Miss Katie's Rosewood

by Michael Phillips

  “I knows I’s takin’ a dreadful liberty comin’ here like dis, ma’am,” said Jeremiah, following them inside. “But I’s been jes’ countin’ da days,” he added to Katie, “when I knowed da two ob you would git here. I knowed from Mayme’s letters. An’ I’s jes’ couldn’t wait an extra day ter see her. I had ter come.”

  In her enthusiasm, Katie had momentarily forgotten. But now she remembered. Her excitement vanished.

  Nelda and Katie glanced at each other. Katie didn’t know what to say.

  By now they were inside the house and Jeremiah was glancing about. He was wondering where Mayme was!

  “An’ where is dat girl ob mine!” he said, still beaming broadly.

  “I’m afraid there is some bad news, Jeremiah. Mayme’s not here.”

  “Not here! Why . . . didn’t she come?”

  “We left together, but something happened on the train . . . we got separated, and when I reached Philadelphia, Mayme wasn’t on the train.”

  “Well, where is she, den?”

  “Jeremiah . . . we don’t know. We haven’t heard from her. She’s missing.”

  Jeremiah slumped into a chair, for the moment more disappointed than worried.

  “Would you like something to eat?” asked Nelda, slowly recovering her surprise at having a young black man sitting in her parlor.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” said Jeremiah, “but I’s not so hungry jes’ now. Dis ain’t good news . . . no dis ain’t good news nohow.”

  Gradually Katie told him what had happened, about what the stationmaster had said, and about Rob’s visit.

  “Dere must be somefin’ we kin do!” said Jeremiah at length.

  “But we don’t know where she is. Rob told me to stay here in case she came or sent word. And now I don’t even know where Rob is!”

  “Den I’s stayin’ too. Dey kin fire me from dat job effen dey wants, but I ain’t leavin’ here till we find my Mayme!—Beggin’ yo pardon, ma’am,” he said, turning to Katie’s aunt. “Does you know someplace dat ain’t too far from here, a boardin’ house or hotel where dey’d put up a colored man?”

  Katie glanced hopefully at her aunt, but wasn’t sure what she would say.

  “Uh, well . . . there are hotels, in the colored part of the city,” she began. “But that is several miles—it would be a long walk for you. And . . . it seems . . . well, uh, Jeremiah . . . if you would like . . . that is, to stay here with us, I, uh . . . have several extra rooms, and . . . you would be welcome.”

  “Dat’s right kind er you, ma’am. I’d appreciate it more’n I kin tell you. But that’d be too much. I could stay in yo carriage house. You shore you doesn’t mind?”

  “Not at all,” said Nelda. She appreciated the young man’s tact. She smiled. “After all, I uh . . . I understand that you and Mayme will be married one day.”

  “I’s hopin’ one day not too long from now, ma’am. Dat’s why I’s up here workin’, so’s I kin save enuf dat we kin afford ter git married.”

  “Well, as I was saying, that almost makes you one of the family, doesn’t it?”

  “Thank you, ma’am. Dat’s real good er you ter say.”

  NEAR WOLF’S COVE

  34

  ROB RODE HARD.

  He and Heyes had separated about ten miles from the coast, and Rob was now riding as fast as he dared toward Wolf Cove. He only hoped he would not be too late.

  There had been no sign of the federal authorities.

  Dusk closed in, then night. But he continued on by the light of a partial moon. According to the map, he should be two or three hours from the sea. He should reach it in the early hours of the morning.

  Two hours later, on the crest of a small hill about half a mile away, Rob suddenly saw the outline of several riders in the light of the moon. Quickly he reined in and stopped. They were moving in the same direction toward the sea. He must be extremely careful now. He must track them without a sound, without their suspecting he had caught them. But he must also close the ground between them enough to listen, to find out who the ringleaders were. Since he was alone, when he made his move he had to be absolutely sure of himself.

