The Underground Railroad (9 page)

Professor Tuesday faced Tamika and me before continuing. “Can you think of any other reasons why runaway slaves may need money?”

I thought hard but couldn't come up with anything. I turned to Tamika just as she started to say something. “Wouldn't they need money,” she asked, “to help them start their new lives once they got their freedom?”

“Yes! Yes!” said Professor Tuesday. “Money and education were treasures to slaves who wanted to escape.”

A woman's scream came through the laptop's speakers. We all jumped. “Jeremiah, there's that skunk again. Now fetch your gun and get rid of it.”

“It's time to get the Critter Cam out of there,” the professor said nervously.

I pushed the joystick forward. The Critter Cam lunged ahead then stopped suddenly.

“What happened?” Tamika said with worry.

“I don't know.”

I pushed the joystick again. Nothing happened.

Professor Tuesday spoke up. “Let me move the web cam a bit. Maybe we're stuck on something.”

The professor rotated the web cam. Sure enough, a small branch was wedged into one of the rear wheels of the Critter Cam.

“What do we do now?” I cried.

“Try making it go backward and forward a few times,” the professor said. “Maybe that will free up the wheel.”

The professor moved the web cam again. We could see the man with the gun coming toward the camera.

“Hurry!” Tamika yelled.

I pulled the joystick back, and the Critter Cam moved a bit. When I pushed it forward, it still didn't go anywhere.

“Try it again!” shouted the professor.

A gunshot boomed loudly. The bullet missed the Critter Cam, but it hit the stick it was lodged on.

I pulled back and pushed forward on the joystick. Suddenly, the Critter Cam was moving freely again. I hurried it around Levi Coffin's house and pointed it toward the teleporter cloud that was not far from the porch. It went right past the woman who was screaming about the skunk. As the Critter Cam scooted by her, she howled and took off.

When the Critter Cam returned to the professor's office, we all sighed with relief.

“That was exciting,” Professor Tuesday said.

“Yes, it was,” I added.

“I didn't like it one bit,” Tamika said as she shook her head. Her arms were crossed and she was wearing a scowl.

“The danger we faced was nothing compared to what people like George DeBaptiste and Levi Coffin faced,” the professor noted.

“That's what scares me,” Tamika replied.

“What ever happened to Levi Coffin?” I asked.

Professor Tuesday cleaned his glasses with his white coat as he talked. “Levi died at the ripe old age of 79, but he stayed true to his anti-slavery beliefs all his life. He traveled to Canada to see how escaped slaves were doing and even went to Europe a couple of times to raise money for the Freedmen's Aid Commission, an organization that raised funds for clothing, books, and education for freed slaves after the Civil War.”

The professor looked at us over the top of his glasses. “Before he died, though, a couple of famous people visited Levi Coffin.”

“Who were they?” I asked.

“People well known in the anti-slavery movement,” the professor answered,”such as Frederick Douglass, Eliza Harris, and Laura Haviland.”

“We know who Frederick Douglass was,” I said, “but who were Eliza Harris and Laura Haviland?”

“That's for you to find out,” the professor answered. “Learning about Laura Haviland and Eliza Harris is your next assignment.”

Tamika only said one word: “Rats!”

B
efore we left, we called Tamika's mother for a ride home. She picked us up in front of Professor Tuesday's office a few minutes later.

“So how was your visit with Professor Tuesday?” Tamika's mother asked as we got into her car.

“It was fine,” Tamika answered.

Her mother frowned. “You always say ‘it was fine' when I ask you about school, or sports, or anything. I want you to tell me what happened.”

“First we told the professor about what we learned about George DeBaptiste and Madison, Indiana,” I answered.

“I know Tamika read about George DeBaptiste and you did some research on Madison,” she said. “Was the professor happy with your report?”

“Well, he never actually looked at it,” I answered. “But he told us that he was proud of what we learned.”

My friend's mother looked over at her daughter. “Now, Tamika, tell me something else that you did at the professor's office tonight.”

“We went to a place called Newport, Indiana, and saw Levi Coffin's house,” Tamika answered.

