You both spend much of the night fearfully weighing the risks of escape. The thought of freedom is so tempting it hurts to even think about. However, in the end you decide that the odds of making it safely to freedom are stacked against you. As soon as you are discovered a search party armed with bloodhounds will be sent to bring you back. If you manage to evade the hounds you still have to walk more than 200 miles to Philadelphia all the while having to avoid strangers, both black and white. The police and slave catchers are everywhere and they can stop any colored person for any reason and demand to see their pass that allows you to be away from the plantation.

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Even if you make it to Philadelphia, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 has made people crazy with greed and fear. There are more slave catchers than ever and even the police in the north can arrest you. From Philadelphia, it's still a long way to Canada.

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You both decide that your best hope of staying together is to stay quiet and work hard so that the master won't choose you or Ellen to be sold.

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That Sunday all of the field hands are in their cabins doing their chores when one of the house slaves, Abigail, comes bursting in barely able to catch her breath. She has a wild look of raw fear in her eyes and she tells you that a man from Alabama has arrived to purchase slaves from Master Fisher. The cabin goes deathly quiet as it begins to sink in that in a few moments any one of you could be ripped away from your friends and family and taken to some cotton plantation where only God knows what the new conditions will be like. Your wife squeezes your hand and gives you a reassuring smile.

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A half an hour later a knock comes on the door. It is the overseer. He says that you and nine other slaves are being summoned by the master. Your heart pounds wildly. "Oh God, no" is all that runs through your head. Is it too late to run?

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Most certainly.

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You have no choice but to follow the overseer to the main house. A strange white man inspects you like a donkey. Opening your mouth, running his gritty fingers over your teeth, poking your muscles and ordering you to do various excercises to prove your fitness.

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Finally, money is exchanged and you are ordered to get onto a wooden wagon with the other 9 slaves. As the wagon pulls down the long tree-lined drive you spot Ellen hysterically running after the wagon screaming your name. The last thing you hear is Master Fisher cracking a whip and ordering her back to the cabin. This is the last time you will see Mount Harmon or your wife again.