The Beginning: Harper's Ferry

32 3 16
                                    

A few months after the mission at Pottawatomie Creek, our little group was finally able to begin part two of John Brown's full mission: a raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia.

We set out from John's house, the rays from the rising sun turning our faces and horses a bright orange. For many days, we journeyed across the states until we finally reached Harper's Ferry, Virginia.

***

The sound of our horse's hooves against the cobblestone path announced our entrance to the small town in Virginia. Our "little" group was composed of twenty-one men and myself. John sent four of our men to stand at the opposite end of the town to guard while the rest of us did the dirty work. We marched into the town like a small army, but none of the civilians seemed to notice.

"Remember what I said, everyone," Mr. Brown said to the group. "We need to overrun the arsenal. All we need to is defeat the guard and take whatever's inside. After that, we leave."

I nodded and glanced at the town in front of us.

John Brown cleared his throat. "Ahem, ahem, two of my three sons and my main men will join me to help me with some... personal business."

Mr. Brown swept his arm at one side of the group, and the men he gestured to nodded ad if they knew exactly what John Brown's "personal business" was.

"The rest of you," Brown continued. "Will raid the armory nearby." He pointed to a large building a few blocks away. "My men and I will meet you there, possibly with a few captives. Remember to cut the telegraph wire, so this raid will never exist." His voice was savage yet determined.

I glanced toward Oliver, and he turned his horse in the direction of the armory. I stayed at his side, and around a dozen more men followed.

***

Surprisingly, only one guard stood to watch outside the armory, the evening sun illuminating the drool that dripped out of his open mouth. He snored loudly as our group snuck towards the entrance trying to be as quiet as possible. After noticing that the guard was fast asleep, Oliver hopped off of his horse and beckoned for everyone else to do the same. They obeyed.

Oliver walked over to the guard and tapped him on the shoulder. He popped awake and blinked a few times before finally realizing where he was. Once he noticed how many people stood ahead of him, the guard cowered in fear and dropped his gun.

"Go inside," he said shakily, his head turned away from Oliver.

Oliver rolled his eyes and beckoned for everyone to come inside. "He surrendered, let's keep him with us."

One of the men in our group bound the guard's wrists together, as he gave up without a fight. The man tied the guard to a nearby pole and we all entered the armory, where all the employees were gone for the evening, thankfully.

***

After raiding most of the items in the armory, John Brown and his men finally arrived at the building. Following behind the group was several strangers that were probably captured during the raid. John Brown tiredly set the towel that was one his horse onto the ground. He slammed onto it and immediately fell asleep.

Oliver laughed at his sleeping father. "I agree with dad, we should probably hit the hay. We have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow, so we should rest up."

Oliver and I put our two towels together and patted them down on the cold ground. We then both fell asleep next to each other, Oliver's arm over my waist. Both of our bodies kept us warm, so there was no need for blankets.

You'll also like

          

***

As the sun's warm rays began to creep through the windows of the large armory building, I slowly blinked awake with Oliver at my side.

He turned over and our gazes met. Oliver smiled, still exhausted from our journey to Virginia. "Good morning, Evan."

"Good morning to you, too, Oliver," I chuckled.

Oliver rose off of the towel and held out his hand. I placed my hand on his, and he hoisted me upward. Once I stretched out my arms, I followed Oliver to where John Brown was peeking out one of the windows in the armory.

I crept over next to him and glance out of the window without saying a word to him. A line of people surrounded the outer edge of the armory, their arms linked together. They all silently waited for us to exit, then they would probably attack.

John Brown muttered a few curse words under his breath in frustration. He clenched his fist angrily, his knuckles turning white.

"I can't let this go downhill," He growled to himself.

I exchanged awkward glances with Oliver, who shrugged.

"Uh," I tapped John on the shoulder, and he whipped his head around and stared at me with his sharp, icy blue eyes. "Would you, uh, like us to do anything, Mr. Brown?"

He rolled his eyes and exhaled, trying to relieve his anger. "Yes. Get the four men who were guarding the rear side of town. Owen, and three other men."

Oliver nodded and ran over to where his brother, Owen, and the three other men slept. Olive kicked Owen awake and shook the other men off of their small blankets. They rushed over to John, who clearly appeared unhappy. Owen was the first to speak.

Owen played with his fingers nervously. "Dad, I didn't mean for this to happen, the civilians knew about it and then they started to-"

"I don't want to hear it," John intervened, trying to speak as calmly as possible, which was very hard for a man like him.. "Just how do you think we're going to get out of this?"

"There's an engine house nearby, but it's very small. There's also a break in the line of civilians outside so we can just charge through, sir," Owen often referred to his father as sir since he wanted to be as obedient as possible.

"Perfect," John replied, a mischievous smirk stuck to his lips. "Let's get everyone prepared and let's leave as soon as possible."

***

After what felt like hours, we finally got everyone into the small engine house. We all were stuffed inside, almost shoulder to shoulder, and it gave me a bit of claustrophobia.

I'm not necessarily scared of enclosed spaces, I'm scared of being close to a ton of people since I'm extremely short. I'm only 5 feet tall, and no one seems to take me seriously because of my height.

Oliver and I began to nail some stray wooden boards to the edge of the windows so no one could enter. On the opposite end of the engine house, John Brown angrily placed a thick wooden board between the handles of the door to keep it shut.

After what felt like hours of turning the small engine house into a fort, the group finally finished their "renovations".

Oliver and I slumped down on one of the walls in the "fort", our legs giving out from exhaustion.

"Finally, we have some time to rest," Oliver joked.

"No kidding," I added.

I leaned my head on Oliver's warm shoulder, our chests rising and falling slowly from tiredness. After some time, we both began to drift off into a much-needed nap.

A Country Divided : Through Blood UnitedWhere stories live. Discover now