by Mikki Sadil
He picked up the knapsack, but stopped abruptly. “Oh no.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Jesse growled. “Why you stop before we even get goin’?”
Ben shook his head. “We need a lantern to find the trail I made. I left marks on the trees, but without a light we can’t see them. I didn’t think to bring the lantern that was in the larder.”
Jesse reached out and grabbed Bess by the arm. “Come on, woman, we go back. This here boy gonna bring us nothin’ but troubles. We go back ’afore Massa Tom wake up.” His voice was a growl, and Ben saw the anger on his face. It made his stomach twitch, and in that moment, he knew Jesse was not someone to cross.
Bess twisted out of her husband’s hand. “Jesse, you fool, you. We’re not goin’ back so Massa Tom can sell our boy.”
She turned to Ben. “What do we do now?”
“There’s a lantern in the horse barn. I’ll go back and get it, but you get into the woods so nobody can see you. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
Jesse glared at Ben, but he guided Bess and Josiah into the woods. When Ben was satisfied that no one could see them, he took off at a run. He slowed down at the corrals, but nothing was moving. A couple of the horses nickered softly as he scurried into the nearest barn, causing a barn owl to offer a mild screech before it flew out. A breeze whiffled through, bringing with it the combined odors of sweat, horse manure, and faintly, the semi-sweet fragrance of the oil Ben used on the horse leathers.
When he reached the bench next to the tack room door, the lantern wasn’t in its usual place. He groaned, fearing it was in the locked tack room. He moved cautiously in the darkness, but his knee hit something hard, and he swore under his breath, glad that his mother wasn’t around. Ben felt around under the bench and found the lantern lying on its side. He picked it up, found the packet of matches still on the bench, and eased out of the barn. He looked around and started running for the forest.
When Ben reached the small group huddled together, he lit the lantern.
“Stay close, because I’m going to hold the lantern down as far as I can, so the light can’t be seen from behind us.”
What had been hard going in daylight, on horseback, was very nearly impossible on foot and in the dark. Sharp grasses, prickly weeds, and heavy vines scraped and twined around their legs. The brambles were thick and covered with thorns that caught in pant legs and Bess’s skirts, and tore at their hands when they tried to remove them. Fallen trees meant slowing down to climb over them, which was very hard for Josiah. He stumbled several times, and Jesse had to pick him up and carry him until the forest smoothed out a bit. They had passed two of the marked trees when Ben stopped. He looked at the tree with the “E” carved on it and realization dawned on him. “Dang it! We can’t leave it this way.”
“What, Ben? What’s wrong now?” Bess was looking at him curiously, but Jesse had another scowl on his face.
“I just realized if we can find our way by the marked trees, so can the slave hunters. We’ve got to cover up the carved letter as we pass each one. I don’t know exactly how to do that, though.” He stood staring at the tree, as if it might offer him a suggestion.
Bess and Jesse stared at him, not fully understanding what the problem was. Just as Jesse started to say something, Ben grinned.
“I’ve got it! Wait here, I’ll be right back. Don’t go any farther.”
He took the lantern and ran back through the trees until he found the first “E”. He took out his knife and carved a downward arrow below the letter. He came back to the second “E”, and carved an arrow pointing to the left, and another to the right.
Jesse shook his head and mumbled, “That boy crazy. He gonna get us in trouble, I knows it.”
Ben looked at him and laughed. “No, Jesse, I’m not crazy. I’m going to put arrows pointing in different directions on each tree I’ve marked. If the hunters do come this way and see them, they won’t know what the arrows mean or which direction to go in. Hah! I’m brilliant!”
The marked trees made it easier for them to work their way through the forest, but it still took much longer than Ben thought it would, especially now that he took the time to carve arrows below each of the “E’s”. Some arrows went down, some up, others to the left or the right. Ben hoped they would confuse anyone who came looking for them.
When he finally stopped, he had no idea how much time had passed since they left the plantation. The soft whoo whoo of barn owls broke the silence. He raised the lantern high and the mellow light cast shadows upon the rough surface of the barn. The memory of the slave who had come after him made Ben hesitate. Had they found the barn and tried to hide here? Or perhaps, somehow, found the hidden room and subsequently, the tunnel? He looked closely at the ground, but there were no new footprints around the barn doors. It doesn’t matter, he thought. This is the only chance we’ve got.
