Friday Feature: Mikki Sadil's The Freedom Thief

Shortly before the Civil War exploded in the South, thirteen year-old Ben McKenna is fighting his own war against slavery. He and his family live on his grandmother’s hemp plantation, where his best friend is a crippled slave boy, Josiah. When Ben learns his father is going to sell Josiah, he knows the only way to prevent this is to arrange an escape for Josiah and his parents, Bess and Jesse. With only a few words from his secret Abolitionist grandmother, an old barn with secrets of its own, and a tiny rusted key, Ben plans the escape. When the buyer for Josiah arrives a week early, Ben and the slaves must leave immediately. Without a detailed plan, without even a map of the Kentucky terrain, Ben and the slaves embark on their journey to freedom into a world of hostility, danger, and deception.

Through a collapsing underground tunnel, into a dangerous swamp, and through almost impenetrable forests, Ben and his friends make their way towards the Ohio River. An almost-tragedy for Josiah, deceptive “rescuers” who imprison them for weeks, a daring rooftop escape in broad daylight, and a near capture by Union soldiers add to the many dangers they face. For months, they endure the hardships of hiding in barns, tiny attic rooms, cellars full of rotting fruit and vegetables, and even secret travel in wagons with false bottoms and coffins in a death coach. And always, the slave hunters and their dogs are not far behind.

Free Blacks, Quakers, and a strange young man offer their help to the runaways, sometimes with questionable results. Will they ever reach the Ohio River, and the freedom that is promised on the other side? If they do, will Ben go with them, or will he choose to return home, even though he knows the consequences of his actions could result in prison?

THE FREEDOM THIEF

By

Mikki Sadil

An Historical Adventure

for ages 10-14

Excerpt:

Ben and the slaves are on their final leg of their journey before reaching the safety of the Ohio River, and the man who will get them across. They are hiding in another thick forest, with the Union Fort just ahead of them. The problem before them now is to get beyond the fort, stay out of the moonlight, and onto the beach without the soldiers seeing them.

The forest came alive as a fox yipped in the distance, and somewhere overhead, a night owl hooted and swooped away from its nest. Small animals rustled in the underbrush, a coyote sang, and occasionally, a tiny scream signaled the death of a small animal in the jaws of a predator. A breeze rippled through the trees, bringing a fresh coolness to dispense the daytime humidity. Still, Ben refused to move out.

He crept to the edge of the forest and watched the fort. When most of the lamps within were extinguished and only those on the parapets were lit, he moved back to his friends.

“Okay, we should go now, but we have to be fast and quiet. The moon’s up, which means the soldiers could see us if they’re looking. But there’s only one soldier on the parapet now, so I think it’s the best time. I’ll go first, Bess next. Jesse, you best carry Josiah since he can’t run fast. Be sure to follow exactly where I go.”

They waited at the edge of the forest. The lone soldier was pacing slowly black and forth from one end of the parapet to the other. When he reached the far end, Ben whispered quickly, “I’m going now. Wait until he’s at the same place, then come one at a time.”

He bent over, trying to make his shadow as small as possible, and raced to the wall of the fort. In a couple of minutes, Bess joined him, followed by Jesse and Josiah. They huddled tightly together and Ben knew they were all barely breathing. Even though the fort wall was at least thirty feet high, if the soldier looked down he could see them. He continued his pacing without interruption.

Pressed against the wall, they moved single file toward the end of the fort. Here and there, small patches of snow crunched under their feet and they stopped for fear of being heard. The soldier marched on, thankfully oblivious to their presence.

The wall angled out to the left, toward the river. Closest to them was a huge wooden gate that opened for wagons and soldiers returning on horseback. Now there were two soldiers walking their duty line on the parapet above the gate.

Ben looked out beyond the fort. The bright moon cast light that shimmered on water far down the road. Boats, beached for the winter, were illuminated as they lay against the white sand. A few were still in the water, tied to slips near the riverbank.

Between the end of the fort’s walls and the beach, the area was wide open. Off to the right, at the edge of the forest, only a few trees here and there leaned across the sand far enough to cast even small shadows. This was the dangerous part, running in the open to the limited safety of the beached boats. It was more than a half mile of open ground, easily seen by the soldiers if they chose to look in that direction.

He turned to the others and whispered, “Look, see where those boats are? That’s where the man is going to be.”

He looked around at the beach before them and the edge of the forest a short distance away.

“No matter how we do this, we can be seen if the soldiers start looking down this way. I reckon the best way is to get to the edge of the forest over there.” He pointed to where the sand trickled back into the woods. “Those big trees that lean out over the sand are the only shadows we have, and we’re still going to be in the open between them. But that’s the best chance we have. Let’s go.”

Single file, they ran silently from the protection of the fort wall out into the open and toward the edge of the forest. They had just reached the shadowy edge of the first few trees when Jesse, who was carrying Josiah, slipped on a thin patch of icy ground and fell. Josiah cried out as he rolled away before Jesse could grab him. He hit a rock and lay still.

Immediately, a shot rang out, and a voiced yelled, “Stop! Who goes there?”

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