Narrative Synthesis

“If… the machine of government… is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say break the law.”-Henry David Thoreau

The act of breaking the law with the intention of protest is called civil disobedience. Civil disobedience has taken many forms, from protesting to refusal to pay taxes. Many people have preached about the importance of civil disobedience in a democratic society. Henry David Thoreau insisted that individuals have the duty to speak out against injustices committed by their government. It is said that government is a reflection of the people, doing everything in societies’ best interest, but quite frequently the government does the opposite of what is in our best interest. When the British Empire wrongfully taxed the American Colonies, Thoreau felt it was his duty to boycott these taxes to make it clear that they were unjust, he did this willingly accepting the consequences, a night in prison, to prove that if the acts of the government are wrong then the people need to do whatever it takes to change them. There have been countless acts of civil disobedience in the course of history. A perfect example of civil disobedience is the Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad was a system of routes and safe spots connecting fugitive slaves to freedom in the northern states and Canada. The Underground Railroad had countless conductors and allies throughout all of America. They all aided a select few oppressed people escape the atrocities of slavery by making it easier for them to hide from the people chasing them. It was not an easy task escaping from a plantation, and those caught were subject to very cruel punishments. During slavery, quite a few Americans realized that the act of enslaving a human based on simple biological differences was unjust and completely wrong. Not to mention the way the slaves were treated, little food, long exhausting hours, constant abuse, many Americans felt that nobody deserved to be treated this way and that it should be stopped immediately. All of these reasons caused one of the largest accounts of civil disobedience, involving two different social classes and hundreds of people working together to liberate a society, making the Underground Railroad largest and most justifiable act of civil disobedience in American history.

It took thousands of people to catalyze such a revolution. The abolitionist movement grew over time as more people supported it and aided in the abolition of slavery. Many of the allies and conductors were abolitionists (a few were former slaves) all were hoping to free the slaves by aiding them anyway they could. The conductors helped the slaves on their quest for freedom by directing them, leading them, and hiding them. The conductors would lead the slaves the safe houses on the way up north. The owners of these houses were free citizens willing to help the slaves who were in desperate need. They would supply them with food, shelter, and clothing. Sometimes they would even supply doctors to help heal the people stricken by the atrocities of being a fugitive slave. Levi Coffin was a key figure in the Underground Railroad. He was said to have housed a hundred slaves a year for 33 years. His neighbors had mixed views about what he did. They told him that what he was doing was wrong and illegal, that he should not be helping black people do anything let alone help them do something illegal. He had a very strong philosophy, much like Thoreau's, that if an act committed by your government is morally wrong to you then you must invest your opinion in protest and answer to a higher power such as God or simply yourself. You have to stick to your moral values and combat the forces acting against your beliefs. He went on to say, “I told them that I felt no condemnation for anything that I had ever done for the fugitive slaves. If by doing my duty and endeavoring to fulfill the injunctions of the Bible, I injured my business, then let my business go. As to my safety, my life was in the hands of my Divine Master, and I felt that I had his approval. I had no fear of the danger that seemed to threaten my life or my business. If I was faithful to duty, and honest and industrious, I felt that I would be preserved.” (Coffin) Levi Coffin and thousands of other Americans helped fugitive slaves even though they were risking their own wellbeing. They believed so strongly that the treatment of slaves was wrong that they did not consider the legal consequences, and they helped slaves in anyway.

It is hard to see how something as backwards and as morally wrong could be a national institution fully supported by the government. It was obvious that America's priorities were driven by money, and the government would do anything to capitalize. This is why slavery gained national support so rapidly. Manufactures saw a cheap, beneficial way to make money sot they turned the slave trade into the largest influencing factor in our nation's economy. The people that were once Africans were harvested out of their home villages and turned into a product then sold to wealthy colonists that already controlled most of America. Africans were immediately changed from living breathing people to pieces of property waiting to be seized. Once they were purchased they were treated like nothing more than an animal on a farm. They were fed and worked. The only difference between cattle and slaves was that farmers were above eating other humans. William Still, an abolitionist, an Underground Railroad conductor, a historian, and a civil rights activist, wrote about a slave named Perry Johnson and the atrocities committed towards him. He explains that Perry's master was abusive to say the least, “Perry had the misfortune to let a "load of fodder upset," about which his master became exasperated, and in his agitated state of mind he succeeded in affixing a number of very ugly stationary marks on Perry's back. However, this was no new thing... This lady he pronounced to be a "perfect savage," and added that "she was in the habit of cowhiding any of her slaves whenever she felt like it, which was quite often." (64) The Americans against slavery saw what was wrong with treating a whole race this way, so they made it clear to the government and the slave owners that they felt this way by helping the slaves escape.

