The 3 nights went by fast and now it was time for us to go meet Thomas.  Mary fixed up some food bags and told us she would be praying for us a safe trip.  She couldn't go with us for the ride because if anyone came by she had to tell them Jacob went on a hunting trip.  I hoped someday we would be able to visit her again.  

         We had to lay down in the back of the wagon and they covered us with some blankets.  We could have our heads uncovered until we met up with anyone on the trail.  Jacob had his guns and hunting supplies laying all around us.  No one would be able to see us unless the moved the blankets. 

         It was a warm sunny day and we just laid there looking up at the blue sky.  Daydreaming as we rode along, I was dreaming about what it was gonna be like when we was free.  Me and Momma were going to get us a place of our own.  I am gonna teach Momma how to read and write.  We are gonna be able to go anyplace we want to.  Nobody will ever tell us what we are gonna do again. 

         All of a sudden Jacob told us to cover our heads.  We heard some horses up a head.  Jacob stopped and was talking to the men on horses.  They were just a group heading out to do some hunting.   One of them was Jacob's neighbor, he called him John.  John and his men was just heading out and was gonna be gone for 2 weeks.  He said they were going south to see if there was better hunting down there.  Jacob wished them well and told them to stop by the house on their way back.

         After there was plenty of distance between them, Jacob told us it was safe to uncover our heads again.  He said John was a nice guy but it wasn't for the end of slavery.   It was hard for him to change from the old ways.   He said John didn't have any slaves but he wouldn't hide any either.   If we ever crossed his path we should make sure we stayed hidden. 

         It took us about an hour longer before we came to the river and to Thomas' house.  It was starting to get dark when we pulled up behind his boat dock.  He was already there waiting on us along with 5 other slaves he was taken across the river.   There was a dad, mom and 3 kids.   The boy was about my age and the 2 little girls were around 6 or 7 years old.  They were twins.  I hadn't ever seen twins before but they looked exactly alike.   They even were dressed alike.  The only way anyone could tell them a part was a red and blue ribbon they wore in their hair.  Thomas introduced them as the Crudes.   They were a very friendly family.  They were coming from Tennessee. 

         Thomas told all of us to climb in his boat and lay down on the deck.  They covered us with some kind of blanket.  It was a lot heavier than the ones Jacob used for me and momma.  After we were covered up, they placed some wooden boxes all around us.  You couldn't even tell we were on the boat. 

         It didn't take long to cross the river and on the other side was a group of 4 colored men waiting for us to get off the boat.  They took us quickly to a shack about 30 minutes away from the river.  They told us to go inside and stay there till morning and someone would come and take us away.   We were now hooked up with the Underground Railroad and they would take us as far north as we wanted to go.

         There was food and water in there for us to eat and some clean clothes for all of us to change in.  It wasn't a big shack but there was plenty of room for all of us.  We spent the rest of the evening resting up and getting to know the Crudes; looked like we would all be travel together for a while.    Mr. Crude said they had been on their plantation for the past 17 years.  All 3 of his children were born there.  It was a nice place but they had dreams of owning their own place and they knew they would never be able to in the south.  He said he ask his master for a pass to go visit family down south.  Their master was nice enough to give them a 14 day pass.  He told him they were going south so when they started looking for them that would give them a little extra time.  They had been gone for 2 days now so they had plenty of time before any one started looking for them.  He asks momma when we left.  Momma told him that Master gave us a 10 day pass and that was up 2 days ago.  She figured they were searching for us now.  We didn't tell him what direction we were heading.  We just left.  Momma told him she was getting scared but we couldn't go back now.  Mr. Crude asks where my daddy was and Momma told him what happen to Daddy.   Mr. Crude said he would take care of us too and help us get as far north as we could.  He said we should find a place close to each other and then we could all be like family.