The Fiddler's Secret (32 page)

As I returned to this series to write study guides, I was struck by the similarities between then and now
. Though we live in an age of countless breakthroughs, some things have not changed—the need to value and uphold our American freedoms, the need to cherish human life, the need to stand for what we believe.
Even as we had overcomers then, we have Freedom Seekers now
.

The Freedom Seekers series also offers tools for teaching topics that help our growth as individuals. Libby, Captain Norstad, Caleb, Jordan, Peter, and their friends face questions that are still crucial today:

• Who can I trust?
  

• What do I
  really
  care about?
  

• What does it mean to be a never-give-up family?
  

• How can I live my belief in the freedoms established by our founding fathers? See the Declaration of Independence. See also the Constitution of the United States, the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, and also Amendments 13, 14, and 15.
  

• In what ways do I need to recognize the Lord's leading in both daily and life-or-death situations?
  

• What practical skills should I develop?
  

• Why do I need to put my faith in God?
  

• How can I live with biblical principles and values?
  

• How can I make choices based on those principles and values?
  

• And how can I encourage others to do the same?
  

The Freedom Seekers series weaves together fictional characters with carefully researched people who lived or were known in 1857. Each novel stands alone but is best read in sequence to see the growth of characters and relationships. One character, Peter, who is deaf, joined the
Christina
family in the fourth book.

With these novels, you have had the opportunity to talk with your students to enjoy reading the story before answering questions. Thank you for doing that and for enjoying the novels first before starting the study questions and other activities.

In this, the final novel of the Freedom Seekers series, topics are organized in sections such as talking about the story, making choices, thinking about what is important to us, what
it means to be free, discoveries we make, hearing and knowing God, and following His leading. You will see that a deeper level of communication is often needed for the never-give-up family to grow togther. The series and the study guide end with thinking and writing about what it means to be a true Freedom Seeker.

I suspect that your own love of reading has been one of your strongest motivators for encouraging others to read. I trust that you have not only passed on that love, but also the discerment that follows so that it has become an important gift you offer the children and young people you influence.

May each of you also be blessed by continuing to grow in your walk as a Freedom Seeker called and anointed by the Lord.

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

L
IBBY NORSTAD:
When she met Annika in the
Mysterious Signal
, Libby gained a new friend—a friend who immediately recognized that in spite of the scruffy clothes Libby wore, she is a girl. Now, as she faces the terrible possibility of having to live with Aunt Vi again, Libby comes up with a solution. Pa could marry Annika! And Pa seems to like the idea too. But will Annika ever become part of Libby's never-give-up family? The biggest obstacle might be Libby herself!

CAPTAIN NATHANIEL NORSTAD:
Owner of the
Christina
, Pa's caring heart keeps reaching out to others. Yes, he loves Caleb like a son. He understands Peter's need for a family, and looks out for the well-being of the passengers who board his steamboat. But can Pa's great skill at the wheel of the
Christina
rescue them from a storm that grows worse by the minute? Can he and his crew possibly reach safety from the ice that would close them into Lake Pepin for an entire winter? And what will happen to Annika if they don't get back to St. Paul?

CALEB WHITNEY:
In the Bible Caleb was one of the twelve men sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan. Biblically, he stood in the right place and gave a good report. As a Freedom Seeker, Caleb is well-named, a leader who also stands in the right place. An Underground Railroad conductor since the age of 9, Caleb is faithfully strong—helping Jordan, his family, and other fugitives pass through the Underground Railroad to freedom. Caleb hides his feelings and will not lie, even when cruel slave catchers question him. But what is the one thing that causes Caleb to lose his cool? Why is that one thing so important in Caleb's life?

RACHEL (GRAN) WHITNEY:
Caleb's grandmother. As the chief pastry cook for the
Christina
, Gran is the go-to person to supply food and special care when needed. And yes, Gran is even known to feed stray dogs such as Wellington.

JORDAN PARKER:
Though sold to the cruel slave trader, Riggs, Jordan managed to escape. A strong Christian, Jordan hears the Lord extraordinarily well. In good times and in difficult, he sings spirituals that inspire those who hear but also give direction for what they need to do. When Jordan explores St. Paul to see if the city would be a good place for his family to live, a free black named Mr. Thompson challenges Jordan by asking, “Are you free to live?” What does it mean to be free to live? How will Jordan's important choices deal with that question?

MICAH PARKER:
Jordan's father—merciful, caring, tall, exceedingly good with horses.

HATTIE PARKER:
Micah's wife, Jordan's mother, and a strong pray-er for her family.

SERENA:
11 years old with dimples in her smile and a warm heart, Libby's good friend.

ZACK:
8-year-old brother, who now has time to fish.

ROSE:
Jordan's 3-year-old sister, born during the time the roses bloom.

