Maysilee sat by the door, doing the laundry. She heard Master Aaron and Hunter, the overseer, talking about something.
"But what about the slaves?" Hunter asked.
"I trust Isaac enough." Master Aaron replied.
"Whatever you say."
Maysilee heard footsteps approaching the door then stop. She grabbed the laundry tub and dashed outside to the clothesline. She barely made it time and there was soapy, dirty water all over her purple blouse and white apron. Luckily, her black skirt hid the stains well. Master Aaron and Hunter followed short behind her.
"You've barely done anything on this line," Master Aaron said, looking at the single white stocking on the line. "Hurry up, or you'll be in trouble." Aaron screamed. "And clean yourself up, for heaven's sake!"

~~~

Maysilee slumped down on the small wooden bed that she shared with her husband, Luke, and their daughter Caroline. Luke walked in a moment later and asked "Hard day at work?"
The question jerked Maysilee awake and startled her. "Oh. Not so much. Just didn't sleep well last night."
"You never sleep well."
"Well, you know. Nightmares." Her 19-year-old arms ached from reaching to the clothesline that is about a foot taller than her. She came to the plantation when she was young, and she basically grew up with Luke. Aaron let the slaves get married, because he thinks that married slaves have something to work for, instead of nothing. Caroline was born a a little more than a 2 years ago. Luke worked in the fields, picking cotton. Maysilee did all of the house chores for Aaron and Anastasia, his wife. Caroline liked to help separate the cotton from the sticks and leaves and other stuff. Or, in her words, "the fluff from stuff." Maysilee and Luke agreed to let her do it because otherwise, their would be no one to take care of her.

No one except the slaves knew it, but Luke and Paul, his brother, were digging a tunnel. They had been working on it since Cartoline was born. The slaves quarters were in a big cave, and the tunnel entrance was out of view. A small peice of wood covered the opening. The wood had pins in it, such held the slaves' clothes. The plan was for the tunnel to reach across the border of the plantation, where they could escape. The tunnel was small, about two square feet, and you had to crawl to go through. There were wooden supports to keep it from caving in, and it took about an hour to crawl through it. After that there was a long walk through the woods from Beaufort to Charleston. Then they would hide in a shipping car of the train, and go to a free state.
Maysilee told Luke what she had heard, and asked if the tunnel was ready.
"Give me a couple days, but probably. When are they going?"
"To the town, in a week. They'll be gone for a few days."
"We have to act quickly. Me and Paul will skip work for a few days, and you decide who's going."
"Agreed."
Their lips interlocked, and they sat down on the hard, wooden bed.