The conductors and allies of the Underground Railroad had very justified reasons to help the slaves evade the people chasing them and slavery in general. Without the aid of the people who made up the Underground Railroad many slaves would have had no chance of making it to freedom. Running from plantation owners was not an easy feat. As soon as a slave escaped they would be chased by their owners, dogs, and professional slave catchers. Moses Grandy speaks to the issues faced by fugitive slaves, “They hide themselves during the day in the woods and swamps; at night they travel, crossing rivers by swimming, or by boats they may chance to meet with, and passing over hills and meadows which they do not know; in these dangerous journeys they are guided by the north-star, for they only know that the land of freedom is in the north. They subsist on such wild fruit as they can gather, and as they are often very long on their way, they reach the free states almost like skeletons.” If the slaves did manage to make it to the forest and hide from the hunters, they would have to deal with hunger and the elements of being shelter less in the woods. If the slaves were caught they would be drug back to the farm and punished. The punishments consisted of lashings, verbal abuse, and death. Sometimes the slaves would be hung in front of the whole town to be an example to other slaves. The weak, poor slaves were no match for the prosperous plantation owners and the power of their money. Most slaves could not have made the journey alone, but with the aid of the Underground Railroad at least 100,000 slaves escaped into freedom.

It is very obvious that the Underground Railroad was a courageous act committed by selfless Americans who were just trying to show the government that slavery was wrong and help the slaves themselves. The conductors and allies of the railroad had every justifiable reason to do what they did. The treatment of slaves alone is enough to show that helping slaves escape was the right thing to do. Enslaving a whole race also adds to the fact that the Underground Railroad was a justifiable act. Whether the people who participated in it knew they were changing the government or not, the Underground Railroad was still the largest and most justifiable act of civil disobedience ever committed.

I am Apollo Jenkins

I am Apollo Jenkins. My mama birthed me in a little shack on a big farm in Kentucky. Both of my parents was took by white men from their home in Africa. The men tied them, and the other people they stoled, to a big tree branch and walked them all the way to the ocean. Then they made my mama and my papa get on a big canoe that already had jus’ about a thousand other stoled people on it. They sailed that canoe all the way acrossed the ocean and sold my parents to the white man with the most money. My mama always said that she was lucky cause her and my dad was sold to the same master. She says that I should be thankful that my father was there to raise me good cause most slaves don’t get to see they fathers. Still, I aint never felt like I should be thankful cause I’as still a slave and I aint never had no say in that.

I was the property of Jasper Christian-Beller. Jasper was a tall man with real broad shoulders and dark brown hair. He had a real stern face and the kind of eyes that make your shiver every time you looked into them. I never knew for sure, but I guessed he was about forty years old. I could tell he had been working slaves for a long time cause he knew how to handle us, and didn't no slave ever cross him without paying for it. He owned me, my family, and about seventy other slaves just like me. His papa gave him the farm we done worked on, and he aint never worked a day in his life. He owned a real perty farm, and if I wasn't a slave I would'a liked the place. It had real long fields with plenty of space for us to work. Us slaves lived in shacks on the west side of the fields. His house was right at the beginning of the farm and it looked out over the fields. His house always gave me the feeling that it was watching us when he wasn't. All he ever done was watch us slaves and sleep. He loved to sit up on his horse and trot up and down the fields looking for any slave doing what he aint supposed to. It seemed like every time someone put down his hoe to take a break he’d be there waiting to lash him. He liked to catch us slacking off just so he could get down off his horse and go to lashing us like he was beating an egg. I grew up as a child in fear of this man. Every time I seen a shadow standing looking over me my stomach would tie up into a knot so tight I’d think I’as never gonna be able to eat again. It was even worse when the shadow was Jasper cause I knew that if he was around I’as in trouble. He always liked to beat me. Whenever he got a new cow tail he’d take me to the back of my shack and break the whip in on my back. He would tell me that he had to work in the leather on something soft before he took it to the rough skin of a old slave. I aint never seen a man in my life that was as cruel as Jasper Christain-Beller, and I’as unlucky enough to had been birthed onto his farm.

