by Al Lacy
As a couple of babies continued to wail, Jameson explained that they would travel until midnight, then make camp. There was enough food and water to take care of them on the journey to Cape Town. He spoke crisply, telling them there would be severe punishment for anyone who tried to get away. In fact, the hard labor required by their new owners in the United States would be pleasurable compared to the punishment they would take if they attempted an escape.
The army officers shook hands with Rhodes and his foreman, then mounted their horses and led the procession southwestward.
As the wagon Benjamin rode in rocked and bumped along the rough road, he sat on the floor in a corner, his knees pulled up close to his chest, and stared out into the hot, humid night. The moon was a brilliant silver disk, clear edged and beautiful. Beyond the moon, the night sky was a black velvet canopy with countless stars twinkling in their spheres.
Fixing his gaze on the stars, Benjamin moved his lips silently and said, It must be wonderful to be free to ride your chosen trails through the endless sky. Never to be locked up. Only to have your freedom forever. I wish I could be free like you.
As the wagon rolled on, dipping into valleys and rising to the next crest, Robert and Nannie held hands. They rode silently, looking at their son from time to time.
At midnight, Captain Jameson called for the wagons to halt and make a circle in a shallow valley. Since the wagons were well loaded, he suggested that some of the slaves sleep on the ground, and he warned them once more of the penalty for trying to escape. His men built a fire in the center of the circle.
As everyone else was settling down to sleep, the soldiers assigned to the first shift began to pace the perimeter of the circle, their eyes alert and muskets ready.
Benjamin lay next to his parents on the soft grass.
The flickering firelight allowed Nannie to see her son’s wakefulness. “Son, you must not lie awake all night. Please go to sleep.”
“I will try, Mother. Good night … I love you.”
Nannie smiled. “I love you, too.”
Sleep, however, eluded the young slave. He watched the flames of the fire dance in the light wind. From time to time he saw the soldiers move into his line of sight as they patrolled the circle.
Benjamin pondered what it would be like to be free to choose his own destiny. He had been well educated by British teachers who had been hired by rancher Kent Rhodes. He knew English better than he knew the language of his tribe. If he could have the chance to make it on his own in Transvaal, he knew he would make his mark in the world. He would give his parents reason to be proud of him.
But what could he ever become as a slave? He would spend his life using the strength in his body to make some American plantation owner rich. Then he would die and be forgotten as soon as they placed his body in the ground. Wasn’t there more to life than this? Had he only been born to be a slave for some white man, then die and pass out of existence?
He had heard white folks talk about a place above the sky called heaven. It was supposed to be much better than earth with all of its sickness, pain, and sorrow. He had heard one white man say there weren’t any graveyards in heaven. And nobody ever got sick.
Do rich people have slaves in heaven? Benjamin wondered. This God they talk about … if He really exists, does He want people to be slaves? Or does He want everybody to be free?
Everyone else seemed to be sleeping around him, but the night passed slowly for Benjamin. It wasn’t yet dawn, but it had been some time since the soldiers had added any logs to the fire. Now there was only a great heap of red coals with small flames flickering around the edges. The wind picked up and fanned the embers, whipping flakes of white ashes upward.
Soon there was gray light over the mountain peaks to the east. Benjamin’s eyes finally closed in sleep. He was just drifting off when a soldier moved about the circle and shouted for everyone to get up.
It was another hot, humid day in Cape Town when the column of mounted soldiers and creaking wagons pulled into the compound of the Old Supreme Court buildings. The slaves were ushered into a log structure where hundreds of other Negro men, women, and children were crammed.
When Benjamin saw the other slaves, he felt his stomach tighten.
Captain Charles Jameson collected his group of slaves just inside the door of the large building and said, “You will all stay here until the ship comes in tonight. Mr. Green, your new owner, will come and talk to you. There are two floors of rooms in this building, so there will be enough space to sleep. But until Mr. Green has come, you will remain here with the other slaves.”
Inside the temporary prison, the incessant wailing of babies and the crying of children filled the air. Their cries were mixed with the laughter of older children who had found space to play.
Benjamin and his parents sat on the floor and talked to a slave family from a sheep ranch near Port Elizabeth. Benjamin found them as resigned to becoming slaves in America as were his parents.
The man seemed to read Benjamin’s mind as he said, “It’s no use to even think of trying to escape anywhere on this journey to Cape Town. I know two slaves who tried it on the way here. Don’t you know, they were caught by the British soldiers and punished severely. One of them died a few hours later, and the other one suffered a broken leg. The soldiers did nothing to relieve his pain.”
When the man and his wife left to wander about the building under the watchful eyes of the dozen or so British military guards, Benjamin said, “Father … Mother … there has to be a way out of this. Perhaps after we are in our room overhead?”
Robert shook his head. “Benjamin, did you not listen to what we were just told about one slave being killed and the other one maimed? Is this what you want for us?”
“No, Father. I want us to escape, to go to Transvaal and live as free people. If we do not do something, we will be slaves for the rest of our lives.”
