Excerpt of Promise Bridge by Eileen Clymer Schwab

"Do you promise to see to it that Livetta is safe and has what she needs until I come back to fetch her?" He turned the palm of one of his hands up in front of me. I had never encountered a slave, fugitive or otherwise, who dared to speak so boldly, much less demand something of me. He seemed to want me to touch his upright hand, but I could never...

"Promise me," he said louder. He grabbed one of my hands and pressed it into his upright palm as we knelt facing each other. "This is a promise bridge," he said, squeezing my hands tightly to emphasize the connection. "And it bridges a promise flowing from your heart to mine. It can't never be broken. The promise is a part of you now, understand?"