The Quilt Code

“Soaked with creek water, my clothes dragged me down deeper and deeper into the churning, freezing maelstrom. I shed the pack from my back and struggled to keep my head above the water’s surface. I knew I had to get rid of the heavy clothing that was keeping me from being able to swim to the shore. I could not survive for very long in the icy water.” The year is 1860. Twelve-year-old Louisa Taylor Gates lives on a farm near the small town of Burley, Maryland. Burley, as well as the rest of the United States, is deeply divided on the issue of slavery. Louisa learns about the quilt code from her family members, ardent abolitionists, who are conductors on the Underground Railroad and move slaves to freedom. Pursued by slave catchers who want to punish her and betrayed by a neighbor who spies on her, Louisa repeatedly places herself in mortal danger. She overcomes fire and freezing cold, as she enthusiastically joins the effort to smuggle slaves out of bondage. The country is on the brink of civil war, and in spite of her youth, Louisa risks her life, determined to do her part for the cause she believes in.

MARGARET TURNER TAYLOR lives north of Bethany Beach, Delaware in the summer and in Southeast Arizona in the winter. THE QUILT CODE is the fourth in a series of books she has written to honor her grandchildren. www.margaretttaylorwrites.com