Underground to Canada

by Barbara Smucker

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  IN THE SPARE BUT STURDY cabin of Jeb and Ella Brown, beside the wide dark waters of the Ohio River, four people slept. But the dog, Pal, stirred restlessly. His black nose, pressed against the door, sniffed a people scent which was growing stronger. He rose and paced nervously to the bed of his master where he tugged at Jeb’s sleeve.

  Jeb woke instantly. He’d trained himself for this, and he’d trained Pal.

  “Ella,” he said softly, nudging his wife who slept beside him, “there’s trouble comin’.”

  Ella rose at once. She made no sound, nor did she light her candle. The room was dark for the shades were still drawn, but she made her way quickly to the secret door and tiptoed to the mats where Julilly and Liza slept.

  “Julilly—Liza.” She shook them gently.

  The girls sat up, alarmed and dizzy with trying to remember where they were. Ella calmed them with a steady hand on both of theirs.

  “Pal smells people comin’,” she whispered. “It could be slave hunters.”

  Julilly felt cold fear creeping over her, making her body stiff and almost immobile.

  “Lord, help us again,” she breathed.

  “They ain’t gonna catch us now when we’ve reached the Ohio River.” Liza’s whisper was fierce and determined. “We’ll hide, or run, or even swim across that river, Julilly.” Liza’s look was one of bitter hatred.

  “Listen to me.” Ella Brown’s voice remained calm and steady. She walked to the centre of the dark room and jerked at something swaying against the wall. A rope ladder fell down, leading up to the window in the roof.

  “Roll up your mats and push them in the corner,” she continued, giving her instructions in the same calm voice. “Take everything that belongs to you and climb up this ladder. Pull it up after you. Then close the window and lay flat on the roof. Nobody’s been caught up there yet.” She left the room.

  The girls did exactly as they were told. Liza climbed up first because she needed Julilly behind to steady her. The roof was almost flat. They would have no trouble pressing against it, nor would they have any trouble hearing every sound inside the house.

  People were arriving on horseback and Pal began barking wildly.

  A voice boomed out of the darkness.

  “Jeb Brown, you tie up that dog in there or I’ll blow his head off …” This is Sheriff Starkey and a friend. We got a warrant and we aim to come in.”

  The girls shivered. They clung together and moved farther away from the window. Pal stopped barking and began to whine. The front door squeaked open.

  “You free nigger slave stealers in there, light some candles or a lantern. You want us to break our necks in this black hole?” It was the booming voice of Sheriff Starkey.

  Eventually the candles were lit. Liza and Julilly couldn’t see.

  The voice boomed on.

  “My friend here,” he shouted, “has come all the way from Vicksburg, Mississippi, huntin’ four niggers who ran away from the Riley plantation. They’re worth five hundred dollars apiece. That’s a goodly amount, and we’re aimin’ to catch them alive.”

  “Sit down, Sheriff.” The girls could hear Jeb’s voice, low and unhurried. “Do you want Ella to fix you somethin’ hot to drink?”

  There was no answer. Just a shuffling and scraping noise as if furniture was being pushed and shoved around.

  “If they’re in here, we’re gonna find them.” The Sheriff was still shouting. “People say you got somethin’ to do with that Underground Railway, Jeb. You just drop those nigger slaves into the ground and nobody ever sees them again.”

  There was still no answer from Jeb or Ella. Pal continued to whine softly.

  The scuffling noises continued. Julilly wondered if they might be pulling up the floor boards to find the “Underground Train.” What could she and Liza do against two strong men if they climbed onto the roof?

  Liza seemed to read her mind.

  “If they climbs onto this roof, we’ll jump,” she said. “We’ll run to the river and hunt for Jeb’s boat.”

  Julilly agreed.

  At last it was quieter in the house below. The talk was low and the girls couldn’t hear the words. Now and then there were hammer sounds as if one of the slave catchers might be trying to pound through a door.

  Julilly hoped she wouldn’t get dizzy or sick. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to shut out all the threats and poundings.

  At last the front door banged open and the hard steps of two men could be heard clomping over the porch boards.

