Ann watched Daddy stand up and hoped the man didn’t hit him. Daddy looked the man straight in the face and said, “Afternoon.”
“Good afternoon,” said the man. He took off his hat to scratch his head.
“Mama!” yelled Paul. “He’s a Negro like us!”
“Hush,” said Mama.
Paul knew how to act when the overseer was looking, but when it was just the five of them, he acted like he didn’t have any sense. Ann wished she was sitting with Paul so she could cover his mouth.
But Ann was surprised by the man’s brown skin too. She was glad he wasn’t white, but she knew he could still be trouble. He could tell on them. Or he could capture them and have them arrested.
“What are you doing out here in the swamp?” asked the man.
Daddy didn’t trust many people, and Ann wondered if he’d tell the truth. But Daddy just stood there eye to eye with the stranger and didn’t answer at all. They stood like that so long Ann thought maybe she should answer the man herself. She didn’t want him to get mad at Daddy and hurt him.
Finally the man stuck out his hand. “I’m Nathan,” he said. “I live over there. I’m just checking on my muskrat traps.”
Daddy shook Nathan’s hand, but he didn’t tell him his name.
“You don’t need to be scared,” said Nathan. “Come with me.”
Ann knew it didn’t matter if Nathan was good or bad. There was nothing they could do but go with him. Daddy glanced at Mama nervously and motioned for them to come. They followed Nathan a short distance to a small house.
“This is my house,” Nathan said.
A woman came to the door. “Nathan, who’s this?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” said Nathan. “But I reckon they need our help.”
The woman looked in all directions, then hurried them into the house. “Y’all are safe with us,” she said. “Go on and sit down.”
Mama’s face relaxed. She sat down with baby Elizabeth in a chair near the fire. Paul sat on her lap, even though there was no room for him. Ann stood next to Daddy and waited to see what would happen.
Nathan pointed to the woman. “This is my wife, Mattie.”
Daddy nodded at her. Finally he introduced himself. “I’m John. This is my wife, Beth,” he said. He pointed to his children. “This is Ann, Paul, and baby Elizabeth.”
Nathan said, “You running away?”
Daddy didn’t answer, so Nathan kept talking. “I won’t tell. Mattie and I are free.”
Paul said, “You’re free? You ran away too? Are we in the North?”
“Be quiet, Paul,” said Daddy. Now their secret was out, thanks to Paul.
Nathan explained how he had saved up his money and bought his freedom, then worked until he could buy Mattie’s freedom too.
While he talked, Ann looked around the room. The floors were wood instead of dirt, and they had a table to eat at. There were even a few dishes on a shelf against the wall. Ann noticed that both Mattie and Nathan wore real shoes.
She liked the way freedom looked so far. She imagined her family sitting at a table eating dinner.
Nathan smiled at Paul. “You’re not in the North. Not yet,” he said.
Daddy lowered his voice. “We’d sure appreciate any help you can give us in getting there.”
Nathan sighed. “I don’t know a lot about the Underground Railroad. We aren’t a station. I don’t know where to find one, but we’ll do what we can.”
Mattie said, “We’ll feed you, and you can stay here until dark. I think I can give you some fresh clothes too.”
Tears fell from Mama’s eyes. “Thank you,” she said.
Ann could see the trip was taking its toll on Mama. The circles under her eyes were darker than usual, and the corners of her mouth turned down. She looked like all that was left of her inner fire were embers. Ann wiped Mama’s tears with her fingertips.
They all unwrapped their feet so they wouldn’t get any more mud on Mattie’s floor. Since they wore all the clothes they owned layered on top of each other, they peeled off their outside layers too.
Paul only had one layer on his bottom half, because he only had one pair of pants. They used to belong to someone else, and they were way too big for Paul. His shirt hung down to his bony knees.
Mattie gave them some possum stew. While they ate, Mattie took Paul’s pants and cut the wet part off the bottom. They almost looked clean, and now they weren’t too long any more. Paul put them back on and grinned at Mattie.
Mattie also gave Mama a pair of shoes and wrapped fresh cloth around Ann’s feet. Ann wished this was the North so they could stay with Mattie and Nathan longer.
Daddy and Nathan talked in low whispers off to the side. Before long, it was dark outside.
