Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Two hours have passed, and I can start to see the details in everyone’s faces. I know we have to hide, and soon. I rip off another piece of my dress and drop it.

“Pop, it’s getting lighter.” I say.

“I know, but we’re almost there. Just a little further and we can be safe for the whole night.”

“Almost where, Pop?”

“The McKinley’s of course. C’mon, straight ahead.”

We continue on for another minute before pushing through some brush onto a dirt road.

Pop grins broadly, “Here we go! Follow the road to the left, and we’ll be there in no time.”

I rub my eyes and stumble a bit. ‘No time’ is lasting surprisingly long. I distract myself momentarily by ripping off another piece of my dress. After walking for another five minutes, I notice a small silhouette of a house.

“Mama!” I whisper. It really is starting to get lighter.

“I know, I see it.” She replies.

I stare at the house and unconsciously rip another piece of my dress and drop it. Finally, Joel notices.

“What in tarnation are you doing, girl?”

Mama briefly glances back at us, but chalks it up to our usual arguing and walks on.

I lower my voice, “It doesn’t concern you, Joel, but I promise it’s important. Now hush up and don’t worry about it. Look, we’re almost there.”

We approach the porch, and Pop hesitates. He inspects the house and it’s exterior.

“Looks about right. White house, tan front door, a rocking chair on the porch, one story. Yup. I’d say this is it. Only one way to make sure though.”

He climbs the stairs and looks around.

“What are you doin’, Pop?” Joel asks.

“I’m lookin’ for any kind of identification. Do they have a mailbox?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Go look at it, see if it says ‘McKinley’ or something.”

I trot back to the mailbox. Sure enough, painted on the side was ‘The McKinley’s.’

“Pop! This is the house.” I whisper back.

Pop nods, then reaches up and knocks. We all wait for a moment, thinking of the worst. But then the door opens and reveals a lady with a kind looking face and blonde ringlets.

“Hi, there! I’m Bethany McKinley!” she says joyfully.

“Howdy. My name’s Jack Walker, and this is my wife Eliza and my two kids, Joel and Mara. We’ve heard about your house through the grapevine.”

“Yes, yes, come on in! Go on and take a seat right over there. Welcome to my bed and breakfast,” she adds with a sly wink, “for runaways!”

“Obviously, we don’t use any advertising! This would be one of those rare instances where advertising would be bad for business! No, you most likely know that we use word of mouth to keep this place… eh, inconspicuous . Well, listen to me, jabbering on. Y’all are probably exhausted! The washroom is down the hall to the right. Joel, Mara, I’ll show you to your bedroom! C’mon!”

Joel and I follow Bethany down to our bedroom. We walk in and find two small beds on either sides of the room.

“I understand that this probably isn’t ideal for you folks, but we only have three bedrooms in the house. One’s mine and the other two are for you and your parents. If you need any privacy, you can head into the washroom down the hall, alrighty? Once your Mama is finished in the washroom, your Pop is gonna go in. You two can decide amongst yourselves who’s after Pop, alright? There are some clothes in the drawer, left side is for boys and right is for girls. I have multiple sizes in there because the sizes of the runaways that come to me vary, so just find something that fits. When y’all are finished, you can get some rest. When you wake up, it’ll be around supper time, so just come out to the dining room and it’ll all be ready for you. But for now, you can wash up, or you can hit the hay. Whatever you decide. Alright?”

Joel and I nod, and she closes the door.

“Well… ‘Night!” Joel collapses on the bed.

“Joel! You are filthy! Please, please for once just try-TRY to be respectful, and get changed into clothes that won’t smudge all over those nice, clean sheets.”

Joel groans, “Don’t try to boss me around, McNeil, or else I will wipe my feet on your bed!”

I gasp, “You wouldn’t! MAMA!”

Joel groans, “Fine! I’ll take a bath!”

He walks over to the drawer and pulls out a nightshirt. He pulls off his shirt and trousers and starts to put it on.

“JOEL! Please! I can go all my life without seeing you in your underwear! Bethany said go into the washroom!”

“Naw, she said go into the washroom IF we needed privacy. But I don’t give a hill of beans about what you think of me in my underwear.”

I shove the pillow over my face and groan. Maybe I could make it back to the McNeil plantation if I make a run for it now… Joking…

Mama opens the door while Joel’s trousers are halfway off. He gasps and falls down.

I chuckle, “Put your pants on, you fool.”

Joel shimmies them back on and stands up awkwardly.

“Pop is done in the washroom, who’s going next?”

“As much as I would love to go next,” I start, “please force Joel to clean himself. He’s gonna dirty Bethany’s nice, clean bed! And I don’t want to smell him all night!”

“Bethany said we could just go right to bed!” Joel argues.

“Haven’t you ever heard of an empty gesture, before? And this is your last chance to be clean before we’re on the move again!” I fire back.

“Hm. Pass!”

“Joel,” Mama says calmly while rubbing her eyes, “get in the bath, please.”

He groans and walks past her into the washroom.

Mama looks at me, “Ain’t it funny going to sleep in the morning?”

I wrinkle my nose, “Not really, we’ve been doing that ever since we escaped.”

“Yeah, but being in a bed sure makes it feel different to me.”

