The cost of courage (a story of the Underground Railroad)

Until 1865, slavery existed in the United States. For most of the 1800s, slavery mostly happened in the southern United States. People who were enslaved sometimes tried to escape to freedom in the north, particularly in Canada. This was very dangerous, because freedom seekers who were caught were often punished harshly. These freedom seekers would use the Underground Railroad to help them along the way. The Underground Railroad wasn't an actual railroad but was actually a series of routes and homes that people who were enslaved used to escape to freedom in the North. People who guided slaves along these routes were called "conductors" and safe houses were called "stops."

The cost of courage

By Heather M. Meston

“They’ll only be staying a few hours before a
comes to take them onward,” Eli's mother said, laying a gentle hand on his arm.
Eli jerked away. How could his parents be so foolish? They’d witnessed the incident with the Farlows, who’d gone to jail after getting caught harboring freedom-seekers. As the Farlow parents paid the price for defying the
, their children had been scattered throughout our sleepy
community along the Maryland coast.
“You have children to think of,” he hissed.
His father nodded. “But we also have a duty to protect our people. Just think: If your grandmother hadn’t escaped, we might be in the same position now. I believe that until all Colored people are free, none of us should rest easy.”
Eli shoved back his chair. “Keep your beliefs. I’ll come back when you’re done risking this family.” His parents didn’t stop him as he slammed the door.

Hours later, a storm raged outside, and Eli cursed himself for a coward as he huddled in the overhang between the ancient oak’s roots, his secret forest hideout.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in freedom and dignity and the rights of Colored people. But what about his family’s freedom and dignity?
Fury and shame roiled in him until he finally drifted into uneasy sleep.

Eli crawled from his hideout upon awakening, worry churning within him. Would his family still be whole and free when he returned?
What he found at home was unsettling quiet. No two-year-old Abigail giggling, no mother banging pots and pans as she cooked. He raced to his parents’ room, where his father was reading.
“Where is everyone?”
His father looked up. “Your mother took Abigail to the market. She wanted her out until our visitors leave.”
“They’re still here? They were supposed to leave last night!”
“The conductor couldn’t get through the storm, so they’re hiding in the attic and probably hungry about now. Since I have a meeting at the shipyard, please get them some food.”
Before Eli could muster a response, his father departed.
Eli stomped to the pantry and slammed some sourdough bread and a crumbling Cheddar on a tray, then headed to the attic.
In the attic’s gloom, he made out the form of a woman. She had a boy at her side and a babe sleeping in her arms.
He held up the tray. “Food.”
“Zeke, get that tray,” the woman said. Zeke looked no older than three or four. But, unlike bubbly Abigail, he was painfully thin and burdened with a solemnity too old for his tiny body.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Eli asked, “Why are you running with children so young?”
Slowly, she replied, “The crops dried up, and the mistress had me altering old dresses instead of ordering new ones. When the money goes, those that can’t earn their keep are the first to go.” She looked down at her sleeping babe with such fierce love that Eli felt a sinuous thread of shame wriggle through him at his earlier denial of this woman and her children. “The house slaves banded together to get us out.”
There was no possible response to the horror this brave woman had just described, so Eli offered only a dip of his head and encouraged her to call if she needed anything.
He’d barely returned to the kitchen before his mother came bursting through the door, Abigail in her arms. “Bounty hunters, just down the road!”
Eli raced back toward the attic.
“Quickly!” he cried. “We need to get out of here. Bounty hunters.”
The woman was no fool. She clambered to her feet, holding the still-sleeping babe and dragging Zeke with her.
Eli led them to the bedroom at the back of the house and scrambled out the window. As the woman maneuvered through the narrow opening, Eli heard the door open. “Hurry!” he hissed, gathering Zeke into his arms. They took off through the woods.
Ten minutes later, they approached his hideout. “You’ll be safe,” he told them. “No one’s ever found me here. Stay, and I’ll lead the conductor to you tonight.”
The woman nodded, and Zeke offered a cautious smile, the first Eli had seen from him.
As he returned home, Eli couldn’t get Zeke’s hesitant smile out of his mind. Maybe some things were worth risking everything for after all.

What line from the text best shows why Eli worried about whether his family would “be whole and free” (paragraph 9) when he woke up in his secret forest hideout?

(Choice A)
“They’d witnessed the incident with the Farlows, who’d gone to jail after getting caught harboring freedom-seekers.” (paragraph 2)
(Choice B)
“Hours later, a storm raged outside, and Eli cursed himself for a coward as he huddled in the overhang between the ancient oak’s roots, his secret forest hideout.” (paragraph 6)
(Choice C)
“The conductor couldn’t get through the storm, so they’re hiding in the attic and probably hungry about now.” (paragraph 14)
(Choice D)
“The conductor couldn’t get through the storm, so they’re hiding in the attic and probably hungry about now.” (paragraph 14)

6th grade reading and vocabulary (improved and expanded)

Course: 6th grade reading and vocabulary (improved and expanded) > Unit 2

Problem

The cost of courage