I spent every day of my life as a child working. I'as worked so hard I hardly even got to play. None of us kids did. Our master would work us to the bone and never let us have no fun. As soon as I hit ten I had dreams of running from that farm and making it to freedom. I used to think up the things I would do if I ever made it to freedom. The idea always stayed in the back of my head. I didn't never try through cause I was to scared.

One day, when I’as about forteen years, I’as working the field with my hoe, digging up dirt to put cotton seeds into for next year’s crop, when Jasper walked up to me and said, “Boy, you best put down that tool and come over here cause I got something to tell ya.” Now I was scared every time I seen Jasper, but this time I was more scared than I had ever been in my life. When he told any slave to stop working there was something very wrong. He spent the whole day telling us to work harder, so if he told you to stop you best be scared. He done the same thing to my friend Jimbo and he took him inside the house and Jimbo aint never come back out. Nobody ever knew what Jasper did with Jimbo, but I was dead certain the same thing was ‘bout to happen to me. So I set down my hoe and walked over to Jasper.

I walked up right in front of him and said, “What is it sir?” I kept my head down the entire time cause I did not want to make him mad at me for looking him in the face.

He told me, “Boy, follow me into that there house cause I got something to tell you and I don’t want none of the others around to hear it.” He had a deep southern drawl and the kind of voice that would make the most ravenous dog stop barking. Hearing those words made my bones rattle and my skin crawl, but I did as I’as told so I followed him into the house in silence. I’as in my head wondering why he done chose me. I worked jus’ as hard as any other slave and I aint never acted up or gave him no lip. But like I said Jasper always liked to pick on me. I couldn’t never figure if I had done something or if he just hated me more cause my skin was darker than the others.

So we walked to his house, it was a big white house with green shutters and pink roses out in the front of the porch. I aint never seen the inside of it cause he aint let no black slaves into his perty white house. The closer we was to the house the more scared I got. It seemed like every step I took was jus’ bringing me closer to my death. When we got to the house he opened up the door and shooed me inside, then he said, “Boy, I want you to take off them shoes and sit there on that couch,” He pointed to a brown leather couch on the far side of the living room, “Don’t even think about touching nothing or trying to lift anything from my house, cause I know what’s here and I’ll know where to look if something turns up missing.”

“Yes sir,” I replied, “I aint gonna take nothing master.” My throat was so dry that I could barely muster up saliva to say nothing. I took off my shoes and walked over to the couch that he pointed at. Jasper followed me with his eyes the whole time until I sat myself down on the couch. At this point I’as beyond terrified. It was a peculiar feeling cause I’as so scared I didn’t feel nothing at all. It was kinda like I’as was too scared to be scared. So I sat there on the couch waiting for him to say something. He was jus’ staring off at the other side of the room like there was an apple pie sitting on the far windowsill and if he took his eyes off it, it would run away. It was so quiet in the room that it almost hurt my ears. The longer he stared, the more time I had to be in my head making up stories about what he was gonna do to me. It seemed like fifteen minutes had gone by before he said nothing.

“Boy!” It was so quiet that hearing him talk made me jump almost up out my skin, “You’ve been a good slave. You always worked hard and you aint never talked back to me.” As soon as I heard this I’as relieved, I thought to myself maybe he aint gonna end me right now. “Shoot, I sure was lucky snatching up your mom and paps, who’d a known that them two bunnies would have six kids,” he said as if he was talking to himself and not me, “And hell, you the best one out of all the other kids. I know you’d fetch a pretty penny at auction, so I decided that I’m a going to sell you.” As soon as I heard him say auction I knew what was coming next, and about four seconds later he said what no slave wants to hear.

