CHAPTER EIGHT: THE CHOICE AT DAWN
By dawn, Ralston had left the estate under guard provided by Thomas’s own men.
Elias did not mistake that decision for justice.
Thomas had acted only after Jonah threatened to bring the accusations before the county magistrate.
Adelaide remained in the cottage while the others returned to the house.
She had told Thomas about Beatrice, and the argument that followed could be heard from the road.
Elias sat beneath an apple tree beside Martha.
“Will you tell Hannah I kept the shoe?” he asked.
“I will tell her you recognized it,” Martha replied.
“She will want to see you herself.
”
Elias looked toward the fields where the workers were already being called to begin the day.
Nothing about the morning made them free.
The master’s sudden anger with Ralston did not erase the master’s authority over their lives.
“You should go with Jonah when he leaves,” Martha said.
“He knows a place where you can find work.”
Elias studied her face.
“You are asking me to run.”
“I am telling you there is a wagon leaving tonight,” she answered.
“The decision belongs to you.”
Elias thought of his mother, who was still living in the quarters behind the mill.
He could not leave without speaking to her.
“I will meet you after dark,” he said.
Martha nodded.
“I will wait until the moon reaches the orchard wall.”
A bell sounded from the house.
It was the morning bell that had governed Elias’s days since childhood.
For once, he did not stand when it rang.
He waited until Martha had gone, then walked toward his mother’s cabin.
She opened the door before he knocked.
“I heard the wagons last night,” she said.
“Hannah is alive,” Elias told her.
His mother gripped the doorframe.
“Say that again.”
“Hannah is alive.”
She closed her eyes and let out a breath that seemed to carry years of grief with it.
Elias held out the small shoe.
His mother recognized her own stitching and began to cry.
“We can see her,” Elias said.
“Not because anyone in that house has granted us kindness, but because people have made a way.”
His mother took the shoe and set it carefully on the table.
“Then we must be ready before dark,” she said.
CHAPTER NINE: THE LAST SUMMONS
Adelaide sent for Elias one final time before sunset.
He entered the drawing room instead of the bedroom.
Thomas stood beside the fireplace, and Ruth waited near the door.
Adelaide was seated in a straight-backed chair with both hands resting on her stomach.
“I have asked my husband to hear what I say,” she began.
Elias remained standing.
“I threatened you with sale,” Adelaide said.
“I used my position to force you into a room where you could not leave.”
Thomas shifted uncomfortably.
“Adelaide, there is no need to discuss household discipline in this manner.”
“There is every need,” she replied.
“I am not asking Elias to forgive me.”
Elias watched her carefully.
“Then what are you asking?”
“I am asking what I can do that will not place you in greater danger.”
“You can stop sending for me,” he said.
“You can tell the truth when someone asks why.
”
“I will.”
“You can let Ruth leave this room without punishing her for hearing it.”
“She may leave.”
Ruth did not move until Elias nodded to her.
Thomas stared into the fire.
“You speak as though this house were a prison,” he said.
Elias looked directly at him.
“It is a prison for anyone you can sell.”
Thomas opened his mouth, then closed it.
Adelaide looked away.
The silence did not mean agreement.
It meant that no one in the room could honestly pretend not to understand.
Elias turned toward the door.
“You asked me to come here for months because you were frightened,
” he said.
“I was frightened every time I came.”
Adelaide lowered her head.
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then,” Elias answered.
He left before she could reply.
