Washington Black

A storm strikes the Cloud-cutter. Titch throws all nonessential belongings overboard in an effort to rise higher, but they still head for “the distant, black, roiling waves of the ocean” (124). The Cloud-cutter crashes into a ship out at sea. The ropes of the Cloud-cutter entangle Wash, but the ship’s captain quickly frees him with an axe. The sea consumes the Cloud-cutter, “leaving only wreckage and blackness” (125).

The ship’s captain, named Benedikt Kinast, is a sailor of German and English background. Benedikt and Titch argue about the damage to their respective vessels but soon come to an agreement. Titch and Wash head to see the ship’s surgeon, Theo, who is Benedikt’s identical twin brother. Theo correctly guesses that Wash and Titch are runaways but is kind and treats Wash’s wound. Titch insists that he is “an engineer” who oversees “the slaves who operate the mechanized tools” on Hope Plantation on Saint Lucia (131).

Titch sleeps, but Wash stays awake through the remainder of the night. When they join Theo for breakfast, he tells them the ship is sailing for Haiti and then Virginia. While Theo is still suspicious of their origins, he doesn’t press further.