My eyes welled up real big and my throat got real tight and I said, “But sir, you can’t sell me. What am I s’possed to do without my family and my friends? I aint never lived nowhere but this here plantation you can’t jus’ up and root me from my home.”

“You's my property and if I want to turn you for a profit, I’m a gonna do it.”

“B-but sir…”

“B-but sir what?” He interrupted me harshly, “You’s my property and I’ma do what I want with you. I could paint you purple and hang you from a tree, if I wanted to.” By the time he said this he was angry and his face was red and swelled up like a tomato.

“But why sir, I been a good slave and I aint never done nothing wrong, why are you selling me?”

“The same reason I bought you, to make money.” He smirked a little, crediting himself for moving his property in the way of money.

That night I couldn’t sleep. I spent the whole night in my head thinking about a thousand things. I kept asking myself what I did to deserve to be sold. I tried to think of a time where I done something wrong, or some reason why he would decide to sell me and not one of the others. I got scared every time I thought about what my new master was gonna be like. I thought what if he’s as bad as Jasper, or what if he’s even worse? What if he gets me home and decides he don’t like me and then kills me? What if the other slaves don’t like me? I had jus’ about a thousand questions and I felt like I’as alone and I’as scared to tell my mama cause I did not want to break her heart. I know's it was gonna be hard for her to lose her first born son, so I decided right then and there that I was gonna try and escape. I had heard about other slaves making away. One man told me that there was a group of people who wanted to help the slaves escape cause they knew how we was treated was wrong. But alls I knew about running was you follow the north star and if you are lucky you gonna reach a place where black people are allowed to be free. I was gonna run from that farm and not stop until I’as dead or free.

The next night I made sure to give my mama and papa a big ol’ kiss and a hug before I went to bed cause I aint know if I’as ever gonna see them again. That was the night I’as gonna make a break for the north. All I had to take with me was the bread that I saved from dinner and the clothes I’as already wearing. Soon as everyone had layed down and falled asleep, I decided it was time to leave. I pulled the covers off my body and I stood up and starting to make for the door. I was trying to keep the floor from creaking so that way I didn’t wake anyone. I took small steps being real gentle on my feet like a lion sneaking up on his dinner. I held my breath the whole time until I was to the door cause I was scared I would breath too loud if I opened my mouth. When I got to the door I reached my hand out real slow and grabbed the door knob. I knew that as soon as I turned the knob the whole door was gonna creak and I would have to run for my life. I stood by the door for a moment to say bye to my mama and papa real quietly under my breath. I knew they wasn’t gonna know I said bye, but I did it anyway. Then I put all my attention on that door. I wanted to open it as quietly as I could. I turned the knob and I could hear the screws and gadgets inside the door start to move around and make little dings and pings. It seemed like it took a hour for that door knob to finish turning, but as soon as it did I flung the door open as fast as I could and bolted off running like a coyote chasing a small animal of some sort. I didn't even take the time to close the door behind me cause I knew that I needed every second I could get to escape from that farm. To get off the farm I had to run past all of the other slave houses and then the fields and then the masters house.

It was atleast a half a mile before I'as off Mr. Christian-Belller's farm, but boy when I got off that farm I swear I aint never felt so good in my life. It was like I had a lead ball chained to my ankle for my whole life and then someone chopped it off and told me to run. My rush was so big that I wasn't scared none, even though I knew I had jus' about a thousand reasons to be scared. I ran and ran right along the side of the road for atleast a hour. I wanted to put as much space between me and Jasper as God would let me. When I finally got tired of running I stopped to catch my breath. I stood on the side of the road panting like a dog and all I could hear was my voice and the sound of the crickets. Hearing the silence was a good feeling cause as soon as I stopped running I started to get scared. It started to set in that I had actually run away. I had always thought about doing it, but it always seemed like a dream that everyone wanted to do but never did. But I did it, so I'as jus' like the type of slave that I done heard jus' about a thousand stories about. I don't think that I had ever felt so many things at once. I was happy, scared, excited, tired, and thirsty. By then I had catched my breath and I started walking again.