  “We didn’t catch you this time, Jeb,” the Sheriff called from the back of his horse, “but we’ve got our eye on you. You hide any of those runaway niggers and we’ll put you and Ella both in jail and fine you a thousand dollars.”

  There were no words from Jeb or Ella. The door closed and the clatter of horses’ hoofs faded into the soft, black night.

  Julilly and Liza climbed slowly down the rope ladder and back into the dark secret room.

  Ella was already there. She drew the girls close to her.

  “That sheriff,” she murmured, “is a mean man. He’s gone now, but he’ll be back.”

  “Liza and I got to leave now,” Julilly said. She stood tall beside the other two. “We can hide better in the fields.”

  Liza started to speak, then suddenly fell lifeless to the floor. She lay twisted and limp like a wilted plant whose stem had lost all means of sustenance.

  Julilly bent down and shook her frantically.

  “You can’t just fade away from me now.” Julilly became desperate. “I need you, Liza. I can carry you.”

  Frail, bent Liza lifted her head. Her fiery black eyes seemed separate from the fragile body around them.

  “I’m comin’, Julilly,” she said fiercely. “I’m just restin’ and I need a drink of Ella’s hot soup.”

  Ella brought the warm broth immediately and held it to Liza’s lips. It seemed to revive her, and she slowly stood on her feet.

  “You need a good rest, child.” Ella’s voice filled with concern. “But it won’t do to keep you longer. That sheriff is comin’ back again tonight. I feel it in my bones.”

  Julilly shivered.

  Ella went on, “Jeb figures to get you across the Ohio River tonight. Listen now, he’s callin’ to see if he gets an answer from the other side.”

  The girls listened. The eerie tremolo-call of the hoot owl drifted through the open window in the roof. There was a pause and then it came again and again. They waited. Three answering calls followed faint but clear, sounding like a faraway echo.

  Ella was excited. “That hoot-owl call is the ‘river signal.’ It’s lucky somebody’s there tonight on the other side.”

  She moved quickly, gathering up the rope, then slipping through the secret door and untying Pal who was whimpering in a dark corner.

  “You follow Pal and me to the river,” Ella whispered to the girls. “Jeb’s gonna row you across.”

  At the river’s edge, Jeb was waiting in a small rowboat. It bobbed up and down on the ink-black water. Julilly searched for the opposite shore, but there was no end to the blackness. How would Jeb know where to go? Where would he steer this small bouncing skiff?

  Jeb held the boat steady against the shore as the girls climbed in. Julilly steadied Liza and gave her the nearest seat. No one talked. There was just the sniffing sound of Pal and splash of moving water.

  Jeb slipped onto the seat where the oars were anchored. He leaned toward Julilly and Liza and spoke softly. “Lean down, hold onto the sides and don’t make no sound.”

  Ella shoved the boat into the water and waved good-bye.

  “Ella and Jeb Brown are my friends forever,” Julilly thought.

  Jeb’s oars dipped noiselessly into the black water. He gave mighty pulls with his strong arms. The boat must not flow with the current. It must cut across it. Julilly and Liza strained to help him. Three tremolo calls of the hoot owl trilled through the air. Jeb answered wit
h a similar call, then turned the boat slightly upstream, responding to the “river signal.”

  For Julilly and Liza, the river held mystery and terror. They couldn’t swim. There had never been time or a place to learn. They had never floated over a river in a boat before. Julilly felt the lapping water hit her hand. Sprays of water spun across her face.

  Finally, the dim black outline of a shore appeared. A silent figure waved from the bank. Jeb threw him a rope and the boat was pulled silently ashore.

  The man tugging at the rope was white. The girls noticed this at once. There was no greeting between the two men, just nods of recognition. But Jeb did grasp Julilly’s hand and then Liza’s. He didn’t need to speak. The grasp was strong with warmth and courage.

  “These helpin’ hands is the rails and the engines of the Underground Railroad,” Julilly thought to herself. “All the way from Mississippi to Canada they is pullin’ and workin’ and makin’ a helpin’ chain. There is some good people all across the land.”

  The girls were led quickly to a horse-drawn cart. A large drawer pulled out be neath it and they were tucked inside. The drawer closed. There wasn’t room to move around, but there were warm, fresh-smelling blankets to lie upon.

