Daisy's Search for Freedom

by Bertha Schwartz

  The dogs were coming through the woods, their deep baying sounding triumphantly through the trees. Simon shivered in Daisy’s arms. Daisy pulled him closer. “We needs to be very quiet,” she whispered. She held him close and listened. Soon, the dogs’ tones changed, and she heard men shouting. It sounded like they were close to the stream. Some of the dogs were barking, and some were whining. “Keep us safe, Jesus!” prayed Daisy, silently, over and over.

  Suddenly, she realized the dogs’ barking was scattered. They had separated and were combing the woods! She felt tempted to move. Would they be safe anywhere? Something told her it was better to hold perfectly still. Simon seemed to know it, too, and didn’t move. Daisy looked down and could see nothing but thick foliage.

  She heard a dog and soon saw a lantern bobbing, but it was just as soon hidden again. Simon turned his face up toward Daisy’s, and she knew he saw it, too. She hugged him tighter, but otherwise didn’t move. He laid his head trustingly against her.

  The dog and two men passed close by but never even slowed down. Still, Daisy and Simon waited a long time before they dared move again.

  “Can I say somethin’?” whispered Simon. At Daisy’s nod, he continued, “Would you have throwed me in the water?”

  “Oh, Simon! Never! But I wanted to make you go.”

  Simon threw his arms around her. “I love you.”

  “Me, too,” said Daisy hugging him. “I love you, too, ever so much!”

  Feeling safer again, Daisy opened the bundle she had kept in her shirt front. They did not have time to eat in the wagon and were hungry. It wasn’t much, only half a piece of bread and a bit of cheese. But Daisy was so glad they had this food. She tried not to think of the apples they had left behind.

  “What we goin’ ta do now?” asked Simon after they were finished.

  “We better just stay up here for now.”

  “You mean sleep in a tree?” Daisy nodded, almost afraid of his reaction. But he giggled. “Like two squirrels, ain’t we?” He snuggled closer, sighed deeply, and relaxed against her.

  What are we going to do? worried Daisy. We left the Underground Railroad, and I have no idea where we are at. Or where to find people that will help us. Oh, Jesus! But Daisy was too tired to worry any longer and soon drifted off to sleep.

  She woke up slowly, then realized Simon was crying softly. “What’s the matter?” she asked him, stroking his curly black hair.

  “I’m cold an’ hungry an’ scared.”

  Daisy was tempted to say, “Me, too,” but she didn’t. She looked down. Somehow they would need to get down from the tree. Before she climbed down, she decided to take a careful look around.

  Not far off, Daisy could see a clearing and a set of farm buildings. They looked tiny and far away. Was it the home of friends or enemies?

  It took a lot of coaxing to persuade Simon to climb down on his own. But Daisy knew she couldn’t safely climb down and carry him. Finally, she said, “We’re on the last branch. I’ll jump then you jump, an’ I’ll catch you.”

  Daisy jumped and felt herself being caught by strong arms. She turned slowly to see a strange white man hold her firmly.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  In Captivity

  “AM I EVER GLAD TO have found you!” rumbled a deep voice, while the man’s hands were firmly clasped around her waist. He set her down but didn’t loosen his hold on her. Daisy struggled to turn to look at him, but his arms tightened.

  I hope Simon is quiet, thought Daisy desperately.

  As if hearing her, Simon called, “Sammy! Can I jump?”

  Before Daisy could respond, she suddenly found a rope tied around her waist. “Tell him to jump,” ordered the man firmly. “Quickly!”

  Daisy could see no way out. “Jump,” she said, simply.

  “Will you catch me?” Simon sounded scared. The man prodded Daisy.

  “Yeah, I’ll catch you. Just jump.” Daisy wondered if the man would allow her to.

  They heard some rustling, then saw small, brown feet dangling for an instant before Simon let go. The man easily reached up and caught him, while keeping a firm grip on the rope tied around Daisy. Simon let out a frightened squeak, and a large hand was instantly clamped over his mouth. Daisy saw his eyes go wide with fear and knew her own eyes probably mirrored it.

