THE FIGHT

Summary (Continued)

PART 6

Dana sponges Rufus off and bandages his ribs, which helps him with the pain. Sarah comes in, and she hugs Dana as well. Sarah tells Dana that Margaret had left to live with her relatives in Baltimore. Relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with his mother, Dana gives Rufus some of the aspirin she has brought with her. She is also told to stay in his room for the night and nurse him when he needs help. Nigel tells her that Carrie's baby is his and that they are married. Before he leaves the room, he asks if Rufus had really been beaten by white men. Dana won't answer out of fear of eavesdroppers. But he eventually uses Isaac's name, and Dan nods silently. Nigel is relieved he got away.

The next morning, Dana and Rufus have breakfast together. He laughs that his father would do some cussin' if he found them eating together. It makes Dana put the biscuit she was eating back on the tray. Rufus tells her not to worry, because his father is really a fair man; not likeable, but fair. He also comments about how young she still looks, which forces Dana to explain as much as she knows about what is happening to them. He is incredulous, but much more believing than before. Furthermore, she tells him that she wants to find Kevin, and he admits that he has letters in his desk drawer from Kevin. She gets them out of the drawer, happy to know where he's been and where he might go. Rufus agrees to mail any letter she writes to Kevin, because slaves are not allowed to send mail. Then, the doctor arrives and orders Dana to leave, so she escapes to the cookhouse.

Sarah puts Dana right to work kneading bread dough. She tells Dana that the reason why Margaret left for Baltimore had to do with the loss of twins she gave birth to. They were sickly and soon died. She went somewhat crazy, and she was also hurt inside from the birth. She cursed Tom, and most of the time, couldn't get out of bed. So her sister came from Baltimore to take her there. The overseer, Jake Edwards, is Margaret's cousin, and he has taken Luke's place as overseer. Luke had acted white one time too often, so Tom had sold him to a New Orleans trader. Rufus tells her the unknown details of the story and warns her not to try teaching any slave how to read. Furthermore, it doesn't matter if Tom Weylin has no papers showing he owns her. She has no rights, and he can do whatever he wants with her. She feels very sad for Luke, because she knows it's possible to escape from Maryland to Pennsylvania, a free state, but escaping for Luke who is now in Louisiana would be impossible. Even Nigel had run away once, according to Rufus, but had been caught and whipped. He would have been sold as well, except Rufus asked Tom to keep him as his personal slave. Once he married Carrie, Tom Weylin relaxed, because male slaves wouldn't run away if it meant leaving family behind.

Dana also questions Rufus about whether he would sell any of his slaves. He answers that he doesn't think so, but Dana emphasizes immediately that he doesn't have to act like other slaveholders. He pulls a history book about slavery out of her tote and calls it abolitionist trash. She takes that moment to try to make him understand that it's all history, and that history could be changed if that book remained in the hands of s sympathetic white man. He finally convinces her that it's dangerous for her to have the book and orders her to burn it. She agrees, except for one page that holds a map of Maryland. She will need it if she has to escape. The burning of the book reminds her again of the Nazis. Then, Rufus insists that she burn the map, too. He threatens not to mail any letters to Kevin if she doesn't do so. However, Dana goes cold at his words and tells him that she will not bargain over her husband or her freedom. Rufus tells her that he was the one who had kept Tom from killing Kevin when he went crazy over her disappearance, but he won't be able to convince his father of anything if he sees the map. Finally, Dana lets it go, deciding that it's just a symbol of freedom. She knows how to follow the North Star and how to the keep the rising sun to her right and the setting sun to her left. So she reluctantly burns the map as Rufus tells her that she'll be all right here. She's home.

PART 7

Isaac and Alice are free for four days, but are finally caught on the fifth. Dana doesn't find out about it until the seventh day after they ran away. On that day, Rufus feels well enough to drive into town, supposedly to mail Dana's letter and complete some other errands. However, he had heard that Isaac and Alice had been caught, so now he is going to bring her home. While they are gone, she and Sarah do work around the house since Sarah has been in charge of the work there since Margaret left. Dana tells Sarah that if the opportunity arises, she will run away, too. Sarah says Dana needs to see the ones they bring back, whipped, tortured, dog-bitten, only to be sold down the river. Dana insists that history has shown that slaves did escape to freedom and made it to a better life. However, Sarah doesn't want to hear about it, saying that things aren't bad there and she can get along. That's when Dana realizes that Sarah has done the safe thing - accepting a life of slavery, because she is afraid. She would be the stereotypical mammy who would be held in contempt during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. Even Dana finds her attitude contemptible until Rufus and Nigel drive into town with what's left of Alice.

Rufus calls Dana down to the wagon to help Alice. He lifts her gently and carries her upstairs. Dana discovers that Judge Holman wanted to sell Alice down the river, but Rufus spent twice what she's worth to save her from that fate. He needs Dana now, because he has no money left to pay a doctor, and his father won't pay for medical care for his slaves. Because there is no such thing as antiseptic, Dana is forced to rely on the use of brine to help heal Alice's whip wounds.

PART 8

Dana does her best for Alice, but the dog bites are quite severe. It looks as if they just allowed the dogs to chew on her as she lay on the ground after the whipping. Dana asks what has happened to Isaac and learns that he was sold to a trader taking slaves overland to Mississippi. It is a terrible fate for the man who just wanted to protect his wife. When Dana asks Rufus if he mailed her letter, he says he did, and she believes him. Later, as Dana lays on her pallet in the attic, she can't help but realize that Rufus got exactly what he wanted: Alice all to himself, without her husband and trapped in slavery. He had raped her to start all this trouble, and now he is being rewarded for it. Sarah creeps into the attic, too, and tells Dana that the slavers had cut off Isaac's ears. He also was cut, whipped, and beaten. Sarah further wonders what Dana will do now that Alice is in and she is out, but Dana reassures her that there is nothing like that between her and Rufus. Sarah also wonders if Rufus mailed Dana's letter, to which Dana replies that he said he did. Sarah cautions her to ask Nigel before she believes Rufus.