“All right. It’s time to go,” said Daddy. “Nathan, Mattie, thank you for your help.”
Nathan said, “Remember, go past the fields and keep going until you get to the Choptank River. Follow it north.”
Daddy nodded. Nathan and Mattie stood outside and watched Ann and her family head back toward the swamp. In silence, they made their way north. They continued to walk for hours and hours. With a full stomach, Ann felt much better. The sounds of the night were less scary.
They kept a steady pace until Ann could smell mud in the air. Then she saw the river in front of them. The moonlight reflected off of the water. It almost looked peaceful.
They kept the river beside them and walked in the grass a long way. Finally Daddy crouched in the bushes and motioned for them to join him. They ate some ashcake and listened to the night sounds.
Daddy said, “When the tide starts to come in, we’ll walk into the river. The tide will cover our prints.”
Paul whined, “Daddy, how long till we’re in the North?”
“I don’t know,” said Daddy. “Tomorrow’s Monday, and the overseer will know we’re gone when we aren’t in the field. We need to get as far as we can before that happens.” Daddy kept his pace and ignored Paul’s sighs.
Ann was the first one to hear something rustle in the bushes. Whatever it was, it was big. It moved again, and Daddy motioned for them to all lie down.
Ann held her breath. The thing in the bushes moved again, and a stick snapped. They stayed as still as logs in the bushes.
Ann saw feet pass the bushes where she hid. Then another pair and another. They were not alone out here.
A voice whispered, “She said it was just west of the Choptank. Just go through where it branches off into a smaller river to get there.”
“I don’t see nothin’,” said another voice.
“She said face the river, go straight across it, then keep going till we see the house,” said the first voice.
There was a long silence, and Ann could see the three pairs of feet standing with the toes pointed toward each other. The people were standing in a circle. Suddenly one of the voices said, “Did you hear that?”
Ann’s stomach tied in a knot. Elizabeth was making little grunting noises in the bush where Mama was hiding. The feet moved toward the bush.
Just in time, Daddy jumped out. The other people jumped back. There were a lot of shuffling noises, and one pair of feet ran off in the other direction. Someone whispered, “Run, y’all!”
Another voice whispered, “No. It’s all right. It’s more runaways.”
Ann, Mama, and Paul stayed hidden in the bushes and listened to Daddy talk to the other voices. They were on their way to a station on the Underground Railroad. Ann couldn’t believe it! Maybe her family could go to the station too. They talked so quietly Ann couldn’t hear anything else they said.
After a while, Daddy whispered, “You all can come out of the bushes.” Ann was the first to crawl out. Two men and a boy about Ann’s age stood with Daddy.
Ann was full of questions. She wondered where the men were from. She wondered how long they’d been running. Most of all, she wanted to know how they knew where the station was and whether or not it was all right for them to bring along extra people.
When Daddy motioned for his family to follow the men, Ann was relieved. Daddy put Ann on his shoulders, and one of the other men put Paul on his. The boy held Mama’s hand. Together they made their way across the small river.
Ann looked down from her spot on Daddy’s shoulders to make sure the water wasn’t getting deep, but it never rose above Mama’s waist. The sun was just coming up, but they could see a house in the distance. Ann knew it had to be the station. It was so close they would be there in no time. They made it across and crouched next to the river.
The three strangers decided to keep going all the way to the station, even though it was almost daylight. Daddy decided to go with them to check everything out first. Then at nightfall, if everything was all right, his family would join him. Ann didn’t want to wait, but she didn’t want to travel with the sun coming up either.
Daddy said, “Beth, if this doesn’t work out, get back to the river. Nathan said walk north in the water until the river disappears.”
Ann, Paul, Mama, and the baby crept as close to the house as they could, then hid in the bushes. They watched the men walk. They all crouched down low, instead of walking tall.
As the men approached the house, Ann heard hoofbeats in the distance, and one word came to mind: pattyrollers.
Ann’s heart thumped so hard it felt like it might burst through her chest. The men stopped in their tracks. They’d heard it too. They were closer to the house than the bushes, so they all ran forward.
Daddy slipped in the grass, and Ann fought the urge to yell for him to hurry. He fell behind the other men by several yards.
Go, Daddy! Hurry! Ann thought. She held her breath as the hoofbeats grew louder… and closer.