Mid-morning Jan. 4, 1864 Sweetfern Farm Kirkwood, MS

When Harm awoke that morning he pulled a shirt on as best he could, and then he shuffled down the back stairs. When he reached the bottom, he saw the warm and friendly kitchen for the first time. Sitting at the large table, surrounded by Bobbi, Sturgis and the two men whose voices he'd heard the night before, was Mac. She was absent-mindedly looking out the back window, her eyes distant and her face blank.

"Lieutenant Rabb," Bobbi exclaimed, "What are you doin' down here?"

Harm shifted his gaze to Bobbi, even as Mac snapped out of her own little world and stared at him. "I had to get out of that room," he said, "I'm going to go insane if I have to spend one more minute in there."

"Harm, you really shouldn't be down here," Mac said warily, "Someone could see."

Just then, a young woman appeared at the kitchen door. She wore a black skirt, and had a plaid shawl wrapped tightly around her. Her blond hair was done up perfectly in tight spirals, which resembled sausages.

"Loren, how nice to see you," Mac said as she rushed to the door. She opened it but didn't invite the woman in.

"I was just coming to wish you a happy New Year, but I see I've come at a bad time," she said, straining to look around Mac and into the kitchen, just the way Brumby had done the day before.

"Yes, unfortunately, I am entertaining at the moment," Mac said, but Loren wasn't looking at her. She was staring at the two black men.

"Those two men are." she said, turning accusing eyes at Mac. Then she smiled evilly before turning and running off across the lawn.

"Loren, wait!" Mac yelled and she started to chase after her. Sturgis caught her arm before she had taken a few steps, though.

"No, Mac," he said, "We've got to leave now."

Mac looked angrily after Loren for a moment. "You're right."

She hurried back into the kitchen. Harriet, carrying AJ, and Bud had joined the group now, and had witnessed the scene. Harriet was bustling about wrapping bread in handkerchiefs, while Hannah collected the meager things the two men had brought. Harm looked around as if looking for something he could do to help. Through it all, AJ played oblivious near the hearth. In a few minutes, Sturgis was ready to leave, along with the two men.

"Stick to the woods," Mac told him, "Find a place to lay low until dark."

"Mac I know what I'm doing," he assured her. Just then, Bobbi came back into the room. In the mayhem no one had even noticed her leave. She had a heavy woolen cape buttoned around her and a small basket in the crook of her arm.

"I'm going with you," she told Sturgis.

"Absolutely not," he replied sternly. "I won't let you."

"Well, I'm going whether you like it or not," she retorted, and then her face softened as she looked at Mac, "I was going to tell you. Sturgis and I are, well, we're engaged."

Mac smiled despite the tears that threatened to spill. "I'm going to miss you terribly," she said, "I don't know what I would have done without you."

Bobbi came forward and embraced her. "I'll never forget you. When we're settled I'll write."

Mac nodded firmly. But Sturgis was now fuming, "You're not going woman."

Bobbi whipped around and stared him down. "Who are you calling woman? Now you listen here, I am going, and you have not say in the matter. Is that clear?"

Sturgis's eyes were wide with shock. He'd never scene this side of Bobbi before, and he didn't know quite what to think of it yet. Oddly enough though, he nodded, and Bobbi responded by kissing him on the cheek.

"You don't have a lot of time," Harriet reminded them, "If I know Loren Singer," she added bitterly, "She's just gone to fetch Brumby, and if you're not well out of here by the time he arrives, you'll never make it north."

Sturgis nodded and then he, Bobbi, and the two fugitive slaves swiftly ran from the house and across the yard. Harm, the Roberts, and Mac watched until they disappeared into the woods.

"God speed," Harm muttered.