Dear Austin (7 page)

September 1853

Dear Austin,

Still hungry, still scratching chiggers, and still lost… I don't feel much like writing, but it's the only way I have to somehow feel as if we're talking. Oh, Austin, I'd give anything to hear your voice right now. If only you could tell me what to do. I wonder what you're doing at this very moment when I'm feeling so low. Are you laughing over a joke Reuben just told? Are you whistling one of your tunes? Are you sleeping? Are you smiling? Are you listening?

Your brother, Levi

September 1853

Dear Austin,

Our big worry now, aside from having so little to eat, is gators. We found our way out of the woods and into a swamp. Jupiter and I both remembered the story that his pa told us all ‘bout how gators eat folks alive down in the swamps. They've got some strange-looking bugs here and moss that hangs from the trees, all of which gives me a most uneasy feeling.

When we finally got to drier ground, we found some good pine knots, which we used to start a fire last night, but there were no vittles to cook over it and we went to bed mighty hungry. As it turned out, hunger was the least of our troubles, for no sooner had I fallen asleep than I was woken by the loud click of a peppercorn pistol nuzzling the side of my head!

I got a whiff of lead by my nose and the feel of hard cold metal nudging me just above my right ear. I blinked, and when my eyes got adjusted to the darkness, I could see a black face frowning afore me.

There was a deep voice to go with the face, and it rumbled in my ears.

“Who you be?”

It had been so long since I'd heard another human voice, I didn't know what to make of it. But. it didn't take me long to realize that this voice was not friendly.

“Levi Ives,” I gulped as the man pressed the pistol tighter against my skull.

“And you?” he whispered to Jupiter in a manner just as threatening.

“He can't answer,” I replied.

“Why not?” the voice demanded.

“He got the words scared out of him,” I said, my own words coming out mighty quivery.

“And his name?”

“Jupiter,” I croaked. “Jupiter Hale.”

The pressure of the revolver against my head lessened a bit as the man paused, then repeated, “Hale? Hale? Y'all know who yah daddy be?”

Jupiter nodded as his breaths came in fits and starts.

“Winston,” I spoke up. “His pa is Winston Hale.”

“Why, I knew of a Winston Hale married to a Delia on de Tate plantation in de state of Maryland. Had dem a baby called Jupiter. Don't tell, you be dat baby!” His voice suddenly grew friendlier, and he lowered his pistol.

I gulped a breath of air, relieved to have the gun away from my head. Jupiter and I slowly sat up. When we did, we could see two men standing in back of the man with the gun. Their faces were all black as the night, and they looked as frightened as we were.

“Last time I heard ‘bout yah daddy,” the man continued, “heard he be runnin’ a route up in de state of Pennsylvania. Work wit some preacher. Would dat be de same Winston Hale?”

Jupiter nodded.

“Preacher Tully was de name, if I remember,” the man said. “He and your daddy be deliverin’ slaves goin’ on up into Canada.”

I turned to look at Jupiter, wondering what the
man was talking about, when I realized that he meant the Underground Railroad!

“Your pa and Preacher Tully?” I gasped, staring in disbelief.

Jupiter had a strange look on his face, and I suddenly remembered the last time I had seen that look—out in the woods back of Preacher Tully's smokehouse the night I was with Possum and Maudee, investigating the strange light.

I was so stunned it was all I could do to keep my mouth from dropping open in disbelief. But there was little time to ponder it all, for the man with the pistol had suddenly begun to snore! It was the strangest thing, Austin, for he was standing up afore us when his eyes suddenly closed and he fell asleep, sound asleep standing on two feet, just as if he were lying on a bed.

“Mercy, Moses, you havin’ a sleepin’ spell agin?” one of the other men asked.

“Moses?” I whispered. “Didyou say Moses?”

“She be our Moses, all right,” the man replied.

“Bringin’ her people out of de dark into de light to de promised land. We runnin’ from Marster Rankin's bullwhip, and without Moses here, we most likely never git past his dogs.”

“Don't know many folk, man or woman, willin’ to take on dose devil dogs,” the other man whispered.

So the sleeping man called Moses was not a man at all but a woman! Her voice was so low she sounded like a man. That's ‘when I remembered the woman conductor on the Underground Railroad that Miss Amelia had told me about. Her name was Harriet Tubman, but her nickname was Moses. I wondered if this could be the same Moses.

