Nightjohn

Nightjohn lays in the quarters for three nights, and on the second, teaches Sarny her next letter—H. Mammy encourages the lesson this time. Nightjohn explains that he’s planning to run, and Mammy isn’t surprised. He makes shoes out of rawhide and uses lard and pepper to throw the dogs off his scent. On the night Nightjohn plans to run, he tells Sarny he’ll be back—but she knows it’s a lie.

Nightjohn escapes successfully, indicated by Waller’s angry return after a two-day chase. Sarny is happy for Nightjohn but wants to learn more letters. She knows A-J and makes words in her head as summer turns to fall. She eventually reaches puberty and hides it, worried about being discovered and forced to work in the fields—and as a breeder. One night in winter, Nightjohn comes to the quarters and tells Sarny to follow him to school. Sarny travels farther from the quarters than she ever had, into an area thick with trees. Nightjohn leads her into a sheltered area of brush, and inside, three torches burn—revealing seven other people. This is a school organized by Nightjohn; he’s been teaching the alphabet to people from other plantations.