Woman: Previously on underground...
We have to go now!
No, we can't, we got the plan.
(gurgles)
Tom: I've never had a runaway before.
If my paddy rollers haven't retrieved them by nightfall,
Consider yourself hired.
There's a train leaving north from atlanta tomorrow.
What you telling me for?
Ernestine: Do what you can to get my daughter on that train.
Run!
Tom: Get water!
Now!
Where pearly mae? My brother?
(panting)
Tom: Wanted, seven escaped slaves.
Negro man named noah.
Six feet high, dark complexion, tattooed body.
Very smart. The ringleader.
Negro man named zeke.
Six-foot-five-inches. Pushing 300 pounds.
Should be considered very dangerous.
Negro man named cato.
Five-foot-eight, copper toned, fanciful dress.
Horribly burned across the right side of his face.
Negro man named moses.
Five-foot-ten-inches.
Very affable continence.
Most likely carrying a negro child, boo, seven years of age.
Negro boy named henry.
About 15 years of age. Skinny.
Talkative.
Negro girl named rosalee.
Mulatto.
Delicate nature. Well made.
Wearing a fancy dress upon escape.
♪ the world is waiting, finding freedom... ♪
For every runaway confined to the georgia county jail
Or delivered to the macon plantation,
A reward of $1,000
Plus reasonable expenses will be promptly paid.
Dead or alive.
♪ but you know I know
♪ we were born to die alone
♪ die alone
♪ the wolf howls out
♪ as he drags you to the grave
♪ the devil's dream
♪ haunts you on the way
♪ now, one day jesus' hand
♪ will lead us to the promised land
♪ one day we will stand
♪ rejoice in victory
♪ we fall down
♪ ooh, ooh, ooh
♪ to look up
♪ ooh, ooh, ooh
♪ waiting to see
♪ heaven's door
(bells jingling)
They stopped here.
You see the tracks?
Ben: They're not in a straight line any more.
They're all a mess.
Not a mess.
Look careful at each set.
Direction, intensity.
All together, they tell a story.
Hey, I need to rest.
Cato: There ain't no resting.
There's running and there's being caught.
Now get your ass up, old man.
Let me carry her a while.
Don't touch her!
You said there was a plan. A map.
Next Sunday we was supposed to go.
Moses: Then you just gonna leave us.
I had no choice.
You had a choice. And you choose her.
August: I count seven.
The five who used the fire as a distraction
Must have met up with the two who ran earlier.
Is seven runaways a lot?
More than I've ever seen.
And they're all working together?
Up to here, anyhow.
See the skids, broken branches?
There was a fight.
Now, we all sorry what done happen pearly mae...
Ain't got no use for your sympathy!
I trusted you.
Now my family's torn apart.
Let go of him! They got my pearly mae. They got her!
God know what they doing to her!
Stop it! You scaring boo.
I'm sorry, sorry.
Noah, that slave catcher and his son could be on our tails.
We too exposed in this daylight.
We have to find some place to hide, wait till nightfall.
So we can continue star gazing?
Find ourselves the blue haze?
Ain't none of us got any idea what the hell any of that means.
You got any better ideas on how to run other than running, we all ears.
Well, I'm glad you finally asked.
Tell me what you see here.
I ain't sure, sir.
Changed course.
They ain't just running to escape no more,
They running to something.
What's east? Cato: A train.
Northbound. Out of atlanta.
Ain't no way in hell you could know something like that.
Her momma the one told me. Said it'd be leaving today.
Look, I don't know what your angle is, but we sticking to the plan.
Oh, so now we "sticking to the plan?" noah: Hey!
We ain't on the plantation no more.
You ain't driving nothing round here.
I'm the one who got the lion's share of us off macon.
I'm going for that train.
Ain't like we can just walk into the city and buy tickets.
I might be I know somebody who could help.
(exhales)
Let's get a move on.
We ain't that far behind.
Now, this is a surprise.
I had no idea you knew where this nursery was.
Give us the room.
Now.
(sighs)
You've got all the slaves out in that ruined field,
I barely have any help in this house as it is,
And now you're dismissing them, too.
(softly) this was an attack on our family.
Who knows how long they'd been planning this...
...How many were involved. Oh, please...
...Be more dramatic.
