Later that night, I heard a rustling in the woods, then three hoots of an owl. The Birdman! My heart was racing as I saw three figures running through the woods. I ran to Moses and wrapped my arms around her. “Moses, Moses, I was so worried about you.”
Moses grinned and gave me a big hug. Then she took my hand and pulled me toward the hearse. “Come on, child, your Moses is here. Now we have to put some distance between us and Grower Davis. Delilah will ride up front but the rest of us need to get back in our coffins. I’ll tell you about my adventures later.”
Delilah climbed up to the driver’s seat and sat down between Mister Pickering and the Birdman. Then the rest of us climbed into our coffins. Mister Pickering set the horses off at a fast pace. When would Grower Davis discover that Delilah was gone from the island? And what would he think when he learned that the Birdman had left in the middle of the night?
After we had travelled many miles, Mister Pickering pulled the hearse into a clearing and told us we could come out of our coffins. Moses laughed, “Mercy, those horses must be tired—almost as tired as I am. We have covered some distance this night. Now it’s time for me to introduce Delilah properly.”
I stared at Delilah. Not only was her skin white, but her hair was straight. I looked closely at her eyes and saw that they were dark brown. Delilah smiled shyly. “I’m glad to be travelling with you. Since I put out word on the grapevine that I was ready to ride the Underground Railroad, I have been waiting for Moses to come. It was a surprise when she found me on Ghost Island.”
Moses laughed, “And even more of a surprise when the raft sank and we almost drowned. Then the Birdman came and surprised the both of us.”
Moses took my face in her hands. “You were worried about Moses, weren’t you, child?”
“Yes, Moses, I was.” It was hard to remember that, at one time, I had been afraid of Moses because now she was like another mother to me.
Moses put one arm around me and the other around Delilah. “Delilah, this is Rebecca and her father Obadiah and her mother Deborah. This is her uncle Josiah and this is Mister Pickering, a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Mister Pickering has kindly brought us all the way from North Carolina and will drive us the rest of the way to the steamboat.”
Delilah smiled at each of us and said, “I’m sorry you’ll have to pretend to be my slaves on the steamboat, but Moses tells me that it’s the safest way for us to travel up the river to St. Louis.”
Uncle Josiah said, “It’ll be no trouble. We all have plenty of practice being slaves … You sure are pretty.”
Delilah laughed and Uncle Josiah laughed, too. Then Mister Pickering climbed back onto the hearse with Delilah and the Birdman, and said, “Now it’s time for us to move on again as we have many miles to go before we get to Memphis. This state of Tennessee is a dangerous place for runaways, so hide in your coffins and don’t open them until I give the word.”
After travelling for three days, we reached the outskirts of Memphis. That night we slept in the woods. In the morning, we climbed back into the coffins and Mister Pickering drove the hearse into the town itself. I wished that I could sit on the driver’s seat with Delilah, the Birdman and Mr. Pickering because I had never seen a city, but I had to be content with the sounds and smells. I heard men calling to one another and wagons rattling down the streets. The smell of bacon and coffee made my stomach grumble.
At last we stopped and Mister Pickering quietly told us, “We should give thanks to God, for we have reached Memphis.” We opened the coffins and saw that he had driven the hearse into an empty carriage house. An old man in a black suit stood waiting for us, and Mister Pickering shook his hand before introducing us. “My brethren and sisters, this is Caleb, a Friend who lives in Memphis. Caleb will drive you in his carriage to the steamboat landing. He will give you money for your passage and a trunk with fancy hats and dresses for you, Delilah. The Birdman will say he is your brother and the two of you will board the steamboat first. The Birdman will pay for your passage and two staterooms. It is likely that the ticket master will ask you for papers proving that you own the slaves and promise to return them to the South. There are forged papers in this handbag.” He pulled a bag from the carriage and passed it to Delilah.
