Crossing the Delaware Bay

“Who’s the captain of this vessel?” asked the man in the scarf.

          “That be me, sir,” said Abraham, the black captain.

          “That’s Abraham Walker,” said the officer. “He sails up and down this bay all the time.”

          Police Officer Terry Jenkins was a friend of Abraham’s but today he had to travel around with a bounty hunter from the South who was out searching for runaways. It wasn’t the officer’s favorite thing to do, but the law did require him to accompany these slave-catchers when they had the proper search warrants even if it meant having to inspect the boats of the free blacks that he knew personally.

          “Who you out lookin’ for today, Constable Jenkins?” asked Abraham.

          “Two runaways from Kentucky,” said the officer. “Two men, one in his forties and one in his twenties.”

          “You have any runways on this boat?” asked the man in the scarf.

          “No, sir. You know we don’t cater to no runaways, Constable Jenkins,” said Abraham.

          “I understand, Captain Walker, but we hafta check all the same.”

          As the Officer’s boat slowly pulled level with the Liberator the man in the scarf held up his wanted poster and began comparing the drawings on the parchment with the black faces in the boat.

          Harriet’s heart was thumping furiously as was everyone else’s in her crew. Of the nine legitimate crew members on the boat five of them were black and the other four were white. Harriet noticed the man in the scarf checking and re-checking as he looked at Henry.

          “You there,” he said pointing at Henry.

          Henry looked around then looked at the man. “Me, sir?”

          “Yes, you. What’s your name?”

          “I-Isaac, sir. Isaac Green, sir.” Harriet had already told everyone to use a fake name if ever questioned by strangers they didn’t trust.

          “Where you from, Isaac?”

          “Wilmin’ton, sir.”

          “Isaac Green from Wilmington, sir. I can vouch for him,” said Abraham.

          The man in the scarf appeared to have hit a dead end.

          “Alright, that’s enough,” said Officer Jenkins. “On your way, Captain Walker.”

          “Thank you, Constab—“

          “Wait!” interrupted the man in the scarf. “What about those kids?” He was pointing at Kyla and Zammie. “What’re you doing with children onboard a shipping vessel?”

-- Crossing the Delaware Bay

from Time Trip #2 (Chapter 22)

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

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TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

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