When daddy was in charge they'd run off all the time
And be dragged right back.
It's just a facet of southern life.
These things happen.
Not to me.
This whole mess could not have come at a worse time for my campaign,
Especially with the reverend arriving soon.
Now, I put a substantial reward on those runners' heads,
But there's not much more I can do from here.
Pearly mae knows where those runners went.
She could help us catch 'em sooner rather than later.
So sick the paddy rollers on her.
I have.
She hasn't uttered a word.
Now, I plan to talk to every slave on this plantation,
But pearly mae is the key.
(sighs)
Now, you share certain things in common with her.
You're both mothers.
You're both born on this plantation.
And...
And I... (sighs)
I would appreciate...
...Any insight you have on how to get her to crack.
I ain't seen any moving around inside.
You sure this his place?
Well, I ain't been here since I was sold to macon.
Could be he gone.
You okay?
It ain't your fault, what happened to pearly mae.
We got to get on that train, for boo's sake.
We going in.
Moses, cato, you're with me.
I ain't taking boo in there.
You most certainly ain't.
You the one know the man the best.
He might not help less you with us.
I ain't leaving my baby behind.
You want to help her? This is how.
I got her.
Henry, zeke with me,
Case anything happen, anyways. Come on, baby.
Come on.
(knocking on door)
Man: I'm coming already.
(grunts)
We don't mean you no harm.
I knew I should have stayed away
When you come at me for paper.
You want us gone? You tell us how we
Get on that train leaving atlanta today.
Hey, now, that's tricky stuff.
No, it got to be a way that don't involve sneaking in the city.
Moses: You used to be a railroad man.
If anybody know, figure it's you.
Well, maybe I can help, but everything got a price.
We ain't got nothing to trade but your hide.
Now, that ain't at all true.
We got a old revolver.
From a collector.
I helped procure it myself.
What kind of revolver? It ain't for trade.
Everything's for trade.
Oh, well, maybe I use it once, before I give it up then.
(grunts)
Now, we give you this here,
You get us on that train.
(clanking)
Someone ought to take her some water.
She don't deserve a drop of nothing.
Life gonna be harder for all of us 'cause of that woman and hers.
I hear the rollers working over the lot of us.
They taking folks out behind the shed.
Even massa in on it.
He don't never get his hands bloody.
Seem like life gonna change for all of us.
Still, that woman there lost her child.
She deserves some mercy.
Don't be stupid, now.
Watch yourself, boy.
Frog jack: Train y'all looking to catch leaves atlanta a quarter past 5:00.
It's just shy of three hours away.
Right now, she about...
...Here. In two hours' time,
She hits the switch
Just outside of town.
Now, that's when she slows down,
Exposing her ass like a two-dollar hooker.
So that's how you get all this junk, stealing from the trains.
This is good, okay?
It's still think in the woods. We have enough cover to slip on.
Timing's tough.
That's where I lost my leg.
(boo humming)
(sighs)
Now, baby, you got such pretty hair,
You don't want to be pulling it out, now.
Let me see.
You like this?
Here, let me see.
That's much better.
(continues humming softly)
(sighs)
They're inside.
Hand me your rifle.
We ain't gonna shoot 'em, are we?
Ain't mr. Macon say it's double if we bring 'em back alive?
That's just for the girl.
But the goal...
...Is to...
...Always bring the property back intact if you can.
I want you to skinny out back to the trees.
Make a wide and quiet loop around in front of the house.
Once you're square with that front door,
I want you to fire right inside.
Right into it, three separate times. You hear?
Yes, sir.
Why?
It'll send 'em coming out the back door my way,
So I can pick 'em off.
Now, keep a good distance,
Wide as you can.
They come back your way,
I want you to aim square for the chest.
You understand me, son?
Yes, sir.
(door opens)
What you doing that for?
Please, just tell me what's going on.
Massa say we ain't supposed to talk to you.
And he say you can't be in here!
Miss ernestine, massa was very clear on that.
You're gonna keep your mouth shut.
Unless you want miss suzanna to find out
You've been stretching all her clothes,
Playing dress up in the mirror.
Now, get to dusting that hallway.
Let me know when anyone come this way.
Come on, now.
They want you cleaned up. That's all we know.
(sobbing)
You let it out.
Ain't no shame in these tears.