Then as suddenly as she had fallen asleep, the woman woke up with a grunt and began to speak as if no time had gone by at all.

“So, Levi Ives, you tell me jest what you and Jupiter Hale be doin’ down here in dis slave state.”

I tried to explain about Darcy and how we had hoped to find her and bring her home with us to
Sudbury. I also told Moses about the men with the jug and how we came to be hiding in the woods.

“Come Saturday der be a big slave auction takin’ place on de Meriweather plantation not two miles south of here,” one of the men said. “Most likely dem slave catchers be headin’ there. Traders come from miles around to sell wat dey buy and wat dey ketch. It be jest beyond dat crick.” He pointed to a crick that ran to our right. It must have been the auction that Fergus had mentioned.

Moses shot Jupiter a look, and she frowned. “I know'd wat you be thinkin’, but listen up, now. Ain't no way you two half-mites could free a horse fly once it be put on de auction block. So puts it out of yah head. ‘Sides, yah daddy knows y'all even down here?”

Jupiter lowered his head and shifted from one foot to the other.

After much hesitation, he shook his head.

“Mercy, dat be a foolish thing you done!” Moses sighed. “Actin’ mo’ like Jupiter de baby den Jupiter
de boy. Like to drive yah daddy wild -wit worry! Don't yah know yah gots to have a pass to git through dese lands? Witout dat pass dey whup de hide right off yah black back faster den yah can shuck an ear o’ corn. And now yah got de Marster John Lee Horn lookin’ fer y'all. He find us wit you and he likes to lynch de lot of us!”

Jupiter dropped his eyes to the ground, and I knew how bad he was feeling, for it did seem as if we were in a heap of trouble. Moses took off her hat and scratched at the scarf around her head.

“We'll rest fer a bit,” she whispered. “But only a little bit. Dis here be Horn land, and de sooner we be off it, de safer we be. You two comin’ wit us now,” she said, turning back to Jupiter and me. “I'll gity'all as far as Philadelphia, and den we sees ‘bout gettin’ in touch wit yah people. I'll send word to de folks I know and see if dey heard anythin’ ‘bout yah sister.”

She reached under her coat and pulled out two pieces of hardtack, which she handed to us. I thought I would die of happiness at getting something to eat other than nuts and berries.

As the others lay on the ground to rest, one of the men asked Moses if she had a map to guide her to Philadelphia. She laughed at this and said she didn't “need no maps. All's I needs is shinin’ above our heads,” she whispered, pointing up to “a bright star in the sky. I knew it was the North Star on account of its brightness.

“It's God's light shinin’ down to guide our way,” she said. Her voice, though deep, had grown suddenly softer and more like a woman's as we sat staring up at the starlight through the trees.

Moses went on to tell us about the cricks she knew that ran north and how if she got away from them and too far into the woods, she used the moss that grew on the north sides of the trees to guide her.

“So you see,” she said, smiling, “the good Lord gives us all de map we needs to finds our way to freedom.”

“Amen,” one of the men whispered, and I found myself thinking “amen” along with him. I don't know how long we could have lasted, lost like we were. I supposed Moses was right about our not being able
to save Darcy, and I was grateful that we had run into someone as smart and brave as Moses to lead us back home.

Now, if only Jupiter had been thinking like me, things might have turned out different. As it was, those were nearly the last words we were to hear from the woman called Moses, and the last moments we were to have the comfort of her protection. The light is leaving, and I will continue when I can.

Your brother, Levi

September 1853

Dear Austin,

I fear Moses was right. Jupiter and I couldn't free a horse fly from the likes of this place. Oh, Austin, it's a terrible business, this selling of people. I suppose I should first tell you how we came to leave Moses and her group.

Everyone was dozing, and the minute Moses shut her eyes Jupiter signaled to me. I didn't know what he had in mind, but I did know he wanted me to follow him. So up we got, and I stayed close behind as Jupiter tiptoed past the silent group.

“Wer you headed?” a deep voice suddenly purred.

We turned back to see Moses reaching for her gun in the moonlight.

Jupiter latched on to my arm and grabbed the front of his britches.

“Uh, h-he's got to relieve himself,” I stammered. “And he's afeared of snakes, so I have to go along,” I quickly added.

Moses nodded but held on to the gun. “Don't stray too far.”

When we had made our way behind some bushes, I unbuttoned my britches. “How'd you know I had to go?” I asked Jupiter, who was standing beside me.

