Why I Ran

Chapter Eight

Day 23:
(North Carolina)

In the morning, Mattie sets us off with a sack of food and directions to the next abolitionists' house.

"They will have a white nightgown on their clothing line." She closes the door.

Sara holds her hand in her own.

"Thank you." She whispers.

"My pleasure." Mattie smiles warmly.

As we leave I look back at Mattie. She is still smiling. It is early morning, so it is dark outside. We hurry along in the shadows.

We pass a house and a dog barks from the inside. Heavy footsteps follow them. We scurry behind the neighboring house, twenty feet away.

I look through a bush and see a big man with a gun looking out into the night.

"Who's there?" His voice is firm.

I hold my breath. The dog sniffs the air. He saunters over to where we hide. He gives a low growl when he sees my wide eyes.

The man repeats himself. "Who's there?"

He walks slowly towards us. Diana starts to shimmy her way backwards but steps on a brittle trig. It is as loud as a gun shot. We all start to run. There are gun shots behind us but I don't look back.

Joseph grunts and falls to the ground. We stop and Sara starts to scream his name. Tate and Cal go back for him. Joseph is bigger than both of them so it takes them both to half lift, half drag Joseph.

"I think my leg broke!" Joseph is sweating, "I think I got shot!"

Sara cries. She and Joseph have always been close. I've always teased her about liking him. I hold her in my arms awkwardly as we sprint away from the large man and his dog. We head for the trees. We barely make it.

-

We are all numb. Joseph died of blood loss. He was shot in the thigh. If we had medical supplies, he might have made it. The run wasn't good for him either. Sara is still crying. I don't know how to comfort her.

We head out in about an hour. It is hard to tell time by just the moon. We need to find shelter.

Joseph lays in a bed of flowers. We even gave him a small ceremony. Tate shared the story of when Sara first came, Joseph spilled honey all over himself. Sara cries and laughs.

-

We are on our way. The house shouldn't be too far now. I'll be done writing for now.

Rest in peace, old friend. We love you, Joseph.

-Edith

I know, sad. I'm sorry. I like to write sad things.

Tell me if you like this story. I have never written something like this before so yep.