As I walked along the road I started to think about my situation. I was in my head thinking about all the different things that I had to do. I had to keep walking and try and find my way to the north. That must a been my main goal. I wanted to make it to the free states and take in a big breath of air, cause I always imagined that the air in the free states must taste a lot sweeter than it did in the slave states. Then I had to keep an eye open for the people that was soon to be chasing me. Well, atleast I figured that some people was goin be chasing me at some point. But really didnt know who it was gonna be. I made up my mind that Jasper would chase me down on his horse following the nose of his dogs, but I didn't know if he was gonna hire someone to help him that was jobbed to catch us runaways. I done heard about them guys. I heard they was fast and mean and they could find a sugar cube in a lake. So, I'as scared about that cause I figured if they could find a sugar cube, then they could find a big ol slave. Then I had to think about my food, and I'as already thirsty. I knew that the small piece of bread I had wouldn't last me more than a day or so. I got real nervous thinking about how I'as going to find food. I aint never had to feed myself before. I didn't know how to hunt animals or what plants I could eat, but I figured I'd be able to find something to eat cause squirrels could do it and I'as at least as smart as a squirrel.

So I kept walking and walking. It was pretty boring cause I got real tired of walking in silence so I decided to sing. I only knew one song. It was a song my mama taught me to sing when we was in the fields. I sung the words real quietly to myself cause I'as scared to sing loud in case of someone hearing me:

Swing low, Sweet chariot

Coming for to carry me home

If you get there before I do

Coming for to carry me home

Tell all my friends, I'm coming too

Coming for to carry me home

Finally, when I started to see the sun come up I walked into the forest to find a good spot to hide myself cause I knew that I was easy to be seen in the daylight and that would make it real easy for someone to find me. I decided right then that I'as not gonna walk during the day, so that way I'ld a have a better chance of not being found. I walked straight into the forest for a good while until I was a well distance from the road. Then I found a big bush that backed up to a big grey rock covered in fuzzy moss. Then I layed down and had me the best sleep I think I ever did. I was mighty tired from all the running and I needed time to rest.

I jolted awake jus' past mid day to the sound of a bird chirping. I jumped awake and realized that it was jus' a bird and got real mad that a little bird scare me like that. But then I realized that I shouldn't be mad at the bird cause he was just doing what God made him to do. So I layed my head back down and tried to go back to sleep. I couldn't fall asleep for a while though cause I was hungry and my tummy started to get real mad at me for not feeding it. I said sorry to my tummy, and that I'as just doing whats best for the both of us. I wanted to save my bread as long as I could so that way when I'as close to dying I could eat the bread and live a little longer. I finally made myself fall asleep and I woke up again to the sound of a bird. But this time I wasn't mad cause it was almost night time and I'as ready to start moving. As I'as waiting for the sun to go down I sat up thinking about the farm. I'as wondering what Jasper was doing, even though I knew he was probably just out trying to find me. And I wondered what my mama and my papa thought when they woke up to an open door and an empty bed. It made me real sad knowing that I left my mama and papa, but I decided to try and not think about that cause if I'as gonna make it to the north I had to be strong and not let sad thoughts weigh me down. In about a hour the sun had gone down and I decided to start moving.

I stood up and started to walk back towards the road, but then I stopped and decided to see if I could find myself some food. Then I realized that waiting until the night to look for food was a bad idea cause I couldn't see nothing. I tried to feel up bushes looking for berries and edibles, but I couldn't find none. I even tried my luck at catching a little ground animal that ran by my foot. I dived at the ground where the animal was and I missed and filled my mouth full of dirt and twigs. I stood back up and brushed myself off and muttered something about how the dumb animal was playing tricks on me. I got back on the road and started making my way towards the north-star. I walked for about an hour and I came to an awful weird spot in the road. All the forest started to move closer to the road and everything started to feel real closed in. I started to get scared cause I thought if someone was to come down the road I wouldn't see them coming and I'd have no time to hide. And like I said before, I never thought that I had good luck, cause as soon as I went around the next bend I runned into a group of people.