  For another hour he tracked them, drawing steadily closer. Besides the half dozen riders, he saw no sign of the captives and heard no sound of wagons. Were they on foot?

  Twenty minutes later he realized he had lost them.

  He dismounted, tried to get his bearings, then struck out slowly on foot in the last direction where he knew he had seen them. They couldn’t be more than two, maybe three hundred yards ahead. They had probably stopped to camp for the rest of the night until the ship arrived.

  He crept along inch by inch, listening and smelling to detect any hint of a fire. Yes, there it was! A whiff of smoke . . . faint, but straight ahead of him. They must have made camp.

  If only Heyes were here! The two of them could circle around and get the drop on them from opposite sides. It had probably been a mistake to split up, but now, how could he—Suddenly a figure sprang out of the undergrowth to his right.

  Before he could react, Rob found himself caught in the clutches of a powerful man, his wrist clamped behind his back with such force that any attempt to escape would break his arm. Another man stepped in front of him, holding a pistol to his chest. A third relieved him of the reins of his mount.

  “I think you had better come with us, son,” said the first.

  “We’ve got him,” another called softly into the darkness. “He was following us all right. He seems to be alone.”

  Shoving him forward, his arm still wrenched painfully behind his back, Rob found himself walking into a clearing where half a dozen men stood or sat around the small campfire he had just smelled.

  Beside one of the men stood a girl. His eyes immediately went to her. In the darkness, he could not be sure, but—She looked up, saw him, and gasped in astonishment. She jumped to her feet and rushed forward.

  “Mr. Davidson,” she exclaimed. “I think . . . I’m not completely sure in the dark, but . . . this man looks like Rob Paxton!”

  “I am Rob Paxton,” said Rob.

  “Then what—”

  “Is that . . . is that you, Mayme?” said Rob.

  “Yes . . . yes, it’s me!” I cried. “What are you doing here!”

  “Trying to find you!” laughed Rob.

  “Me! How did you know that I needed finding!”

  Another man walked up. “Apparently you men can release him,” he said. “Miss Daniels, perhaps you can explain what’s going on.”

  “I don’t know!” I laughed. “All I know is that this isn’t one of the kidnappers! He is a friend of ours!—How did you know I was out here in the middle of nowhere, Rob? How did you know I wasn’t with Katie?”

  “I saw her.”

  “You’ve been with Katie!”

  “When you didn’t arrive in Philadelphia, she wired me and I came looking for you. The sheriff and I thought that you might have been involved with a string of kidnappings we had been hearing about. We had leads pointing down in this direction, specifically to Wolf Cove. That explains me . . . but what are you doing here?”

  “We’re looking for the kidnappers too. I managed to escape and these people helped me, and now we’re trying to rescue the others.”

  Mr. Davidson had been listening to everything we were saying, trying to figure it out, just like I was. He now stepped forward. “I’m sorry for the rude treatment,” he said. “We had no idea who you were. I am Richmond Davidson.”

  “I am pleased to meet you, sir,” said Rob. “I am Robert Paxton.”

  The two shook hands.

  “Then it seems,” said Mr. Davidson, “that the most prudent course of action at this point is for us to join forces.”

  “I’m only one man,” said Rob.

  “But one who almost managed to sneak up on us without being detected.”

  “Almost,” laughed Rob. “But it turned out that you won that little battle of wits.”
<
br />   Davidson laughed with him.

  “Nevertheless, something tells me that you are a very resourceful young man.”

  I could not help thinking that as they each looked into the eyes of the other, even just in the flickers of a small fire, they saw something that created a lasting bond of camaraderie and friendship. I got the idea that, rather than being where they were, they would each like to be somewhere alone where they could sit down and have a long talk together.

  But if that’s what they were thinking, neither said so in words, only by their expression. And under the circumstances, such a time would have to wait.

