Freedom

Chapter 4

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?". It was a slave catcher. My immediate reaction was to run as fast as I could. And I did. Frederick was right behind me. We ran faster and faster but the catcher was on a horse. And he had a whip. God how I hate whips. I have too many memories of being whipped. Every time I've seen a whip, it makes me cringe in fear. This was the one time that I didn't. I was too afraid of what might happen if I got captured. All of a sudden, the sound of horse feet clomping on the ground as it ran stopped. I thought he gave up. I looked behind and I was wrong. Frederick was in a net and the catcher was standing above him. "Not so fast now are you, ya nigger!!", the catcher screamed in his face. I acted on instinct and ran back for my friend. The catcher didn't notice me cause he was focused on Frederick. I tackled him and knocked him to the ground. I could hear something crack. At first I thought that we fell on a stick and broke it. I got up but the slave catcher was still lying on the ground, screaming in pain. He broke his back. I walked over to Frederick and got him out of the net. "Come on Ben, let's end his misery."

"Are you insane?!?"

"Do you want him to suffer?"

Again, Frederick was right. We shouldn't let this man suffer. "Who's gonna do it."

"I'll do it.". He walked over, bent down, prayed to the lord and quickly snapped the catchers neck. His blood drained on the ground, the dirt soaking it up. I puked from the sight of the dead man. We decided to bury the catcher. When we finished, we took his supplies and his horse then went back on our way. At times when I was on the trail, I wished I was still working on the plantation.