I froze in my tracks and my heart sank into my feet and in that second I decided that my run was over and these people was going to capture me and kill me or worse give me back to slavery. Now, it was mighty dark and I couldn't make out their faces or what color their skin was but they still saw me. I'as only about twenty feet away from them. I could make out six people and I could hear them whisper to each other but I couldn't hear what they was saying. One of the guys in the front walked right up to me and said, “What's your name boy.” He was a white man about four inches taller than me and his breathe smelled like coffee. I stood there and stuttered, trying to spit out my name, but he spoke before I could. He said, “It doesn't matter cause your coming with us.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to were all of the other men were standing. I looked at the other men and they was all black. I couldn't muster up anything to say cause I'as so scared and confused, but I did what I was told so I stayed among the other men. They all stayed silent to, and jus' like that they started walking. We started to follow a trail that started right off the road and went into the heart of the forest. The man in the front spoke up one more time, he said, “Common everybody we gotta hurry up if we gonna make the next station by daybreak.”

Hearing this confused me cause I didn't know who these people were or where they was taking me. I didn't know what a station was, but the only thing that I could think of was it was a place were they take black people to be sold back into slavery. There was no doubt in my mind that I'as done for. But I just kept following the group cause I couldn't think of nothing better to do to get myself out of the situation. We walked at a fast pace as if the white man in the front was being chased by someone, but I just figured he didn't like being around us black people so he wanted to get rid of us as soon as he could. Now, I didn't like following this group as much as I liked walking by myself. They walked to fast for me and I'as already hungry and thirsty. Plus, we was walking on a trail so it wasn't easy walking like that of a flat road. I didn't know what time of night it was cause I couldn't see the stars through all of the trees, but I just wanted the walk to be over so I didn't have to spend more time caught up in my head thinking about what was goin' to happen to me.

We walked all night with out stopping and then the sun started to come up. I don't know why, but this scared the leader so he started walking as fast as he could. By this point we was almost running and I thought I was gonna die. I was watching the leader as we walked and he seemed just as scared as I was. Every time he heard a twig snap off the trail his head shot in the direction it came from. This raised my suspicions that someone was chasing us, but I didn't ask or nothing cause I was too scared.

After walking in haste for about an hour after the sun came up we reached the station. The trail opened up into a big clearing and there was a large log cabin in the middle of the plot. The cabin looked quite simple. It had two windows and a lit lantern hanging on a hook above the door. The man lead us to the front of the house. We all stopped and waited in anticipation for him to do something. I finally had a chance to look at the other people I was following. They all looked fairly calm and relaxed given the situation, and I must have looked out of place cause I dripping with sweat and my face must have been red as the devil with fear. The white man walked up to the front door and rapped on it exactly three times. Within five seconds another white man opened the door and motioned for all of us to come in. Not one of them broke the silence until we was all inside the house. The man that opened the door spoke first, he said, “So, how was the trip Donavan?”

The man that was leading us the whole time, Donavan, answered, “It was good, 'sept for we was still trekking at day break and that put the squeeze on me.”

“But you aint seen no hounds or nothing?” Asked the first man.

“No, we managed to make it with out a sound, but we did pick up an extra.” He looked at me and fear shot into my heart. Suddenly all of the attention was on me, and he asked, “Are you ready to tell us your name boy?”

“Yes sir,” I said, “I am Apollo Jenkins.”

“Well nice to meet you Apollo Jenkins,” he replied as he walked over to shake my hand, “Where did you come from Apollo?”

“Oh, I's from a farm in Union County, Kentucky. I runned from my home about two days ago and then I walked into you.”

“Well I'm glad you found us Apollo cause if you would'a kept walking the way you did you would of ran into a whole mess of trouble.”

“Why's that sir?”

“Well, about ten more miles down that road is the plantation that we escaped from. You would have ran into the people looking for them,” He said as he pointed his thumb to the group of slaves behind him, “They would have lynched you up in a tree to show the others not to run.”

“Oh, well I sure is glad that I found you folk cause I'm jus' trying to make it to the north to be free.”

“So are all the rest of us Apollo, so are all the rest of us.” He said softly as he stared intently at the ground.

