CHAPTER ONE

Lani took a chance on being caught and penalized for peeking. She hid behind a low tree limb observing the different tall weeds ahead. At age thirteen, soon, she’d be prepared for her rite of passage ceremony. Perhaps if she found out things before her turn came, she’d ease through the many hard tests. The elders kept so many secrets about the specific food, dance steps, and clothing choices for the big dance. Her heart thumped loudly as she crept forward.

Two ladies were in a clearing picking plants for the upcoming cleansing preparations. Punishment for finding out what the secret plants were was one thing, but the punishment for being found wandering off into dangerous territory by herself, could be worse.

“Lani, Lani, sare!” her mother Toluwani’s high-pitched voice screeched behind her.

Lani pivoted just in time to see a group of ladies from her West African village screaming and running her way. Hurry where? Her mother’s red and white beaded necklace flopped against her slender neck. Oh no. Her father and five of her brothers were away hunting.

“Moeder, Ma, ki ni?” she yelled. What, and who was chasing them?

There was no time for her mother to answer, for a warrior swiftly came into view that she recognized as one of King Damutne’s. White facepaint across his forehead indicated his tribe. He led the charge of several pale skinned men with nets and guns running right on his heels.

Oh my, the village chief had warned them about slave raiders snatching people for gold and coins. Everyone was supposed to stay close and look out for each other. Lani bolted toward their village hunting area where the village men would be. It was times like this she wished her legs were longer so she’d be faster. She raced forward with all her might along with other girls and women.

The captors were fast. One by one, they caught the girls or ladies behind her and held them. She heard the girls resisting, kicking, and yelling as she burst out into crazy laughter while jumping over mud puddles. Her mother had told her to stop those laughter outbursts. However, often her emotions got mixed up. She cried at the wrong time and sometimes laughed when nervous or upset. She just couldn’t help it.

“Achee, achee, yara,” Lani screamed and laughed with a shrill sound while hurrying, hoping her father would hear and recognize her painful laughter. Out of all of her father’s twenty children and four wives, she was her mother’s only girl, and everyone knew her strange laugh.

Her father and the other village men came rushing out from among the green thicket ahead armed with spears and sticks. Dropping wild game, they were ready to fight anybody to save their village. An arrow flew by her right ear. A man gasped painfully loud behind her. Then a gunshot rang out. She ducked and kept running over rocks, through thorny vines, and as tall weeds whipped her in the face yaw, clang, and pow echoed behind her.

Toluwani quickly caught up with Lani thanks to her thin arms and agile legs. Mother and daughter ran together. Before they could jump over an upcoming creek, a net came down over Lani’s face. Her mother turned to help her, pounding the man’s head like bread dough. Then another man ran in and held Toluwani.

Lani fell and gulped for air, struggling, kicking, and biting at the man’s strong arms that gripped her. Some captors looked like her cousins, while some had pale skin and thin noses. They soon overpowered her. She lay there shaking, wondering why they thought a girl who only helped her mother cook, bead necklaces, or occasionally helped her father catch fish, would be good for free labor.

When she got up a few seconds later, her brown face and arms were covered in dirt and grime. One man wearing more clothes than she’d ever seen on anyone, tied a rope around her hand, then extended the line and tied it to the next girl. The group consisted of about fifteen ladies and girls; some wore wrap dresses, neck beads, and all were barefooted. Most had close-cropped bushy hair, and a few ladies had their hair in braids with white shells dangling on the ends. Pulling back with all their strength, they were still dragged along like animals towards the ocean for two miles.

It was a rainy Thursday in October 1858, and water drizzled over them as they trampled through sticky mud and flat marshy land. Lani was grateful her mother walked in front of her as most families were separated. As she stumbled along in line, it looked like the trees were crying right along with her, dripping water on her shoulders. She sighed angrily.

“Ki lo fa?” Lani choked out to her mother. Why?

“N ko mo.” Toluwani stared painfully back at her struggling daughter while walking sideways.

Lani knew her mother didn’t understand either. The other village mothers had spent many mornings discussing their fear that raiders would capture their children. She swallowed an angry tickle creeping up her throat. It was evening, and they hadn’t even eaten yet. Next year she would’ve been separated from the village for the food and spiritual cleansing to prepare for the biggest event of the year in her community—the community festival–where the neighboring villages came together for dancing, good food, and ceremonies.

Quickly a big black snake slithered across the path in front of them. Lani jumped to the side and looked up. Above them partridge birds flew from tree to tree chirping and seeming to follow the captives marching in a line.

Then suddenly, a flock of birds darted from a dense canopy of trees ahead. A rumbling like powerful thunder pounded through the trees. The lead man stopped and turned back to his other slavecatcher bringing up the rear. When the front man stopped, the whole line became motionless.

Fear spread across his face as he scanned the thicket, cautiously raising his gun. She knew it was a herd of elephants heading to a waterhole. And she silently hoped the elephants would rush towards their line, which would cause the men to panic and give her time to get loose from the rope. Then she’d be free, and she knew plenty of hiding spots.

Within minutes, however, a loud trumpet blasted from the elephants, and slowly the rumbling faded. Lani realized the elephants must’ve got a whiff of their scent and gone another way. She moaned, held her head down, and started the walk again to the unknown.

Gradually, the salty Atlantic Ocean air drifted their way, and more gray moss draped from the lower trees. When they reached the dark golden sand of the coastline, they found two big ships docked there with their sails flapping in the wind. Open boxes of gold coins and guns lined the port. Strange men with firearms and village leaders from other tribes counted the coins and forced people onto the deck of one ship.

If only her village had better weapons to fight with, then surely, they would’ve defeated those slave traders. She sighed heavily. They outnumbered the traders thirty to one, but guns versus rocks and fists were not a match.

“Go, wash, feet,” said a guard holding a whip. He pointed to their feet, then the ocean. Next he untied her group and followed them to the blue water’s edge.

Lani glanced at her mother and the others wondering what language the man was speaking. His words sounded strange. They weaved towards the ocean through tied up grown men and ladies who sat looking shocked with downcast heads. What surprised her most was that next to the edge of the docks were stacks of cocoa beans, piles of palm leaves, and people that were being counted to board the ships. Were they just another item to be carried away from her country and sold somewhere else?

Her stomach felt queasy, and she was weak with disbelief. Did they not know, her village elders had taught them they were a proud and determined people? Her father and village warriors had fought off and won many tribal wars. In fact, if the marauding raiders had not surprised their village, maybe she’d still be home. The massive ocean waves roared in front of them now. Too soon the guard tied her up again.

“Up there. Island ship,” the ruff-voice man hollered, pointing to the ship on the left. Several men carried bundles on their shoulders onto the huge vessel.

Lani gritted her teeth, stepping out of the ocean onto the same beach she’d traveled too many times. But then it was to swim and to collect seashells. Her feet were wet, and her heart heavy. She gazed back out over the blue horizon and wondered what other countries were out there, and how far? Then she peered ahead at the palm trees on the coastline, hoping for any sign of her father or older brothers charging out of the woods ready to rescue her and her mother.

She refused to go easily and decided she’d search for freedom or survive long enough to get back to her family. This was not fair. An unexpected capture. Right before completing the important passage dance, and her preparations for womanhood in her tribe.

Immediately, she was forcefully pulled to the ship’s loading ramp. That’s when she fell on her bottom on purpose, which drew the girl in front of her down. The line of...