The next morning they began planning how best to make the move. Ethan left home early for Hillsborough and loaded some of Henry’s most useful possessions on his animals. On the way back home, he stopped by to tell Mabry that they would be going with him to join Maddock. The Quaker was delighted and gave Ethan information concerning the trip. They decided that they would try to leave in four weeks, giving them some time to close out their business in Orange County. Since it was toward the end of the summer, the Pratts were able to harvest their crops and garden. They disposed of the produce, livestock, and furnishings that they could not carry with them, and worked out how to pack the remaining belongings on their draft animals, including two new packhorses purchased for a total of £7.

Without any problem, Ethan was able to sell Henry’s property in Hillsborough to the merchant with whom he had done most of his trading. The agreed price was only about half what the lot, buildings, and furnishings were worth, but both men knew that Ethan was not in a good bargaining position. On the way home, he felt surprisingly relieved, and when he entered the cabin and embraced her, Epsey could sense immediately that her husband was happy and relaxed once again. Each day, as they prepared to leave North Carolina, the cabin and fields seemed less and less like their own.

One day, as Ethan was in his workshop replacing a broken spoke on their two-wheeled cart, he was surprised to glance up and find Epsey standing in the doorway, looking at him. She rarely approached him when he was working, and he waited for her to speak.

She finally said, “Ethan, I’ve something to tell you.”

Somewhat abruptly, he replied, “Well, what is it?”

“I think I am with a child.”

Epsey read her husband’s look of astonishment as disapproval, and she took an involuntary step backward and lowered her face in embarrassment. Ethan dropped his drawknife, moved toward Epsey, and held out his hands to her. She slipped between his arms and placed her head on his shoulder, and he held her to him.

“I’m grateful, I’m grateful,” was all he could say, but it was adequate for her.

They went into the house together, and she reported that she had missed two periods, had some nausea in the mornings, and that her breasts were sensitive. Ethan was pleased with the prospect of a child, hopefully a son, but concerned that the long trip to Georgia would be difficult for his wife. She assured him that she was healthy and that they would be at their new home long before the baby was due. She felt that it was natural for them to refrain from any physical intimacy, and this unspoken attitude caused a reversion to their previous celibate relationship.

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