American Dreams Trilogy

by Michael Phillips

  “Moses,” he said, “see if thee can find a rope in there and get it over the head of that gray one there. I’ve seen Mister Roper on him. I reckon he’s fast enough. Hurry.”

  In another two minutes Moses was on its back. Aaron lifted Deanna from behind Mary on Midnight and set her behind Moses.

  “Hang on to thy brother, girl!”

  Another two or three dogs started barking.

  A light in the house went on behind them.

  “Papa, they hear us!” cried Deanna.

  Aaron hurried back inside, blew out the candle, then jumped up onto Midnight’s back and reached around Mary’s waist for the rope.

  “Hold on, everybody, we don’t want anyone falling off! Thee’s got thy rope, Zaphorah… Moses?”

  They clomped out of the stable into the yard. Still hoping not to be heard, Aaron led them at a slow walk toward the main road. By now the horses were snorting and whinnying, their hooves echoing on the hard-packed dirt.

  “Hey… what’s going on out there—hey… Vincent, get up and get outside!” they heard Sutton Locke cry. “They’re after the horses!”

  “Let’s go,” cried Aaron.

  Aaron kicked at the stallion’s flanks. Within moments they were galloping away in the night. By the time more lanterns began flickering from several windows of the main house, they were two hundred yards away and flying along the road, with most of the other horses galloping after them.

  Five

  Cecil Hirsch was a man who believed in fate. One could not count on Lady Luck making an appearance at the opportune moment. But when she did, the prudent man acted without delay.

  What were the chances, he said to himself, walking along a street in the Union’s war-tense capital of Washington, where he himself had only planned to be for a day, that he would see one face out of all the faces in the world? Especially one who was not even supposed to be in the country from the last he had heard?

  But it was her… he was sure of it!

  Hers was not a face he would mistake, no matter how many changes had taken place upon it. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. Stunning was the only word for it. And yet with a certain hint of care and weariness about the eyes—useful qualities for the man who knew how to exploit them.

  What was she doing here? he wondered. Not that it mattered. She was here, and suddenly his brain spun with possibilities.

  Best of all, she had not seen him. It would give him time to make a few inquiries… and plan his next move with care.

  Aaron Steddings rode his family as hard as he dared for an hour.

  A half moon breaking through the clouds gave them enough light to keep their mounts on the road. The other horses from the plantation followed for a mile or so and then one by one turned back. But by the time the master and his son were able to get a couple of horses in from the pasture and saddled, Aaron thought they would be far enough away that they would not be able to pick up their trail. None of the dogs, in their condition, would last a fraction of this distance.

  Their chief worry was getting too close to other plantations. They would be recognized as runaways in an instant. And the three horses, while giving them an advantage of speed, were also visible, noisy, and impossible to hide.

  Traveling on horseback also made nighttime travel more difficult. To have a chance Aaron knew they somehow had to make contact with the Underground Railroad network.

  When he judged dawn perhaps an hour away, Aaron began looking for a place to get off the road where they could hide out, rest, and sleep for the coming day. He had changed directions several times as they came to crossings, hoping that in every case they kept moving further from the Locke plantation. He had always had a pretty good sense of direction. He would try to get better bearings after the sun came up.

  The others were exhausted, frightened, and probably more than a little bewildered about their sudden escape. He didn’t want them falling off their horses in the darkness! He had been preparing for this night for a year in secret. It was hardly any wonder they were confused and tired. They needed a rest.

  Gradually he slowed the pace and scanned both sides of the road in the dark. After crossing a bridge over a small stream, seemingly where no farmhouses were around, he led the way off the road. They continued a short distance along the stream, then stopped. Aaron dismounted and helped the others to the ground.

  “We’ll stop here awhile,” he said. “We can drink and clean up and we’ll have a little something to eat, though all we have is more dried meat.”

  After he had watered the horses in the stream and tied them so they could graze in the nearby grass, Aaron sat down beside his wife. The four children were already dozing off.