He seemed impatient and pointed to a stand of pines that ran along the crick.

“What's over there?” I asked.

Jupiter brought his finger to my lips to silence me. Then he pointed to me and to himself and back to the crick.

“Are you saying that you want us to leave?” I whispered.

He quickly nodded in agreement.

“But Jupe, you heard what she said.”

I tried to persuade him to go back with me to Moses and the others, but he looked me in the eye and did the only thing that could have shut me up. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a little scrap of yellow hair ribbon.

One look at that ribbon was all I needed. I knew
he could never leave her alone down here, not after hearing about the whip and those “devil dogs.”

“We best hurry afore they come looking for us,” I whispered.

And that's how we came to be back on our own, heading south again! At least this time we had some idea of which way to go. One of the men had said that the auction was two miles south of the crick. Following Moses’ map, we found the North Star and figured which way south was. We took off for the crick, running as fast as we could. Every now and then we'd stop to catch our breath and listen. We did hear voices once, but they sounded far off, and we knew they'd be heading in the opposite direction.

We didn't make the full two miles that night, as the woods were so overgrown it was slow going. Along the way I couldn't stop thinking about Winston, the preacher, and the Underground Railroad.

As I started to piece things together, I began to think aloud about Miss Amelia.

“I always wondered how she came to know so
much about the Underground Railroad. And if she and the preacher were really sweet on each other, wouldn't he have told her about it? And maybe she had even helped!”

That's -when it dawned on me.

“All those pies!” I suddenly cried.

Jupiter shot me a guilty look.

“Miss Amelias pies weren't just for the preacher and his pa, were they? She was baking for the railroad, wasn't she?”

Jupiter nodded.

It suddenly all made perfect sense and yet made no sense, if you know what I mean. Can you believe it, Austin? Our own Miss Amelia working for the Underground Railroad!

I couldn't get it all out of my head, and I felt cheated somehow, cheated that Miss Amelia hadn't told me herself. But as hurt as I was over Miss Amelia's secret, I didn't have time to think on it much the next day.

At sunup the next morning, we woke with the birds that had started to sing in the branches of the
trees over our heads. We found some berries to eat, but after the hardtack, my stomach was aching for real food. We were able to find the road that ran above the crick, and we followed it south, careful to keep out of sight.

After a few hours we heard horses, wagon wheels, and singing. It weren't happy singing but rather a low, mournful tune. When we crept up to the edge of the^ woods, we could see wagons filled with slaves rolling over the dusty road. Young and old, men and women, boys and girls, and babies sleeping in their mothers’ arms. Many of the men were in chains, and some had big iron collars around their necks.

They were herded into the wagons like cattle. Most were quiet, but a few were singing. We followed along, keeping to the bushes, until we reached a pebbled drive that ran into a yard. From the bushes we could see all manner of buggies, traps, and wagons parked at the hitching posts. There were sheds and pens, and crowds of people were gathered around platforms raised off the ground. I told
Jupiter that he dare not come any farther, for if any of those slave traders saw him, there was no telling what would happen.

We agreed that he would stay hidden in the bushes behind a shed while I went into the yard to look for Darcy. I promised that I'd get back to him and we would somehow figure out what to do next if I found her. But the farther I walked into the yard, the more uncertain I became that we would ever figure a way out.

The first thing I passed was a platform that held a large set of scales. A man in chains stepped onto it to be weighed. The man reminded me of Winston. He was tall and strong; only his eyes were different. They stared out at the crowd, blank and empty, as if they were looking right through the people, not seeing anything at all.

“One hundred seventy-five pounds plus chain. Let the bidding start at seven dollars a pound!’ ‘the white man beside him shouted.

“I'll give you five hundred!” a heavyset man in a wide leather hat called.

“Why, I couldn't let him go at that price,” the auctioneer replied, spitting a plug of tobacco off the platform. “Just have a look at his back,” he said, turning the man around and pulling up his shirt. “Those are old scars. This buck had the wildness whipped out of him long ago. He's been broken in, and all you have to do is set him down in your fields. Why, he's been bred for the fields, can't y'all see that? Who'll give me eight hundred dollars?”

I hurried past them and came to a row of pens. I was expecting to see pigs or cattle in them, but instead they were filled with people! The stench and dirt was something terrible. There were babies crying, whips cracking, men shouting out bids and spitting juice. A woman was pleading not to be separated from her children, and there was a boy about your age whose back was so scarred from whip marks I had to turn away and could not look.

