Esther Johnson's Story

It is a cold autumn night, nothing but darkness is all the eye could see. However, like a flame-lit torch, a young Negro female slave navigates through the thick woods of Georgia. She isn 't alone. In her arms, she carries a 3-week old baby girl. The runaway slave 's name is Esther Johnson, a field slave from a nearby cotton plantation. The child is her daughter born only a few weeks ago on the date of, August 1, 1843. Esther stops to catch her breath. She has been on the run for several hours. She looks around and spots a huge oak tree where she, and the baby could hide behind. Breathing heavily clinching the baby close tightly, Esther runs to the tree, stops slowly turns around with her back to the tree, and slides down to rest. As she sat …show more content…
Esther once again starts to run, at this point her feet are blistered, cut, and frozen with each step. She feels pain and agony. Esther knows she has to push that pain in the back of her mind, for both, her and her daughter 's lives are at stake. About a mile away the plantation 's overseer, along with his brother, and a patrol of other men was on Esther 's trial, armed with rifles, shotguns, pistols, dogs, and torches. Seth Parish is the oldest son of the plantation 's owner, where Esther escaped. A few hours earlier, he went to slave housing to do the final slave count of the night. As he began his count, he had a feeling. Something wasn 't quite right, when he walked down the line of slaves, he noticed a space towards the end. Seth, along with another man to aid him, quickly walked up to the slave by the empty space and asked, Where is Esther? The slave remained silent. The speechless slave made Esther a promise not to tell anyone of her absence. Seth angrily yelled louder, and grabbed the young female slave by the collar of her garments shook her, and said, Where is Esther? I am your master. Answer me! …show more content…
With each footstep, the runaway slave is giving it everything she has. A few miles ahead are one of a few safe houses, Esther was told about by some of her fellow slaves. Ester heard many stories of the Underground Railroad, but it wasn 't, until now, now that she began to visualize it. At this moment a little additionally, at this moment a little further, Ester told herself. Somehow through the current circumstances, and surroundings that is in place, the child she carries is at peace. The baby is sound asleep. Esther is thankful, for if the child wakes and begins to cry the slave hunters with hearing her, and it would give away their location. In just the brief moment Esther thought that everything would be okay, the child began to wake. First with a faint whimper, then to a constant moan, which eventually lead to a heavy cry. Shah! Shah! Child, they can 't hear you, whispered Esther as she had to stop to try to and calm the baby down. Ester would then look for a good spot to hide, hoping the baby might settle down. She immediately spotted a line of bushes near the far edge of the