Now, standing in front of the hundreds of guns aimed at him and his fellow troops, he was unsure whether he could keep the promise to return to his wife and unborn child. The only thing that separated the two armies was a creek. Rohrbach’s Bridge, known to the locals as Lower Bridge, remained empty as they waited for the call to run across and attack the other side.
Abram silently prayed for himself, for his wife, and for his future child. He thought back over the last few years of his time in America. Despite the pain he’d endured, he was grateful that he’d been given the chance to meet Sojourner, as well as Nat, who had become a life-long friend and now stood by his side.
Major General Burnside gave the call and the shooting began. Abram, alongside his troops, ran across the bridge, clashing with the enemy. The crowd roared as they charged towards the other side. Men collapsed within seconds. Abram used all of his energy to fight. A usually peaceful man, it took everything in him to launch the rage, which was required to battle those standing in his path. He thought of that sunken lane as his road to freedom, focusing on his wife and his future child; he tasted blood as he considered those who wanted to stand in the way of that freedom.
A sharp pain burst through Abram’s chest and he flew through the air, falling flat on his back in a muddy ditch. He looked down at his chest and blood poured from a hole in his coat. Nat ran to his side and shook him. His passing words were lost amongst the chaotic rhythm of war. Abram grabbed Nat’s hand and nodded his head. He nodded back, lowering his helmet, before taking out his weapon and sending Abram away from his pain and into an unmeasurable darkness.
After six years, Abram was finally free.
The battle continued for the rest of the day. A surprise counter-attack from the Confederates, who had been hiding at Harper’s Ferry, caused the Union Army to back away from the bridge, ending the battle. That day went down in history as not only the first, but the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. The Union Army might have lost the battle that day, but three years later, they won the war.
In Ohio, Sojourner was distraught after hearing the news of Abram’s death. She named her son after him and gave him the surname of Jackson, after the family who had provided them their first home together and a paid job upon their arrival in the state. Sojourner continued to work for the family until she died. During those last years, she saw a lot of change for African rights and she wished that Abram had been around to witness the changes that her husband fought for.
She’d never told Abram that she was responsible for the house fire back in Oklahoma which allowed them to escape. She was too scared to even admit it to herself. There’d been opportunities to look into local records to find out what happened to the family, but she didn’t dare. It was the Burns family’s children she felt most scared for. She was ashamed of herself that she hadn’t been able to get the little ones out of the house, but she knew that for the slaves to get away, the family had to be under the understanding that the children were trapped inside their bedrooms for the armed guards to disarm and run to their rescue.
But quietly, she’d made a huge change; they both had. And their legacies remained in their children and the rights of all African Americans who followed.
Chapter 10
‘Wow that’s quite a story.’ Vanessa wiped a tear from her eye as she listened to the tragic love story which her fellow detective retold.
‘My middle name is Abram, it’s been passed on to both of my sons,’ Darnell explained. ‘Sadly my eldest, Thomas, hasn’t quite embraced the story. He doesn’t see it as his heritage.’
‘I can see why you’re so interested in this case. This must really be hard for you to see Lincoln dishonoured in this way.’
‘His story is so important to me. It’s why I became a cop, so I could continue to protect people like me from any further discrimination. Why did you get into this business?’
‘Similar to you, I guess. I witnessed my sister being beaten up by some of the neighbour kids. They nearly killed her. Left her unconscious. All because she was holding another girl’s hand. They were a nasty crowd. They were never caught, which angered me to the very core. I knew that I had to ensure that people like that didn’t get away with their actions.’
Darnell didn’t respond to Vanessa’s story. He didn’t know what to say as anything he could contribute would be hypocritical. The way he acted with Aaron had been no different to Vanessa’s father.
‘I’ve been thinking.’ Vanessa changed the subject. ‘I think we need to follow up on the security guards from the cemetery. Something bugs me about Bradshaw not being willing to give a blood sample. I know we found evidence in his glass, but how do we know he drank it?’
‘I agree. Rick Spabrunt was so helpful and he was throwing his guts up when the police arrived. There was no doubt he’d been poisoned. But Bradshaw? What’s he hiding? And he’s connected to Chuck Cunningham. There must be something wrong with him.’
‘What’s your obsession with Cunningham about? What’s your issue with him? He’s a drug dealer, sure, but there’s plenty of them about in the Springfield suburbs for you to obsess over.’
‘You haven’t been in the force long enough. You’ll learn over time there’s always one guy who for some reason you just