  The man didn’t release Simon, but tugged on the rope and started walking. Daisy had no choice but to follow or be dragged along. As it was, she was forced to half-run to keep up with his long strides.

  Daisy realized they were coming upon a farm. She heard dogs barking. It almost sounded like the ones from last night. But of course, Daisy couldn’t be sure.

  “Thunder! Bullet!” scolded the man. “Quiet!” Simon looked over the man’s broad shoulders, silently pleading for Daisy to do something. But there was nothing Daisy could do but silently trod along.

  The man took them right up the porch steps of the small house and entered without stopping to knock or announce their arrival. They were in a kitchen. The man pulled a chair out from the table with his foot and sat Simon down. “Stay!” he commanded. He nodded toward another chair. “Sit!” Daisy hurriedly pulled the chair out and quickly sat down. He used the rest of the rope to tie her to the chair. “Now!” he glared at Simon. “Will I have to tie you, too, or will you stay there?”

  “I have to . . .” Simon ended his sentence with a sob.

  The man looked startled. He quickly untied Daisy from the chair. “Come,” he said, his voice surprisingly gentle. He swung Simon into his arms again and led them out of the kitchen through the back door. When they reached the outhouse, he opened the door for them and even released the rope. But he was waiting for them when they came back out again.

  In the kitchen, he again tied Daisy to a chair, but not very tight. He brought them both a tall glass of cold milk and bread with butter and honey. Daisy couldn’t remember when she’d tasted anything so fine. Before they had that finished, he set a plate before them with fried eggs, bacon, and potatoes. Daisy was almost ashamed of herself, how quickly she ate everything. It had been so long since her belly was full. As she finished the last bite, she glanced up to see the man watching her.

  “More?” he asked.

  Daisy shook her head. He glanced at Simon, who smiled and patted his belly. “I full!”

  The man nodded. He gathered all their dishes and placed everything in a large bowl and stuffed it in a cupboard, unwashed!

  He turned and asked Simon, “Do you hurt anywhere?” Simon nodded and showed him a long scratch that was fairly deep on one leg. The man washed it and put salve on it. Then, he thoroughly inspected his feet. Satisfied, he turned to Daisy. “You?” Daisy frantically shook her head. He knelt beside her chair. “I need to see your feet.” Reluctantly, Daisy let him inspect first one, then the other. He rose and untied the rope from the chair. Still holding the end, he told them, “We need to go.” Simon willingly hopped from his chair and reached for his hand. The man smiled at him, picked up a bundle, and turned toward the door.

  After walking quite a ways through the woods, the man stopped so suddenly, Daisy almost bumped into him. “Children,” he said, kindly. “We’re almost there.” He pointed to a clearing. “Up ahead is the water tower for the train. I am going to tie my red handkerchief to it, and the engineer will know he has some passengers. He’ll stop whether he needs water or not. Then I will put you in an empty box car. You need to stay on that car until the end of the line. Someone will find you and show you where to go.”

  He left them and quickly walked ahead. Daisy watched from the shadows as he tied his handkerchief just as he said. She realized she could trust him. Simon seemed to feel the same. “I love him,” he murmured.

  When the man returned, he led them down the track a ways. “This is for you,” he told them, handing them the bundle wrapped with a blanket. “There is food and water inside. But whatever you do, don’t get off the train! You have been very brave, but you need to be even braver.�
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  “If you are our friend, why did you tie me?” asked Daisy.

  “It was for your good. The people around here think I’m a slave hunter. I want to keep it that way. I can help many slaves escape to freedom like that.”

  “Why do you want to?” asked Daisy. “I thought white men hated black people.”

  “It’s a long story, but to say it in a few words, a black lady saved my life once. I will be forever indebted to her. I hear the whistle of the train. We need to go. It does not stop long and waits for no one.” He scooped up Simon and hurried up the steep embankment. Daisy rushed to keep up.