“Well, there’s another funny thing- we’ve never slept in a bed before. It’s always been cots for us.”

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go try it out, now. ‘Night, Mara.”

“’Night, Mama.” I yawn.

Bedtime has never been so pleasant before. I can only imagine what waking up will be like. Back at the plantation, waking up was always like a miserable inferno on earth. But when I wake up, there will be no pressure or strain. It will be so different, yet so enjoyable.

While I’m thinking, Joel opens the door, freshly scrubbed.

“Done already?” I ask jokingly.

“Hush up. I’m going to sleep.”

I snicker behind my hand. Then, I dig through the drawers. I find a white nightgown and bring it into the washroom with me. There’s a wash bucket on the floor and one by the oven. There are two other empty ones stacked in the corner. I figure those were Mama’s and Pop’s.

I set the nightgown on a chair, and my shredded cotton dress next to it. I place my shawl on top and hop into the wash bucket. I scrub my skin for a good ten minutes, and then spend five more minutes just soaking. When I’m finished, I grab a towel, dry myself off, and slip on my nightgown. 

I drag my bucket to the drain and pour it out. Then, I roll my eyes and do the same for Joel’s bucket. I stack the buckets on top of Pop and Mama’s and go back to my room.

I carefully sit on my bed and slowly wiggle under the covers. I try to make it last as long as possible. I am about to lay down gently, but I fall asleep before my head hits the pillow.

  ***

I wake up quite some time later. I open my eyes and feel confused. I was sure I slept for at least ten hours, but it’s still dark. Then I remember we went to sleep in the morning, so of course I would wake up around dark. I get out of bed and head down the hall. I see Mama and Pop having conversation with Bethany around the dinner table. Bethany glances up at me.

“Evenin’ sleepyhead! C’mon on over, there’s plenty of supper, tonight.” She calls.

I make my way to the table and sit in an empty seat.

“Have whatever looks good to you, Mara! I’m sure you must be famished.”

I’m tentative at first, taking small amounts of food. I don’t want to seem greedy, but as soon as I put the first bite in my mouth, I pile my plate high with more and more food! There’s ham, fresh rolls, potatoes, corn, yams, and so many other choices. I feel my head spinning with all of the options.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, sweetheart, but save room for some dessert! I made fresh apple pie for the occasion.”

I finish off the remains on my plate, and Bethany goes to get me a slice of pie. I gobble it up and then burp. Bethany giggles.

“Mara! Have you no manners?” Mama gasps. She elbows Pop who is desperately trying to stifle his laughter.

“Pardon.” I smile.

Bethany’s smiling face is red as she tries to harness her giggling. “That’s quite alright, Mara,” She splutters.

I start to laugh when I see Mama’s mortified face. I try my hardest to control it, but eventually, it explodes out of me. Then Pop starts to roar with laughter, and Bethany is chortling so hard that tears are pouring down her face. Mama tries to look embarrassed, but eventually, she joins in with us, too. After a few minutes when we finally start to calm down, Joel comes in with a sleepy, yet irritated look on his face.

“Hey, what’s all the racket out here?” He grumbles.

And that sends us all into another fit of laughter. Even Joel joins in with some confused chuckles.

After we were all finished with our dinner, Bethany gets up and starts to pack food for our journey. I hated leaving so soon, but I knew we weren’t safe until we were in Pennsylvania.

She fills up each of our sacks with food and every canteen with fresh water. I watch her head into our bedrooms and pack some extra clothes for us from the wardrobe.

“I’m sorry we can’t pay you back now, but I promise we’ll send you the money in the mail.” Mama says.

Bethany scoffs, “Oh, nonsense, you don’t have to worry about money. You paid me back with the wonderful time we shared at the table.”

Mama’s eyes well up, “I don’t know how we can ever thank you. We’ve hardly gotten to know you, but I just can’t bring myself to say goodbye.”

Bethany smiles sadly, “Then don’t. I wish y’all the best of luck, and be careful out there, alright? Joel, Mara, take care of one another. Be cautious. You’re not in Pennsylvania, yet.”

She looks at each of us and adds, “I will miss you all.”

We each give her a round of hugs. When it comes to me, a give her a hug and whisper in her ear, “Keep an eye out for our dog, Choco, alright? I have a feeling he’ll be here soon. Give him this, and send him our way.” I slip Joel’s red handkerchief into her hand. She smiles at me and gives me a last squeeze.

“Alright, so here’s how you get to the next part of the ‘railroad.’” Bethany explains while leading us to the back of her house, “Here’s a compass, just keep going northwest. Once you hit the railroad tracks, follow them to the right. Eventually, you’ll reach Woodstock. Keep out of sight and look for a two story, light green house with a fence around its perimeter. If Mr. Stevens is not there, go around back and use the key under the rug. He’ll probably be there shortly.”

“We can never thank you enough, Bethany. We hope to see you again, soon.”

“Same for you. Now, hurry along, you wanna get going before the sun rises again!”

With a last round of hugs, we continue on our way. We go back into our formation with Pop leading. I see him check Bethany’s compass every so often. I smile as I realize that we’ll always have something of hers to remind us of today. With things going the way they are, we’ll come across no troubles at all.

Boy, was I wrong.