Elijah of Buxton

It’s Cooter’s turn to ring the great bell. The Liberty Bell was a gift from a group of freed slaves and residents of Pittsburgh. Cooter rings it 20 times each for the five new arrivals: 10 times to symbolize leaving the old life of a slave and 10 times for the new, free life.

Citizens of Buxton arrive and welcome the family. The mother takes her baby to the infirmary, so she is not present when Miss Duncan the First and Miss Duncan the Second arrive. These two sisters think the daughter of the newly arrived family resembles someone they know. They ask the father several questions and determine that the escaped mother must be their younger sister. They request time before telling her, however, to give the mother a chance to settle in—“She gone through enough without being burdened with this” (179)—and the father agrees in appreciation.

Elijah sets out for Chatham to collect Buxton’s mail on Old Flapjack, but the mule becomes frightened. He rears up and dumps Elijah on the road. A neighbor, Mr. Polite, sees them and tells Elijah to go back and get a horse for a much faster trip. Elijah doesn’t mind Flapjack’s slow pace at all, but he obeys Mr. Polite.

Elijah learns in Chatham that the postal carrier had an accident, which explains the lateness of the Buxton mail. He receives only two pieces of mail for the Settlement: a package and a letter. The letter’s fancy script worries Elijah at once, and he brings the letter directly to Ma although it’s addressed to Mrs. Holton. Elijah thinks the letter bears sad news: “If the letter was writ fancy, like this one was, with swirlingness and curlycues and such nonsense it only meant one thing: A friendly white person was writing to let you know somebody was dead” (187). Ma tells Elijah to change into his church clothes. She comes along, bringing a pie, and tells Elijah he will have to be strong as he reads the letter aloud to Mrs. Holton. By the time they arrive at Mrs. Holton’s, a crowd of women bearing food have joined them, all certain that the letter shares unwelcome news.

Mrs. Holton reacts to the arrival of the letter with grace and strength. She politely asks Elijah to read it. The letter reveals that Mrs. Holton’s husband John was killed for attempted escape from his master in Virginia. It says that Mr. Tillman, the master, thought John stole gold.

The women offer condolences and help. Mrs. Holton assures them she will be all right and invites them to eat the food they’ve brought. Back home, Ma compliments Elijah on his mature behavior.

After church on Sunday, Elijah goes in the buckboard wagon with Cooter, Emma Collins, and other children for a picnic on the sandy beach of Lake Erie. Pa drives the wagon, and Ma and Mrs. Holton sit on the seat with him. Elijah positions himself just behind the adults so that he’s “right in the middle of some good eavesdropping” (203).

Ma shares a story of her days as a slave. One summer in her youth, she went on a trip as a companion to the young girl of the white family that she served. She traveled north to Flint and Detroit and even looked across the river at Canada. When she returned and told her mother that she saw Canada, her mother struck her and told her that she should have tried to escape. Her mother said that if Ma ever got another chance, she should take it or die trying. When Ma left to travel with the white family again a few years later, she knew it would be the last time she would see her mother. Later, at the beach, Elijah and the children pretend to be slavers and abolitionists. 

Days after, Elijah meets Mr. Leroy at the sawmill instead of the clearing. Mr. Leroy shows him words that Mrs. Holton wrote. She wants the words carved into a piece of wood to hang over her door, and Mr. Leroy wants Elijah to check the words before he starts carving. Elijah takes the job seriously and works on the words for a week. He asks Ma and Pa about his version, and they approve; he takes the draft to Mr. Travis, who makes a few small corrections and tells him it’s a job well done.

Once Mr. Leroy carves the words, he and Elijah hang the plank above Mrs. Holton’s door. Elijah reads the inscription aloud, and Mrs. Holton tells him “That’s just what I wanted it to say, Elijah” (218). She makes him take a nickel in payment. Then she gives a box of payment to Mr. Leroy. He’s shocked to find gold coins. Mrs. Holton planned to use them to buy her husband’s freedom. Now, Mr. Leroy can use the money to bring his wife and children to Buxton.

Mr. Leroy tearfully accepts the money, promising to repay Mrs. Holton, and the three weep together.