“But if we make this attempt, son,” said Nannie, “and we fail, we could end up dead like the one slave … or even with broken limbs. We must not try it.”
Benjamin fought the volcano-like emotion rising within him. He quietly nodded and told himself he would have to wait until he had a workable plan—a plan that his parents could see would work.
At nightfall, after dinner, the soldiers lit lanterns in the slave lodge, and the British officer in charge of the guards called for all of the slaves to gather in one place near the main door and sit on the floor. When they were seated, he went to the door and said something to someone outside. In a few moments, two men appeared. The larger man stood at the front of the crowd and said, “I know that most of you understand English, but if you have some friends who speak only your native language, make sure they understand what I say. My name is Thomas Green. I am your temporary owner. Tomorrow morning at dawn, you will be put aboard the American slave ship Berkeley, which is docked in Table Bay.
“You will be taken across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States of America. You will dock and leave the ship in the coastal city of Charleston, South Carolina, where some of you will be sold to plantation owners whom I choose. The rest of you will be auctioned off to whatever plantation owners are willing to pay the highest price for you.”
Green went on to explain that he had a crew of men who would be aboard ship to make sure they were fed well and obeyed all rules, which would be explained when they were on the ship. Then he nodded to the man with him and they moved outside together.
When the door closed behind them, Green said to Arthur Pendleton, “As usual, Arthur, you keep an eye on things here. I’ll be back in the morning when it’s time to move them to the ship.”
“Will do,” said the younger man.
Green started to walk away, then stopped. “Oh, Arthur. That slave with the broken leg.”
“Yes, sir?”
“See if you can get a couple of the soldiers to put some kind of a splint on it. If he’s mobile at all when we get to Charleston, he’ll still bring a fe
w dollars.”
“I’ll see to it, sir.”
That evening, after the slaves had been fed, they were allowed to go to the second and third floors of the slave lodge. The rooms were small, but there were enough of them to allow individual families to occupy a room privately if they chose to do so.
As soon as Robert, Nannie, and Benjamin were in a room on the second floor, Benjamin went to the window, which was nailed shut. He peered through dirty glass at the space between the slave lodge and the next building in the compound. There were kerosene lanterns at both ends of the building.
“Benjamin, what are you thinking?” Robert asked.
“I was thinking that it is not very far down to the ground from this window.”
Nannie glanced at her husband and sighed.
“But there will be soldiers guarding this building all night,” said Robert. “And haven’t you noticed the window is nailed shut?”
“Yes, Father, but the nails are driven in at an angle, and they are not driven deep. With a little work, I can loosen them and have the window open. We can drop down to the roof over the back door of the building, then drop to the ground.”
“But, son, what about the soldiers?” Nannie said.
“They are few in number, Mother. They will have to walk patrols. This will no doubt mean there are spaces of time when they are not on this side of the building. We will make our move when we can run into the shadows of the building behind this one. The fence around the compound is only chest high to Father and me. We can get over it easily and escape. We will go to Transvaal.”
“But Transvaal is so far away, son,” said Robert. “It will be a long journey, and we will have to avoid the soldiers who will be on our trail.”
“It is worth it to me to try,” said the nineteen-year-old. “Do you not feel the same way, Father?”
Robert looked at Nannie and sighed.
She smiled grimly. “We do, don’t we?”
“Yes,” said Robert. “We do.”
It was nearly three o’clock in the morning when Benjamin watched the guard make his round along the rear of the building, then turn the corner at the far end. He had counted the seconds before the guard would reappear on their side. It was a short space of time, but it was sufficient for someone who was desperate.
When Benjamin was on the ground, his father lifted his mother down and Benjamin assisted her to the ground. When Nannie’s feet touched earth, Robert scrambled down. The three of them made a dash into the deep shadows of the next building. When the guard vanished around the corner again, they darted to the other side of the compound and soon were over the fence and outside the compound.
They kept to the shadows and made their way along the streets that were dimly lit with kerosene lanterns. Finally, they reached the wall that surrounded the Castle of Good Hope, the city’s oldest monument. They huddled in the shadows to catch their breath, then hurried on.
Soon they were running along the shore of Table Bay in the pale light of a moon partially covered by clouds. When they reached a small hut along the shore, they paused for another breather, then dashed around the steep slopes of Table Mountain. After a few moments’ rest at the tip of Table Mountain, they pressed on toward Devil’s Peak, then headed northeast toward the rolling hill country.
At sunrise the next morning, Thomas Green was standing near the front door of the slave lodge, observing the armed guards ushering the slaves along the street toward the docks at Table Bay. He was in conversation with Captain John Orr, the officer in charge of the army guard, but kept his eyes on Arthur Pendleton as he checked off the slave families and individuals from his list when they passed by him and gave their names.
When the last of the slaves had left the building, Pendleton turned to his employer and frowned. Green excused himself to Captain Orr and said, “What’s wrong?”
The younger man shook his head as he studied the list. “Sir, three slaves are missing. One named Robert, his wife, Nannie, and their son, Benjamin.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Green motioned to Captain Orr and told him of the three slaves who were unaccounted for. Two guards were sent to the room the trio had occupied. When they found that the window frame had been removed, they reported it to Green and their commander.
