Dear Diary,

I was in the dark woods tonight and I couldn't find the North Star! The treetops were thicker than I thought. I tried feeling the moss on a tree, but there was nothing there. I shivered in the cold darkness and started sobbing. I had to be brave, though. I couldn't be a coward. I used to be a slave, and was brave then. Where had my courage gone?

I just could not hold back my tears. At my moment of despair, I saw a small figure creep out of the shadows of the dead trees. I didn't care about what it was. If it was a slave hunter, at least I could go back to my father again. Right at that second, I didn't think anything mattered to me. All I wanted was my sweet, gentle mother, Ellie, who was as lovely as an angel.

Suddenly, a little white lady with bright blue eyes stepped out into the pale moonlight that shone through the trees.

She helped me up and in a whisper like a butterfly said, "Don't make a sound, for there are slave hunters riding towards us."

The gentle hand of the woman took mine, pointed to some bushes and whispered, "Run through those bushes and look for a house. Hide in it! Hurry!"

I could barely see who she was in the dim light, but she wasn't how Bernadette described her, which meant I couldn't really trust her. I glared at her with my eyes that said, "Don't lie to me." And her eyes seemed to twinkle back in the misty moonlight. The sound of slave hunters' horses grew louder and louder. They were coming too fast for me to decide what to do. Then I remembered my mother telling me to always trust the eyes. The eyes always told the truth. This lady's eyes looked so innocent that I did do what she told me.

I heard voices from behind me while I ran through the branches which were blocking my view. Was that nice helper of mine trapped back there? Suddenly, I ran into something hard. The lady had told the truth. I gaped at the amazingly tiny cottage that was covered by trees and bushes. I knocked four times, paused, and knocked five times more quickly. The code knock opened the door and there stood an even tinier old woman who looked sweet and humble. The woman, Angela, welcomed me inside and suggested I'd go see if that kind stranger was alright.

"She can get herself in a lot of hot water," she said with a shake of her finger.

I scurried back into the woods only to bump into the unknown lady again.

"Run!" she warned in a loud whisper. "The hunters are coming! Might as well save yourself while you can, black!"

I took off towards the cabin and Angela slammed the door behind us, locking it with a key.

"Take it!" Angela shouted thrusting the key into the unknown lady's hands, who quickly hid it in her dress.

"Go now, black! Under that bed you ought to go!" the anonymous woman whispered as a fierce fist pounded on the door.

Once I was squeezed under the small bed, Angela slowly opened the creaky, little door. Before she had barely opened it, a big man burst into the cabin followed by...no one else.

"Where is she? Please, my heart will break without my little girl! All I want is Lily back!"

It was Father! Had he become a slave hunter? And why did it sound like an army of horsemen chasing us when it was only Father?

He Then explained to the ladies, "Wilson forced me to find Lily and he sent other men with me. I saw two ladies in the forest, but told the other men there were no slaves in these woods. Then they rode off before I followed the two ladies to this cottage. I was never going to take Lily back to Wilson's mansion. I want to run away with her. I love her. She's my baby girl!"

Without hesitation, I jumped out from under the bed and hugged my loving father. I soon discovered the sweet stranger in the cottage with them was Bernadette, who decided to help me when she heard that Master had found me missing. After praising God for a perfect night, Angela insisted that we would all enjoy her delicious onion stew she'd cooked. But after my experience in the woods tonight night, I decided to hit the hay.