“That's right,” I said. “He was called the President of the Underground Railroad.”

“Was he really the President?” Tamika's mother asked.

“Not really,” I answered. “There wasn't really a president. Some people just called him that and the name stuck.”

Tamika spoke up. “Two wagons pulled up in front of Mr. Coffin's house. It looked like the wagons were full of hay, but there were runaway slaves hiding underneath it.”

“It sounds like you are learning a lot,” Tamika's mother said.

“That's not all that happened,” I added. “Somebody with a gun took a shot at Professor Tuesday's Critter Cam.”

Tamika's mother looked shocked. She stopped the car safely and turned to look at Tamika. “Is that right?”

“Yeah,” Tamika said, “some woman thought it was a skunk and told her husband to shoot it.”

“Nobody was hurt, were they?” Tamika's mother asked.

“No,” I said. “But when the Critter Cam went by the woman, I think she got a real scare.”

“I was a little scared myself,” said Tamika.

My friend's mother continued driving toward my house. “So, what happens next? With Professor Tuesday, I mean.” she said.

“Now, he wants us to find out about people I've never heard of, Eliza Harris and Laura Haviland,” Tamika said with a sigh. “I don't know why he keeps giving us extra work to do. Miss Pepper already gives us plenty of homework.”

Tamika's mother pulled into my driveway. Then she turned to her daughter. “What's the matter? I thought you wanted to learn about slavery and your family history?”

“What does Eliza Harris have to do with my family?” Tamika said as she crossed her arms.

“When Eliza Harris escaped, she headed north and ended up in Ontario, Canada,” her mother said. “That's where your great, great, great, great grandparents settled during the terrible times of slavery.”

Tamika just hung her head and didn't say anything.

I felt a little awkward, so I decided to say goodnight. As I walked up the driveway to my house, I wondered about my friend. Was she getting more scared? Would her nightmares come back?

The following day at school, I waited for Tamika at her desk. When the bell rang for class to start, she wasn't anywhere to be found. At recess, I talked to our teacher, Miss Pepper. She told me that Tamika's mother called and said that she was sick and wouldn't be at school today. I wondered if her fears were making her sick.

On Wednesdays, our class has library time. I decided I'd use that time to learn about Eliza Harris and Laura Haviland. I didn't know where to begin my search. Our school librarian, Mr. Spinner, had just finished helping a boy find a book on pirates when I caught his eye.

“Can I help you with something?” Mr. Spinner asked.

“Yes,” I answered, “I need to find out about someone named Eliza Harris.”

“Great!” said Mr. Spinner. “Let's begin by doing a search on the Internet.”

Mr. Spinner is both our librarian and media specialist. He is very tall and skinny. Mr. Spinner has long bony arms. His fingers are so thin that the college class ring on his finger looks huge. A narrow, dark moustache sits just beneath his pointy nose. Everybody at Arrowhead School likes Mr. Spinner because he is always telling jokes.

“You want to hear a good one?” Mr. Spinner asked. “Why did the skeleton not cross the road?”

I smiled and shrugged.

A big smile formed on Mr. Spinner's face. “He didn't have the guts.”

I laughed until my belly hurt. Then I told Mr. Spinner about how Tamika and I were meeting with Professor Tuesday and learning about the Underground Railroad. He became very excited.

“Professor Tuesday was my history professor in college,” Mr. Spinner said. “He makes learning history fun. Let's see what we can find out about Eliza.”

The library at Arrowhead School has twenty computers. We use them to do research. Sometimes we play learning games, too. I sat behind one of the computers and Mr. Spinner helped me log on to the Internet. When the search screen popped up, I typed in “Eliza Harris” and hit ENTER.

Mr. Spinner watched carefully as I clicked on the first reference and started reading about her.

“It's very important that you make sure the information you get on the Internet is correct,” said Mr. Spinner. “The Internet is a good place to begin a search, but you never know who posted the information there or where they got it.” Mr. Spinner rolled a pen around in his hand. “So it's a good idea to check Internet information with other sources; newspapers, magazines, and books here in the library.”

