Underground to Canada (11 page)

They were starting to gather dry sticks, when a dog came bounding and barking out of the field toward them. They ran for the nearest tree. Julilly lifted Liza up into the lowest branch and then swung herself up beside her. The dog circled and barked around the trunk. The girls were tense and their hearts pounded so fast it was hard to breathe. Could this be a sniffing old slave catcher's dog, they wondered.

Then they heard a sharp whistle. The dog stopped barking and began to whine. Footsteps crunched near by.

“What you chased into that tree, Pal?” a low-pitched voice asked eagerly. “Somethin' for us to eat?”

Liza and Julilly looked down. It was a black man!

“Joy and praise the Lord!” Julilly cried, loud enough for the man to hear.

“You hush, Julilly”—Liza grabbed her arm— “you trust people too soon.”

But it was too late to be quiet now.

“You Jeb Brown?” Julilly called down to him.

The girls were silent. The man hadn't answered.

Finally he said, “No, I ain't Jeb Brown and I don't aim to get mixed up with him. It's a dangerous business he's in.”

The girls climbed higher into the tree.

“Don't you be afraid of me,” he called to them.

There was a long silence. Julilly and Liza were still tense and afraid.

“Now listen to me,” the man said in a low voice. “You come down out of that tree when my dog and me leave. You walk straight ahead through those trees to the north until you hear the running water of the Ohio River. Then you look along the river bank till you see a little house with one candle lighted in the window. That's all I got to say.”

The man whistled for his dog and together they crunched into the bush and off into the crackling leaves of a cornfield until there was no sound from them.

Julilly was the first to speak.

“That man's got no more courage than a mouse,” she said. “Let's climb down from here now and find the real Jeb Brown.”

They slid down the tree with Julilly keeping a firm grasp on Liza's arm.

It was easy to walk north through the grove of trees and then down a row through a cornfield where the leaves twisted with the wind like hundreds of waving arms.

At the end of the field they heard the steady splash of moving water.

“The Ohio River, Liza,” Julilly whispered. “We've reached the Ohio River!”

They walked toward the sound, but stopped abruptly when they saw the flickering light of a single candle from the window of a small log cabin.

“That's the cabin of Jeb Brown,” Julilly said and started toward it. Liza pulled her back.

“You believe everybody,” she chided. “That man could be tellin' lies.”

Julilly didn't listen, but dragged Liza with her toward the cabin. When they reached the door, Julilly rapped softly.

A dog growled inside. Then came a man's voice.

“Who's there?”

“
A friend with friends
.” Julilly used the faithful password.

A door creaked open exposing a big, straight man with crinkly grey hair and coal-black skin. Beside him growled a large brown dog.

“You Jeb Brown?” Julilly asked.

“You is speakin' to the right man,” he said, urging them inside.

“Quiet, Pal.” He patted the dog's head and then called, “Ella, we got freight—two packages of dry goods.”

A sprightly little brown-skinned woman stood there. Her eyes twinkled above the candle which she now carried in her hand. Her white hair was piled about like fresh-picked cotton.

Julilly looked quickly around the room. The cabin was orderly and clean. It could have been a cabin in Felsheim.

Jeb hurried about pulling down shades over all the windows. Ella walked behind a cupboard of dishes, motioning for the girls to follow. She pushed against the wall and it opened like a door! Ella and the girls slipped through, followed by Jeb, and the wall closed behind them.

“You stay out there, Pal,” Jeb said to his dog, “and this time you bark as much as you want if you hear any noises.”

The room behind the wall was small but cozy. There were mats on the floor and a long spread-out table with benches around it. The only window was above them, cut into the roof.

“Looks like you were expectin' us.” Julilly now felt that she could speak out loud.

Liza slumped to the floor—too tired and hungry to walk another step.

“Poor child.” Ella leaned over her. She looked closely at her face, then laughed. “I thought you two was girls. We've been lookin' for you since your friends Lester and Adam were here.”

“Lester and Adam!”

