Excerpt
We were running for our lives. Being chased by hundreds of men. You would have thought I would be scared. I was not afraid.

The five of us had large rewards on our heads. That surely caused many a man to drop whatever he was doing to join in the chase.

Being pursued on foot across rugged land in the dark was challenging. We were cold and hungry and tired, but stopping meant capture and death.

I was pushing us forward as quickly as possible, but the other men were lagging. I was especially worried about Merriam, who grew up in a well-to-do family and has not taken kindly to all these adverse conditions.

All my life I have spent outdoors, so I thought I could find my way.

Knowing the territory pretty much, I was heading us toward safe ground in northern Pennsylvania or maybe even Canada.

I knew we could hide from the men. What troubled me more were all the hunting dogs now on our trail. Those hounds chased us constantly, as if they were starving and we were their next meal. Did they ever sleep? Their barking was a terrible and constant bother.

We kept moving as fast as we could at night. We were hiding out during the day trying to distance ourselves from the events at the Ferry. I was not always sure where we were. Every so often a familiar landmark would help me find my bearings so we could keep heading north.

We could not build a fire for warmth from the freezing winter cold or for cooking. No cooking fire was needed anyhow cause there was nothing to cook. Our food had run out days ago. The only time my hunger pains would go away was if I was worried by something elselike the barking of those darn dogs.

There they were again. Barking louder and louder as they got closer and closer. We scrambled into the closest thicket. It was not the best choice of places, with bramble bushes scratching us as we tried to crawl further from the edge. This was no place to stretch out and get comfortable, only someplace to stay hidden until they passed. I had to drag Merriam in behind us as he was not feeling well and was moving way too slow for someone who was being hunted.

My hands were bleeding but it was no time to worry about that. I was just trying not to move a muscle. My legs were cramping up cause of my awkward position. I practically stopped breathing. The others froze with fear. Oh please make the barking stop. I am thinking maybe they will pass by again.

Oh no. They were all around us. We were doomed. Our luck had just run out. The dogs and the men were about to capture us, lock us up in chains and end our escape.

The closer that awful barking got, the more I sweated. And with the sweat, I had this feeling my scent was leading those dogs right to our hide out. I did not want to be the one to give us away. Even as cold as I was, I kept on sweating.

The sweat was soaking through my shirt and running down my face. A huge angry dog stuck his nose right into the thicket where we were. I was not ready to be caught. The vicious, noisy dog seemed to have other plans. He growled ferociously at me, showing off his dripping fangs. He looked like he was ready to take a bite out of me.

I pulled back. The dog crawled closer. I tried to move my leg away. He snarled. Then he pounced on me, his razor sharp teeth cutting through my pants as if they were not there. The pain was awful.

I fought hard, but then I just gave up. All was lost.

Then I woke up. Where was I? I looked around to find out. I was soaking wet, hungry and quite cold. Even in the dark I saw I was in my own bed, safe in my little house in California. My brother, Jason, was grabbing my leg, trying to find out what was the matter with me.

I am alright. Just that awful dream again.

How many times have I had that same nightmare? It is so realeach time the dog gets closer before I wake up. Each time the hunger pains return more powerful than they had been during the escape. And even in the heat of the summer, when I wake up from the dream, I am freezing cold and sweating.

It is a very interesting and curious dream for me, cause I was not ever captured. Several of us got away from all those angry dogs and the hunters who tried to arrest us for the rewards.

But as you see, the event still haunts me even after almost thirty years.