We woke up early the next morning, hungry and thirsty. Moses told us to stay in the woods while she and Delilah walked back to where the steamboat had run aground. Smoke hung in the air over the charred remains of the steamboat. Even though they were alone on the shore, Delilah was afraid to walk out in the open. But when Moses reminded Delilah that she was safe with her white skin, she walked out on the sandbar, looking for any food that might have been cast from the boat. When she found nothing she hurried back to Moses, and they returned empty-handed to where we had stayed in the woods.
We were all hungry. Uncle Josiah said, “I bet there are some hickory trees in these woods. We can eat those nuts. They won’t fill us up but they’ll keep us from starving.” He headed off in the direction of the river and soon came back with hickory nuts wrapped in his shirt. He picked up a rock and cracked one of the nuts, then gave the nutmeat to Delilah. She smiled and broke the piece in two. With her small hand, she fed a half to my uncle. We broke open the rest of the nuts, chewing each one carefully.
We waited for the Birdman to return. That night, we listened for his bird calls but they did not come. On the second evening, Moses told us to wait deep in the woods while she went to the river to look for the Birdman. Whenever Moses left us, our spirits sank and we worried about what would happen next. What if the Birdman had been arrested for helping us runaways?
Then I heard a wonderful sound, a sound that filled me with hope. It was the Birdman’s owl hoots. I ran through the woods to meet Moses and the Birdman.
Moses said, “The Underground Ferry has arrived with boats. Come quick. We have only a few more hours of darkness and we must cross the river before daylight.”
At the river’s edge, I saw three boats. A man motioned for me, my pa and my ma to get into the closest one. A black woman held the oars. She said softly, “The Underground Ferry has come for you.” The man pushed the boat off the shore, jumped in and sat beside the woman. They each took an oar and started to row.
My pa said, “Here, let me help.” But the woman shook her head. “No, I will row. You just sit down. You’ve been running and hiding; you must be tired.”
The woman said, “My name is Priscilla—Priscilla Baltimore. We’re taking you across the river to Illinois. You’ll be safer there than you were in Missouri, but still, Illinois is a dangerous place for you. We have a wagon waiting to take you to our town, Freedom Village, where you can hide.” Both the man and the woman had revolvers in their belts, and the man had a rifle slung over his shoulder.
The oars splashed noisily in the river, and I worried that the bounty hunters would hear us. Looking up at the sky, I feared the coming of dawn. Priscilla seemed to sense my fear. “Don’t worry, child. We’ll be on the Illinois side well before sunrise.”
When we reached the far shore, we pulled the boats up on the riverbank. Priscilla said, “Follow me. The wagon is waiting up ahead. We have food for you. I’m sure you are hungry!”
Uncle Josiah said, “Hungry for food and hungry for freedom!”
We walked one by one behind Priscilla until we saw a big covered wagon. A black man smiled at us and passed us cornbread, bacon and boiled eggs. Then he handed us jugs of cool, clean water. After we climbed into the wagon and headed north to Freedom Village, the Bird-man told us what had happened in St. Louis. “The night the steamboat burned, I stayed with Jeff. His mind was confused. At times, he thought that I was the one who had saved him. I said nothing, for I didn’t want him to remember that it was Rebecca who had saved him. But after a while, he remembered what had happened, and he said, ‘My slaves, a man called Obadiah and his girl, Rebecca, they pulled me out of the river, didn’t they? Why would those runaways save my life?’”
The Birdman went on, “Meanwhile, the captain took a count of passengers and slaves. Everyone was standing on the sandbar, the white passengers at one end and the slaves at the other. Deckhands stood guard over the slaves. When small boats arrived from St. Louis, some of the passengers wanted to take their slaves with them but the captain refused. He said the slaves could walk to St. Louis along the riverbank and his crew would make sure none ran away. The captain and I loaded Jeff onto one of the boats along with other injured passengers. From time to time, Jeff felt strong enough to talk, and he told me over and over again that Rebecca and Obadiah had saved his life. He couldn’t understand why.
“He should have been grateful, but as Jeff grew stronger, he became more and more determined to catch you. When Jeff regained a bit of strength, he sent a message to the castle of the Knights of the Golden Circle in St. Louis and learned that the Grand Founder, George Bickley, had also come to St. Louis to see the Dred Scott trial.”
Moses asked, “Did you meet Bickley?”
The Birdman nodded. “Yes, I did. George Bickley is a most unpleasant man. He walked into Jeff’s hospital room and introduced himself as the Grand Founder of the Knights of the Golden Circle. Bickley kept pulling a gold watch out of his pocket, reminding me of Wyatt and the other gamblers on the steamboat. Bickley is as greasy as a side of bacon. Jeff gave him what money he had left after gambling and said the growers in South Carolina raised the money to hire more bounty hunters. As soon as I could, I said goodbye and hurried to Alton.”
Moses looked at the Birdman. “You look tired. I hope you know how grateful we are.”
The Birdman smiled. “I am happy to play a small part in helping you to reach freedom. By the way, Bickley said most runaways cross the river from St. Louis to Alton, and from there, they ride the Chicago and Alton Railroad to Chicago.”
Moses looked at Priscilla. “If Bickley thinks we’re riding on the Chicago and Alton Railroad, we’ll have to travel a different way.”
The Birdman agreed. “When you leave, I will go to Philadelphia to meet William Still. I want to tell him what I learned about the Knights of the Golden Circle.” He turned to me and explained, “William is the founder of the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee which passes important information to the conductors on the Underground Railroad.”
I asked, “What does ‘vigilance’ mean?”
“Vigilance means keeping watch over you and keeping you safe.”
I mumbled the word “vigilance” and hoped that Mister Still was watching over Moses, my family and me.
Priscilla said, “Can you see Freedom Village?” I looked down the road and saw the town with a few houses and a large church. Many people came out to greet us: men, women and children—all black.
They led us to the church. I pointed to a large sign above the door and asked Moses what it said. She laughed. “Child, I wish I could read, but I can’t. When you get to Canada, you’ll go to school. Then you can tell Moses what that sign says.”
Priscilla heard my question. “That sign says ‘Founded by Chance, Sustained by Courage.’”
Inside the church, platters of food were laid on a long table. I was so hungry that I ate and ate until my stomach hurt. Later Priscilla walked us to her house where her husband and their four children welcomed us. They led us to the attic and we slept on blankets on the floor.
My ma rested her head on her hands and said, “Oh, Obadiah, I am so tired. I don’t know whether I can go on.”
My pa said, “You will find the strength to go on, just as I found the strength to follow Moses. I was afraid of running away, but I was wrong to be afraid. People like Ezekiel and the Birdman, the Pickerings and Priscilla have given me courage. We’ll rest and then we’ll move on.”
My ma said, “Every day, I ask myself, what’s best for Rebecca?”
My pa looked at me. “Deborah, I know what’s best for her and so do you. Rebecca’s mind is set on reaching freedom. She is not the same child who lived in slavery on the plantation. None of us are the same. I am a different man since we crossed the Mason–Dixon Line from slavery to this free state of Illinois, and I can feel that change even now.”
“What do you mean, Obadiah?” my ma asked.
“When we were at Grower Brown’s, he and his men could come to our shack at any time and beat me. There was nothing I could do. Nothing!”
“But, Obadiah, if the bounty hunters catch you now, they’ll beat you.”
“Yes, the bounty hunters could catch me and they could beat me. But the people of Freedom Village would fight them and I would fight them. I would fight for freedom. That’s something important, that’s what’s different. I’m never going back to slavery.”