“Now you two just rest on those mats,” big, kindly Jeb said, settling himself on one of the benches. “I'll explain about everything, while Ella fixes us some supper.”

There was no way the girls could rest now. They stood in front of Jeb demanding to know about Lester and Adam at once.

“Well, they came one night more than a week ago,” Jeb said quietly. “Chains were hangin' from their wrists. They'd rubbed through the skin and both were bleeding.”

Julilly closed her eyes wondering if she really wanted to know the rest of the story.

“Lester had a sprained arm. The big man, Adam, had a swollen foot—so sore he could hardly lift it.”

“How'd they know to come here?” Julilly was awestruck that all of them should come to this lone cabin on the Ohio River.

“They came 'cause we're a station of the Underground Railway,” Jeb answered simply. “Isn't that why you two came too?”

Ella interrupted by swinging through the secret door. Her arms held a tray with steaming food. She placed the lighted candle in the centre of the long table and around it spread a feast of fresh venison, warm corn bread, wild honey, milk, and butter.

They bowed their heads and Jeb prayed. It was a good prayer, full of hope and promise for the end of slavery.

“Amen,” Liza added at the end of it with deep emotion.

It was so fine being here with coloured folks to talk with. Silently, Julilly thanked the Lord for this. Now, she and Liza could tell their names without being afraid; they could talk about the Riley plantation, and Mammy Sally, and Liza's preacher father. The white folks who'd helped them along the way were good and kind, but it wasn't the same. Jeb and Ella Brown were like having their own family sitting around.

Julilly and Liza filled their plates and Jeb told his story—how Lester and Adam had jumped from the slave catcher's wagon during the night they were captured, into a swamp, even though they were hand-cuffed together. For a whole night they stayed in the water to throw off their scent from the hunting dogs. They rubbed their chain against a jagged rock until it broke and they were free from each other. They drank swamp water and ate
water cress
. “Lester knew names of folks along the Underground Railway which he'd pledged to Massa Ross to keep secret—even from the two of you.”

“Those boys were poorly and mighty sick.” Ella interrupted. “I nursed them for a week in this very room. When they could walk, they left. They told us to watch for the two of you.”

Julilly sat on her mat and cried. She had thought and dreamed of Lester and Adam dragging their heavy chains back to Mississippi. Now Jeb said they might be free right now in Canada. Inside her there was a welled-up fountain of joy. The tears came from its overflowing.

“But what's this
Underground Railway
?” Liza finally asked.

“You don't know 'bout the railway?” Jeb laughed. “The slave catchers gave us the name. They said runaway slaves just seem to disappear underground and that there must be a railway down there.”

“We Abolitionists use the railway all the time,” Ella laughed softly. “Coloured and white folks work together on it. Our homes, where we hide you slaves, are the ‘railway stations.' The roads you all follow are the ‘tracks.' You runaway slaves are the ‘freight.' The women are ‘dry goods' and the men are ‘hardware.'”

So that's why Jeb had announced them as packages of dry goods when they came to his cabin door. Julilly chuckled to herself.

“We aim to send you from here to the ‘president' of the Underground Railway, Levi Coffin,” said Ella. “He's a Quaker and he lives across the river in Cincinnati.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

IN THE SPARE BUT STURDY cabin of Jeb and Ella Brown, beside the wide dark waters of the Ohio River, four people slept. But the dog, Pal, stirred restlessly. His black nose, pressed against the door, sniffed a people scent which was growing stronger. He rose and paced nervously to the bed of his master where he tugged at Jeb's sleeve.

Jeb woke instantly. He'd trained himself for this, and he'd trained Pal.

“Ella,” he said softly, nudging his wife who slept beside him, “there's trouble comin'.”

Ella rose at once. She made no sound, nor did she light her candle. The room was dark for the shades were still drawn, but she made her way quickly to the secret door and tiptoed to the mats where Julilly and Liza slept.

“Julilly—Liza.” She shook them gently.

The girls sat up, alarmed and dizzy with trying to remember where they were. Ella calmed them with a steady hand on both of theirs.

