The Way to Freedom

My name is Hatty Ross. I have an older sister named Minty, but everybody calls her Harriet. Now that she’s jumped the broom with John Tubman, I guess her name is Harriet Tubman.

Work is hard on the Brodas plantation. We get beaten, and sometimes kids as young as seven can get sold away from their parents.

On the long hot days when we work in the tobacco fields, Harriet tells me about the birds flying overhead. “One day, we will fly north and be as free as those birds.”

Whenever he can, our father, Old Ben, teaches us how to find our way in the dark. “See the big ladle in the sky? The bright star above it is the North Star. It will guide you to freedom.”

Today, we had to double our work, and the overseer kept beating us. I was almost asleep on my straw pallet when I heard Harriet rushing around.

“Harriet! Why are you packing our cornbread and salt herring?”

“We are running to freedom, little sis.”

“We can’t just leave Daddy Ben and Mama Rit and everyone else!”

Harriet suddenly stopped and looked me in the eyes. “I promise I will bring all the other slaves to freedom someday.”

She grabbed my hand, quietly opened the cabin door, and we started running and running. It was so cold and dark, I didn’t think I could bear it anymore.

We stopped under a pine tree to rest, when I heard the sound of dogs barking nearby. Slave catchers!

I let out a shrill scream, but Harriet covered my mouth, and we plunged into a muddy swamp. Daddy Ben had taught us that dogs can’t track as well in water. It was true.

We walked for days. We stopped at different safe houses and got food, clothes, and sometimes shoes.

“It is like these houses are stops on an invisible railroad.”

“An underground railroad,” replied Harriet, her eyes shining.

“And you are the conductor.”

“We are,” said Harriet. “And this train won’t stop running until there is freedom all over the world!”