The sacrifice you made for your daughter...
...You should be proud of that.
I don't know if it's gonna be enough. (sniffles)
I remember when boo was born.
The day I helped her into this world.
You remember how she was hollering?
She was kicking and screaming like the devil. (chuckling)
Hmm. (sniffles)
She was strong then.
And she's strong now.
And god'll help her to freedom.
I don't believe in god.
I never have.
But I believe in my moses.
♪ this little bit
♪ of stardust
♪ keeps waking me up
(gun cocks)
♪ all in my head
♪ tongue tied in knots
♪ keeps shutting me out
♪ just let me out
♪ I wanna run...
♪ just let me out...
(clicks)
No, they're flushing you out!
They're flushing you out!
(grunts)
Why the hell you shooting at us?
$1,000 times seven, that's why.
There's a price on your head. Dead or alive. (grunting)
They calling y'all the macon seven.
(gun clicking)
Look at what we found down here in the dirt.
You ain't think this through, jack!
A gimp against the three of us. Two and a half.
I saw I got moses.
Hey, what's inside these?
There's got to be something we can use.
I don't know!
Cato: I knew it!
This one-eyed bastard can't read!
How you know the freedom song?
Pearly mae. She the one that can read.
(gunshot)
You done pick one hell of a team.
(gunshot)
Y'all still alive in there?
Not that it matters.
My pockets get lined either way. (gun cocks)
(shouts)
(both grunting)
Noah: Let's get out of here.
The whole time you been tracking them macon runaways,
We've been tracking you.
Shit, I thought you'd seen us back at that fallen tree.
(grunting)
(softly) please...
Ben: Let him go! (gun clicks)
You ain't gonna shoot all of us.
No, sir.
Just you.
All right, kid, relax.
We's just finishin' up with the old man anyway.
With interest, I reckon that one
Runaway you stole from us has ballooned into seven.
Pick up your hunt.
I think that makes us about even.
Pearly mae: They done beat me.
Strung me up.
Now they dress me up real pretty like y'all.
Why they doing this?
Massa probably gonna take you down to his office.
Probably have a feast waiting for you.
Make you a nice cocktail.
Something sweet.
'cause you're a woman.
Then he gonna sit down and talk to you
Like you've been the best of friends for years.
Ain't nothing gonna make me tell them where they went.
I ain't gonna have them draggin' my baby back here.
It ain't as easy as saying no.
Massa wants to be liked, appreciated.
(softly) you got to be grateful.
Eat everything on your plate.
And that drink,
When you sip it,
Ask what's in it.
Listen real good to his answer.
Make him feel heard.
Then you tell him they heading for the swamps.
Give him his win,
And all this will all blow over.
Massa looking for you, stine.
Told him I'd get you from the cookhouse.
You got to stay strong.
For both our daughters' sake.
I know firsthand how massa get what he wants.
Sit down.
Go on, now.
Tom: Sam?
I need you to tell me what I don't know.
(stammers)
Beg your pardon, massa?
I've spoken to nearly every field slave I own.
And all I got was petty gossip.
Tellin' me moses preaching.
Noah thick as thieves with that stable boy.
Rosalee went over to lily shaw's.
Like I don't know my own plantation.
Do I seem like a man who does not know his own plantation?
(shakily) no, sir. No, sir.
(wings flapping)
(gunshot echoes)
(flapping stops)
How'd I miss this?
Seven of 'em...
...All conspiring against me?
Don't nobody know nobody else's heart.
It was my own sister, and I didn't even know.
People surprise you.
Sometimes, you even surprise yourself.
You think you one way...
...Then you find out you ain't.
You're too clever to be out in those fields.
I'm going to get you back in that shop soon, where you belong.
Mmm.
My daddy, he had two ways of blowing off steam,
Drinking and shooting.
I suppose he only meant to teach me one.
But...
...We do as we see, not as we're told, don't we?
You want to give it a try?
Come on, yeah, come here.
Now, it's all about patience, all right?
You're gonna track the bird with your gun.
Anticipate...
...Then execute.
(sighs)
(laughs)
Hot damn, sam, you just missed it.
(panting)
(train whistle blows) it's coming.
Look.
We can't let 'em see us get on this train.
Means we gotta time it just right.
