Having learnt to orient herself by the sun from Caesar, Cora notices that they are heading west, not south. She attempts to run away once while Ridgeway and Boseman are urinating, but she is caught and whipped by Ridgeway. Boseman suggests that the townspeople must have angered God, but Ridgeway replies that it was probably just a “spark that got away.” Cora has learned to walk wearing irons, her feet covered in sores. They pass through a town that has been destroyed by fire and see poor white families camping out in tents. They enter Tennessee, the first time Cora has crossed state lines without the help of the underground railroad. Ridgeway feels no sympathy for Native Americans, who he argues should have learned to understand that white settlers would never stick to their treaties. Cora encourages Boseman and Ridgeway to tell stories, as this gives her “time to consider her options.” Ridgeway explains that they are on what was once Cherokee land, and he tells Cora about the Trail of Tears. At night, Homer voluntarily handcuffs himself to the wagon and “snores like a rich old man.”īoseman has been riding with Ridgeway for three years their crew used to be bigger, but the other men gradually left. Ridgeway explains that Homer has seen enough of America to know this wouldn’t be a good idea, even if he is technically free. Ridgeway has taught Homer to read and write, and Cora asks why Homer doesn’t leave. One night, Ridgeway tells Cora that he has never owned a slave apart from 14 hours between the moment he purchased Homer for $5 and 14 hours later, when he signed Homer’s emancipation papers. As well as driving the wagon, Homer is Ridgeway’s book-keeper. Although Homer is so young, he has the mannerisms of an “elderly house slave.” He doesn’t seem to feel any sense of connection to Cora and Jasper, the only other black people present. People stare at the group of them: Cora and Jasper, Ridgeway, his accomplice Boseman (with the necklace of shriveled ears), and 10-year-old Homer. Jasper does not have a nice singing voice, his features are crooked, and-like Cora-he is unlucky. The narrator then describes Cora’s journey with Ridgeway, during which another captured slave, Jasper, won’t stop singing. This chapter begins with another runaway ad, a 16-year-old biracial girl called Peggy.
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