Pretending to be a slave would not be hard for us because we had always been slaves. But it would be hard for Delilah to act like a free woman. I was worried that the ticket master would know that Delilah was a slave. Moses seemed to understand as she said, “Don’t worry, child. All black people look like slaves to white people and all fair-skinned people look free to them.”
Mister Pickering said, “It is time for me to say goodbye.” He paused and his face looked tired and sad. “I will miss you, I will truly miss you. My wife and I will pray that you reach Canada and live in freedom. And we will continue to pray that slavery is abolished before the end of our days.” As he spoke, tears came to Mister Pickering’s eyes.
I mumbled my thanks to this kind man. I could not speak easily for the lump in my throat. I had never before been so grateful for a white man’s kindness.
After Mister Pickering left with the empty hearse, my pa said softly, “Rebecca, we must never forget that good man.” I had never heard my pa call a white man a good man.
Caleb climbed onto the driver’s seat of the carriage. Delilah stepped into a corner of the carriage house and slipped into a pretty green dress. She looked like a beautiful white woman as she and the Birdman climbed into the back of the carriage. The rest of us walked behind, shuffling our feet and walking with our backs bent.
The road we followed ran beside the Mississippi River. From time to time, I lifted my head and took quick glances at the mighty river. It was so wide that I could scarcely see the far bank. Along the shore, men were loading and unloading crates and barrels from boats. Mules pulled barges full of grain. Steamboats paddled their way up and down the river, and there was hustle and bustle everywhere.
Caleb stopped the carriage at the steamboat landing and walked to the back of the carriage. He spoke to us in a whisper, “Alas, from now on, I must be harsh with you, so people believe you are slaves.”
The Birdman took Delilah’s hand and helped her out of the carriage. Arm in arm, they walked up the gangplank to the boat. Gruffly, Caleb shouted at Uncle Josiah, “Get over here, boy. Pick up this trunk and carry it onto that steamboat.” Then Caleb shoved my pa. “Carry these bags onto the boat.” My pa picked up two bags, one in each hand, and shuffled up the gangplank. We all kept our faces down, hoping to be invisible to the captain and crew.
A deckhand yelled at my uncle. “You, put that trunk on the deck. Then move aside.” I stayed close to Moses; we were out in the open, without a safe place to hide if something went wrong. I watched fearfully as the Birdman and Delilah walked up to the ticket master.
The Birdman said, “My sister, Miss Ross, and I wish to pay for passage and two staterooms. My sister has brought her slaves with her, for she will be staying in St. Louis for several months, caring for our mother who is gravely ill.”
The ticket master took the money from the Birdman’s hand without a pause. “Sir, here are your tickets. You and the lady can go to your staterooms. One of my men will show your slaves where to carry the trunk and bags, then we’ll take your slaves to the hold below. Do you think they’ll cause trouble? If so, we can chain them to posts in the slave pen.”
“No, there will be no need to do that,” said the Birdman. “These slaves will cause no trouble.”
A steward walked up to the Birdman and said, “Excuse me, Sir. I assume you are the owner of the slaves?”
The Birdman shook his head. “No, they belong to my sister, Miss Ross. She has the deeds of ownership in her handbag.”
The steward looked at Delilah. I could see that her hands shook as she opened her bag and passed the forged papers to the man. He looked at them quickly and said, “Thank you, Miss Ross, that’s fine. Now please sign this affidavit that you will return your slaves to the South.” Delilah looked at the Birdman and her eyes were wide with fear. She did not know how to read nor write.
The Birdman quickly came to her rescue and said to the steward, “Sir, my poor sister is not used to signing papers. I’m afraid she leads a sheltered life on the plantation as our father manages all of the family’s business. Please permit me to sign the affidavit for her.”
He pulled a roll of bills from his pocket and passed it to the steward. “For your understanding, Sir, a little extra…”
The steward smiled and said, “Welcome aboard!”
I glanced at Moses and ventured a small smile. We had succeeded.