Daniel was reluctant to part with the only writing he possessed from his father.
He eventually copied them himself and sent the copies, keeping the oilcloth originals hidden.
Foster compared the handwriting with a testimony Hester had transmitted years earlier.
The details aligned.
Hester’s note described the first concealed cellar and included a mark matching the crescent beside Daniel’s father’s repairs.
Foster recognized that the material was independent corroboration rather than a single accusation repeated in several forms.
She wrote to a contact in Pennsylvania who knew Ruth’s name from an earlier correspondence effort.
The reply arrived ten days later.
Ruth Carter had been seen alive in a small settlement near the state border two years earlier.
She had assisted women traveling under assumed names and refused to reveal her residence to strangers.
The contact would make inquiries but demanded patience.
Daniel received the news in the rain behind Avery’s meetinghouse.
His first impulse was to leave immediately.
The minister handed him the letter and waited.
“She could be alive,” Daniel whispered.
“She could.”
“I need to go.”
“I won’t tell you otherwise.”
Daniel looked toward the road leading back to Blackwood.
He thought of Isaiah’s family, Mercy’s companions, and the people still trapped in the operation.
His mother had taught him to protect others when he could.
He had to decide whether staying helped them or simply postponed his own chance to live.
Avery seemed to read the conflict.
“You don’t have to earn the right to seek her.”
Daniel folded the letter.
“I know.”
He did not entirely believe it yet.
The colonel had spent his life teaching Daniel that every desire was subject to permission.
Freedom would require unlearning that lesson as well as escaping the plantation.
Daniel chose to remain long enough to secure Hannah, Isaiah, and Samuel a route out.
He gave Avery the names of three families whose relatives were still missing.
He asked that the search continue even if he disappeared.
The minister promised to carry the names onward.
When Daniel returned to the estate that evening, Richard was waiting at the gate.
The colonel’s carriage stood behind him.
Silas held a length of rope.
Daniel knew at once that the next crisis could not be postponed.
Chapter 22: The Accusation
Richard ordered Daniel into the front parlor, where the shutters had been closed despite the clear afternoon.
Silas stood beside the doorway.
Catherine sat near the fireplace with her hands folded tightly in her lap.
