ACT THREE: CONDUCTOR ON THE RAILROAD
[The dark forest. HARRIET leads a group of FREEDOM SEEKERS north. They move in single file, low and quiet.]
NARRATOR 1: Harriet Tubman made nineteen dangerous trips back into the South. Each time, she led groups of enslaved people to freedom. She was never caught, and she never lost a single passenger. HARRIET TUBMAN: (whispering) Listen to me. We move at night. We follow the North Star — that cluster of stars they call the Drinking Gourd. Silence is our best weapon. FREEDOM SEEKER 1 (JAMES): (whispering) How far to the next safe house? HARRIET TUBMAN: Far enough. Keep moving. FREEDOM SEEKER 4 (NORA): (frightened, stumbling) I can't go on. I'm so tired. Maybe I should go back... HARRIET TUBMAN: (firmly but kindly) You cannot go back, Nora. If you go back, you'll be questioned. They'll find out about all of us. FREEDOM SEEKER 5 (GEORGE): (panicking) I want to go home. I want to go home! HARRIET TUBMAN: (with steel in her voice) Dead folks tell no tales. We all go forward together, or none of us get there. Now walk.
[SLAVE CATCHERS approach in the distance, with a lantern.]
SLAVE CATCHER 1:
(shining a lantern) I heard something. Over there, in the brush.
SLAVE CATCHER 2:
It's probably just an animal.
SLAVE CATCHER 1: Could be runaways. There's a big reward for a woman called Moses. [HARRIET and the group hold completely still, hidden in the darkness. Long tense pause. The SLAVE CATCHERS move away.]
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online