Shaila's story on the Underground Railroad for AHG (Shaila)

                                                         

Annie’s Story

                Hi! My name is Annie. I am a slave, and my masters do not treat me well. My Mammy and Pappy said that there is something called the Underground Railroad. I am not sure what it is, but my Mammy  and Pappy said that it brings you to a place called Canada where we would not have mean masters. I hope to escape on it someday. My Mammy and Pappy also said that it was called the Underground Railroad because there was another slave named Tice David who escaped from his Masters and the slave catchers by swimming across the Ohio river. His Master said afterwards, “He must have gone off on an Underground Railroad!”

                One night my Mammy and Pappy shook me awake and told me to get up and grab my corn husk doll that I had made myself. I sat up in my bed, and when my eyes had gotten adjusted to the light burning in the lamp, I saw a woman whom I did not know. I whispered to Mammy, “Who is that woman?”

                “Know how I have told you about the Underground Railroad?” she asked.

                “Yeah! That way where slaves can get to Canada and not have a mean master anymore?” I replied.

                “Exactly!” Mammy replied, “And this woman is part of that Underground Railroad!”

                “Wow!” I said.

                “Alright, Annie. We need to be quiet so that nobody wakes up. We are going to have to run in the woods so that we can get ahead of the slave catchers and Master.”

                “Yes, Mammy.” I replied.

                We walked out of the cabin, and we ran over to the woods. I asked my Mammy if she had packed food, and Mammy said “Yes, but we are not eating until breakfast time, which is not for a while.”

                “Okay.” I said.

                We ran for a long time, and then before I knew it, it was morning! The woman who had come to my cabin and run away with us said that we could stop running now. I was happy that I didn’t have to run anymore, because we had been running for hours. Now that we had stopped running, the woman told us a little bit more about who she was. She said that her name was Harriet Tubman, and she told us about how she had helped many slaves escape. She was a really good story teller.

                “Ms. Harriet?” I asked her.

                “Yes, Annie?”

                “Could you please tell us another story before I go to bed?”

                “Honey,” my Mammy said, “Ms. Harriet has told you a ton of stories today! She does not have to tell you another one!”

                “Oh, it is okay, Lucy! I love telling stories to Annie!” Ms. Harriet said to Mammy.

                “Yay!” I said.

                “Hmmm. Let me think of one. Oh, yes!” Ms. Harriet said.

Ms. Harriet told me another story.

                “Have you heard about the story of that man crossing the Ohio river?” Ms. Harriet asked me.     “Yes, Mammy and Pappy told me about it!”

                “Well, one time I was bringing some other slaves to the free states. We came across the Ohio river, and it still had some ice in it! I’m telling you, when I got into that water it felt like my whole body was in an icebox! It was icy cold. Literally! Finally, after we had gotten over the river, we made a fire as quickly as possible!”

                “Wow! That is amazing!”

                “Alright, Annie,” Pappy told me, “Now you need to go to bed.”

                “Can I just stay up a little longer?” I pleaded.

                “No, we have a long way to go tomorrow,” replied Pappy.

                “Yes, Pappy.” I said, “Goodnight Mammy, goodnight Pappy, goodnight Ms. Harriet! Thanks for telling me that story!”

                The next day we walked for a really long time, and my mouth felt like cotton! I asked my  Mammy if we had any more water.

                “Mammy? Do we have any more water?”

                “Yes, honey. I have some water right here. Just don’t drink too much, or else we won’t have any left for the rest of our meals today.” Mammy replied.

                “Yes, Mammy.” I said.

                “Ms. Harriet?” I asked, “ How much farther do we have to walk until we take a break for Lunch?

                “We can stop now, if you want.” Ms. Harriet replied.

                “Yes, I think we all need a break,” said Pappy.

                 We took a break for lunch, and then we started walking again. Before we knew it, it was bright outside! We had to hide a bit during the day, so we just slept the best we could, and then we walked all night. Until it got bright again. That way the slave catchers would have more trouble trying to catch us.

                Later that day, we heard voices. Ms. Harriet told us, “Get in the woods, and hide!”

