“We’ve been lucky. I hope it will last.”
They walked until they found a grove of pines and laid out the poncho and blankets and slept until just after noon. Then they found a little stream and drank and doused their heads and moved on without eating. They were keeping the milk to mix with rokeeg at suppertime.
That evening the sky began to cloud. During the day they had circled some cabins but they hadn’t seen a road or a town. Now, as it began to grow dark, they came to a road that ran northwest and decided to follow it.
When they had traveled a mile or two they rounded a bend and a young colored man and his girl appeared before them in the middle of the road. The girl shrank back, and the man stood rooted to the ground, staring at the strangers.
“You have nothing to fear,” Tim said.
The young man said, “Please don’t tell you saw us here.”
Red laughed and moved closer. “If you won’t tell that you saw us here.”
The young man lowered his head and strained his eyes. “Lordy, you wearin’ uniforms.”
The girl trembled so hard she could barely speak. “What would Yankees be doin’ here?”
Tim said quietly, “We’re making our way north. We haven’t had an easy time.”