We wait for the last car,
Just before it speed back up.
Now get your wind. Get ready.
(panting)
(sighs)
You see something you like, house girl?
They found us.
What do we do now?
Noah...
Um, um, um...
We...We...We head to atlanta. Okay?
Do whatever we gotta do to get to the train there.
Ain't no way we outrun a train.
It's got to stop in the city.
Now, frog jack said it don't leave till 5:00.
Give us just an hour to catch it.
We go for that train now,
Them catchers be on us in no time.
No, we split up.
No. It's me and henry.
You and zeke. We go in opposite directions,
We'll draw them away from you.
Rosalee'll help you get her to the train.
Now, there's a water tower on the edge of the city
I seen. You can't miss it.
We go there, we meet there.
All right? Ready? Go!
(train whistle blowing)
Man: There they are! Get on 'em!
(panting)
Damn.
(panting)
They'll just run us down if we follow the bank.
We could take 'em together.
(gun cocks)
(panting) there ain't gonna be no we.
(gunshot) (zeke screams)
No!
(panting)
Come on. Come on, come on, come on.
Gotcha now, big boy.
Don't you give us no trouble, you hear?
You're already hurt.
(bellowing)
(grunts)
(groans)
(grunting)
(screaming)
(choking)
(bellowing)
(bellowing stops)
(breathing heavily)
(laughs)
Oh, my husband is a charmer.
If he were here, he'd have gone all out.
A sweet drink for the lady.
Then he'd sit and look you in the eye,
And chat with you
Like you were the best of friends.
For years.
I am not my husband.
So I'm just going to give it to you straight.
He wants to know where those runners went...
I don't know nothin', miss suzanna...
Do not forget who you are, where you are,
And do not interrupt me again.
Now...
...My husband has cut into my day
To appeal to you on his behalf.
And though he wouldn't say it,
He thinks you'll listen because we are kin.
But I know that's not going to work.
So do you, I suspect.
We may share blood, but we are strangers,
With nothing in common
'cept a daddy who didn't care about either of us.
He did have a few sentimental lapses, I suppose.
He purchased you a wedding gift, after all.
What was your buck's name again?
Moses.
I've been told you put your body
Between that slave catcher's bullet and your family.
And your moses...
He just let you, didn't he?
I cannot fathom men's disregard for their children.
They are only concerned with the mark they'll leave on this world.
Their legacy.
Never knowing that very thing...
...Is tugging at their pant-leg the whole time.
These are papers.
For you and your daughter.
All they require is my husband's seal.
He gives you what you want, he gets what he wants,
And I get to return to my nursery in peace.
(door opens) what about moses?
My husband's gonna need his pound of flesh.
Eat.
And think about what's best for your child.
(door closes)
Rosalee: We gotta check that shoulder.
Ain't no time. How bad it hurt?
I's fine. We still got a lot of ground to cover. (panting)
We don't tend to this, only gonna get worse.
(grunts) ain't no gettin' worse.
And I don't need you lookin' on me every two seconds.
You ain't gonna fix this.
There ain't no fixin' this.
We gonna get to that train.
And then what? We took off without even looking back.
And I don't know how to look forward, either.
Not without pearly mae.
There ain't no goin' back.
Not for any of us.
I done looked to god as far as I can remember.
And he always hear me!
Shh!
He done brought me pearly mae when I needed her the most, and then boo...
And he been real good to you, then.
Not now, he ain't.
Now he act like he can't even hear me!
No matter how hard I pray.
(groaning)
(groans)
Look at me.
I can't even pick up my baby girl.
Look at her.
Look at her!
Go on now, I want you to look her in the eyes
And tell me what you see.
(stammers) I see pearly mae.
Yeah, she got her mama's strength.
And her daddy's.
She ain't gonna need you to carry her to freedom.
She gonna carry you.
My arm is hurting something awful.
Uh, I saw some devil's snare a little while back.
It gonna help with the swelling.
Yeah, well, be quick.
We got a train to catch.
You got something you want to say?
No, sir.
(leaves rustling)
Wait here.
We should have helped him.
(sighs)
I got your friend.
(gasps) don't be afraid. Don't be afraid.
I run across these slave catchers.
They was chaining up a runaway about as big as a house.
Tried to stop 'em.
(pants) there was just too many of 'em.