  RESCUE

  35

  It was an hour or so after Rob had overtaken us. A couple of Mr. Davidson’s men had gone on ahead from where we stopped to rest and had discovered the kidnappers where they had camped for the night at Wolf’s Cove. The blacks were all huddled together. They could hear humming. Every once in a while the kidnappers yelled at them to shut up. But by now most of the black men suspected what was going on and that they were to be sold. They figured they would not be shot because there was no money for dead men nowadays. Had the kidnappers known what to listen for, they would have heard in the humming a dialogue about whether it was better to be a slave or be dead. The old woman had whispered to one of the men that I was gone. But they didn’t know if I had escaped or if one of the men had tried to have his way with me, and they were trying to communicate about what would be the best way for them to escape too, without endangering the women and children. The ship hadn’t come yet.

  As soon as the scouts returned with the news, we doused the fire and hurried to the place as quietly as we could. By then I was so tired and sleepy. I had probably managed only a couple hours of sleep at the two or three places we had stopped to rest over the last day and night. Now that we had caught up with the kidnappers, we had to decide what to do to rescue the people I had been with on the train.

  Mr. Davidson and his men and Rob were all whispering about what to do. The kidnappers were doing exactly the same as when I had been with the group—two of the men were on guard, while the other slept. They would soon herd their captives aboard a ship, and that would be the last these former slaves ever saw of the United States of America!

  I had just heard Mr. Davidson say, “If only we could get some of them away without charging in. It would make it less likely that anyone got hurt.”

  I had an idea.

  “Mr. Davidson,” I said. “What if I snuck in close and lay down and pretended to be part of the group again, and slowly went to some of the ones who were furthest away from the kidnappers. I could whisper to them to try to crawl away toward the woods when the men were looking the other way.”

  “Hmm, it might be a little dangerous,” he said.

  “If they hear me, or come to see what I’m doing, I’ll pretend to have just woken up. Most of the people aren’t asleep anyway. They’ll just think I’m one of the group and tell me to shut up. They might not even have noticed I’m gone.”

  “But you’ll be placing yourself in danger again.”

  “You’re going to rescue everyone anyway, aren’t you?”

  “We certainly hope so! I just don’t like to see you at the mercy of those men again.”

  “I think it’s worth a try,” said Rob, who had been listening. “By the time they realize something’s wrong, we could have half the group with us and safe. We have to get the drop on all three of them at once. If the slightest thing goes wrong, some of these people could get hurt.”

  “I see what you mean,” Davidson said, nodding. “And you are the only representative of the law we have here. So I bow to your judgment.”

  Rob thought a minute more.

  “All right, let’s try it,” he said. “But, Mayme, you must promise that at the very first sign of trouble, you will quietly and carefully get back to us. Do you promise? For Katie’s sake, I cannot let anything happen to you.”

  “I promise.”

  “In the meantime,” said Mr. Davidson, “we’ll sneak around so that we’re ready to make a move when the time comes.”

  “All right, see what you can do, Mayme,” said Rob. “But if you think there is any danger to any of those people, stop at once.”

  I nodded. “Mr. Davidson, do any of your men have a blanket?” I asked.

  A few minutes later, with the blanket huddled around me, I crept toward the place where all the people were spread out on the ground, with a campfire at the far end where two of the men were sitting. When I got close where they might be able to see me, I lay down and, like I had before, rolled and inched my way slowly into the group. Then I lay still, tried to listen and see if I could recognize any of the people by the flickering of the light from the fire, then gradually inched my way into their midst.

  The man next to me I remembered as a single man forty or forty-five years old. I thought he would be someone good to try to talk to first. If something went wrong, it would only be to the two of us.

  I nudged at him gently. When he stirred I got as close as I dared to his face.

  “Shh . . .” I whispered.

  “But what—” he began.

  “Shh . . . don’t say anything,” I whispered. “Can you hear me?”

  “I reckon,” he whispered.

  Around the rest of the group, the men who were awake were humming and whispering so we could whisper ourselves without being heard.

  “There are some men in the woods behind us who are here to help us.”

