by Amanda Huray - age 11

"Meg, hurry up with that food!" John hissed from in front of her as she stumbled through the darkness toward the barn. She carried biscuits, bowls, and spoons in one arm and soup in the other. John, her brother, carried cups and water in front of her.
"I'm coming," Meg whispered back as she caught herself from falling over another rock. Mama and papa had agreed to let them bring to the runaway slaves that were hiding in their barn the food that Meg and mama had made. They had new runaways coming and going almost every night. Meg had no idea how many would be out there tonight. The owners of the station before theirs told the runaways about the secret room in the Hayworth's barn, so they would go up and stay there until they were ready to move on.
Meg waited while fourteen-year-old John opened the barn door. Meg was two years younger than John. They had an older brother but he had moved away to the south. John shut the barn door behind Meg and climbed up the ladder to the loft. At the top he lit the lantern and put his cups and water down so he could take her food while she climbed the ladder. When she reached the top she jumped off the ladder and took the food from John. He picked up the cups and water again, and led her towards a hay tunnel that led to a door. Behind the door was a secret room. She followed John through the tunnel and waited while he did the secret knock. There was a bolt on the inside. When the people inside heard the secret knock, they would unbolt the door. Just then the door swung open and they stepped inside. Meg shut the door and looked around while John hung the lantern on a nail in the wall. She saw about six or seven runaways all huddled up in the blankets the Hayworth family had put in the secret room.
"Meg, pass out the soup!" John nudged her to get her attention.
Startled, Meg walked over to a couple with a baby "Here ma'am, would you like some nice hot soup?"
"Oh, that would be nice, Miss. I am so cold and hungry." The lady looked at Meg's eyes and then dropped her gaze quickly to look to the ground.
"There is no need for you to call me Miss or not look into my eyes. You're going to a new home and life! You can call me Meg." Meg handed them some soup and biscuits.
"Yes Mi-- I mean, Meg. I'm Clara. This is my husband, Henry, and our baby Freedom."
"Well, it's nice to meet you!" Meg walked on and passed out the soup to everyone else. When she was done passing out the soup she came back to the couple. "Would you like me to hold Freedom while you eat?"
The couple looked at her. "If you please, that would help." Clara handed Freedom to Meg. The couple finished their soup and sat there watching her hold Freedom.
Meg glanced up at them, "If you would like more soup it's over there in the pot. There is also some water and cups over there." After they had more, Meg brought Freedom back to her parents. They thanked her and she walked back to John.
"You ready to go?" Meg looked around at all the people.

"Yup!" John led the way towards the door. Meg picked up the soup kettle which had been scraped to the bottom. She put the left-over biscuits on a board for the runaways to eat when they got hungry. She handed John the water jug and cups. He took the lantern off the nail and opened the door. They crawled out the door and Meg

shut it behind her. She heard the lock fall in place.
"Lord, please keep them safe!" she whispered as they crawled through the hay tunnel.

The next morning Meg woke up very toasty under her nice feather quilt. She felt guilty as she remembered the runaways shivering under their thin cotton blankets. She looked out the window and sighed. She just couldn't understand why people thought they owned other people, and made them do their chores. It was cruel!
She heard her mother bustling about in the kitchen making breakfast. Megan threw back the covers on her bed and jumped out. She tidied her bedroom and got dressed. She bounded down the stairs brush in hand.
"Morning, Mama!" Meg planted a kiss on her mother's cheek and sat down in a chair. She pulled the brush through her brown curls.
"Morning, dear. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, but I woke up feeling very guilty for being so warm! I feel so bad for those poor people out in the barn! Meg felt her eyes filling up with tears.
"Did everything go well last night?" Mama asked. Meg told her about Clara and Henry. She pulled her sides back into a ponytail while talking.
"Mama, may I make some warmer blankets for out in the barn?"
"I think that would be good. You can use those scraps of cloth in my bag." Just then a cry came from mama and papa's bedroom. "Dear, would you please go get Amy?" Meg put her brush on the table and ran to the bedroom.
"Hey, sweetie!" She gently picked Amy up from her cradle and rocked her back and forth in her arms so she would stop crying. Amy started cooing and talking baby talk. "There, that's much better!" For a three month-old baby she sure was active. Meg carried Amy out to the kitchen and sat down in a chair.
"Well, good morning, sweetie!" Mama smiled at Amy.
"Meg, would you please set the table?" Meg walked over the counter to get the dishes. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Your father and I are going to town this afternoon. We want you and John to stay home and watch Amy."
"That would be a good time for me to work on the quilts!" Meg exclaimed.

"Meg! Megan!"
"Coming!" Megan raced towards the house and bounded up the porch steps.
"We are going to town. You need to watch Amy now. I made some biscuits with chicken and gravy for John and yourself. You can warm it up about, oh, five o'clock."
"Sure, Mama." Meg took Amy from her mother's arms and walked back outside, followed by her mother.
"Oh, and we should be back in time to reed our 'railroad passengers'." Mama put the stray hairs that had escaped her bun behind her ears. Just then papa came from the barn with the buggy. John was close behind.
"Now, make sure you feed the animals, make supper, and clean the house," Papa chuckled. He knew mama was throwing out commands left and right.
"I'm not that bad, am I? I was just telling Meg what to do!"
"Of course, Dear! I was also telling them what to do." Winking at John and Meg, he said, "Do the chores, oh, say five o'clock."
"How dare you mock me!" Mama climbed up in the wagon beside him.
"Mock! I would do nothing of the sort!"
Mama sighed. Papa started laughing.
"Goodbye, children." Mama looked at them and rolled her eyes while Papa laughed all the harder. Meg and John laughed and waved as Mama and Papa drove away. Meg chuckled and went in the house with Amy.
Once inside, Meg set Amy in her cradle and went to find the materials she needed to make a quilt. She sat by Amy's cradle and rocked it every so often. Pretty soon Amy was fast asleep.