  “Before thee is all asleep, I want to talk to thee and tell thee what we’re trying to do,” he said. “I know this has taken thee by surprise, but I wasn’t going to let anything happen to Mary. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner, but I thought it best nobody know so that nobody would let a word slip. I considered it safer if thee didn’t know. I have planned for a long time how we could get back home. But we had to wait till the right time, and I figured when that Locke boy did what he did, well this was it. So here we are.”

  “Does thee think we will get home, Papa?” asked Mary. Being the oldest it was natural for her to lapse into the familiar talk.

  “I don’t know. But if we don’t try, we never will. Who knows how long this war will last or what will become of us when it’s over. But thee two girls were bound to get put with a man soon. Maybe we already waited too long. Maybe I should have tried for us to escape a long time ago. But I was afraid of something happening to thee, and I thought as long as we were together and safe and healthy, well that was still a lot to be thankful for. A lot of slaves don’t have a family like we do. We have been fortunate and the Lord’s been good to us. But it looked to me like times were going to change. And I listened all this time, picking up little bits here and there. I think I have an idea which direction runaways find that railroad. I hope and pray I’ve done the right thing. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to any of thee. I’m sorry for getting thee into this mess in the first place—”

  “Oh, Papa, it wasn’t thy fault!” said Mary. “Thee has been the best papa ever. And the way thee saved me from that terrible boy, made me so proud of thee. Thou should have seen him, Moses. He knocked him right unconscious.”

  “Aaron…?” said Zaphorah.

  “I’m afraid I lost track of the Testimony of Peace for a minute or two,” said Aaron. “But when I saw what he was doing, I couldn’t help it.”

  “Well, I’m proud of thee, Papa,” said Mary, “and very thankful for what thee did.”

  “Now this is going to be dangerous,” Aaron went on. “There are still lots of bad things that can happen, and they’ll be looking for us, so… if we should get separated, I’m telling thee find other slaves… try to get with other runaways and get to a Quaker safe house. Tell them thee are Friends too. Tell them thee lives in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Suzane, thee is too young to know what it’s like there, but that’s where we are going. Remember that name—Mount Holly. It’s in New Jersey. That’s our home. So ask thee of Quaker folks to help thee get there. All Quaker folk know where Mount Holly is. It’s a famous Quaker town.”

  “Why you and Mary talking funny, Papa?” asked ten-year-old Suzane.

  “Because that’s how Friends talk, and we’re free now. We don’t have to pretend to be slaves any more.”

  “I’d almost forgotten,” said Mary dreamily. “It sounds so nice to hear thee talking like Friends again, Papa.”

  “All right, now,” said Aaron, “let’s all try to get some sleep.”

  The four children were all fast asleep as dawn began to break. Aaron and Zaphorah dozed together, Zaphorah leaning against her husband’s chest with his arm around her. As Zaphorah came to herself she knew Aaron was awake.

  “What Mary said before,” she said, “—that goes fo
r me too… for us all. I’m so proud of thee. Thee always tried to take the best care of us thee could.”

  “I didn’t feel I did much of a job of it,” said Aaron. “Now that we’re away, I wish I had tried to escape before.”

  “Thee couldn’t help what happened. We were slaves. It was dangerous. Thee kept us together, and we still are together. Now thee has gotten us away from there. But, Aaron,” added Zaphorah, “how will we know where to go?”

  Aaron reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper that had been folded many times. “This is the map that Mr. Borton gave me when we set out for his sister’s,” he said. “I kept it hidden all this time, just waiting for this day. I knew someday we would have our chance. I waited for the right time. I think I know where we are, and where his sister was. We’ll try to get to her place, even if we are ten or eleven years too late.”

  “Won’t they come after us?”

  “I reckon they will. But we’re going to keep moving and they won’t know which way we went. Of course we need to watch out for bounty hunters and suspicious white folk, and we should move only at night. But if we can follow this map, I don’t think Virginia’s that far.”