I figure they gotta be with you.
Listen to me.
It's just, uh, it's down the road,
But if you're heading north...
...You're going in the wrong direction.
From where you stand...
(panting)
...You got two routes north.
(grunts)
You got the chelsea savannah...
...And the ohio river.
This time of year, your best bet's the ohio.
She's low and easy to cross.
And you'll find a clear route to that river
Along the blue ridge mountains.
It's about three weeks on foot,
But you ought to be able to... "blue haze."
What'd you say?
Them mountains you talking about.
Yeah, blue ridge.
Yeah, we...
...We were heading that way.
Good.
Then we heard about a...
...Train...
...Taking off from atlanta.
That's smart.
Travel time, you cut that in half.
And when you cross that ohio,
There'll be far more people willing to help you along the way.
I don't know how you're gonna slip back in the city without being seen, though.
Unless I hide you in my wagon.
(horse whickers)
It's okay, that's my son.
(gun cocks) ben: Pa, we have to bring her back alive!
Goddamn it.
Get on in there, flush her out.
(gasping)
(groans)
(groaning)
(breathing heavily)
(train whistle blowing)
(sighing) where they at?
They was right behind us.
Henry: What about that gunshot we heard?
They gonna be here.
(leaves rustling)
Them catchers caught zeke.
Henry: What happened?
I did what I could, but them rednecks was on him like a prize stag.
Henry: Hey, hey, here come moses and boo.
Noah: Where's rose?
I don't know. She never came back.
Henry: We got to move.
(leaves rustling)
(panting)
I ran into the catcher and his boy.
And you managed to get away?
Yeah, but he know now, about the train.
(stammers) I thought he was gonna help us.
He gonna be lying in wait now.
All we done to get to the damn train
Ruined by an empty-headed gal.
(breathing heavily)
Now we find another way is all.
Corra said miss suzanna offered you and your baby freedom.
You can't trust nothing that woman says.
Miss suzanna's a lot of things, but she's honest.
I sacrificed myself
Because I thought moses was my baby's best chance at freedom.
But these here,
This make me her best chance.
(train whistle blowing)
August: Ben.
Ben: Ain't no way we missed them.
Maybe that slave girl was lying to you.
They're going at it from above. (gun cocks)
Them papers could be fake.
They ain't!
I can read 'em.
I stole one of miss suzanna hornbooks
When we used to be playmates.
Taught myself.
They real.
Just like this slaver bill on master's desk.
$1,000.
That's money even to the white folks.
Mean there gonna be catchers on their heel
Every step of the way.
Aw, no!
(women screaming)
Sit down and settle your nerves.
You got to make this decision with your head,
Not your heart.
The massa wants you scared.
But your family got a group looking out for 'em.
They gonna be okay.
We're gonna miss it!
Rosalee: We got to get them on that train.
Get up, preacher man, get up!
You jump first, I'll toss her to you.
There's only so much we can do to protect ours,
And there ain't nothing we can do from here.
Only thing guaranteed is you tell massa what he want,
They all swinging from a tree soon after.
Your man and rosalee, too.
No.
Massa tom ain't like massa earl was.
Blood mean something to him.
When rosalee got too old to play with miss mary,
He ain't put her out in the field like I was.
He gonna look after her.
I got to look after mine.
Do whatever I can to protect my daughter.
I know you understand that.
I do.
(groans softly)
It's okay.
Your man gonna take care of your baby.
If something was to happen to him,
I know rosalee will look after her.
You did it.
(gunshots continue)
We gotta keep moving.
♪ a place to save your soul
♪ but you know I know
♪ we were born to die alone
♪ die alone
♪ the world is waiting
♪ find them freedom
♪ people praying
♪ hoping, dreaming
♪ of a world that is so cold
♪ a place to save your soul
♪ but you know I know
♪ we were born to die alone
♪ die alone
♪ heaven
♪ what's up? What's up?
Take off the handcuffs
♪ we gonna be somebody ♪ heaven
♪ we gonna be somebody
♪ heaven
♪ we gonna be somebody
♪ what's up? What's up? Take off the handcuffs
♪ what's up? What's up? ♪ I got wings
♪ got wings ♪ heaven
♪ we gonna be somebody, yeah ♪ we got wings
♪ heaven