Ben handed the lantern to Bess and ran up to the doors. They creaked and groaned, but opened more easily than they had the first time.
He started in before he realized that Bess and Jesse weren’t following behind him.
“Bess? What’s wrong? We need to get inside. Hand me the lantern.”
“Ben, what is this place? Do you knows what you are doin’? How come we stop here, not go on to find the river?” Bess and Jesse were staring at him, clearly frightened.
“Oh, horsefeathers! I forgot I haven’t had the chance to tell you much of anything. Come on, get inside and I’ll explain it to you. It’s safe, I promise you.”
Ben spoke patiently as he told them about the barn, the secret room, and the tunnel beneath. “We’re all right, Jesse, I promise. I know where the room is, and I’ve seen the tunnel. Slaves used it a long time ago when so many were running away. We’ll go through the tunnel, and when we get out, we’ll be far away from the plantation. Come on, Jesse, please trust me.”
What he didn’t tell them was that he had no way of knowing how long the tunnel was, where it would end, or how they would get out of it.
Chapter Seven
As Ben held the lantern up, the light flared on the tall mounds of rotten debris, casting ominous shadows on the barn walls. The wind was coming up; it snarled through the cracks in the walls. Ben’s hair prickled just as it had done before, but he signaled for the others to follow him as he headed straight for the hidden door. Air began to move, and carried with it the stench that permeated the interior.
When Ben started to shove aside the mass of decayed hay and horse manure, Jesse roughly pulled him away. “Boy, you got no sense no how. You push that stinky stuff with your bare feets, that’s what them dogs gonna smell. You just wait.” Jesse reached into Ben’s knapsack and pulled out one of his work shoes. Using it as a kind of shovel, Jesse pushed the mound away from the door and threw the shoe as far as he could out into the middle of the barn floor.
“Gimme ’nother shoe. Dogs come, they smell shoes, not our feets. You gonna open this here door or not?” Jesse was scowling again.
Ben pulled out the other shoe, glared at Jesse, but rubbed it in the manure pile before he tossed it out into the darkness. He rescued the old bucket he’d thrown in the stall, climbed up on it, and carefully stuck the key in the keyhole. When the door was open as far as it would go, Jesse squeezed through and helped Bess and Josiah into the narrow room.
Ben jumped off the bucket and told Bess to hand the lantern to Jesse. “Hold up the lantern, Jesse. The iron ring is on the floor under that old rug.”
Jesse pushed aside the rug and the pale light sparked against the ring in the floor. He pulled hard, and the trap door sprang open, revealing the menacing blackness of the hole below. He and Bess looked down into the hole without speaking. Finally, Jesse said, “So this here tunnel gonna take us to freedom? You sure of that, boy?”
Before Ben could answer, Bess yanked the lantern from Jesse’s hand. “I am sure of Ben. Now you either gets down in the hole, ole’ man, or you gets out of my way so’s I can get down there. You hear
me?”
Jesse muttered something under his breath, sat down, and scooted over to the hole. He dropped his legs over the side and into the darkness. Ben squeezed into the space left by Jesse and waited for him to speak. Seconds later, Jesse’s voice came up from the hole, hollow and echoing against the dirt walls. “Ben, you hand me Josiah feets first.”
Josiah whispered, “Mama?” His small body quivered.
Ben put his arms around Josiah and pulled him to the opening. “Josiah, don’t be scared. Your papa is down there, and he’s going to get you so you won’t fall. Come on, we’re going to have an adventure.”
Josiah was stiff with reluctance, but he allowed Ben to lower him into the hole until he felt Jesse grab Josiah’s legs. Jesse’s voice was muffled as it rose from the dark hole.
“I got Josiah. Bess, you come down.”
While Bess was inching toward the hole and swinging her feet over the edge, Ben’s heart began thudding again. His mouth dried out like a boll of cotton after a rainstorm, but his hands were slick with sweat.
