Daughters of the Faith: Ordinary Girls Who Lived Extraordinary Lives. Almost Home is the story of the pilgrims’ journey to America and of God’s providence and provision. Several of the characters in the story—Mary Chilton, Constance Hopkins, and Elizabeth Tilley—were actual passengers on the Mayflower. Mary Chilton was a young girl when she left her home in Holland and traveled to America onboard the Mayflower with her parents. The journey was filled with trials, joys, and some surprises, but when she reached the New World, she experienced a new life, new freedom, and new home. Wendy Lawton has taken the facts of the pilgrims’ journey to the New World, and from this information filled in personal details to create a genuine and heart-warming story. Lawton's detailed research and strong writing make these books appealing to girls who love to read and parents who homeschool. -- Christian Retailing, February 17, 2003 Well researched. . . well-written. . . the Pilgrim story seen through the eyes of 13-year-old Mary Chilton. Must reading for young ladies. -- Eugene A. Fortine, Governor General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants This well-researched and well-written book tells the Pilgrim story -- a story of persecution, hardship, determination, and faith in God -- as seen through the eyes of 13-year-old Mary Chilton. Must reading for young ladies. -Eugene A. Fortine, Governor General of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants What do you do when all you ever wanted was to belong— to really belong— yet you find yourself all alone in a strange new world? Mary Chilton was one of 102 passengers who stepped aboard the Mayflower on September 16, 1620, for their long-awaited journey to the New World. Adventure awaits but all Mary can think about is finally finding a home—a place to belong. As she experiences the challenges and hardship of the ocean voyage, the struggle of starting the new Plymouth colony, and the happiness of the first harvest festival, she learns that home has a bigger meaning than she thought. WENDY LAWTON , an award-winning writer, sculptor, and doll designer, founded the Lawton Doll Company in 1979. She currently works as an agent for the Books & Such Literary Agency. Wendy has written numerous books, including six for her Daughters of Faith series and four for her Real TV series. Wendy is active in her church and is a frequent speaker for women's groups. Wendy and her husband, Keith, are parents to three adult children and live in Hilmar, California. Almost Home A Story Based on the Life of the Mayflower's Mary Chilton By Wendy Lawton Moody Press Copyright © 2003 Wendy Lawton All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8024-3637-5 Contents Acknowledgments, 1. Windmills and Wounded Hearts, 2. Farewell to Leyden, 3. Trouble on the Open Seas, 4. From Land to Sea and Back Again, 5. A Vast and Furious Ocean, 6. Mutiny on the Mayflower, 7. The Bleak Sandy Shore, 8. Gunpowder and Buried Treasure, 9. Almost There, 10. The Mayflower Nannies, 11. Samoset and Squanto, 12. Giving Thanks, Epilogue, Glossary, CHAPTER 1 Windmills and Wounded Hearts Mary!" The shout was punctuated by vigorous pounding on the door. Mary jumped, poking herself with the sewing needle. She stuck the smarting finger into her mouth to keep the drop of blood from staining the brocade sleeve she'd been stitching. "Coming!" She managed to slide her needle into the lining fabric for safekeeping. The yelling and banging on the door grew more insistent. "Mary Chilton!" Mary opened the heavy wooden door to find the errand lad, Cornelijs. His breath came in gasps. "Your father was set upon by a pack of boys. They pelted him with rocks. Isabella sent me to fetch you." He pressed his side. "Go quick, Mary. He be bleeding somethin' awful." Her father? Bleeding? Just a few minutes after Mother and the girls went to work at the linen mill, James Chilton had left to take a small stack of bodices to Mary's oldest sister, Isabella, for embroidery. Whatever could have happened? "Where is he, Cornelijs?" "By the windmill near the Grote School. Close to Bell Alley." Mary grabbed a jumble of linen strips from the scrap basket and rummaged in the apothecary chest, finding a small packet of sticking plaster. She shoved them into her apron pocket and poured some water from the tin basin into a clay jug before setting out. She ran along the canal bank, wishing the April thaw had not come. How much faster it would have been if she could have strapped skates to her shoes and skated along the frozen canal like she and her older sisters, Ingle and Christian, did all winter long. Instead, windmills creaked, and the oars from brightly painted canal boats splashed through the water on this breezy spring morning. Doors on many of the cottages stood open as housewives swept or scrubbed their much-prized blue tile floors. Mary stopped once, bending over to catch her breath, but she did not tar