“Pal smells people comin',” she whispered. “It could be slave hunters.”

Julilly felt cold fear creeping over her, making her body stiff and almost immobile.

“Lord, help us again,” she breathed.

“They ain't gonna catch us now when we've reached the Ohio River.” Liza's whisper was fierce and determined. “We'll hide, or run, or even swim across that river, Julilly.” Liza's look was one of bitter hatred.

“Listen to me.” Ella Brown's voice remained calm and steady. She walked to the centre of the dark room and jerked at something swaying against the wall. A rope ladder fell down, leading up to the window in the roof.

“Roll up your mats and push them in the corner,” she continued, giving her instructions in the same calm voice. “Take everything that belongs to you and climb up this ladder. Pull it up after you. Then close the window and lay flat on the roof. Nobody's been caught up there yet.” She left the room.

The girls did exactly as they were told. Liza climbed up first because she needed Julilly behind to steady her. The roof was almost flat. They would have no trouble pressing against it, nor would they have any trouble hearing every sound inside the house.

People were arriving on horseback and Pal began barking wildly.

A voice boomed out of the darkness.

“Jeb Brown, you tie up that dog in there or I'll blow his head off …” This is
Sheriff
Starkey and a friend. We got a warrant and we aim to come in.”

The girls shivered. They clung together and moved farther away from the window. Pal stopped barking and began to whine. The front door squeaked open.

“You free nigger slave stealers in there, light some candles or a lantern. You want us to break our necks in this black hole?” It was the booming voice of Sheriff Starkey.

Eventually the candles were lit. Liza and Julilly couldn't see.

The voice boomed on.

“My friend here,” he shouted, “has come all the way from Vicksburg, Mississippi, huntin' four niggers who ran away from the Riley plantation. They're worth five hundred dollars apiece. That's a goodly amount, and we're aimin' to catch them alive.”

“Sit down, Sheriff.” The girls could hear Jeb's voice, low and unhurried. “Do you want Ella to fix you somethin' hot to drink?”

There was no answer. Just a shuffling and scraping noise as if furniture was being pushed and shoved around.

“If they're in here, we're gonna find them.” The Sheriff was still shouting. “People say you got somethin' to do with that Underground Railway, Jeb. You just drop those nigger slaves into the ground and nobody ever sees them again.”

There was still no answer from Jeb or Ella. Pal continued to whine softly.

The scuffling noises continued. Julilly wondered if they might be pulling up the floor boards to find the “Underground Train.” What could she and Liza do against two strong men if they climbed onto the roof?

Liza seemed to read her mind.

“If they climbs onto this roof, we'll jump,” she said. “We'll run to the river and hunt for Jeb's boat.”

Julilly agreed.

At last it was quieter in the house below. The talk was low and the girls couldn't hear the words. Now and then there were hammer sounds as if one of the slave catchers might be trying to pound through a door.

Julilly hoped she wouldn't get dizzy or sick. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to shut out all the threats and poundings.

At last the front door banged open and the hard steps of two men could be heard clomping over the porch boards.

“We didn't catch you this time, Jeb,” the Sheriff called from the back of his horse, “but we've got our eye on you. You hide any of those runaway niggers and we'll put you and Ella both in jail and fine you a thousand dollars.”

There were no words from Jeb or Ella. The door closed and the clatter of horses' hoofs faded into the soft, black night.

Julilly and Liza climbed slowly down the rope ladder and back into the dark secret room.

Ella was already there. She drew the girls close to her.

“That sheriff,” she murmured, “is a mean man. He's gone now, but he'll be back.”

“Liza and I got to leave now,” Julilly said. She stood tall beside the other two. “We can hide better in the fields.”

Liza started to speak, then suddenly fell lifeless to the floor. She lay twisted and limp like a wilted plant whose stem had lost all means of sustenance.

Julilly bent down and shook her frantically.

“You can't just fade away from me now.” Julilly became desperate. “I need you, Liza. I can carry you.”