept to himself and rarely revealed much about his interests or preferences. “I don’t know him well enough to pick out something he’d really like,” I admitted, feeling a sense of unease settling in my stomach.

It was a strange and uncertain situation, but one thing was clear: we wanted to show our new Master our gratitude, given that he had accepted us even if we didn’t quite understand why. And so, we set out on a mission to find the perfect gift for a master who was still a stranger to us.

Jenny’s expression mirrored my own as she pondered the issue. We both had sandy-colored hair, brown eyes, and thick eyebrows that almost met in the middle when we frowned. Our smiles revealed identical pearly white teeth. “What does Master do besides work?” Jenny finally asked.

We thought for a moment before I spoke up. “Not much. He comes home exhausted from his job at the store.” I didn’t understand the specifics of his job, but I knew he had to give orders and do a lot of physical work. “Then he just watches TV until dinner time, more TV after that, and then bed.”

“We need to find something he truly wants,” I said.

“It should be something just for him,” Jenny agreed.

I thought hard, trying to come up with something Master enjoyed on his own. Then it hit me. “His books! He buys them for himself!”

Jenny’s eyes widened in excitement. “Yes, that’s perfect! But which books?”

Jenny’s eyes lit up as she pointed towards the stack of brown envelopes sitting on the living room table. “Those books he gets in the mail now and then.” She said with excitement. “The ones that come in those little brown envelopes!”

“Those are the envelopes,” I chimed in. “But we’ve never actually seen what comes in them.”

“It’s little books.” Jenny said with a smile. “Bigger than paperbacks, but smaller than sheets of notebook paper. I went into Master’s bedroom once to tell him supper was ready, and he was in there looking at one of them, he saw me and he put it away in a hurry under his covers. I told him and walked out and looked back, and he was shoving it under his mattress, and I saw others under there.”

My curiosity piqued at this new information. “Yeah?” I asked, intrigued. “So, what kind of books are they?”

“I don’t know.” Jenny admitted. “But wouldn’t it be great if we could buy him some for Christmas? He would love that!” When our father gave us to Master, Dad also gave him all of his estate, and although all of it belonged to our new master now, he had insisted in us having a debit card each, so money was not a problem.

I nodded eagerly, but then a thought struck me. “But won’t we have to go into his bedroom to see what kind of books they are?”

Jenny shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, but we’ll just peek for a minute. He won’t even know we were in there.”

I hesitated, remembering how strict Master was about us going into his room. But then again, it was Christmas after all and maybe this would make the perfect gift for him.

“We won’t stay long.” Jenny reassured me. “Just long enough to find out what kinds of books he likes, then we’ll get right back out again. He doesn’t even have to know how we figured it out.”

I nodded, feeling a sense of adventure building up inside me. “I guess so.” I agreed. “Master won’t be home until late tonight anyway. He’s working extra hours until Christmas Eve.”

Jenny grinned mischievously. “He even left money for us to order pizza tonight. We’ll have the whole house to ourselves.”