  The Steddings family had been clomping along slowly for two or three hours since darkness had fallen. They had been away from the Locke plantation for three days and Aaron estimated they had covered eighteen or twenty miles. They had not moved fast but had made steady progress northward. They had not, as he had hoped, seen other runaways or so much as a hint of Underground Railroad activity.

  They were also getting very hungry. The dried meat was gone. It was too early for apples. All he had managed to find was a planted field of potatoes. But raw potatoes didn’t do much to satisfy four vigorous growing young people. Tomorrow, while they slept, Aaron had decided to try to get close enough to a farm somewhere and make contact with its slaves in hopes of getting some food for his family. It would be dangerous walking about in broad daylight. But he couldn’t let them get so weak they were unable to travel. And perhaps too, he could ask if anyone knew of underground stations in the vicinity.

  Aaron continued to reflect on his plans for the following day.

  Suddenly lights flashed in front of them. Burning torches lit up the road. Four or five white men he did not recognize stood barring their path thirty or forty feet ahead.

  The horses whinnied and reared briefly. Aaron reined back and pulled them to a stop as they pawed and moved about nervously.

  “All right, it’s all over now,” said one of the men, walking toward them with a great burning torch. “You’ve had your little fun, but you’re not going any further. We heard there was some runaways coming our way, and since I’m a little shorthanded on account of the war, I figured you’d do me right nice. Now get down off them horses.”

  But Aaron Steddings had not come this far to give away his new freedom as easily as that. He did not even pause to think.

  “Follow me!” he cried, turning back toward the others. He kicked his heels into Midnight’s sides and galloped off the road. “Hold on to me, Suzane!”

  Zaphorah followed, Mary clinging to her waist for dear life.

  “Hey, nigger boy—come back here!” yelled the man after him. “You can’t get away—we’ll track you down if you try to run!”

  But Aaron was already gone and Zaphorah and Mary right behind him.

  Bringing up the rear, Moses kicked at Pale Dawn, urging her after his father and mother. But seeing the first horses gallop into the darkness, the man ran forward to stop him.

  The mare reared high in terror from the flame of his torch. Momentarily losing his balance, Moses leaned up onto her neck desperately clinging to the halter. Behind him Deanna shrieked and slipped. But the man was yelling and the horse whinnying and Moses did not hear her.

  Moses righted himself as Deanna slid off the mare’s back and fell to the ground, then whipped and kicked Pale Dawn forward into a gallop. Moses flew past the man, knocking him to the ground, and disappeared after the others in the night.

  Aaron slowed the moment he was out of danger to wait. Seeing the outlines of the other two horses coming up behind him in the darkness, he did not pause to look more carefully. He quickly led off again, and they rode hard through trees and then open pastureland for perhaps another ten minutes. The terrain was uneven and they bounced and jostled about hardly able to keep their seats. Finally Aaron reined in to regroup and make sure the men were not following them. As they slowed and he stopped bouncing about, suddenly Moses realized he was alone on Pale Dawn’s back.

  “Deanna’s gone!” he cried.

  “What… where is she?” said Aaron in alarm, leading Midnight over to his side to see for himself.

  “I don’t know,” said Moses in a panic. “She must have fallen off!”

  “When… what happened?”

  “I don’t know—the horse reared.”

  “Where, Son… where could she be?”

  “I almost got thrown off too. One of those men rushed at us. He was trying to grab me and I just kicked and tried to get away. I didn’t know she wasn’t behind me. I’m sorry, Papa!”

  “Thee didn’t know, Son,” sighed Aaron. He paused to think. “All right… I’ll go back and look for her. Wait right here.”

  “Oh, Aaron… no—please,” implored Zaphorah. “What if something happens? Why don’t we all go?”

  “We can’t risk that—not with those men.”

  “But, Aaron… what if we get separated!”

