Lottie is 17 years old and pregnant. She wants to escape slavery. Her husband, William, is a Native American whose family is being displaced by colonizers. They head to see her uncle, Free Jim, who has been free for a few years, because they need help making it to the North Carolina state line. The rumor is that Jim created a mojo of some sort and put it in his master’s drink to escape. When Lottie and William make it to Jim, he is hesitant to help them. They exchange harsh words and Jim says he can’t help them. When William touches a small burlap sack of “luck”, Jim panics and tells him not to touch it. Eventually Jim caves and agrees to help the two, but they’ll have to sleep in his mine for the night until his Irish friend can come help them escape in the morning. William’s hand is itching for the rest of the night. Jim leads them through his mine and tells them where to rest. He also tells them that they should prepare last words to say to each other because both of them won’t make it. When Jim leaves Lottie and William alone, they try to rest for the night. Their rest is interrupted by a man/snake-like creature in the water that’s heading towards them. William is convinced that he must go after it and slay it. William dives in the water and doesn’t come back. Lottie is terrified and alone now, but tries to rest. Eventually the monster comes back. Lottie slashes at it with william’s knife and slices a piece of it off. The creature goes away and doesn’t return. Soon, Jim comes back to get Lottie. He doesn’t ask what happened to William and she notices his part of his pinky has been sliced off.