Blinded By The Past-- The Greatest Showman/Anne Wheeler Fanfiction

Chapter 16

*Not Edited*

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The group soon made it back to the circus, much to the relief of the rest of the troupe. They gathered around again, though unsure if they want to hear the rest of the tale.

"You don't have to tell us the rest," Prince Constantine, also known as The Tattoo Man, told them.

"I'm fine," Anne said. "Besides, in the time from when we left and when we first arrived in New York, so much has happened,"

"Like what?" Helen asked.

"For the next week or two, we knew we had to get away from New Orleans. We only traveled at night and rested during the day, hiding in the woods and the trees. By the time we made it onto a train, we had no idea where we going,"

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**Flashback, 1835** 

The two siblings spent three days in New Orleans before hopping onto a train that took them away from their home. The cart they were in was a few storage supplies, and boxes of cotton and produce being shipped off to other states.

W.D. woke up in a boxcar seeing Anne sitting on a large wooden crate looking out a small window above them.

The boy opened a medium sized wooden box, seeing it filled apples. W.D. climbed up and sat next to her, seeing a large field of grass. He handed one to Anne after wiping it with his shirt.

"You saw the sunrise again?" He asked before taking a bite of the red fruit. His little sister nodded. She looked down at her book, tracing her name with her finger on the paper.

"I miss them," she muttered, sadly.

"I know," Her brother said. "At least we're together. At least we'll find a better life up North."

"I promised Charlotte we will be free together, that we'd be free from that place. Now, she's on some train to a new prison,"

"It's not a prison, it's a school."

"It won't teach her the most important thing in life, freedom,"

W.D. sighed. They sat by the window in silence when they heard the door that led to the passenger train car open. The brother quickly hid Anne under a sheet while she held onto her book and shawl. The boy hid behind a large wooden box, crouching down.

The door slid open and someone came in. He appeared in W.D.'s view. The man held a clipboard and had a simple coat and suit on. He glanced at the board but moved it away.

He followed the man's gaze, seeing a piece of Anne's shawl appear from under the sheet. The man bent down, his fingers inches away from the string that was attached to the fabric.

W.D. jumped out from his hiding spot and tackled the man to the floor. Anne come out from under the sheets, seeing her brother attacking a man.

"Go, run!" He yelled at her. She stood there, frozen a fear. "Go!"

Young Anne clenched onto her book and shawl, jumping off the train. She looked back at her brother, seeing him jump off after her. He slid the door close before the man could stop him.

"Where are we?" Anne asked, her voice shaking.

"I don't know, but we have to hide,"

They looked around, seeing the station is near a small town. Anne looked at the sign, trying to read the name of the place they're in. W.D. pulled her arm, both of them running on the railroad and into the woods.

Anne looked back and stopped, seeing a young girl at the window of the passenger cart. The girl opened the window and slid out a few pieces of bread. They fell to the ground, where Anne ran up and quickly grabbed them.

"Thank you!" The mulatto child whispered to the girl. She walked back to her brother, and they shared the bread. The woman beside the child turned her head, seeing two blacks near free from their masters. She screamed, getting everyone's attention.

W.D. grabbed Anne's hand and ran off again. The girl looked back, seeing the child at the window yelling the word "Run!"

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**Present Day, 1850**

"That's what we did," W.D. continued. "We ran away from the station and from the four men who chased us into the forest. What we were running to was still a mystery,"

"That little girl," Anne said, her voice shaking. "She reminded so much of Charlotte,"

"Did you get tired of running?" Caroline asked.

"No," Anne replied.

"Did get you caught?"

"No, the exact opposite happened. Someone saved us,"

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A/N: I am sorry for not updating as often as I thought. I other books to update too and I start college soon(starting in September) so I won't update in a while until I get used to the schedule. I hope it won't be too long until I update again.

!!!Thanks For Reading!!!