  Suddenly, she heard a roar like she’d never heard before! A big, black monster was screeching toward them! It was belching fire and smoke. This was all a trick! The man had tricked them. “NO!” she screamed and turned to run. But the man held tight to the rope! The monster came rattling and banging closer, screaming and snorting. Daisy could feel the heat from it. She screamed and tried to break loose of the rope, but the man was pulling her along. Above everything, she heard Simon scream. Daisy felt herself being lifted and tossed into a huge black hole.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The Long Ride

  DAISY HIT THE WOODEN FLOOR with a hard bang. Dimly, she was aware of the man leaping up after her. She flattened herself as much as she could, hoping he wouldn’t see her.

  “Shhh! You’re going to be all right!” Daisy glanced up to see the man holding Simon. He tugged at the rope still tied around Daisy’s waist. “Come on, young lady!” he said. “You need to get away from the door.” With one swoop, he held her in his other arm. His white teeth flashed as he smiled. “You’ve obviously never seen a train before, have you?”

  Daisy was trembling too much to do more than shake her head in answer. He loosened his hold on her slightly. “Well, you’re on one now. And I am, too—although I hadn’t planned on it.” He continued conversationally, as if Daisy was answering. “I’m afraid we smashed our food, though. At least I hope you’ll share it with me. I packed it for you two.” As he talked, he pulled out the bundle Daisy must have dropped. He paused as if he really expected an answer this time. So Daisy nodded again.

  Suddenly, Daisy remembered she was supposed to be a boy. “How did you know I’m a girl?”

  The man smiled again. “Well, I suspected it but when you screamed, you sure didn’t sound like a boy. Also, most boys would have been fascinated by all the noise from the train.” As he was talking, he opened the bundle and separated it into two smaller ones. Then he spread out the blanket everything had been wrapped into and told them to sit on it. “We’re going to get awfully sore, riding like this all the way to Chicago.”

  “What’s Chicago?” asked Simon.

  The man began describing a place full of buildings such as they had never seen with all manner of horses and carriages, and people on foot, rushing about. Daisy tried to imagine all that, but she was just so very tired . . .

  The train stopped with a jolt, startling Daisy awake. She sat up quickly, feeling very disoriented. “It’s okay,” murmured a voice that was becoming familiar. She saw Simon stretching and slowly waking. He lifted his head from the man’s lap, looked around, squeezed his eyes shut, and lowered his head, again. He sighed contentedly as the man stroked his curly black hair.

  Daisy saw something smoky-gray in Simon’s arms. She gasped when she saw a smoky-gray kitten curled up in his arms. “Smoky!” she gasped. “How in . . . ?”

  Simon sat up holding the half-grown cat firmly. With a huge, adoring smile, he said, “He got it for me. Him an’ Jesus. ‘At’s Michael,” he added pointing to the man.

  Michael gave a slight nod. “We were actually probably pretty close to the place where you lost the kitten. The train was stopped while you were asleep. We heard a kitten, and Simon started telling me about Smoky. I was surprised to see a smoky-gray kitten sitting on a fence as if she was waiting on us. But Simon here wasn’t surprised. He said you told him Jesus would help you find her. And you were right. I was almost afraid to get off the train to get her, but shouldn’t have been. Simon said he was praying for me.” He patted Simon’s head. “Simon is a good boy.” Simon beamed.

  The days passed surprisingly fast, as the train rushed north and westward. Michael encouraged them to walk around and stretch whenever the train stopped. He never allowed them to get off for long. As they traveled, he told them of the places they were passing through. He kept them entertained with stories, some of his own childhood and some, Daisy suspected, he made up as he went. In return, Daisy told him about the only life she knew on the plantation.

  Finally, one day, about noon, as they were eating the rest of their food that they had been stretching, Michael said, “In about another hour or so, we’ll be in Chicago.” Daisy almost choked on the hard biscuit she was chewing on. “You two hang on to me, no matter what.” He paused. “I’ll carry Simon whenever I can. Simon, you hang on to Smoky and don’t let her loose, even if she scratches you. But if she does get loose, we need to let her go. Don’t chase her because we’ll never find her in Chicago. If you chase her, we might get separated.”

  “What about . . . ?” She glanced at the blanket and the things they had left from the bundle.

  “We need to leave it here. We can move faster if we don’t have anything to carry.”

