The Last Runaway by Chevalier Tracy

Author:Chevalier, Tracy [Chevalier, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Published: 2013-01-08T08:00:00+00:00

Faithwell, Ohio

8th Month 27th 1850

Dear Belle,

I am writing to thank thee for visiting me when I was ill. I am feeling better now, though still weak.

I thank thee too for the beautiful pillowcases thee has given Jack and me. No one has ever given me such a gift. I will treasure them, as I treasure the hand of friendship thee extends.

Thy faithful friend,

Honor Haymaker

Blackberries

A FEW DAYS later, when her head was clearer and she had regained her strength enough to be up and about, Honor found a response to Jack’s argument about slavery and cotton. It came so plainly to her mind that she wanted to pass it on before it lost its shine. And so at supper, to the astonishment of all three Haymakers, Honor spoke out without having been asked a question first. She was so eager to say what she was thinking, and so unused to leading a conversation, that she did not preface her words with any explanation. Into the silence—the Haymakers did not talk much when they ate—she stated, “Perhaps we should all pay a bit more for our cloth, so that cotton growers may use that extra money to pay the slaves, making them workers rather than slaves.”

The Haymakers stared at her. “I would pay a penny more a yard if I knew it was paying to dismantle slavery,” she added.

“I did not know thee had the pennies to be generous with,” Dorcas remarked.

Judith Haymaker passed her son a platter of ham. “Adam Cox would have to shut down his business if he raised the prices on the cloth he sold,” she said. “There are few pennies to spare these days. Besides, southerners would rather stop farming than pay their slaves a wage. It is not in their nature to make such a change.”

“‘The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.’” Though she had heard the words many times, Honor spoke them without as much force as she would have liked.

Judith frowned. “Thee does not need to quote Leviticus at me, Honor. I know my Bible.”

Honor dropped her gaze, ashamed of her attempt to engage in a true discussion of the issue.

“We come from a slave state,” Judith continued. “We moved to Ohio from North Carolina ten years ago, as many Friends did at the time, for we could no longer live in the midst of slavery. So we understand the cast of the southern mind.”

“I am sorry. I did not mean to judge.”

“There are a few farmers in the South who have given their slaves freedom, or allowed them to buy it,” Jack conceded, “but they are rare. And it is difficult for free Negroes to find a living. Many come north, leaving families behind, to settle in places like Oberlin, which is more tolerant than most. But even in Oberlin they are a separate community, and those who have run away are not entirely safe. That is why we support colonization.

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