Meg had all the squared for one quilt cut out and was starting to sew them together when she heard hoofbeats on the driveway. She looked out the window and saw their neighbor Ben Tedrow riding his horse as fast as it could go, as if someone was chasing him. She dropped the squares and ran out the door. She saw John running from the barn. Ben jumped off his horse by the door, and didn't even bother to tie it up. He pushed them both in the house and shut the door.
"What is the matter! You look as if you are being chased by a ghost." Meg looked at Ben's white face. Ben held up his hand as in just a minute.
He caught his breath and explained, "Some of my friends from Nashnut just came to my house and told me that there are some slave traders there and they are coming this way. They're burning down everything they see."
"How far away is the town?" John looked at Ben.
"About eleven miles. Where are your folks? You have to get out of here along with your runaways."
"Mama and Papa went to town and won't be back 'till dark!" Meg replied frantically.
John looked at Meg. "We are taking those people to the next stop. How far is it, Ben?"
"But you've never done this before!" Ben exclaimed.
"Someone has to save those people and we are the only ones," John said in a determined voice.
"Not to mention that you can't do it 'cause you have your own to take care of!" Meg exclaimed, getting little Amy ready to go. "Do you know where the next station is?" Meg asked now, holding Amy in her arms.
Ben sighed and handed her a folded piece of paper. John went to the barn to hook up the wagon. Ben followed him outside. Meg opened the paper. Ten miles to the next station! She folded the paper again and got Amy's bottle from the cupboard. She got a cup of hot water and put the bottle in it so it would warm up. She wrote a letter to Mama and Papa so they wouldn't be worried. When the bottle was warm she wrapped it in a cloth and grabbed a lantern from the entry way. They definitely would not be back before dark.
She shut the door and went outside. Ben and John were just coming from the barn with the hidden slaves in the wagon bed, which they had made very deep. They split it in half by putting a layer of boards over the bottom half. The runaways were in the bottom half.
"Sis, what should we put in the top half? We just can't leave it empty!"
Meg thought for a little bit. "I know. Boxes! The ones with blankets for the orphanage."
"Great idea! Since you know where the boxes are you can go get them. Here, I'll hold Amy."
"Well, since it looks like you've got everything under control, I'll just be making my way home. " Ben handed the reigns to John and jumped up on his horse.
"Thank you so much for helping us, Ben!" Meg looked at him gratefully.
"No problem! God speed to you!" With that he took off down the road. Meg handed Amy to John and ran toward the house for the boxes.

A couple minutes later found them on the road headed towards freedom.
"John, do you think everyone will make it to safety, including us?"
"I have no idea Meg; maybe you should pray." Meg prayed for everyone's safety and felt much better afterwards. She and John figured it would be about two hours and forty-five minutes to get to the next stop.
They had been driving for a half hour. Suddenly Meg heard hoofbeats behind them, and then heard, "Stop or I'll shoot!" John pulled over to the side of the road. Two riders rode up beside them. "You hiding any black property back there?" the short guy asked.
"No sir." Meg meant it truthfully. They weren't black property!
"Just the same, ma'am, I would like to check your wagon. If you and your, ah, husband would step down we'll just take a look." She was about to tell him that John wasn't her husband when John poked her and slightly shook his head. He jumped down and took Amy so Meg could jump down. She took Amy back from him when she was on the ground and went to stand by the back of the wagon. Meg heard a baby cry from inside the wagon. That might be Freedom, Meg thought, not showing the terror that she felt.
"Hey, they are hiding property!" The short guy looked at them.
"If you noticed, the lady's holding a baby," the tall guy replied. He stifled a yawn. "Come on, Georgie, they don't have anyone in there.
Georgie grumpily climbed back on his horse. "I'll let you go this time. But you better get yourselves out of here before I change my mind."
Meg jumped back up into the wagon. When they were on the road again she let her breath out.
When they finally got there and were in the barn with Mrs. Jergens, John started to unload the boxes on the barn floor.
"Those poor people are in the boxes?" Mrs. Jergens asked.
Meg laughed and handed Amy to Mrs. Jergens. She helped pull the boards off the bottom half of the wagon.
"Incredible!" Meg heard Mrs. Jergens mutter under her breath. Some of the men hopped out of the wagon to help their wives down. Then Meg saw the couple from the other night. Clara was holding Freedom. Meg walked over to the couple when they got down. They recognized her right away.
"I thank ya, Meg, for doing all this for us. We really appreciate it."
Meg smiled. "Your so very welcome. I'm glad I could help you." As Clara smiled, Meg looked at Freedom. With tears in her eyes she said softly, "Goodbye, Freedom! I hope you make it to the 'promised land'!"