  Daisy nodded. Suddenly, she had an idea! “What if we wrap Smoky in this cloth and tie it with this string?” she said holding up the items the food had been wrapped in.

  “Good idea!” Michael immediately set to work to fashion a harness for the kitten. “We can’t just tie it around her neck or we might choke her.” The kitten protested loudly and tried to scratch and get away. After it was in place, he set the kitten down. She ran as far as the string would let her, then tried to bite it off. Michael stopped her. “It’s good if she’s at least a little used to this before we arrive.”

  The train was pulling into the station. It was unlike anything Daisy had ever imagined! All Michael’s stories had done little to prepare her for this noise and confusion. She grabbed a hold of Michael’s shirt and wrapped her hand into it. He nodded encouragingly. Simon clung to his neck with one hand and Smoky the other. The train clattered and banged as it started and stopped repeatedly.

  Michael had just pulled them to the edge when the train gave one last shudder and stopped. Daisy was about to slide off when Michael grabbed her just as another train came roaring past! Daisy couldn’t breathe as the hot air seemed to force her back and then suddenly almost pull her out as the train rushed past. Michael hung on to her.

  As soon as the train passed, Michael pulled Daisy off and rushed her across the numerous tracks. Suddenly, they were in a crowd of people, all rushing along. Michael pulled them aside and looked around, trying to get his bearings. Daisy clung tightly to Michael.

  “I think we need to go this way,” said Michael, as he pulled them back into the sea of humanity. Daisy was being jostled about and several times almost lost her grip, but Michael held onto her hand so tightly it hurt. Daisy heard the kitten protesting. She looked up to see Smoky dig her claws into Michael’s throat. Michael automatically let go of Daisy’s hand. Daisy lost her grip and was swept along in the opposite direction.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Separated

  DAISY FELT HERSELF PANICKING AS she was swept along. She struggled against the moving throng. Then she remembered what Michael had done and moved toward the edge of it. She bumped against a park bench and immediately sat down to think. If she could see above the crowd, maybe she could spot them. Quickly, she stood up on the bench.

  Suddenly she heard a familiar voice! “Daisy! Oh, Daisy!”

  Daisy barely had time to step off the bench before warm, familiar arms enclosed her.

  “Mama!” Daisy cried, in wonderment. “Oh, Mama! How did you get here?” She pulled back slightly to look in Mama’s face. Mama was laughing and crying at the same time. “Dear, sweet Mama!”

  Mama
pulled her close again, and then suddenly gasped. Her eyes filled with fear. “Oh, Daisy! Where is little David? Oh, what happened to David?”

  Before Daisy could respond, Michael was suddenly at her side. “Hello, Mrs. Dixie!”

  Mama turned. “Mr. Michael!” she exclaimed. “Oh, David!” she cried, reaching for Simon.

  Simon pulled back slightly, his eyes wide and puzzled. Suddenly, recognition dawned! “Mama!” he sobbed, as he flung himself into her arms. “Mama.”

  Daisy felt happy, but confused. How did Mama and Michael know each other? And how did Mama get to Chicago? Who was “Simon” really?

  “Come,” said Michael, reaching for Daisy’s hand. He touched Mama’s shoulder. “We’ll go somewhere we can talk.” He led them to a grassy area to another park bench, away from the crowd of people.

  Daisy was amazed to learn that “Simon,” whose real name was David, was her brother. She had been sold before he was born, and she never knew she had another brother.

  “Daisy, this little kitten helped us find your mama,” said Michael. He explained to Mama how he lost his grip on Daisy because the kitten was scratching him, trying to get loose. “We were going the wrong way. Then when Daisy stood on the bench, Simon, I mean David, saw her above the crowd.”

  “That’s how I found her, too,” said Mama, giving Daisy another hug.

  Daisy was even more amazed to learn Mama and Michael had been planning on how to help Daisy and David escape for years.

  “Your Mama has been a free slave for several years,” explained Michael. “When she saved my life, my papa gave your mama her freedom. I had been deathly sick. The doctors all said there was nothing they could do for me anymore. But your Mama wouldn’t give up. She nursed me and prayed for me until I got better.”