Moorehead Runaway

       One chilly October evening before dinner, Sarina was pacing the trail, waiting for the stagecoach to come rolling down the road, the sound of horse's hooves stomping on the crisp, colorful autumn leaves littering the ground. She had been waiting for what had seemed like hours because her father had gone to get her grandma and grandpa for the feast since her older sister Brooklyn had just turned sixteen. In her family, every time someone reaches a "milestone year", as her mother called it, they had a feast to celebrate. "Sarina!", called her Mother, interrupting Sarina's pondering. "Can you come stir this so that it doesn't stick?" "Yes, ma'am.", Sarina said as she walked into the kitchen of her family's two-story oak log cabin with a cedar bark roof. After a few minutes, she heard a familiar crunching she had been longing to hear. "They're here! They're here!", Sarina yelled as she sprinted outside to greet them. "Father!", Sarina exclaimed as she got to the horse-drawn wagon with elegant carvings of swirls and lines on the side, opening the door, revealing a velvet and wood interior. "Hello, Sarina!", they all exclaimed in unison as they got out, handing her their luggage, two trunks, a burlap sack, and Gramma's purse.

She took them inside, where everybody exchanged hugs. Sarina took their possessions up to the guest room, where they would be sleeping. Then, told Brooklyn to come downstairs to see Grandma and Grandpa, and because the feast was ready. When the sister's got downstairs, they had to go outside to collect firewood for the living room fireplace. The girl's talked and laughed the entire time they were out there. After dinner, Brooklyn set the fire in the living room fireplace, illuminating the entire room. They then went and played outside, playing tag, hide n seek, and looked for wild strawberries and blackberries. All of a sudden, Sarina heard pounding, running footsteps and heavy panting, followed by the sight of a young girl with dirt covered, milk chocolate brown skin, long braids that threatened to trip her with every bound, a pair of soft brown eyes that showed a look of deep fear, and a tattered cotton dress. "Can you help me?" she frantically asked, her voice hardly above a whisper. "Yes, just stay here while I get Mother", Sarina fearfully said as she ran into the house. "Mother! Mother! There's a runaway slave outside!" Everybody ran to the bushes where Brooklyn and the girl were crouched down. " Come in, Come in." her mother said, voice trembling. Everybody went back into the house and Brooklyn said," Sarina, why don't you let her wear one of your dresses; you two look about the same size. I will get her some food and water."

She took the girl up to her room, which has wooden walls painted a light chestnut brown, almost the same shade as her eyes, a wooden floor with a rug slightly a darker shade than the walls, making the rug her hair color, two haylofts with soft quilts Sarina helped her mother make last year, and a window with a white frame. " Pick any one that you like." , she said as the girl looked at the dresses hanging neatly on the hangers. " What's your name?" , she asked the girl. "Eva. What's yours?" , she said softly. " Sarina.", she said calmly as Sarina got out another dress for her to examine. "You have some pretty dresses.", she said as she picked one of the many dresses spread out across the bed. She picked a soft blue colored one with an apron sewed on the front of it. "Thanks. I made most of them. I could teach you how." , Sarina said as she helped her get it off the wooden hanger. Sarina left the room as she put it on. When she was done, Sarina came back with the first aid kit that her family kept for the runaway slaves that would come from mainly Moorehead, since their legs were usually cut and scraped due to the many briars along the trail. She put the ointment on her leg gently so that it didn't hurt, then put the bandage on her leg. "Thanks", she said as she got up. Sarina noticed she didn't have any shoes on her blistered feet, so she ran to the closet to get her a pair of boots that she didn't wear anymore. She put them on as they talked about many things. One of the many things the girls have in common is the fact that they both love to read and write, even though Eva isn't supposed to know how, according to the older slaves. They also both keep a diary of everything that goes on. She pulled her diary out of her old dress pocket. It had a worn leather cover with her name embedded on it. It was bound together with thin twine made from pine needles. She said that she got her own room in the Big House which is where the master and his family slept and lived. She got her own room because she worked in the Big House. Sarina also found out that she was from Moorehead Plantation. She liked to read some of the books that were open in the library room. The master and overseer had beat and worked many slaves to death, including her parents. After talking and laughing for a long time, the two went downstairs and talked, laughed, sang songs, and told stories for a while with the others. A While after, everybody went to bed to awake to the smell of crisp bacon flooding their noses, making them all very hungry. That same morning, Eva left right after breakfast. She left for New York with a journal and ink that Sarina gave her, some food and water, a small amount of money, and a dress just in case the one she was wearing became too damaged, dirty, or wet. A few days later, they received a letter that read,

Dear Sarina,

I made it to New York safely. I am with my aunt right now. I filled up the journal you gave me, and I had some ink left over. I got a job at a store register. I get paid ninety cents a week. How are things back in Virginia? I heard that Moorehead was sold and that all the slaves were set free. Is it true? Write me when you get this, please.

Your friend, Eva