Escape

         Pearl stood knee-deep in the water holding a precious parcel overhead, searching the darkness for her husband.  “Elijah?” she whispered frantically.  “Elijah?  Where are you?” 

         Ripples parted the water as Elijah rose from the depths, discarding the hollow reed he had used to breathe.  “Pearl, I am here.”

         “Oh, Elijah,” she wept, “I was afraid they’d already found you.”

          “We must hurry, or they’ll discover our absence.”  Elijah tucked Pearl’s package under his arm and grabbed her wrist to lead her through the deepening water.  “Will you be okay in your condition?”

         “As long as we are together,” she replied.

         The couple trudged on through the water for over a mile before reaching the bridge where they were to meet their guide.

         “Where is he?” Pearl asked, beginning to panic.  She had never done anything against her master before and in this one evening she had stolen food and clothing and run away.  She and Elijah feared for the life of their unborn child.  Their first infant had died weeks after birth and the master threatened that if this child, too, showed signs of weakness he would kill it and breed her with another male; a man stronger and bolder than her husband. 

         “Did you hear that?” Elijah whispered, looking around carefully.  He called back, making the sound of an owl through his cupped hands.  The reply came, two double calls and a single shortly afterward.

         “I see someone,” Pearl murmured, shivering in the night air.

         The figure approached cautiously as Pearl and Elijah hid in the reeds along the bank.  The call came again and Elijah answered.

         “Conductor,” the figure whispered, descending the bank and passing close by their hiding place.  “I am the conductor.”

         “We need tickets,” Elijah said softly.  “Tickets.”

         Without glancing back, the man walked into the water.  “All aboard,” he breathed, making a motion with his arm beckoning them to follow.

         The man crouched down until only his head was above the water.  As he walked, he collected a few hollow reeds and kept them in his hand.  Elijah and Pearl did the same, staying a few steps behind their guide.

         The moon grew larger and fuller as the night went on.  Pearl’s feet became numb from the cold water and the rocky stream bed.  Elijah kept hold of her hand while holding the package out of the water.

         “I can’t go on,” Pearl trembled breathlessly.  She stopped and looked around for a place to rest.

         “We must continue or we won’t reach our first stop by daybreak.”  He looked up at the stars.  “We only have a few hours left and they’ll soon know you are missing.”

         Elijah looked sympathetically at his wife and then back at the guide.

         “We have to move on,” he urged.  “They’ll send a search party on horseback behind the dogs.  They’ll all move much faster than we can through the water.”

         “Come on,” Elijah encouraged.  “I’ll help you.”

         Tears streamed down Pearl’s face as she continued on.  I have to do this for my baby, and for Elijah, she told herself. 

         As the first hint of light appeared on the horizon the guide looked back at them.  “We’re almost there,” he encouraged.  A few moments later he signaled them to stop.  “Strip,” he instructed.  He took the package Elijah had carefully carried through the night, untied the strings, and laid out the dry clothing.

         Elijah stepped from the water, his nude black body shimmering in the moonlight.  Pearl could still see the scars from the beating he had received after their first child died.  He was punished for producing inferior offspring; she had been punished, too, but not as severely.

         “You chose well,” the guide said, seeing how the master’s clothing fit Elijah.  After being in the water all night and now donning fresh garments with your master’s smell, the dogs will have a hard time picking up your scent.

         Elijah helped Pearl up the river bank and held the dress as she stepped in.  She turned and he fastened the buttons up the back.  The conductor collected the wet clothes from the river and wrung the water from them before depositing them in the hollow of a nearby tree.

         A little further on, he stopped and retrieved a shotgun and several dead raccoons from the underbrush.  Pointing to a thicket along the bottom of the next ridge he said, “Enter the thicket and the door will be open to you.  Your key is ‘Canada’.”  With that, he turned and walked back toward the stream. 

         Elijah and Pearl walked along the thicket looking for a place to enter.  “Your key is ‘Canada’,” Pearl repeated. 

         “’Canada’ is your key,” a voice whispered back.

         “Your key is ‘Canada’,” Elijah said.

         The answer came again and a hand appeared between the branches, pointing in the direction they should go.  They climbed through the branches and joined their next guide.  She opened a small door built into the hillside.  The dugout interior was large enough for a bed dressed in clean linens and quilts alongside a night table piled with food. 

         “Replenish your strength and study the quilt.  Stay inside, get some rest; you leave at nightfall.”  She silently slipped through another door at the back of the room, leaving the two alone with their thoughts.

         Through the door they had entered, they could hear the distant baying of hounds.  Pearl began to sob, frightened they would be found.  It wasn’t long before the hounds were joined by the voices of men.  “I didn’t see anyone,” insisted the voice of the guide.  “I’ve been down by the river hunting all night.  If they’d have come this way, I’d have seen them.”

         “Hunting, huh?” bellowed the master’s voice. 

         The man answered, “These coons didn’t shoot themselves.”

         “Come on men,” the master shouted.  “Those no-good slaves must’ve gone a different direction.”

         Hoof beats pounded past the thicket and Elijah and Pearl held their breath.  They had made it safely to their first stop.

1000 words.