I read that Eliza Harris was the subject of a book named
Uncle Tom's Cabin
, but she was a real person, too. She was a slave who found out that her owner was going to separate her from her child.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote
Uncle Tom's Cabin
, and it was very successful. The story of Eliza Harris was powerful and it opened the eyes of many to the horrors of slavery. Though it caused quite a stir, it helped to change many hearts and minds about slavery.

At one time, Harriet Beecher Stowe actually met Abraham Lincoln. When he greeted her, he was reported to have said, “So you're the little lady who started the Great War.”

As I read more and more about Eliza Harris, I was glad that I was doing the research on her rather than Tamika. The story of her escape across the frozen Ohio River was very scary. Several of the Internet links listed books that had information about Eliza Harris and I was eager to learn more.

Next, Mr. Spinner and I looked up Laura Haviland. She was cool, too. I couldn't wait to share all the information I had gathered about Eliza Harris and Laura Haviland with Tamika and Professor Tuesday.

My friend finally came back to school on Friday. She had been out for two days and she still looked kind of droopy.

I walked over to her desk before school started. “Are you okay?” I asked.

She hung her head. “I guess so.”

“Mr. Spinner has been helping me with my research.”

“That's good,” Tamika said softly.

“I can't wait to see Professor Tuesday with you next week,” I said. “Eliza Harris and Laura Haviland were really interesting women. Plus, I also learned about another person named Elizabeth Chandler. Laura Haviland and Elizabeth Chandler both lived in Michigan. And there's a really great book called Uncle Tom's Cabin.”

“Look,” Tamika said quietly, “I don't think I can meet with you and Professor Tuesday anymore.”

“But why not?” I asked. “Are you scared?”

“Kinda,” Tamika answered softly. “The more I learn and see, the more scared I get. And my nightmares are getting worse all the time.”

“I'm sorry about that,” I said, “but we are all perfectly safe. Besides, Professor Tuesday wouldn't let anything happen to us.”

“You don't understand,” Tamika said. A tear formed in the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. “It's just too hard for me to see and think about how horrible slavery was. The people we are seeing could be my relatives … my family. It scares me just thinking about it.”

“You are right,” I answered. “I probably don't understand like you do. But it's important to study history. Miss Pepper says that ‘history tends to repeat itself.' If that's true, we've got to make sure nothing like slavery happens again. We have to learn about it.”

“Well,” Tamika answered, “you'll have to learn about it by yourself from now on.”

I
didn't want to go see the professor all by myself on Tuesday, so I asked Mr. Spinner to come with me. We arrived at Professor Tuesday's office at 6:00 sharp. The professor was having his usual Tuesday night dinner: two pancakes and two sausages. I introduced Mr. Spinner.

“Oh, I know Mr. Spinner,” Professor Tuesday said. “He was one of my best students here at the university.”

“And I know the professor very well,” replied Mr. Spinner. “History was one of my favorite subjects in school, thanks to Professor Tuesday.”

The professor and Mr. Spinner greeted each other like old friends.

“Please excuse me,” said Professor Tuesday, “but I haven't had a bite to eat all day. And, this is my favorite meal of the week.” He offered to make us some dinner, but we had already eaten. Mr. Spinner and I talked and watched as Professor Tuesday smeared two pats of butter on his two pancakes and covered them with two big puddles of syrup.

“Where's your friend?” Professor Tuesday asked between bites.

“It doesn't look like Tamika will be coming anymore,” I answered.

Professor Tuesday put down his fork. “Really? Why not?”

I looked at Mr. Spinner before I answered. “All of this is very scary for Tamika. She's even having bad dreams about slavery.”

The professor wiped the corners of his mouth with his napkin and thought for a moment. “Ah, I see.”

“I don't understand it, I guess. She should want to learn about the Underground Railroad. After all, long ago some of her family escaped slavery in the south and traveled all the way to Canada. You'd think she'd be more interested in learning about it. I tried my best to get her to come tonight. I even told her it was important to study the history of slavery so we don't repeat it in the future. I learned that from Miss Pepper.”