I kept searching for Darcy, hoping to catch sight of those yellow ribbons of hers. I stood watching and waiting as a pen was opened and an overseer cracked his big blacksnake whip.

“Halls,” he shouted. “Elizabeth, Nell, and Parilee.”

A woman came out of the pen with two little girls. The overseer cracked the “whip beside the woman's feet, and she nearly jumped onto the platform. The little girls held on to her skirts.

“Now, we can sell ‘em as a lot, two thousand dollars, or we can split ‘em up,” the auctioneer called. “You're lookin’ at a healthy breeding wench, not a day over twenty. Take the young ‘uns as a pair, to be raised up for the house or field or however you can use ‘em.”

The little girls clung to their mother, with their heads buried in her skirts.

A trader stepped up to the platform and put on a pair of white gloves. He nodded to the woman, and the overseer cracked his whip.

“Open your mouth,” the auctioneer barked.

The woman opened her mouth, and the trader ran his fingers over her teeth, just like he was examining a horse.

“Cupworms in her teeth,” the trader grumbled out loud. “She's closer to thirty than twenty. I'll give you five hundred for her, but I don't need the rest.”

“Do I hear six hundred?” the auctioneer shouted. The woman began to sob and shake, and the little girls started to cry as they were pulled from her. I felt my stomach tighten into knots as I realized the only thing that was keeping me from being up there on that auction block was the whiteness of my skin. And you know, Austin, I looked down at my hands then, my white hands, and I felt such shame.

“Son, if you ain't buying, you best make room for one who is,” a bearded man growled as he leaned beside me. His breath was hot and smelled of whiskey.

I stepped to the side and heard a young girl's voice call, “Levi!”

I spun around to see a dirty canvas curtain pinned over a set of stalls. I heard the voice again, but I couldn't make out the words. Was she calling “Levi” or “Eli”? Was it Darcy or someone who sounded like her? There were so many voices and so much noise it was impossible to tell.

“Darcy,” I shouted. “Darcy, are you in there?” I suddenly recalled all the times I had told her to hush
up, all the times I had wished she'd leave us alone and stop making so much noise, and I felt my heart twist in my chest at the memory.

“Darcy!” I pleaded. “It's me, Levi. Just let me know if you're there.”

I couldn't see the faces inside the stalls, and the overseer told me, “Move aside, and stop disturbing the stock.” Then he cracked his whip and lifted the curtain.

“Stock”—that's how they think of them. That's how they were thinking of Darcy. How could these men, these grown men, be so wrongheaded, Austin? How does that happen? I may only be a boy, but I know the difference between an animal and a little girl. And to be truthful, Austin, these men were treating these people worse than animals.

I stood on the edge of a trough so I could get a good look, but there were too many people packed in and not enough time to see them all afore the curtain came back down. The voice I had thought to be Darcy's was lost in all of the shouting and sobbing.

When I realized that there were at least ten of these pens and platforms, with bidding going on all at the same time, my hopes sank. How could I watch all of them? How was I ever to find Darcy—if she was here? I dreaded going back to Jupiter with this news. But I knew he'd be anxious by now and so I headed back to the bushes where I'd left him.

But when I got there, he was gone! I searched everywhere but couldn't find him. I was desperate with worry, and my head was reeling with questions. Had he gotten scared and decided to wait back in the woods? Had he hoped to hook back up with Moses and her group? Why hadn't he waited for me? It wasn't long afore I had my answers, for as I stood with my back to a platform, I heard an auctioneer call out:

“What'11 you give fer this healthy-looking young buck? Why, jest look at his back. Not a mark on it, no sir.”

I was about to walk away when I heard the auctioneer's excited voice declare, “And he comes with this here finely carved walking stick—bet he worked
it himself. Why, this little bird at the top looks like it's ready to take to the sky. That's a talent with wood, that is. Just how talented are you, young buck? Let's see how talented you are with your feet. Can you dance for these fine folks?” The overseer cracked his whip and the crowd roared with laughter.

Stunned, I turned my head in time to see the auctioneer waving Darcy's walking stick in the air. And beside him on the platform stood Jupiter, stripped to the waist, his eyes wide with fear as the overseer's whip cracked across his legs.

“Oh, Jupe!” I cried. “Oh, no! Oh, no!” I am out of paper and can write no more.

Levi