"Come on, come on!" David did his best to usher the others forward, but it was difficult. They had been running through the woods all night, with the sounds of dogs and gunshots practically at their heels and a few of them were practically collapsing from exhaustion. But they were so close…
"The last safehouse is just a mile yonder, come ON!" David scooped up one of the children from Tilda's arms, to allow her to move a little faster. The child barely even noticed, just yawned and nestled into his chest, tiny fist tightening around a handful of his shirt.
It wasn't until the first faint light of dawn began to seep over the trees that they saw the cabin with the gentle glow of a candle in its window-a sign of the Railroad. Trying to keep to what shadows remained, they stepped cautiously to the back as a group and David rapped his fist twice on the door. It opened almost at once and a woman wrapped in shawls ushered them inside.
"The cellar, the cellar, they're right behind you, be here any minute!" She hurried them down the stairs and spared a brief smile at Tilda and the children before closing the door firmly behind her.
It seemed only minutes later that a loud pounding and shouting came from outside, a whole slew of voices demanding to be let in. David held his finger to his lips and crept back to the door to peek through the keyhole.
The woman opened the door andthe posse pushed past her, spreading out and tearing the house apart in their search for the runaways. They overturned furniture, tore down curtains and knocked on walls to see if they were hollow. David held his breath as one man neared the cellar door, but the man suddenly stopped, as if something invisible had blocked his path.
A few more minutes of searching and the men grudgingly gave up, spitting and cursing as they left the disheveled house. The mistress of the house closed the door behind them, double locking it before crossing to the cellar and whispering, "Everyone all right?"
"Yes," David replied "But how...they was right in fronna us!"
"I have a friend to help," The woman smiled and nudged her now-visible kecleon out of the way. "Neither one of us judges much on skin color."