A New Beginning: My Journey with Addy

As we hurry to catch up to Reverend Drake’s wagon, Addy asks where I’m from. I tell her Tennessee. She says that’s a long way from Pennsylvania to travel alone, then tells me she and Momma escaped from a plantation in North Carolina.

“You escaped?” I ask, amazed.

Addy nods and explains that Momma and Poppa had planned for the whole family to run away together, keeping it secret until Addy overheard them whispering one night. Poppa wanted to leave for Philadelphia right away, but Momma wanted to wait until the war ended. Poppa said they couldn’t wait any longer. They had to take their freedom while they could.

That sounds terrifying, so I ask if Addy was scared.

She admits she was very scared, because her brother Sam had run off once before. Master Stevens tracked him down with dogs, tied him to a tree, and whipped him. Addy stops talking, her face clouding over, and I can tell whatever she’s remembering isn’t a good memory. I take her hand and hold it until she’s ready to talk again.

Addy continues that after that whipping, her parents always hushed Sam whenever he talked about running again. But this time was supposed to be different, since the whole family planned to go together and stay together.

Addy’s family isn’t together now, so I ask what happened. She tells me quietly that Master Stevens sold Poppa and Sam. How could a person sell someone else like that?

Momma decided they were still going to run, even without Poppa and Sam. Addy had thought they’d wait for the war to end and for Poppa and Sam to come back, but Momma said the two weren’t ever coming back to that plantation. Poppa already knew the plan to reach Philadelphia, so someday he and Sam are going to meet them here.

I tell Addy that day sounds like it will be a good one. I think of the day my own Dad is supposed to come home, circled in red on my calendar, and how I can email him and talk to him most nights until then. I wonder how Addy falls asleep without even knowing where her father and brother are.

Then I remember Addy mentioning someone named Esther. When I ask who that is, the smile leaves Addy’s face. Esther is her baby sister, left behind with Auntie Lula and Uncle Solomon. Momma said Auntie Lula and Uncle Solomon were too old to run, and Esther was too little. They couldn’t carry a baby the whole way to Philadelphia, and her crying would have given them away. Now Addy and Momma are here, but the rest of the family isn’t.

That’s awful, I say, thinking about Danny and my Grandpa and Gran. I wonder what I would do if they disappeared and I had no idea when I’d see them again.

Reverend Drake stops the wagon in front of a tall redbrick building. Addy says we’ve reached the church. And besides, she wants to hear about my family too, since she’s been talking on and on about her own. I follow her through the wide-open doors and see flyers posted on the wall. One of them is for a benefit for the Freedom Society. It’s set to happen in November 1864. I touch the coin in my pocket. That’s the year on Charley’s two-cent piece!

Addy leads me down to the church basement, into a large meeting hall lit only by candles on the walls. Of course, no electricity in 1864. The room is full of people, and I get hugged again and again. When Addy explains that I’m on my own, everyone hugs me even more and makes me feel welcome.

Long tables are piled with food, and my stomach starts growling. I think of Grandpa’s bluefish and realize I barely touched dinner. Addy and I take off our shawls and bonnets, and she brings me to a woman dishing out a thick pudding, telling her she wants her to meet her new friend.

Addy’s mother greets me warmly and introduces herself as Mrs. Walker. She guesses I must be tired and hungry, then tells Addy to sit me down while they get me a plate of her sweet-potato pudding.

While I wait, I watch the others in the room. Several look like people from the pier, eating as if they haven’t had a meal in days. Even in the dim light, I notice how worn-out and sad some of them look, and I can only imagine what their journeys to freedom were like.

Addy and Mrs. Walker come back with two plates of chicken, cornbread, greens, and sweet-potato pudding, plus cups of water. Mrs. Walker tells us to eat while she helps with the serving, and reminds Addy to take good care of her new friend.

Addy asks what my family is like as she bites into her cornbread. I explain that there’s my mother, my father, my little brother Danny, and my grandparents, who help take care of us because my parents can’t right now. I admit I miss my parents, especially my Dad. Addy nods like she knows exactly how that feels.

The more Addy describes her life in Philadelphia, the more I realize her family’s separation is far more serious than mine. I ask how she and Momma actually escaped.

Addy sets down her fork and explains that Auntie Lula and Uncle Solomon got them disguises so Master Stevens’s dogs couldn’t track their scent. They left at night and ran as fast as they could in the dark, wading through water whenever they found it to throw off the dogs. They crossed one especially swift river, and Momma nearly drowned.

Addy explains that Momma can’t swim, and her foot got tangled in branches along the riverbed. Addy had to dive underwater to free her. The moon was full that night, but it was pitch dark below the surface, and Addy admits she was truly scared.

Addy goes quiet for a long moment before continuing. Once they got out of the water, it was hard to see where they were going, but they kept moving. When it started getting light, they had to hide, spending one day in a cave and another under a tree covered in branches. Momma had saved a little food and water, but all Addy could think about was finding the safe house.

I remember learning about safe houses in school, but I never imagined meeting someone who needed one. Addy says a woman named Miss Caroline let them in, fed them, and gave them different clothes, including the blue dress she’s wearing right now. Miss Caroline hid them in her wagon, drove them to the coast, and got them onto the ship that finally brought them to Philadelphia.

The sweet-potato pudding turns into a lump in my throat. I tell Addy she’s the bravest person I’ve ever met.

Addy smiles at me. She tells me I’m brave too, or at least I was, being on my own like this. She says now I have the church to help me. And I have a friend. Her.