A short time later, Orr had dispatched a dozen mounted soldiers from army headquarters across town to search for the runaway slaves.
IT WAS ALMOST NOON when Benjamin and his parents stumbled down a grassy embankment toward a river near the town of Worcester.
The sky was clear, and the oppressive heat seemed to have weight and substance. Perspiration plastered their clothing to their bodies. The sight of cool water in the heat-blasted hills made them hasten to it.
“We cannot stay here very long,” Robert cautioned them. “Just enough time to cool us a bit. If the soldiers are close behind, they will find our tracks in the grass on the embankment. We must swim downstream and leave the river on the other bank.”
“I need to cool off here,” said Nannie. “The water will help my strength to return. You two go down where you want to cross the river. I will join you when it is time to climb out on the opposite bank.”
Benjamin followed his parents into the waist-deep water, looking back up the long embankment for any sign of pursuit. When he turned his head back again, he saw his father beneath the surface, paddling downstream. His mother was in the river up to her chin, which accentuated the fear in her dark eyes.
“We will call for you soon, Mother,” said Benjamin, and plunged in, swimming toward his father. The coolness of the water rejuvenated him.
Nannie watched her two men for a few moments, then dipped herself all the way down, holding her breath and enjoying the cool river. She let the air out of her lungs slowly, sending tiny bubbles upward. When her lungs were almost empty, she stood up, raising her head out of the water and drew in a fresh breath of air.
She repeated the dipping several times, staying down as long as she could. When she had expelled nearly all the air in her lungs once more, she raised up and broke the surface, enjoying the refreshingly cool water while drawing in the hot, humid air into her lungs.
Some fifty yards downstream she saw her two men going under the surface again. She decided to go beneath the surface one last time. When she came up seconds later, she shook her head, throwing water from her long, black hair. Little beads glistened in her hair and on her bronze face. Her eyes were closed as she sought to absorb the last vestige of the fortifying coolness that clung to her skin.
A sudden strange sound brought her eyes open, and a gasp escaped her lips when she saw British soldiers standing on the bank. Her chest felt like it was being crushed in a vise as the fact that she was caught penetrated her mind.
“Where are the men?” demanded the lieutenant in charge.
Nannie could see downstream from the corner of her eye. Robert and Benjamin evidently were still submerged. Without replying, she looked up at the lieutenant, fearfully meeting his gaze.
“Come up here, woman!” he commanded, motioning to her.
When she didn’t move, he shouted to his soldiers, “Two of you get her out of the river! The rest of you find the men. They’re somewhere close by.”
Nannie backtracked, shaking her head, as the two soldiers came after her. She felt a scream tear upward in her throat as they seized her arms and dragged her toward the bank. She screamed again and one of them backhanded her across the mouth.
“Shut up, woman! Scream again and I’ll break your jaw!”
When they neared the bank, the soldiers lifted Nannie out of the water none too gently and tossed her through the air. She let out a short, piercing cry of pain when her hip struck a rock and she rolled on the rough, hard surface of the bank. Her momentum caused the sharp rocks to scrape her bare arms and face.
As soon as Robert and Benjamin heard her cry they turned their heads and found themselves facing a half dozen black
muzzles.
They were forced up the bank at gunpoint, but when they saw Nannie sitting on the ground with blood on her arms and face, they ran to her. Robert knelt down beside her and mutely looked into her eyes, then folded her in his arms.
When the lieutenant came toward them, Benjamin stood up to meet him.
“She didn’t obey me when I told her to come out of the river,” the lieutenant said.
“Let my mother tell us about it,” said Benjamin.
“She’s not to speak to you, and neither you nor your father are to talk to her or to each other until you are aboard the ship. Mr. Green is holding the ship because of you, and he’s very angry.”
Benjamin stiffened. “My mother is bleeding. We need to wash her wounds.”
“Not now. The three of you will ride aboard the horses of my men. Let’s go.”
When the soldiers and the runaway slaves arrived at the dock, Thomas Green met them at the gangplank.
The cuts on Nannie’s face and arms had stopped bleeding and were beginning to scab. But Robert and Benjamin held her up between them because of the injury to her hip.
Green’s words were almost a roar. “How dare you try to escape! I paid good money to Kent Rhodes for you, and you had no right to run away!”
The soldiers stood around Green and the slaves in a tight circle.
The slavemaster stepped closer. “I should have all three of you whipped for this! But I won’t. Consider yourselves very fortunate. I need all three of you in good condition when we arrive in South Carolina, or I can’t get top dollar for you.”
Green ran his gaze over the physique of young Benjamin and grinned stonily. “You will bring a very good price, boy. I’ll put you on the auction block for sure.”
Benjamin frowned. “Mr. Green,” he said, attempting to hold his voice low and level, “will whoever buys me allow me to bring my parents along? They will buy them, too, will they not?’
Green laughed hollowly. “I doubt that, boy.”