                We got into a bush, and we saw slave catchers walk past. I moved a tiny bit, because the bush was poking me. The slave catchers saw the bush move.

                “Who’s there?” they yelled.

                Before I even realized what was happening, I found myself running with my Mammy, Pappy, and Ms. Harriet. The slave catchers were running behind us. I looked back and saw that they had dogs with them. I wasn’t looking were I was going, so I tripped on a rock and cut myself. Then everything got blurry and I found my Pappy carrying me. I just hugged my Pappy and cried. Finally we turned into the woods and Ms. Harriet led us to a house. The slave catchers lost track of us for a minute, so we had enough time to get to the house and get inside.

                “This is where one of the conductors for the Underground Railroad lives,” I heard Ms. Harriet say.

                Ms. Harriet knocked on the door, and the conductor instantly let us in.

                “My goodness!” the conductor said, “What on earth happened, Harriet?”

                “We are being chased by slave catchers,” Ms. Harriet replied.

                “They might still be on your trail! Let me hide you. Oh! I hear voices outside. Hide!” the conductor said.

                We all found a hiding place, then we heard voices at the door! I almost shouted because the hiding place was so tight, and I was having trouble breathing, but I didn’t.

                “Ma’am,” one of the men said, “have you happened to see any slaves?”

                “We were just chasing them when they turned very quickly toward this way,” another man said.

                “I can’t say I have,” the conductor said.

                “Well, if you see them, please tell us at once,” the man said.

                “Good day, sir,” the conductor said.

                After a while we heard, “Alright, you can come out now. I don’t hear them anymore.”

                We all got out and Pappy said, “Thank you very much missis for hiding us!”

                “Oh, it is fine! Also, don’t call me missis, you can call me Lucy,” the conductor replied.

                “Now, is anyone hungry? I will fix up something for us to eat. I am certainly hungry myself.” the conductor said.

                “Ms. Conductor, were can I find water?” I asked.

                “There is a stream just a little bit down the road. Harriet, could you show this little one where it is?” the conductor said, “Oh, and you can just call me Ms. Lucy.”

                “Yes, come with me,” Ms. Harriet replied.

                “Thank you.” I said.

I went down to the stream with Ms. Harriet, and when I got back I smelled the aroma of delicious soup, and fresh bread! Ms. Lucy told me to wash up, and then sit down at the table. I did, and then Ms. Lucy asked Pappy if he would say the blessing, and then we ate.

“That was a delicious meal, Ms. Lucy!” I said after we had finished.

“Thank you Annie, I am glad you liked it. But I hope you aren’t too full, because I decided I would make blueberry pie with the blueberries I picked yesterday.”

“Yum!” I said.

Ms. Lucy took out the blueberry pie. We each had a piece, and then we went to bed. The next morning I woke up to bright sunshine coming through my window, and I could already smell Ms. Lucy’s breakfast. I got out of bed, and walked into the kitchen. ‘I must have slept in!’ I thought, because Mammy, Pappy, and Ms. Lucy where all at the table. After we had eaten Pappy said,

“We should probably get started again this morning. We don’t want to get too off track.”

“Yes,” said Ms. Lucy, “I will pack some food for you, so that you don’t starve!” said Ms. Lucy in her motherly way.

“Thank you so much for what you have done for us!” Mammy said.

“Oh, don’t think about it!” said Ms. Lucy.

Later that morning we said goodbye to Ms. Lucy, and then we kept walking. It was a hot day, so I got really tired and thirsty, but I didn’t complain, because I knew everyone else was feeling the same way.

“Annie,” said Pappy, “would you like me to give you a piggy back ride? You look really tired.”

“Yes,” I replied, “I would like that.”

I didn’t care if the others thought that it was kind of babyish for me to have a piggy back ride on Pappy’s back. I was too tired to care.

“We should be at the next house pretty soon,” Ms. Harriet said.

“Ms. Harriet,” I asked, “Have you memorized this trail?”

“Well, I have gone on it a few times, but I just know the secret marks that were made for this trail. Other people who help slaves run away on the Underground Railroad know the secret marks, too,” Ms. Harriet replied.

