A big man stood over the small Henri. "I've been looking for a French boy. I knew he'd be in his 20s by now. It took me all these years to find him. And now I'm taking him back..." he said menacingly.
"Take him back?" Sarah asked the large man.
"He doesn't belong to you!" James shouted.
"Oh, yeah? Read 'em and weep." The man shook a paper in front of Dr. Franklin's face.
After Dr. Franklin read it, "Oh my... it seems this is the man that took Henri as a slave when he was six years old."
"That's right. And he's still my property. I oughta get money out of ya people for stealing him under my nose!" He scowled at them.
"You had him locked up on a boat, sir!" said an enraged Sarah.
"Oh, so they told ya that did they missy?" He smiled cruelly, "I wanted him to bring ya guys here so I could talk to ya'll. I want money."
"You're not getting any money from us!" James yelled. "Come on, Henri." He grabbed his hand – as if he were a child - and started walking.
"Hold on, James. We need to talk to him." Moses told him.
"But..." James protested.
"No buts," Said Moses.
Henri just trembled in fear under James' hold of him, not angry at being lead away by hand.
"Do not worry, Henri. You're not going anywhere." Sarah assured him.
"Oh yes he is." The man firmly grabbed Henri who looked up at him scared.
"Can we please talk about this in a calm manner?" Moses asked.
"I can pay you for us to keep Henri. We've had him all these years now." Dr. Franklin told the man.
Henri spoke up in a tiny, but hard voice to Dr. Franklin, "I never belonged to you."
"You never did Henri. We just took you in so you could have a home." Moses told him gently.
"He belongs to me!" The 'owner' yelled.
"Will you take us up on our offer?" Moses asked him.
"Depends how much money you'll pay me." He said.
"Enough," Dr. Franklin guaranteed him.
"Fine... take the boy then. I don't need 'im," Frowned the man. He let go of Henri.
"Can we go now and take him to the hospital?" James asked.
"Go ahead James. You go with them Sarah. We'll be right there." Dr. Franklin said.
The two left, having to pull Henri with them because he was frozen in fright.
When they got to the hospital:
"You'll be fine here, Henri. They'll take care of you." James told him.
Henri was lying in a bed.
"Dr. Franklin and Moses will be here soon. I'm sure they took care of that awful man," Sarah said confidently.
Henri bit his lip.
"You all right, man?" James asked the quiet Henri.
Henri shook his head.
"Well of course he's not all right. He's hurt. But don't you worry, Henri, you'll be helped here and we'll see you again in a few weeks. You can tell us your situation then," Sarah's words relaxed Henri.
Just then Dr. Franklin and Moses entered.
"Dr. Franklin, what happened back there?" James asked excitedly.
"We took care of it. We paid him and now he's going to leave Henri alone," Moses answered.
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. "You hear that Henri? You'll never see him again."
Henri gave her a small smile and closed his eyes.
"We better go now. He needs his sleep." Dr. Franklin said.
"You both just got here!" James said.
"James... let's go. We'll see him when he's better. Dr. Franklin's right," Sarah agreed.
"Do you think he'll get better? I feel like we don't know the whole story. I'm worried about him," James said anxiously.
"We all are, James," Sarah told him with troubled eyes.
Dr. Franklin and Moses left with one last look at Henri sleeping. Sarah followed.
"Coming, James?" She asked turning around.
"In a second, Sarah," He replied.
She nodded then left.
James looked at Henri. "I hope they're right."
He left feeling lost about the situation.