A Day To Pick Your Own Cotton Part 26

"What about you, Miz Katie?"

"If anything happens, I just want the two of you to get away as fast as you can. They won't hurt me-I'm white."

"What you plannin' ter do?" asked Jeremiah. "If dey's got Mayme, how you gwine fin' her?"

"I don't know. We need to sneak up to the house somehow," she said. "There's a black servant lady named Josepha that we've got to find without anyone seeing us."

"I kin git in da house, Miz Katie," now said Emma. "I know where dere's a way in wiffout bein' seen. I snuck in an' out lots er times. I'm sorry, Miz Katie, but I was a crackbrained c.o.o.n an' I done things I shouldna done."

"We won't worry about that now," said Katie. "You can talk to G.o.d about it if you want to, but right now we've got to try to get Mayme away from there. So how do you get into the house without anybody seeing you?"

"Dere's a cellar dat don't n.o.body go in much where dey keep wood an' coal fer da winter. An' it's got stairs down to it from under da pantry window, an' if dere ain't n.o.body at dat window, dey can't see nuthin' ob you from all da way to behind the chicken shed. Dat's how I sometimes went out, up from dat cellar, den I'd run across to da chicken shed."

"Can we get to the chicken shed without being seen?" asked Katie.

"I reckon we can try, Miz Katie, hidin' dese horses in da trees nearby an' den creeping to da shed when dere ain't n.o.body lookin'."

"Then we will have to be very careful to make sure no one sees us on the road, and then ride off into the woods when we get close to the place."

They continued on their way and did just as Katie had said. But once they were off the main road and getting closer to the plantation, Emma wasn't much good with directions, and it took them quite a while to find it. But at last they saw the house in the distance through the trees. They tied their horses and dismounted.

"Maybe you ought to stay with the horses, Jeremiah," said Katie. "Just in case somebody sees them or something. I don't suppose there's any sense in all three of us getting caught in the house. Remember what I said, if anything bad happens, you two get away and don't worry about me."

Katie and Emma continued on foot until they were at the edge of the trees.

"See, Miz Katie," said Emma softly, "dere's the chicken shed. We gotter run dat far in da open."

They looked about. Most of the activity was on the other side of the house where the barn and storage buildings were located. Katie looked all about until it seemed like the way was clear.

"All right," she said, "let's go."

"I'm gettin' skeered, Miz Katie."

"Me too. But we've got to do it for Mayme, remember? It's time for you to be brave."

"All right, Miz Katie, I'll try."

They ran out from behind the trees, hurried across about fifty yards of open field, quickly climbed a short wood fence, and dashed for the shed. A flurry of squawking came from inside as they crouched down behind it, but it soon died back down.

"I hope n.o.body seen us!" said Emma.

"I hope so too," said Katie. "What do we do now, Emma?"

"Stick yo head aroun' da corner, Miz Katie."

Katie did so.

"You see dat slanty cellar door under dat part ob da house dat sticks out from da rest-dat's da pantry and dat's da cellar beneath it."

"What if it's locked?"

"It ain't neber locked dat I recollect."

"Then let's run for it."

"Wait, Miz Katie! You gotter make sure n.o.body's in dat window dat can see us."

Katie looked around the corner of the shed. "There is is somebody there," she said. "A black lady." somebody there," she said. "A black lady."

Emma stretched her neck around the corner to look. "Dat's Josepha! I don't reckon it matters if she see us."

"That's who we're trying to see anyway," said Katie. "Let's go."

They inched out from behind the shed and in a few seconds were das.h.i.+ng for the house. Inside the pantry the movement caught Josepha's eye. She looked down to see a white girl and a black girl just disappearing from sight under the ridge of the house.

"Land sakes!" she exclaimed under her breath. "Effen it ain' dat fool Emma an Mayme's white frien'!"

She turned and waddled hurriedly back into the kitchen and kept going straight through.

"Where are you going, Josepha?" a voice said after her as she went by.

"To da cellar, Mistress McSimmons," answered Josepha without slowing down.

"What for?"

"I ... got ter git sumfin I lef ' down dere da other day. I's be back up in er jiffy."

As fast as she dared Josepha opened the door. The cool dank air of the cellar met her face. Closing the door behind her, she inched down the narrow stairway into the darkness, each step groaning beneath her weight. When she reached the earthen floor, she took a match from her pocket, struck it on a stone, and held it in front of her, looking for a candle. But before she could find one, two figures suddenly approached through the thin light at the far end from the outside door by which they had entered.

"Tarnashun!" she exclaimed in a loud whisper. "Where'd you two come from!-Emma, you guttersnipe, whatchu doin' here? Da master's like ter kill you effen he finds you! He been lookin' high en' low fer you, an da mistress, she be as mad as a cornered c.o.o.n on account er you."

"Please, Josepha," said Katie, "we came back to find out what they've done with Mayme. Where is she?"

Josepha looked away. But Katie had seen the fear in her eyes at the question.

"Where is she, Josepha?" she repeated.