  “Well now I feels like I is really on a railway underground,” Liza said quietly. There wasn’t a sliver of light in any direction.

  “We aren’t supposed to see,” Julilly chuckled. “Don’t you remember, Liza, we is just two packages of dry goods.” They needed to be light-hearted for a moment—to relax all the tight muscles that had held them frozen to Jeb and Ella Brown’s roof and to allow Liza to recover from her sudden faintness.

  The snug little drawer began jostling back and forth with the trotting of a horse and Julilly wanted to sing. Instead she thought the song inside her head—the way she had done long ago in the cabin at Massa Hensen’s farm.

  When Israel was in Egypt’s land

  Let my people go

  Oppressed so hard, they could not stand.

  Let my people go …

  A low voice spoke softly through the boards above them.

  “If all goes well, we’ll reach the home of Levi Coffin in Cincinnati by morning. If we are stopped, don’t make a sound.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  JULILLY AND LIZA were asleep when the cart with the hidden drawer drew up to a large corner home on Broadway Street in Cincinnati. A chill drizzle swept over the lawn and across the long porch of the house, which circled a row of tall windows and a wide front door. It wasn’t very light outside, but it was morning, and the leaves on the two spreading oak trees near the cart were shining green.

  A sudden opening of the drawer brought chill and rain over the sleeping girls. They woke at once and crawled stiffly onto the street. Julilly held onto Liza, who found it hard to walk. The driver guided them to the door. He knocked three times and called softly, “A friend with friends.”

  The door opened at once.

  Standing there to greet them was the tallest man Julilly and Liza had ever seen. His face was gaunt, as if he had sucked his cheeks inside his mouth. His blue eyes lifted them both up straight. There was no way not to look at them. They sought first Julilly’s face and then Liza’s, seeming to smile and weep and welcome them all at once. And above the blue eyes was a wide-brimmed Quaker hat.

  The tall man swept them all inside.

  “You have brought us some valuable-looking passengers this time,” he said to the shivering driver of the cart, who was covered with a cloak that hid almost every part of him.

  “Now you may switch off, put your locomotive in my stable and let it blow off steam.” The tall man laughed a little as he gave the directions. “We will water and feed it.”

  “Thank you, Friend Coffin,” the driver said and walked out of the door.

  Levi Coffin, Julilly realized, the “president” of the Underground Railway.

  Tall Mr. Coffin called toward another room.

  “I think we’ve got dry goods from Mississippi.” His blue eyes twinkled now with more laughter.

  A hearty woman’s voice answered.

  “Well, bring the two packages from Mississippi into the dining room.”

  A strong woman with a kindly face and dark-rimmed glasses met them. Her long grey dress and round white cap seemed to fit with the long coat and short knee breeches of her husband.

  “Poor dears.” She put her arm around both girls. “You are cold and badly dressed.”

  From a stool near by she grabbed some shawls and covered each of them. She led them to chairs around a long dining-room table.

  Julilly and Liza were startled. Four other black faces looked up at them, frightened faces with the look of rabbits caught in traps. Their hands were scratched, their hair matted; their clothes were muddy rags.

  In a moment of quick anguish, Julilly knew that she and Liza looked like them. They did not smile or say where they came from. There was just a grateful silence of acceptance.

  “Aunt Katie,” a young voice called from the kitchen. “You can come now for the food.”

  Julilly and Liza ate quickly. There was warm porridge in a bowl and hot coffee in a white china cup for each of them. Julilly slid both hands around the smooth warm vessel. It thawed the aching cold from all her fingers and made them seem less rough and bruised.

  As soon as the meal was finished, Aunt Katie and the girl from the kitchen whisked every dish from the table, and pushed all the chairs and benches back against the wall.

  “This is done in case the slave hunters come. There is no need for them to become suspicious over a pile of dirty dishes.” Aunt Katie smiled, then motioned for Julilly and Liza to follow her. The other slaves were sent with the kitchen girl.

  Levi Coffin and the carriage driver could be heard entering the front door. But they weren’t alone. A rough-voiced man was entering with them.

