A Perilous Proposal by Michael Phillips Page B

want to know, then, is what all this is about with you being a slave. You can’t still be a slave . . . not while you’re here with us. Why do you say you’re still a slave?”
    Jake glanced around and lowered his voice. “I’s a runaway, Mr. Duff,” he said. “Dat’s why I’s tryin’ ter git to da norf. I’s in a heap er trouble. Dat’s why I’s on da run.”
    â€œWhy you say you’re in trouble? What happened?”
    Briefly Jake told him about his mother and about attacking the white drifter. But he didn’t tell him the worst of his secrets.
    â€œWhat will dey do ter me, Duff?” Jake asked when he was through. “Da white soldiers . . . what dey do when dey fin’ out I’m a runaway?”
    â€œThey won’t do anything. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you—you’re with friends now. You might as well get used to it, ’cause you’re going to be with us for a spell, at least until you get recovered enough to walk.”
    â€œBut what will I do? I ain’t no soldier like you.”
    â€œYou let me worry about that,” said Duff. “You can help me with the horses. Nobody’s going to bother you. Once you’re up and about, I’ll make sure you earn your grub. You know anything about horses?”
    â€œA little. My papa wuz real good wiff horses. Dat’s what he did.”
    â€œHe was a slave too?”
    Jake nodded. “Till he lef’ us,” he said. “I ain’t seen him since I wuz a little kid.”
    Duff took in the statement thoughtfully but did not reply.He could tell from the cloud that came over Jake’s face, there was more to the story. He was curious, but he would let whatever he might need to know come out when the time was right. Micah Duff may have been young, but he was wise enough to know that there is a time to press and a time not to.

N EW S URROUNDINGS
    10

    P RIVATE D UFF WAS RIGHT . I T TOOK J AKE A LONG time to recover from his injuries. The company couldn’t stop and take time for him to mend just because they’d picked up a runaway black. They had to keep going. And those next few days were mighty painful for Jake.
    Private Duff did his best to make a comfortable place for him to lie in one of the wagons, with as many blankets as they could spare. But the bouncing and bumping hurt so much that there were times Jake didn’t think he could stand it. There is nothing quite so painful as broken ribs. Every bump the wagon wheels went over sent jabs from a hot iron straight into his chest. But Jake didn’t have much choice, unless he wanted to ride on a horse. That would have hurt even more.
    Getting used to his new surroundings, getting used to the routine, and getting used to the kindness both the white and the black soldiers showed him helped the days gradually pass. Ribs are also mighty slow to heal, but gradually he was able to put up with the pain a little better.
    There were only three blacks in the company. It took a lot of getting used to being around so many white men who didn’t treat him like a slave. Watching Micah Duff and the other two colored men behave around the white soldiers waslike nothing Jake had ever seen before. They acted like he’d never seen any black person act around whites.
    Though Private Duff was busy doing all the things that soldiers do, he had time to take care of Jake too. Whenever the company stopped, and especially every evening when they made camp, he tended most of the horses—though some of the officers took care of their own. But he still did everything he could to make Jake comfortable. He brought him food and water and checked his bandages every once in a while. Jake began to think that Duff was part doctor as well as everything else he did!
    After a week or so, Jake began to get around pretty good. He could use his right arm to eat and get his shirt on and off and do most