"Dey had her in da icehouse all day yesterday," she said. "But den dis mo'nin' I hear'd dem sayin' dat da whuppin's wasn't doin' no good an' dat dere wuz only one way ter make a stubborn n.i.g.g.e.r loosen up his tongue."

"And what was that, Josepha?"

Again Josepha looked away.

"Josepha," said Katie, reaching out and forcing the large black woman's face back in front of her, "I want you to tell me what they meant."

"I'm feared, Miz Kathleen," she said as tears filled her eyes, "I'm mighty feared dey wuz fixin' ter take her out to da big oak."

Emma gasped. "Da big oak!" she whispered.

Katie glanced around and saw Emma's eyes as big as plates and filled with terror.

"What is it?" said Katie.

"Come wiff me, Miz Katie. We gotter git outer here!"

"If Mayme's at something called the big oak, then that's where we're going too. Do you know where it is, Emma?"

"Yes'm, but-"

"Emma!" said Katie. "Remember-we came here to help Mayme."

"If dey've taken her to the big oak, chil'," said Josepha, breaking into tears, "dere ain't nuthin' you can do fer poor Mayme now."

Suddenly light flooded the stairway up to the house behind where Josepha stood.

"Josepha, what's taking you so long? Get back up here!"

Katie and Emma crouched down out of sight, hoping no sound of feet on the stairs would follow the mistress's voice.

"Yes'm," said Josepha. She wiped quickly at her eyes, then turned and trudged back up the stairs, moving as slowly as she could, it seemed, to give the two girls time to make their escape.

Katie and Emma crept out of the cellar and dashed back across the yard. They reached the safety of the chicken house and then continued straight on past it, over the wooden fence, and to the safety of the trees. There stood Jeremiah watching for them, crouching low behind a tree, holding one of the rifles.

"What are you doing with that!" exclaimed Katie softly as she ran past him.

"Listenin' t' you talk about how dangerous dese people is, I figured I'd best be ready ter shoot if dey was comin' after you an' tryin' ter hurt da two er you."

"n.o.body saw us ... come on!"

Two minutes later they were back in their saddles, and Emma was leading the way as best she could remember to the fateful tree.

THE B BIG O OAK.

41.

IT TOOK THEM TEN OR TWELVE MINUTES TO reach the place. reach the place.

The big oak stood in a clearing in the middle of a large field of pastureland. The nearest shelter where they could stay out of sight was two hundred or more feet away.

"Dere it is-dat's da big oak!" whispered Emma.

Katie could feel the fear in her voice.

"An' see-dere's six or eight men on horses all dere together! Oh, Miz Katie, I'm mighty feared 'bout what dey's doin', an' I'm feared we be too late!"

They dismounted as carefully as they could, tied their horses, and crept to the edge of the trees.

"No-look, there's Mayme in the middle of them," said Katie. "We're not too late. She's on one of the horses and-"

Suddenly Katie gasped in horror.

"She's blindfolded ... and they've got a rope around her neck!" she exclaimed. "It's tied over that limb up above!"

"Dat's what I feared, Miz Katie! Dat's what I been tellin' you."

"Dey's fixin' ter string her up, all right," whispered Jeremiah, his voice suddenly sober and a look of determination on his face. "I heard 'bout dis eber since da war. I almost got in some trouble like it myse'f wiff some white men dat had been drinkin'."

"Oh, Miz Katie-Mayme's so good," Emma was babbling. "She must not hab told 'em about me. She gwine git herself strung up fer me. How can a body be so good dat dey'd do dat fer a nuthin' like me, an-"

"Emma!" whispered Katie as loudly as she dared, not worrying any longer if Jeremiah knew her name. "Get hold of yourself. We've got to do something!"

"Dere's a whole parcel ob dem, Miz Katie. Dey kill us too if we-"

"Shush, Emma! We're not not going to let them kill Mayme." going to let them kill Mayme."

"Yes'm."

"No, we ain't," added Jeremiah, anger rising in his voice at what he saw. "I'll kill 'em all if I have to! I'm goin' t' git one ob dose guns!"

"Just a minute, Jeremiah!" said Katie. "We've got to think first.-I wonder why some of them are wearing white hoods over their heads."

"I heard ob it," said Jeremiah. "Some kind er white man's religion, I think."

"It looks like one of the other men's talking to her."

"Dat's William McSimmons," said Emma. "I can see him from here. He shoutin' at her-he plenty riled."

"Then we've got to hurry!"

"Jes' tell me what ter do, 'cause I'm feared outer my wits."

"What should we do, Jeremiah?" she asked.

"I'd like t' kill 'em all," he said. "But dere's too many. I hate 'em. To tell you da truf, I neber shot a gun in my life, an' I don' know if I could kill a man, eben effen he's white."

"We don't have to kill anybody. We can just try to make them think we are. It's a trick Mayme showed me.-Let's get the guns."

They ran to the horses and pulled out the rifles.

Quickly she explained as she and Jeremiah loaded the rifle and each took a handful of sh.e.l.ls.