PETER JAMES CHRISTOPHERSON:
Ten years old, blond, blue eyes, looks like a younger Caleb. Already Peter is part of the
Christina
family. But Wellington—a yappy orphan dog named after the Duke of Wellington, is another matter. It took three tubs of soapy water before a discovery—Wellington's coat of hair is the same color as Libby's hair! And Peter has taught the dog to obey secret signals. Libby loves Peter like a younger brother, but if she and Pa adopt him into their family will Pa still love Libby the same way?

ANNIKA BERG:
How can Annika be so wise? Yes, she's a teacher, but still—She wants to marry a man of God, and wouldn't Pa qualify? When Annika knows that God wants her to stay in St. Paul for the winter, it could mean something really awful—that Pa, and Libby, and the entire
Christina
family will never see Annika again!

FRANZ KADOSA:
Fiddler and concert violinist, quiet and sincere, he knows what he wants, but remains a mystery. Young and slender, with long, dark hair and a mustache, he sets the deckers to dancing, yet plays extremely difficult music
for the first class passengers. Who
is
this fiddler? Why does he answer to his first name, but not his last? Why does he wear ragged clothes when he plays a valuable violin and is a truly great musician? One thing sure—the fiddler has a secret, all right! Could it be a secret that all of us need to know?

VI THORNTON:
Libby's aunt. What terrible misunderstanding does she cause now?

OLIVER WHITE III:
A tall young man with brown hair and blue eyes, he wears the finest suit of clothes that money can buy. Introducing himself as Oliver White the Third, he asks Pa to introduce him to the lovely lady Annika. “We both like music,” Annika says about Oliver. But could Oliver White the Third ruin Pa's life?

SUSPECT #1, SHADOW MAN:
The tall man in a long black coat and black hat, first seen at the fiddler's concert in the main cabin. He seems to melt into the shadows next to a pile of stacked chairs.

SUSPECT #2, MAN WITH SLICKED-DOWN HAIR:
Short and thin, he wears a collar so high that he seems to have no neck. Threatens Jordan by saying he knows his slave owner, Riggs. What's more, he's going to tell Riggs where Jordan is. Where will we find this high-collar man again?

SUSPECT #3, MR. TROUBLE:
When Libby sees him on the first-class passenger deck, he is tall with brown hair, blue eyes, and cruel lines around his mouth. Why is he set on finding
Libby's drawing of him?

MAN TRYING TO SELL the VIOLIN:
Tall, brown hair, blue eyes, violin bruise below jaw line, good looking gent.

RIGGS:
Oh, no! The cruel slave trader shows up
again
? Still a threat to Jordan and his family?

MR. FLETCHER:
Long-time pilot on the
Christina
.

ARTIST:
You'll find his completed painting at the end of the tenth Northwoods novel,
Disaster on Windy Hill
. Why does his art say something important about Caleb? And about Libby?

WELLINGTON:
A scrappy Irish terrier, bred to dig and yap, an orphan dog rescued by Peter, and named after the Duke of Wellington. But Peter teaches him secret signals. Do you suppose that someday Peter may need help from Wellington? And what might happen if Libby, who strongly dislikes the dog, would ever need to be rescued?

SAMSON:
Libby's Newfoundland, a model dog in comparison with Wellington. Black coat with white patches on nose, muzzle, chest and tips of toes.

HISTORIC CHARACTERS

This series is a place where you can bump into all kinds of famous people …

DR. HORATIO NEWHALL:
Peter's doctor at the Marine Hospital in Galena, Illinois. Long before Peter's need for medical care, Dr. Newhall started the first store for selling medicines in Illinois. He also started the first newspaper in Galena, the
Miners' Journal
.

LEWIS and CLARK, ZEBULON PIKE:
Explorers known to Peter through his lessons at the Illinois School for the Deaf, Jacksonville.

JAMES THOMPSON:
Interpreter with the Indians for an early missionary who bought Mr. Thompson's papers and set him free. A carpenter of well-built houses in St. Paul, Mr. Thompson told Jordan about the work of Minnesota Democrats and Republicans to bring the Territory to statehood. “The new Republican Party wants to give us colored men the right to vote,” he said. Jordan found those words hard to believe, and kept thinking about Mr. Thompson's challenge: “Living in Minnesota Territory is like living anywhere. If you let yourself be free, you will be.”

HARRIET BISHOP:
In 1847 Harriet left her home in Vermont and traveled by steamboat up the Mississippi to what became Minnesota Territory in 1849 and the state of Minnesota in 1858. She was St. Paul's first public school teacher. Her book:
Floral Home, Or First Years of Minnesota
.

JOE ROLETTE:
A trader from Pembina who brought his furs
by oxcart from near the Canadian border to steamboats in St. Paul. Also the representative who stole the bill to move the Minnesota capital from St. Paul to St. Peter, and then hid out in a hotel room to prevent passage of that bill. Representative Rolette used sled dogs to come to St. Paul in winter.