Elijah of Buxton

Days pass with no word on Mr. Leroy’s money or family. Then Cooter tells Elijah that a wagon is coming to Buxton carrying Theodore Highgate. Elijah runs to meet the wagon. Mr. Highgate tells him, “He done shot me” (242). Mr. Highgate tells the story to Pa and Elijah: On the way to Michigan, the Preacher tossed his old pistol in the Detroit River and pulled the second silver pistol from his bag. Later, Mr. Highgate woke to find the Preacher taking the money. The Preacher said he intended to gamble it to raise funds for the purchase of more slaves. When Mr. Highgate tried to shoot the Preacher in the leg, he discovered his shotgun was not loaded. The Preacher then shot Mr. Highgate in the head, wounding him, and ran off with Mr. Leroy’s money. A man named Benjamin Alston helped Mr. Highgate.

Pa and Elijah find Mr. Leroy, and Pa shares the news. Mr. Leroy raises his ax in rage, and Elijah runs into the woods, terrified and guilt-stricken.

Pa catches Elijah and chastises him for his reaction. Later, the Elders of Buxton hold a meeting about Mr. Leroy’s predicament. Ma decides that Elijah will stay the night at Cooter’s and not attend the meeting. Elijah protests, but Ma won’t budge.

When Elijah arrives at Cooter’s, he fibs to Mrs. Bixby that he is to go to the first hour of the meeting and then return. She won’t allow Cooter to go since Mr. Travis reported that Cooter is “acting the dunce at school again” (257), so Elijah goes alone to the church, approaching from the back. He is planning to crawl under the church floorboards so that he can hear better when someone sneaks up, grabs him, and carries him into the woods.

Elijah tries to run but trips and falls. His kidnapper is Mr. Leroy, who is intent on going to Michigan to get his money back. He says that if he cannot get his money, he plans to kill the Preacher. He has the Preacher’s silver pistol to do the deed, and he says he needs Elijah because Elijah can read and talk more easily to others: “Plus I ain’t comforted dealing with white folks like you is” (263). Mr. Leroy feels he has no choice but to go and take Elijah with him. Elijah is relieved, as his parents cannot be angry with him if Mr. Leroy forces him to go.

Mr. Leroy wants to set out, but Elijah wants to fib to Mrs. Bixby first that he’s going home after all, thereby greatly lengthening the amount of time before anyone realizes he’s gone. Mr. Leroy agrees. At Cooter’s house, Elijah leaves a letter to Cooter explaining where he’s going and instructing Cooter not to tell Ma and Pa until Saturday morning. He and Mr. Leroy stop at Elijah’s house for supplies, but Elijah runs into Ma and Pa. He says that he had to get his geometry book. While in his room, he takes the knife from the escaped father and puts it in his tote. He also packs the name and address of the man in Michigan who tended to Mr. Highgate and tells Mr. Leroy that they should find him.

Elijah worries that Mr. Leroy runs Jingle Boy too hard on the way to the ferry; the horse’s “eyes were wild as a hurt deer’s” (276). Mr. Leroy agrees to slow their pace. Once over the river and in Windsor, Michigan, a man tells Mr. Leroy he remembers seeing the Preacher. The Preacher gambled and won money away from men in Windsor, then went looking for more marks. Elijah and Mr. Leroy find Mr. Alston, who tells them the Preacher was last seen heading to East Lee stable the day before. Elijah is fearful when Mr. Alston says slavers in this stable keep a mean “bear-fighting” guard dog outside.

Mr. Leroy is intent on finding the stable, but as they near it, he falls from the horse and cannot get up. He thinks Elijah is his son Ezekiel, and he makes Elijah promise to either get the money back or “gut-shoot” the Preacher. Elijah begs Mr. Leroy to not leave him, but Mr. Leroy dies.

Mr. Alston confirms that Mr. Leroy is dead. Though Elijah tells Mr. Alston he will go home to Buxton, he intends to stay and keep his word to Mr. Leroy.