I can’t do this, he thought. I can’t get down in that dark place.
Bess’s voice floated up to him. “Ben, come on, ever’thing goin’ to be fine.”
The slaves depended on him. He shook himself to shake off the specter of fear that engulfed him and dropped the blanket, knapsack, and his shirt with the food wrapped in it down into the hole. He handed the lantern down to Bess. Before he could think any more about it, he let himself drop. He felt Jesse’s hands steadying his legs, his feet touched the hard ground, and he was in the tunnel. Bess handed the lantern to him.
“We follow you, Ben. This here tunnel goin’ to let out somewhere. We just got to find it.”
He held the lantern up and stared uneasily at the unusual patterns the dim yellow light cast upon the earthen walls. As he looked, he could see decaying beams of wood that had at one time been the support system for the tunnel.
Swallowing hard, he started walking. The air was warm and moist, most likely from the water that seeped from the walls and formed fetid pools on the ground. As they moved forward, they came upon earthen steps cut into the ground, leading them downward. Soon after the path straightened out again, Bess gasped and pointed to a cavity cut into the dirt wall. Inside lay a skeleton, half-leaning against the remnants of a crude cross. Bess whispered, “Ben, that be a slave who didn’t make it through?”
“Probably, Bess, but I don’t know for sure. Let’s just get past it, okay?”
Occasionally, one of them stumbled over loose rock, or someone’s feet crunched on the bones of small creatures that had scurried down into the tunnel, perhaps looking for refuge, or a place to build a nest. Pieces of disintegrating cloth lay along the way, most likely torn from the running slaves by the rough rocks that stuck out at odd angles. Other relics were strewn here and there — a broken crutch, bits of candles, a smashed lantern, all whispers of times past when the tunnel was used regularly as the first step in a bid for freedom.
They struggled on and Ben had no idea how long they had been walking. The odors that came up from the dirt were foul and rancid, making it hard to breathe. Sweat streaked their faces and trickled down Ben’s body, making his clothes wet and clingy. The tunnel narrowed until the grimy walls rubbed against them, even though they were walking in single file. Ben could feel the claustrophobia mounting, as though the walls were closing in on him, but he kept going. A noise came from behind them — it sounded like a human groaning with a gigantic bellyache. They stopped, and immediately felt a tremble beneath their feet.
Ben sucked in his breath. “I think we need to hurry and get out of here.”
Jesse was half carrying Josiah, whose crippled leg had given out on him, and his breath was coming in gasps from the extra weight. When the tunnel widened a bit and then forked unexpectedly into a Y, Ben stopped and Jesse bumped into him.
“Why you stoppin’?” Jesse’s voice was low and menacing.
“The tunnel branches off. I’m not sure…” Ben’s voice trailed off.
Jesse laid Josiah down gently on the ground. He swiped a large hand over his face and said, “We be stopped for a while, anyways. I got to rest somewhat.”
Ben put the lantern down and sat next to it, with Bess beside him. His heart thudded; this was not something he expected. For whatever reason, he had thought the tunnel would be a straight shot until it ended by opening out into another barn, or maybe even close to the banks of the Ohio River.
“I didn’t expect the tunnel to fork like this, to branch off the way it does. It has already had so many turns I’m not sure if we should go straight or take the fork to the right.”
Ben stared at the ground, indecision slowly becoming fear.
Jesse slammed his hand on the ground, causing dust to swirl and a few small dirt clogs to fall from the tunnel roof. “You best make up you mind quick, boy. You take us this far, you take us all the way, you hear me?”
Josiah, who had been dozing, sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Papa, what’s wrong, why you yellin’?”
Bess put her hand out to him. “Ever’thing’s all right, Josiah. We be makin’ decisions, is all.”
She glared at Jesse. “You choose, Ben. We’ll be all right. I trust you.”
He thought hard. It seemed like the Ohio River should be to the left, but with the tunnel not going in a straight shot, and with the river also curving and turning, he had no idea where it might be now. He swallowed, and said as calmly as he could, “I think we should keep going straight.”