The man who owned the house spoke up and said, “Well, everybody I am Levi Coffin. I been helping slaves to freedom for about 26 years now.” I got real excited when I heard this cause I wasn't scared no more. I sure was glad to have some people to help me out. It was a relief to hear that they weren't gonna sell us back to slavery. He then said, “My wife's whipping up some coffee and bread right now so I hope y'all is hungry.” We all shook our heads up and down like dogs following a treat, including Donavan.

His wife came out a few minutes later holding a trey full of cups and bread. She gave everyone a serving and we all ate in silence. I was so hungry that the bread was the best food I had ever eaten, and I've had apple pie. I finished my helping in a flash and as soon as I was done she was back at my side with another piece of bread. It was a weird feeling having someone wait on me. I was so used to doing everything myself or for other people that I felt guilty letting her bring me bread while I sat and ate. But that didn't stop me from enjoying it. Soon as everybody had ate their filling they brought us blankets and told us to lay down and sleep. I couldn't stop saying thank you for all the nice things they was doing for us, but they just smiled and said, “Oh, we jus' making up for how you was treated before.” I fell asleep in a good mood thinking about how if I jus’ stuck by these people I would surely make it to the north.

I must a slept for at least 13 hours cause when I woke up the whole house was dark and aint nobody was stirring. I got up to get myself something to drink cause I’as awful thirsty. I had to quietly make my way to the kitchen, stepping over other people and such being real careful not to wake anyone. I got to the kitchen and got myself a glass and filled it with water. I gulped it up and then went back to sleep. It sure did feel good sleeping on a nice warm floor instead of the dirt. It made me long for freedom even more knowing that if I could get my own house I could sleep on a warm floor every night.

“Apollo wake up,” Donavan nudged my arm trying to wake me. I woke up real fast and I must a looked frightened cause he said, “Its ok it’s just me. Come on we gotta get moving. We gonna make it to the next station today.”

I sat myself up and looked around. I was the last one to be on the floor sleeping. Everyone else was up moving around getting ready to leave. Mrs. Coffin walked over to me and handed me a big ol bowl of oatmeal. I said, “Well thank you much ma’am, but you aint got to do everything for me, I do have legs ya know.” She jus’ smiled and walked back into the kitchen. I scarfed down the oatmeal and got my shoes on and waited to be told what to do. By now everyone else was jus’ sitting on the couch waiting jus’ like me. I don’t know why I aint never talked to none of them, or why none of them talked to me, but for some reason we all sat in silence.

Donavan walked into the room with a big smile and announced, “Now, you’s all gonna like how we traveling today. Follow me around back cause yall’s in for a treat.” We all stood up and followed him out the front door and walked around the house. There was a big ol stable with two perty Clydesdales and a carriage sitting right in the middle waiting for us. Behind the carriage was a huge wooden crate with that looked like a cage you’d keep horses in. Donavan pointed at the crate and said, “Guess what boys, we aint got no walking to do today. You all’s is gonna get up in the crate and we gonna head to the next station behind these perty animals.” He gestured to the horses. “Well come on now, don’t jus’ stand there we gotta get moving.”

We all walked to the back of the cage. The man in the front opened the door and we started to climb in one by one. I was in the very back of the group and Donavin was behind me waiting to close the door. I turned around and asked, “But sir, what you gonna do if someone stops us looking for slaves?”

“We aint gonna be stopped.” He replied in a real dry tone. He closed up the door and walked to the front and hopped up in the driver’s seat. We heard him yell, “Thanks for the help Mr. Coffin.” And just like that we was on our way to the next station.

I liked riding in the cage cause I didn’t have to walk none and I even got to take a little nap while we was moving. We rode quietly and peacefully for quite some time until we came to a sudden stop. This made everyone perk up real good cause we all figured there aint no way we was already there. We sat in silence waiting to get orders from Donavan. But then we heard something that scared all of us. Someone’s voice spoke up, but it wasn’t Donavan. We heard, “Howdy there.”

Donavan replied, “Hey there, what you doing standing next to your horse on the side of the road like that?”

The man said, “Nevermind me, what you doing riding through these parts?”

“Oh well, if you must know I’s just taking my carriage to my mama’s house.”

“Oh and wheres that?” The man asked in a rhetorical manner.

“Uh, it’s, um.”

