The Quaker and the Rebel by Mary Ellis Read Free Book Online

along the north pasture.
    “The Ordinance of 1787 established the Northwest Territory as the first government born free in all the world. ‘Here no witch was ever burned; nor heretic molested; here no slave was ever born or dwelt.’ ” Emily recited the litany taught to her by her parents with pride and conviction.
    Adam, a man not yet thirty, set down his tools and faced Emily. “Yes, ma’am. I know all about that proclamation, but I also know ’bout the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. That means I ain’t no freer in Ohio than I am here, not as long as slave-catchers with guns and dogs can track me like an animal. I’m no animal here, miss. I may be a slave, but I can work in the dairy when my chores are done. When I save enough money, I’ll buy my freedom and my wife’s. With signed manumission papers, no slave hunter and his dogs can come after me.” He looked her straight in the eye and held her gaze.
    “I understand, Adam.”
    “No, ma’am, you don’t. You may mean well, but you don’t understand a’tall.” Selecting the next slat of wood to nail in place, Adam turned away from her, not rudely but with the concerted effort of a man with a job to do.
    “I can help you and your wife reach Cleveland or Fairport Harbor.” Emily glanced around before stepping closer. “From there, Friends willput you on a boat to Canada. That’s what the Quakers are called—Friends,” she added earnestly. “You’ll be safe in Canada.” Why is this man behaving like this? So aloof and disinterested. Doesn’t he trust me? “Take the freedom train, Adam. You won’t regret it.”
    “No one can say what we will or won’t regret during our lifetime, but I’ll think about it. I’ll think on it plenty, you can be sure ’bout that. You go on now. I’m grateful for the offer, but you must leave me. This ain’t something a man decides on the spur of the moment.” With the discussion over on his part, Adam picked up his tools and walked away without a backward glance.
    Alone, Emily stood watching him lumber down the dusty road. Was it her? Was there something in her that didn’t inspire trust? Adam was the third slave on Bennington Plantation who hadn’t jumped at the opportunity of the freedom she was offering. True, after observing island life for the past several months she had to admit slaves weren’t abused here. But there was no freedom either for more than half the workers. Dead leaves swirled around her feet, and a cool breeze lifted the hem of her skirt, sending a shiver up her spine. With fall rapidly approaching and her sorrow pushed to the back corner of her mind, she was eager to find a purpose. Yet she’d found no takers for her offer to assist slaves across the river to Ohio. And the reason continued to elude her.
    Emily often read aloud to Mrs. Bennington during the afternoon when neither felt like napping. Emily enjoyed the recitations of Pickwick Papers and David Copperfield as much as her employer. An incongruous bond formed between the two women as they discussed Charles Dickens’s bleak outlook on society. Emily offered forthright opinions with growing confidence, while Mrs. Bennington loved to impart Quaker principles into every debate. Although members of the same Christian sect, their backgrounds and experiences had created rather divergent ideas. But both women had abandoned the somber gray dresses and wide-brimmed, face-obscuring bonnets worn by Quakers—Mrs. Bennington because her husband insisted she dress like the fashionable women of her class, and Emily because, after herbrief period of mourning, she rebelled against the constant reminder of her loss.
    Mrs. Bennington’s kindness finally wore down Emily’s resolve not to socialize with the family. An additional incentive to accepting the invitation to dine in the grand salon that evening was because her services as chaperone had been requested. Margaret would be attending her first adult affair, while Anne would serve as punch bowl