William stood before his small congregation from the porch of his brother’s farmhouse. The rain had subsided, but there was a chill in the air.
He looked out at the faces of men and women who had endured slavery until the very day they received news of their emancipation. They should be happy . . . should be jumping for joy. But instead, they looked more beat down than when the overseer was using the whip on them.
Overwrought from the ordeal they’d faced earlier that day, Louella sat in the rocking chair with a hand over her expanded belly. A consuming need to help her heal from the cruel hand slavery had dealt swept over him.
After those white boys left them to deal with the fire, Montgomery had put three dollars in William’s hand, told him there was a rifle in the wagon. But he’d also said he could do no more for him and Robert. It was time for them to move on.
That was it . . . that was all the man who’d sired him and his brother said before turning his back and walking away. But even before Montgomery told him it was time to move on, William had gotten the message from Louella and people in his congregation.
“I want to say good afternoon,” William said as he looked out at the people. “But from the looks on many of your faces, I doubt that you’d believe this is a good day.”
Clenching his hand on the edge of the banister, William leaned into the reality they now faced. “I know things look bleak for us in this town that has been the only home some of us have known, but even though my dear mother has gone on to be with the Lord, it was my sweet and beautiful wife who reminded me of my mother’s words.”
Louella smiled, nodded her head as she waved in the air as if praising. “Tell the people, William.”
With his wife’s encouragement, he continued, “When I was a young boy, my mother used to tell me about the land her people came from. It’s not like this land where people seem to only consider themselves and could care less about the welfare of other people . . . namely people like you and me.
“My mother told me that her people cared about each other, looked out for each other. They built a society based on an all-for-one-and-one-for-all mentality. I grew up as an enslaved child, but I always believed that there would come a day when our people would be treated as equals.”
He lowered his head. “However, I have come to realize that we’ll never be treated in that manner here.”
He lifted a hand as a few grumbles sounded from the crowd. “I know I didn’t always feel this way. I’ll admit that Louella has been encouraging me to believe for something outside of this plantation, and I’ve been thinking more and more about my mother’s words.” With a clenched fist, he added, “I’ve been praying, brothers and sisters. The Lord showed me that this isn’t our home anymore. My wife and I will be heading north.
“There’s a land that God has prepared for us . . . a land where we can be at peace and be happy. A land where we’ll be treated as equals. We’d love to have y’all on the journey with us. Do you want to go to that land with us?”
One by one, the members of the congregation jumped to their feet and shouted, “Yes!”
“Then I need y’all to go and pack what belongings you can carry. We leave tonight.”
* * *
Thirty-eight men and women from the Montgomery Plantation decided to make the trip north with William and Louella. But once Louella’s nerves calmed down, her mind turned to another family who needed to get away from this rotten town.
That afternoon, she walked the path to where she normally went to get herbs. Gary hadn’t been seen plowing his land since Lester Bailey shot at him. She knew it wouldn’t be safe for his wife, Clara, or his teenage son, Jimmy, to stay in the house much longer, so Louella knocked on the door.
When Clara answered, her brown eyes narrowed in on Louella’s belly. She touched the black scarf wrapped around her hair. “Girl, you swoll up quick, didn’t you?”
Smiling, Louella patted her belly. “I’m five months.”
“I’m sure Reverend William is right proud.”
“He is. But I came here to tell you something.” Louella leaned in closer to the door, looked around as if this secret was for Clara’s ears only. “We’re leaving the Montgomery Plantation. We’ll be setting out tonight, and I was hoping you and Jimmy might go north with us.”
Clara stepped onto the porch. She was a whole foot shorter than Louella, so she stretched forward a bit as she looked this way and that. “You and the reverend going north?”
“And the others on the Montgomery Plantation. This place is no good. We’re going to find a place where we can be at peace.”
“B-but Gary,” Clara said as she looked off, eyes filling with sadness.
Louella put a hand on her shoulder. “I saw Gary run off after old Lester shot at him. I’m sorry y’all dealing with such things. But I had to let you know we’re leaving in case you want something different than what’s being dished out to us around these parts.”
Clara chewed on her bottom lip, wrapped her arms around her chest. “I appreciate you thinking of us, but we best wait on Gary.”
“I understand.” Louella backed away from the door while whispering, “We gathering at Robert’s farm tonight.”
“May God watch over you on your journey.” Clara hugged her, then went back in the house and closed the door.
While walking back to Robert’s farmhouse, Louella prayed that God would watch over Clara and her son.
* * *
When Louella got back to the farmhouse, Robert was rubbing salve on his legs and wincing with every movement. William paced the floor with worry lines etched across his forehead.
“Something happen while I been gone?”
William pointed in Robert’s direction. “He wants to stay.”
“Can’t leave my people high and dry.” Robert finished rubbing his legs and then lay back down as if he’d expended all his energy.
“You can’t even stand up on your own. Who’s going to look after you once we leave?” William rolled his eyes heavenward.
In all the times Louella dreamed of leaving this town, she never imagined that William’s passing-for-white, slave-owning brother would be on the journey with them. Robert was thirty-nine years old. He owned a farm. He should stay here and deal with the trouble he caused.
There was a knock at the door. Louella peeked out the window. Abigail was standing on the porch. Four men and two other women who also worked on Robert’s farm were standing in the yard. She opened the door.
“What’s going on out here, Abigail?”
Abigail cleared her throat and spoke up for the group. “We don’t want to stay here no more. Tommy told me that y’all heading up north.”
Louella didn’t know what Robert would say about all of his workers leaving the farm, but something deep inside was telling her this, too, was a part of God’s plan. Just as William’s mother described, all for one and one for all. “Then y’all need to start packing. We leaving tonight.”
The men and women in the yard erupted in cheers, then one of them yelled up to her, “Tell Mr. Robert I quit.”
She smiled at that. Robert never should’ve enslaved people in the first place. It was no better for him that he’d now have to work this farm all by himself. “It will be my pleasure to let Robert know that y’all coming with us.”
She went back in the house and told William. “Abigail and the rest of the workers on this farm say they leaving with us.”
Robert’s eyebrows lifted as his mouth flew open. “They what? Why would they do that?”
Louella’s hand went to her hip, and with all the contempt she could muster, she told Robert, “Because they’re free and able to live and move as they please, that’s why.”
William put a hand on Louella’s shoulder, turned to Robert. “Your people are leaving. Will you listen to me now and let us pack your things so we can all go together?”
Robert’s eyes held bewilderment, like he couldn’t understand why free people wanted to be free. “I need to think on this.”
“Don’t think too long . . . or you’ll be left here by yourself,” William told him.