A sentimental Black woman asks the Lord to have mercy on her soul, a recurring refrain of hers. She has come back to this spot to make sure that a certain spirit stone has not been covered up. Then, she launches into a history of her childhood as a slave. She was nine years old when she watched her father get whipped to death. The son of the plantation's owner, young Marse Chapman, was the same age as her but he was crueler than his father, especially towards her. Young Marse Chapman's mother takes a liking to the young girl. She takes her out on shopping trips and even invites her to live with her in the big house as her daughter. When the young girl replies that she wants to live with her own mother (though her mother was sold long ago and she had no memory of her face), Mrs. Chapman never speaks to her again. Mrs. Chapman is also on bad terms with her husband, who is having a not-so-secret secret affair with the young girl's aunt, Clara. Clara is often spared the whip because of the affair, but after Old Marse Chapman dies, she is treated like the other slaves. Aunt Clara teaches the young girl about spirit stones—they preserve a part of the spirit of whoever owned them. She finds one for herself. When the girl is sixteen, she develops a friendship with a teenage boy, Zias, from a nearby plantation. However, young Marse Chapman is now in love with the girl, and her relationship with Zias spurs his jealousy. One night, he sneaks into her sleeping quarters and rapes her. Several days later, he catches sight of Zias and whips him to death. The girl becomes pregnant. Young Marse Chapman taunts her that as soon as she gives brith, he plans to sell her baby and "have" her. In the next scene, it is night time. The girl carries her spirit rock up to young Marse Chapman's bedroom, where she smashes his head with it while he sleeps. He jolts upright then tumbles out of bed, bashing his head against the headstand. He is dead. One day, a union boy informs all the slaves on the plantation that they are free. The girl wants to leave, but she can't. She feels the constant need to stay close to her spirit stone.