  “We can’t leave her back there, and I don’t want the rest of thee in more danger. I’ll go back and find her. If something happens, remember what I said. We all will get home, one way or another. Zaphorah, thee must take care of these three and thyself.”

  “Aaron… please!”

  “Just wait here.”

  “But how will thee find thy way back in the dark?”

  “I’ll find it. Wait here and get some sleep. If we have to we’ll sleep here tomorrow. Don’t leave this place. But if I’m not back by tomorrow night, then thee’s got to move on.”

  “Oh, Aaron… I can’t do it alone!”

  “If thee has to thee can. Don’t worry… I’ll be back.”

  Aaron disappeared into the darkness, leaving mother and two daughters and son alone.

  Midway through the morning a terrified Zaphorah Steddings heard the sound of a single horse coming toward them.

  “Moses!” she whispered. “Somebody’s coming!”

  “Get down… Mary, Suzane, lie down,” said Moses, running to his sisters.

  “What about the horses?” said Zaphorah after him.

  “We can’t worry about them now.”

  They crouched low and waited. Slowly the sound came closer and closer.

  “It’s Papa!” cried Suzane.

  They all jumped up and ran to meet him. But their excitement was brief. The eager smiles on their faces disappeared the moment they saw the expression on Aaron’s face.

  He was alone.

  “There is no sign of her,” he said, shaking his head dejectedly. “I found the place where those men surprised us, and saw the signs of the horses and scuffling about. But Deanna wasn’t anywhere to be found. They must have got her.”

  “Oh, Aaron!” exclaimed Zaphorah, bursting into tears as he climbed down. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know… we need to think.”

  Aaron went to the nearby stream, and knelt down and washed his face and hands, took a long drink, then came back and sat down. The others gathered around in silence.

  Finally Aaron spoke. “I think there’s only two things we can do,” he said. “I figure either I go back looking for Deanna myself, that way if anyone else is caught, it’s only me, while the rest of thee goes on and tries to get to that Underground Railroad… or else we all keep on together. I don’t see what else we can do.”

  “Oh, Aaron,” said Zaphorah, her tears flowing again. “How can we possibly go
on? Wouldn’t it be better for us to stay together even if we do get caught?”

  “Thee wants to be a slave again?”

  “No, but if we’re together—”

  “But we wouldn’t all be together. If those men got her, and we go trying to get her back, they’ll just capture us all. Maybe somebody gets hurt. Then they’re likely to split us up anyway.”

  Zaphorah sat weeping. Aaron reached his arm around her and pulled her to him. She burst into tearful sobs. Moses sat silent, filled with remorse and guilt that he had ridden off and left his sister behind.

  “Look, Son,” said Aaron, “what happened wasn’t thy fault. If thee’d gone back, thee would have been caught too.”

  “Then maybe I could have helped her,” said Moses glumly.

  “Thee doesn’t know that,” said Aaron. “We must suppose what’s happened is for a reason. Maybe thee is still with us for that reason, whatever it is.”

  A long silence followed.

  “We need to go,” said Aaron at length. “Otherwise those men could come looking for us too. We have got to commit Deanna to the Lord, and then move on. There is nothing else to do.”

  Six

  The years of the 1850s had been relatively calm for the Cherokee nation. Rivalry between the Ross and Ridge groups settled into a peaceful, though mistrusting, alliance on the Tribal Council, enforced by a federal treaty imposed upon the two groups to put an end to the early years of violence in the West. Watie became speaker of the Cherokee National Council. But though they now had to work together, he always blamed Ross and his followers for the murder of his brother, cousin, and uncle. And with the first sounds of cannon fire against Fort Sumter in 1861, the fifteen-year truce among Cherokee factions broke asunder.

  The many and conflicting motivations that led the states of the North and the South into war cannot compare to the hundredfold complexities to engulf the Cherokee. What began as “the white man’s war” soon led to bloody feuds in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma. Ancient animosities were stirred up, and vendettas long nourished in secret broke out afresh at the scent of blood in the air.