“Yeah that’s what I thought.” The man said, interrupting Donavan. “So, what you got in the back there?” When I heard this my throat got real tight and it got real hard to breathe. I knew we was about to be found. “You aint got nothing to hide back there do ya?”

“No, no I aint got nothing but corn and wheat in the back there.”

“So, you don’t mind if I take a look do ya?” The man said as he started to walk back towards us. Before anyone had any time to do nothing the man was at the backdoor getting ready to open it.

“Wait,” Donavan yelled.

“What!” The man called back in a nasty tone.

“You can’t go in there.”

“Why the hell not? All’s you got is corn and wheat don’t ya?”

“Well…” We heard Donavan grunt and jump towards the man. We heard them shuffling around like they was fighting. All’s we could here was grunting and cussing. We couldn’t see nothing so we didn’t know what was going on. Then I heard a click and everything got real quiet. Then Donavan spoke real calmly and softly, “Now, don’t do anything rash now.”

“Shut the hell up,” The man barked at him, “I know’s you got something hiding back there, and I’m gonna open this door and find out what it is. And you can’t do nothing to stop me.” The man opened the door and light flooded into the cabin. It was so bright I could hardly keep my eyes open. When the flare went away we was all staring at a man with a gun staring back at us. He was shorter than I was expecting him to be. He was stout and had a build kind of like a ram. He had dark brown hair and he scared me. He looked just as surprised as we was. He looked around and cracked a smile real big. He started laughing to himself and he said, “Boy, the boss is gonna love me. This is a gold mine right here. How many of you are there?” He pointed with his finger and counted all six of us. Then he started laughing again and did a little jig with his hands. Which put me off cause I aint never seen a grown man dance around like that. But then jus’ a quick as it came, his smile left and he got real serious. Then he told us all to get out of the cage and line up in the road. We all did what he said cause didn’t none us want to fool with a man with a gun. So we all got down out the cage and lined up in the road.

“Don’t do nothing to them,” Donavan spoke up, “They jus’ some innocent boys trying to make it to a better life.”

“Oh, don’t worry I aint gonna hurt ‘em,” he said as he brushed the gun across my forehead. I was real scarred now. I aint never had someone point a gun at me, but I knew that they was killing machines. “I wouldn’t never damage a perfectly good piece of property,” he said as he meandered to the front of the line inspecting every one of us, “but as for you, Mr. Conductor, aint nobody going to pay nothing for a free white man.” He put the gun to Donavan’s head and pulled the trigger. The shot came so damn quick that nobody had any time to realize what happened. Donavan was already on the ground pooling blood before I realized that he had been shot. The man stood there over the dead body holding the gun in the same place where Donavan’s head was.

No one knew what to do. We all jus’ stood there staring at the scene trying to wrap our heads around it. But before anyone had said anything I made up my mind to make a break for it. I took off running as fast as I could. I figured that I had already made it that far so I might as well try to make it all the way, an besides I’as gonna be free or die trying.

I must’a ran about a hundred feet before anyone knew I was gone. I could hear the man yelling, “Get the hell back here boy! I didn’t say you was free to go!” But there was no way I was stopping now. Then I heard, “Dammit boy get back here!” I jus’ kept on running. Then I heard three gunshots. Pow, pow, pow, one right after the other. I didn’t even connect in my mind that I had been shot. It jus’ felt like something had jumped up and bit me. I got hit by two bullets, one was jus’ to the left of my spine and the other one went straight through my left shoulder jus’ barely missing my heart. I hit the ground hard, on the account that I was running so fast. I think that was what hurt the most. My face slammed into the dirt and my whole body must’a slid for about ten feet. Next thing I know I was laying face up on the ground gasping for air. I knew at that point that there wasn’t no way I was gonna live, so I layed there and waited for god to take me.

I was staring up at the blue sky when everything around me went black. My whole body started to feel awful strange. It would get real hot then real cold. Then it felt like my whole body went numb and I couldn’t feel nothing. I knew I was getting real close to going. I wasn't scared or nothing cause I knew that wherever I was goin' had to be better than where I was. I felt closer to freedom than I ever had before, even though I was nowhere near the free states. I took one last deep breath of sweet air and just like that I was gone.