“Could you maybe teach me some of them?” I asked.

“Sure!” replied Ms. Harriet, “I would be happy to.”

Ms. Harriet taught me the secret marks as we walked. I memorized them.

“Thanks, Ms. Harriet,” I said, after she had taught me them.

“My pleasure,” replied Ms. Harriet.

We walked for a little while, and then we saw another log cabin.

“Here it is,” said Ms. Harriet.

Ms. Harriet knocked on the door, and a woman opened it.

“Oh, Harriet! It is nice to see you again! You brought some visitors! Now, don’t just stand there! Come on in!” the woman said.

We walked into the house, and sat down. I was a cozy little house. It had a little fire place, which of course was not in use, because it was too hot that day. The lady’s husband was sitting down.

“Oh, how nice to see you again, Harriet!” he said.

After we had all sat down, Ms. Harriet introduced us.

“This is Mary, Luke, and Annie, Susan.”

“Oh, how wonderful!” replied the woman, “ My name is Susan, and this is my husband, John.”

“Pleasure meeting you!” replied Pappy.

“Now, you all must be very hungry! I will go fix up something for us. Would you like some tea, Mary?”

“Oh, yes, thank you,” replied Mammy.

After Mrs. Susan had made the tea for the women, and coffee for the men, Pappy and Mr. John talked, and Mammy and Mrs. Susan talked. After that Mrs. Susan exclaimed, “Oh my goodness, the biscuits!”

She flew into the kitchen, and then a little while later came out with plates full of more buttered biscuits, and mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar then I had ever seen! After we had eaten, I said, “Thank you for supper, Mrs. Susan, it was delicious!”

“You are welcome! I’m glad you liked it!” she replied.

After all of the grownups had talked a little bit more, Mrs. Susan said, “Oh! I almost forgot! I will show you all where you are sleeping.”

Mrs. Susan led us through a doorway, and into a bedroom.

“You are sleeping here, Annie,” Mrs. Susan said, “and you are sleeping here, Mary and John.”

“Thank you!” Mammy and Pappy said.

“Thank you!” I said.

After I had said goodnight, I went to bed. It was the most comfortable bed I had ever slept in, and I was full from the best dinner I had ever eaten! The reason why the bed was so comfortable is I always just slept on a bed of straw. I felt like I had only slept a few minutes, when I opened my eyes and it was morning! I got out of bed, and walked through the doorway.

“Hi, Annie! Did you sleep well?” Ms. Susan asked.

“Oh, yes Ma’am, I did,” I replied.

“Good. I am just fixing breakfast, so you can go over there and sit down, if you want.” Ms. Susan replied.

“Thank you!” I said.

After that Mammy, Pappy, and Mr. John woke up. Then we had pancakes for breakfast! They were so good! After we had finished breakfast, Pappy said, “Thank you so much for your hospitality, John and Susan, but we are going to have to head out now.”

“Oh, of course,” Ms. Susan replied, “I will set up some food for you to bring along.”

Later we were all at the door, ready to leave.

“Thank you again for helping us!” Mammy and Pappy said.

“Yes, thank you!” I said.

“You are very welcome, and God bless you!” Ms. Susan, and Mr. John said.

Then we started walking again.

“Ms. Harriet, how long until we get to the end of this trail?” I asked.

“I have some good news for you….. WE WILL GET TO THE END TODAY!” Ms. Harriet replied, excitedly!

Mammy cried with joy, and Pappy and I both yelled, “Yay!”

That day was the most memorable day of my life. We had reached the free states!

“Thank you so much for your help!” Mammy and Pappy said to Ms. Harriet.

“You are welcome. God bless you!” Ms. Harriet replied.

“God bless you!” we all called back over our shoulders.

“Thank you for everything!” I yelled over my shoulder.

As we walked away, I thought to myself ‘I want to be just like Ms. Harriet, and help slaves when I’m older’. I held Mammy and Pappy’s hands, and smiled, thinking about what would happen next.

                                              THE END. 

I wrote this story for an AHG patch 😊