He lifted the lantern high and started walking. At first, the tunnel widened which made for easier walking, but soon it began to go upward and get narrower again. It turned to the left and then to the right, back and forth like a snake slithering to find a place to hide. The ground became more uneven. The dirt walls gave way in places to large outcroppings of rocks that scraped painfully against their arms. Another bellyaching groan came from behind them. Ben shivered as he walked.
He was short of breath, and he could hear Jesse panting behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Josiah leaned heavily on his father, who couldn’t stand up straight because of the tunnel’s lowered ceiling. Ben started to say something when the tunnel ended abruptly, with no opening or door above, nothing but a solid dirt wall.
He stopped and Jesse bumped into him, causing Josiah to fall.
“What you doin’? You crazy, boy?”
“Sorry, the tunnel just stopped. We’ve got to find a way out.” Ben felt claustrophobic again as he realized there was nowhere to go. He put the lantern down, and examined the dirt wall closely. It was just what it seemed to be — a wall of dirt and rocks, with bits and pieces of grass growing here and there.
Bess’s voice came from behind Jesse. “What you mean, it just stopped? Maybe there be a trap door, like last time.”
“No, Bess, there’s nothing here but a solid wall of dirt.” Ben’s heart raced, but he didn’t know if he should be afraid or just frustrated. He had to figure something out, and do it quickly.
While Bess and Jesse sat down behind him, with Josiah leaning against his father, Ben’s mind was whirling as fast as the wheels on a runaway wagon. Abruptly, a noise came from behind them. It sounded as if a hundred horses were stampeding toward them. A cloud of dust rolled out of the darkness behind them. The tunnel was caving in.
Bess screamed. Ben shouted, “Be quiet. Everybody, just be quiet and don’t move.” He didn’t know if noise and movement would bring the tunnel down on them any faster, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. He looked at the dirt wall in front of him. Digging out was the only answer, because they surely couldn’t go back now. He turned to Josiah’s mother. “Bess, can you reach my knapsack and get my knife out? I can try to dig us out with that.”
She found the knife, and handed it to Ben, just as another section of the tunnel collapsed behind them. The rotten beams were crumbling, causing tiny sharp pieces of wood to fly in all directions. Clogs of
dirt fell on top of them, and a second dust cloud enveloped them, making it even more difficult to breathe.
The noise in the tunnel was horrific. The sandy earth came crumbling down, bringing with it rocks and bits of bones that had been buried for centuries. Ben dug frantically into the wall, coughing and choking. The dust grew heavier, extinguishing what little air there was. His knife broke through the dirt and the wall caved outward. Fresh air, scented with the fragrance of the woods in front of them, filled what was left of the tunnel.
Ben scrambled upward through the narrow opening onto heavy grass. He turned and leaned back into the hole. “Jesse, give me Josiah, quick. Then you and Bess get out of there before the whole tunnel falls in.”
In just moments, all four had collapsed onto the cool grass in the clean, fresh air. A growling roar emanated from the ragged tear in the ground as the earth from which they had come fell in upon itself. In another moment, all that remained was a huge hole, extending back into the forest as far as they could see. After the explosive clamor of falling earth came an eerie silence, as even the night sounds of the forest around them were mute.
Ben looked up through the trees. The faint streaks of dawn were beginning to creep in. “We’ve got to keep moving. That tunnel collapse was so loud my pa probably heard it.”
Bess let out a small cry. “Oh Lawd! Ben, we left everything in the tunnel. We gots no food, no lantern, nothing.”
Josiah leaned against his mother. “Mama, my toys, them that Ben makes for me, theys all gone, too?” Fat tears rolled down his cheeks.
Bess hugged him tight against her. “Lil’ bird, Ben make you some more someday, right, Ben? When we gets to freedom, and ever’thing is settlin’ down.”
Ben nodded, but his attention was back at the point where they had climbed out of the tunnel. He saw a small piece of fabric sticking out under the dirt.
He scratched away the dirt and rocks, and retrieved his shirt, still tied securely. He brushed it off and looked it over. “The shirt is fine, and the food is still in it. Maybe a little dusty inside, but that’s okay. It’ll have to last until we can find more.”