  “Where’d dey come from?”

  “Never mind that. Can you help me try to wake up a few people and get them to the woods? We’ve got to be real quiet.”

  I left him to think about it. I rolled to my opposite side and did the same thing with a single woman I also remembered. She didn’t have to be told twice. Within seconds she was crawling away—a little too hastily, I thought! But we were far enough from the fire that they couldn’t see us clearly in the darkness and she made it to the woods safely. By then I faintly heard the man I had woken up waking up one of his friends. The next people beside me were a man and his wife. In another minute they were gone too. Then a few feet away I saw the old woman I had sat next to. I nudged at her. When she heard my voice she recognized me immediately.

  “I wondered if you’d come back, dearie,” she said, “or ef dey’d done somethin’ to you.”

  “Shh . . . stay as quiet as you can,” I said. “There are some men that have come to help us.”

  “Praise da Lawd! I knew somebody’d come!” she whispered.

  “Can you crawl over that way?” I said. “They’re waiting for you in the woods.”

  “I don’t know ef I could wiffout dem seein’ me. But I feel better jes’ knowin’ you’s back. I’ll jes’ lay here an’ wait. I’s be fine. You go help da others.”

  She reached out and gave my arm a squeeze, then I crawled on a little further.

  The first man was now humming and mumbling in song so faintly the kidnappers didn’t even hear any change in his voice. But around the other group a few more of the men began to look around while they kept up their low singing and gradually word began to spread. The kidnappers probably thought we were all dumb, like cattle being led to slaughter, and though they occasionally yelled at us to quiet down, they weren’t really paying much attention.

  The two men on guard must have been sleepy too because some of the people the man and I woke up made a little too much noise when we startled them. And one little girl cried out for a second or two. But neither of the men got up and came looking to see what was going on. Eventually I think twelve or fifteen people made it safely to the woods, maybe even more—I couldn’t tell exactly because it was dark. But I was slowly getting closer and closer to the fire, and finally one of the women I tried to wake up who had been sleeping real soundly got so startled she cried out.

  “Hey, what’s going on there!” one of the men said. He slowly stood and wandered toward where I was lying. “Wh
at are you doing there?”

  For a moment I was terrified. Then I remembered that Rob and Mr. Davidson and his men were close by and were probably watching me and waiting for a chance to run in and grab the men. It was probably a stupid thing to do, and I did it without really thinking how dangerous it might be. But what went through my head was that it might help them if I distracted the men for a few seconds.

  So I stood up.

  “Nothing’s going on,” I said. “I just woke up and need to make a visit to the woods.”

  I walked straight toward him. “Is it all right?” I said.

  “Who are you?” he said, coming toward me. “I don’t remember you.”

  “I was on the train with everybody else—” I began, still walking toward him so he would keep looking at me.

  Suddenly from the woods there was running and several men appeared and the man found himself surrounded and grabbed by Mr. Davidson and two of his men. He swore loudly, but they held him so tight, even as big and strong as he was, that there was nothing he could do. At the same time, several other men ran to where the big black man had been sitting by the fire. At the first movement he reached for his gun. But they grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet before he could get to it.

  But they didn’t know where the third man was who was still asleep. Neither did I.

  He had woken up as soon as the man who had heard me yelled out. Seeing the commotion and men running out of the woods, he rolled over and grabbed his rifle and swung it around and pointed it right at Mr. Davidson.

  A shot exploded in the night.

  Screams and shouts sounded from those who were still asleep, terrified to wake up to gunfire. With them came a huge yell of pain and terrible swearing. Everybody jumped up and people were running around and yelling in panic and confusion.

  I looked toward where the shot had come from as the echo died away. There stood Rob with his pistol in his hand, about ten feet away from the man he had just shot in the arm.

  Mr. Brannon and several of the black men ran out from the woods and grabbed hold of the wounded man, both to keep him from trying anything else and to bandage his arm to stop the bleeding.