“Thanks for bein’ here,” said Lucius.
“I don’t wanna let you down.”
“I know-and I know you won’t.”
Lucius let go of her and made a quick search of the building. Every individual stall received a short inspection. While this was going on, Portia stuck her head outside. She was disappointed not to see anybody.
“There ain’t much time,” said Lucius when he was done. He reached inside a pocket and pulled out the photograph. “Here it is,” he said, handing it to her. “This is the whole reason for what you’re gonna do.”
Portia strained to see the photograph, but it was too dark. She stuffed it into her bag.
“What else is in there?”
“Just some food.”
“Lemme see.”
Portia opened the sack.
“That’s enough for two people. I don’t want you goin’ hungry, but that’s gonna slow you down. You can find food on the road.”
“I just wanna be prepared.”
“All right,” said the old man, warily. “Let’s make this short so you can get goin’. I’m gonna set you up with a horse. You’ll wanna stay off the main roads and travel at night, and it’ll take a couple of nights.”
Lucius described a route to Charleston that would keep her on some less-traveled roads.
“When I get to Charleston, what do I do?”
“You remember Nelly?”
“Sure I do. She works next door to Mr. Bennett’s.”
“That’s right. She asks about you all the time. She knows someone who can help slaves get to the North. I don’t know who it is or how it works. Nelly’s a talker, but the truth is, she usually knows what she’s talkin’ about.”
Just then they both heard the sound of a foot scraping at the doorway. Lucius froze in place, but Portia jumped up. She ran over to Big Joe and put her arms around him. Then she took him by the hand and led him to her grandfather.
“What’s goin’ on?” asked Lucius.
“Big Joe is comin’ with me.”
“That ain’t a good idea, Portia.”
“I want him to come.”
“This is trouble. There’ll be two horses gone instead of one and twice as many tracks to follow.”
“Grandpa, he’s comin’ with me.”
Lucius shook his head. “I’m hopin’ to get through the whole day tomorrow without anybody thinkin’ too hard about where you’re at, Portia. I can cover for you much longer than I can cover you and him together. Tate will start missin’ Joe early in the mornin’. Bringin’ him is a big mistake.”
“Grandpa, he’s comin’ with me.”
“Joe, have you told your mother about this?”
Joe didn’t say anything right away, and it suddenly occurred to Portia that he had not actually agreed to escape with her. Maybe he was here to tell her that he was staying put.
“Your mother is gonna be a mess. Have you thought of that?”
Portia still held Joe’s hand. She squeezed it.
“Yep,” said the big man. “I’m goin’ with Portia.” He squeezed her hand back.
“Mr. Bennett’s gonna send dogs after you. Chasin’ two people is a whole lot easier than chasin’ one.”
Portia and Joe did not say anything. For the first time, Lucius saw their clasped hands. It occurred to him that if they were caught, their motive could be explained as a crazy elopement. They would still be punished, though perhaps not as severely. The reputation of Joe’s jealous mother would make the story credible. Everybody knew about Sally.
“I’m not gonna change your minds, am I?”
“No,” said Portia and Joe at the same time.
“We could talk about this all night, but that’s only gonna slow you down.” He looked at Portia. “Have you told him why you’re doin’ this?”
“He knows.”
“And Joe, do you understand why that picture needs to get to Abe Lincoln?”
“Yeah, I get it.”
“OK. Let’s send you two off to Charleston. When you get there, find Nelly. She’ll take care of the rest.”
Portia watched Lucius and Joe move to the center of the stable and discuss which horses to take. They picked a pair, saddled them, and led them to the door. Joe held the reins while Lucius stepped outside to make sure the runaways would not be seen.
“Thank you for doin’ this,” whispered Portia. She gave Joe a quick kiss on the cheek.
Lucius came back in. “Looks clear. There’s a light comin’ from the manor, but I don’t think you’ll be seen. Ride quiet till you hit the main road, and then follow my directions. Be careful, too. Don’t travel too fast. It’s easy to go the wrong way in the dark.”
They led the horses from the stables. Lucius helped Portia onto hers and then put his hand on Joe’s shoulder.
“You take good care of her.”
“Don’t worry, Lucius. We’re a team now.”
Lucius looked at his granddaughter. “If you’re caught, destroy the photo. If Mr. Bennett hears about it, he’s gonna get madder than we’ve ever seen. From now on, there’s only one person who should see that picture, and that’s Abe Lincoln.”
TEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1861
The parade of visitors would arrive soon. Faintly through the door, he could hear one of his secretaries lecturing a couple of them in the waiting room. These high-class beggars would march in and out of his office twenty-four hours a day for four whole years, he supposed. Sitting down with each individual petitioner, hearing him describe his important connections in dull detail, reading his reliably flattering letters of introduction, and listening to him grovel for a minor office-some days it made him little more than the national appointment-maker, the commander-in-chief of a vast system of political patronage. The party hacks would have liked nothing better than for the president to devote himself exclusively to this task. They seemed more concerned with pestering him about the postmaster of Marshall, Michigan, than with letting him concentrate on the disaster in Charleston. There might be a crisis of union-but they had friends and relatives who needed jobs!
Sitting in a high-backed chair, with his feet propped on his desk, Abraham Lincoln decided to wait a few minutes before beginning the revue. He gazed across his room in search of a distraction. Maps were good for that, and three hung on the east wall. The one of Charleston Harbor, all the way to the left, would have to come down soon. It had been the first one up, and he had spent many hours studying it. He knew its markings so well he hardly needed to look at it anymore. Little Sumter, surrounded by forts and batteries, never stood a chance. Now the map annoyed him. It was a symbol of his first failure in office, though it was true that he had inherited the problem from the previous administration. Perhaps there was nothing he might have done to prevent Fort Sumter from falling, short of permitting Southern secession. Whatever the circumstances, this was his watch. He would have to take final responsibility for what had happened there. He would order that map removed this very day.
The next map, to its right, displayed all the Southern states, from Virginia to Texas. They were starting to call themselves the Confederate States of America, but Lincoln insisted that nobody in his government use that name. They were still part of the Union because secession was unconstitutional. This was an important legal point, even though it did not conceal the obvious fact that it was a map of enemy territory. Lincoln had it on his wall for a military purpose. In just a few hours, his cabinet would announce a naval blockade of the Southern ports. This was General Scott’s idea, and Lincoln agreed that a successful blockade would put a strangling pressure on the region’s export-dependent economy. Weeks would pass before it took full effect, but the decision to do it would provide a signal to the public that the president now believed the national emergency would last into the summer.
This thought led his eye to the right, where a third and final map was tacked to the wall. Here was northern Virginia, from Harper’s Ferry in the west to the widening of the Potomac in the east, where it flowed into the Chesapeake Bay. Washington sat about midway between these two points, and Lincoln worried about its vulnerability from every direction. If Virginia assembled an army soon, it might seize the capital without much of a fight. The city was almost completely defenseless against a few boats floating up the river for a bombardment too. Fort Washington, on the Maryland shore, was essentially unmanned. Alexandria, the port on the Virginia side, probably would welcome the raiders and supply them. Lincoln believed he needed more soldiers in a hurry.