James Grippando - Leapholes

"Stay together!" shouted Hezekiah. "Everyone, just stay together!"

They landed in a meadow at sunrise. Low-hanging clouds to the east seemed to be floating on a purple-orange sea of calm. As the sun broke the plane, the chill of night started to burn away. Dew drops glistened on waves of spring grass and an endless field of yellow blossoms.

The forest was gone. The dogs were gone.

And so was Kaylee.

Ryan rose and counted heads once more. To his left were Hannah and Abigail; to his right, Hezekiah and Jarvis. Apart from looking as if they'd emerged from a wind tunnel, they were unharmed. Ryan was more worried about his missing friend. "What happened to Kaylee?" he said.

"Our human chain must have broken during take-off," said Hezekiah.

Jarvis lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry, everyone. I just couldn't hold on."

Ryan tried not to get angry, but his concern for Kaylee left him somewhere between alarmed and agitated. "What do you mean you couldn't hold on? Everyone else managed to hang on. You're stronger than any of us."

"Yeah, but I was the only one who had the weight of four people pulling on my arm. Hezekiah had only three, you had two, and Hannah had only one. Once that leaphole started to swirl, it was like trying to hold on to four people in the middle of a hurricane."

"All right, fine," said Ryan. "But can somebody please tell me where Kaylee is?"

"She's a sharp girl," said Hezekiah. "She knows well enough to stay with the leaphole and ride it out. I'm sure she's home by now."

Hezekiah's reassurance put him somewhat at ease. But he suddenly had a new worry. "If Kaylee's at home, then where are we?

Hezekiah's gaze swept the meadow. The sun was now completely above the horizon, making the field of wild yellow flowers even more bright. "I have no idea," he said. "Abigail, Hannah-how about you? Does this place look familiar?"

"Not in the least."

"No, sir," added Hannah.

"Then what are you saying?" said Ryan. "We could be… anywhere?"

"No, I wouldn't say anywhere. We broke away from the leaphole during take off, which means that we're probably not very far from where we started."

"But we have no leapholes," said Ryan. "So wherever we are, it means-"

"We're stuck," said Jarvis, finishing the thought. "And it's all my fault. I can't believe I blew it for everybody."

He had indeed let them down, but finger pointing never did any good. Hezekiah laid a consoling hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't blame yourself, big guy."

"It's okay, Jarvis," said Ryan. "It would have taken the strongest man in the world to hang on to four people in that leaphole."

"You really mean that?" said Jarvis.

"Sure," said Hezekiah. "We'll figure something out."

Abigail rose and brushed the droplets of morning dew from her pants. "I don't know what in tar-nation you people are talking about, and I don't want to know. But we ain't never gonna figure out where we is just sittin' around moping. Let's git"

"Which way do we go?" asked Ryan.

"North," she said. "As far north as we can take this runaway slave."

Hannah held her belly. "I'm feeling kind of funny."

Abigail said, "You just hang on there, momma. We don't want that baby popping out till we know we're in a free state."

Hannah grimaced with pain. "I dunno if I can wait. I think all that swirling and twirling maybe got this baby a little excited."

"You want your baby to be born free or born a slave?"

"Free. 'Course I want him free."

"Then you tell him to calm right down and wait a spell, honey. Abigail's in control now. I'll get you and that little one to freedom. We'll be having no more fancy leapholes, or whatever you folks call those things. It's time for me to take y'all on a little ride."

"What kind of ride?" said Hannah.

She smiled and said, "From here on out, we'll be traveling by railroad. The underground railroad."

As Ryan soon discovered, the underground railroad was neither underground nor a railroad. The term actually referred to the secret routes that runaway slaves traveled when fleeing north to freedom and the loose network of assistance they received along the way. It started after the American Revolution and became more organized as opposition to slavery swelled in the mid-nineteenth century. The lines of secrecy cut through rivers and swamps, across meadows, over mountains, and down dusty roads. The whole system worked because people who hated slavery were brave enough to risk their own lives in the hope that others would find freedom. Over the years, perhaps a 100,000 fugitives from bondage escaped through the underground railroad.

Sadly, Ryan was beginning to have serious doubts as to whether Hannah would be one of them.

"Just a little bit farther, honey," said Abigail.

"I can't go no farther," said Hannah.

They'd been walking for two hours, due north. Abigail's horse had been left behind in the leaphole disaster, so they had to travel on foot. They stopped only three times, once to drink from a stream and fill their canteens, and twice more to hide Hezekiah and Hannah in the weeds. Because they didn't know where they were, the safest bet was to assume that any sign of life on the horizon might be a slave-catching posse. Fortunately, both scares had been false alarms. The first time it was a herd of deer crossing the meadow. The second time was sheer paranoia. Hannah had only thought she'd seen some men on horseback in the distance.

The sod house straight ahead was no mirage, no false alarm. It was as real as the sweat on Ryan's brow. A sod house was exactly what the name implied: a house constructed from chunks of sod cut from the ground. It blended into the surroundings like a grassy knoll on the prairie, which made it a perfect place for runaway slaves to hide from the dangers of daylight.

Unless its owner was pro-slavery.

"Oh, my!" Hannah shrieked. She fell to her knees. Ryan felt her fingernails digging into his forearm as she struggled to endure her sudden surge of pain.

"Another one?" said Ryan.

Hannah nodded, unable to speak.

Abigail said, "She's having some mighty powerful contractions."

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Ryan.

"That's a body's way of telling a woman that her baby's coming. It'll pass."

Slowly, some of the tension seemed to drain from Hannah's body. Her back and shoulders were less stiff, but she appeared exhausted. The intense abdominal pain had indeed passed. From the look on her face, however, the repeated episodes were beginning to take their toll.

"You okay, honey?" asked Abigail.

Hannah caught her breath. "This is wearing me out."

"Your contractions are coming about every ten minutes now. They're getting stronger, aren't they?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Won't be long now," said Abigail.

Jarvis looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean it won't be long?"

"That baby is coming before sundown. I bet my life on it."

"We need to get her to a hospital," said Ryan.

"A hospital?" Hezekiah said with a chuckle. "This is 1857, Ryan. That sod house up ahead will have to do."

Hannah managed to take a few steps forward, but she'd already done too much walking on too little rest. It was clear that she couldn't make it the full fifty yards to the sod house. Ryan ran ahead and brought back a wood plank from the ramshackle fence around the sod house. Jarvis and Hezekiah each took an end, and they used it like a stretcher to carry Hannah the rest of the way. As they drew closer, Ryan went to the front door and knocked, but he heard only a hollow echo.

He tried again, but it was obvious that no one was home. He pushed the door, and it creaked as it opened. A racoon ran over Ryan's feet, startling him. He collected himself and stepped inside.