  Julilly’s heart jumped. He sounded like the sheriff from Jeb and Ella Brown’s house.

  “I know you are a respected store keeper in Cincinnati, Mr. Coffin, and a well-known Quaker”— the rough voice started softly but began getting louder—“but you are also known as the most notorious nigger thief in the whole state of Ohio.”

  There was no answer from Mr. Coffin.

  Aunt Katie grabbed Liza and Julilly by the hands and led them into the nearest bed-room. She threw back all the bedding.

  “Now I want you two to lie close together between the straw tick and the feather tick. I’ll puff them up to give you room to breathe.”

  Julilly and Liza scrambled into the bed.

  “You both lie quietly while I make up the bed,” Aunt Katie said calmly. “I’ll smooth the counterpane and put on the pillows.” She paused. “You would never guess two people were tucked away inside.”

  The girls could hear the creaking of a rocking chair.

  “I will pray for thee.” Aunt Katie’s voice was firm and steady. “And don’t you worry. Levi has no fear of the searchers. We seldom lose a slave to them.”

  The slave catcher with a voice like Sheriff Starkey could be heard from the dining room.

  “Four valuable slaves have escaped from the Riley plantation in Mississippi.” The searcher’s voice was angry now. “The owner wants them back and he’s offered a good price. I’ve been following them and my trail comes right to this house.” He paused. “Why does a respectable man like you get mixed up in this devilish business, Coffin? I’ve got a legal warrant to search these premises.”

  The low, deep voice of Levi Coffin answered calmly and almost gently.

  “My good man,” he said, “I never conceal my opinions and I try not to give offence. But this you must know: at all times I obey the commands of the Bible and the dictates of humanity in feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and aiding the oppressed. And the good book mentions no distinction of colour in the doing of these deeds.”

  Julilly could hear each word. She listened carefully. Mister Coffin was saying that the Bible didn’t
care about the colour of people. If they needed clothes and food, you gave it to them.

  There was a long period of silence and then a knock at the bedroom door. The kindly voice of Levi Coffin was formal as he pushed the door open and said, “Sheriff, this is where my wife reads and sews in the early morning hours… Catherine, Sheriff Donnelly seems determined to search our house.”

  Julilly held her breath. She felt that if she moved even a finger the sheriff might see. What if Liza coughed? Her skin felt damp and cold.

  “Good morning, Sheriff. It’s too bad you must be out in such stormy weather. Perhaps I should come to the kitchen and warm you some coffee.” Aunt Katie spoke sweetly.

  The sheriff sounded embarrassed. He stuttered. “It wa-wasn’t my intention to dis-dis-disturb a lady in her bedroom.”

  The two men left the room, closing the door behind them. Their voices became a mumble.

  Aunt Katie’s rocker ceased squeaking. Julilly and Liza barely breathed. They were waiting for the large front door to open and close.

  When it did, and before Aunt Katie could turn the coverlets back from the bed, Levi Coffin entered the bedroom again. He was breathless and his calmness was noticeably shaken.

  “The sheriff has gone, Catherine, but I feel certain he will be back soon with more men for a thorough search of our house. I think it best that we dress all the slaves warmly and put them on the noon freight train for Cleveland.”

  “You are right, Levi.” Aunt Katie’s voice was no longer sweet, but hearty and practical once more. Her husband hastened down the hallway to warn the other slaves.

  “You may come out now, girls.” Aunt Katie whisked the coverlets to the bottom of the bed. “The boys’ clothes are a good disguise, but they didn’t fool me.”

  The girls scrambled from the bed, tangling their feet in the soft, clean-smelling blankets.

  “I know you have had a good scare,” she said, “and so have I.” She walked to the near-by window and pulled the curtains apart.

  “This dark grey day is on our side. Levi is right; we must get you both into Canada as quickly as possible.”

  Julilly and Liza stood quietly together in the centre of the neat, homey room. They felt like two leaves blown in from the rough winds of the field and forests. They were frightened and bewildered. Would the Lord keep protecting them from the slave hunters that followed them everywhere? How would they ever manage without all these brave people who kept helping them? Where was Levi Coffin sending them? Would the Underground Railway this time be a real train? Would they ever get to Canada?