There was once a landowner who bought thirty slaves to work his fields," Charlotte began, her calm voice cutting across the muddy farmyard as she looked from Eddie’s trembling form to the angry farmers holding the cut ropes. "Thirty strong men and women in chains—and only four people in the big house to control them all: the master, his wife, and his two young sons. Tell me, Eddie... what happens to a family of four when thirty starving people decide to revolt at the same time?"Eddie swallowed hard, staring down at his four-fingered right hand in the dirt. "They... they would be overpowered in minutes.""Exactly," Charlotte said softly. "In the beginning, the master whipped them himself to force them to work. Soon enough, that shared pain bred shared hatred. One night, he overheard the thirty slaves plotting to slit his family's throats in their sleep. Now, what do you think that master did to survive?"Beside the porch steps, Ezekiel frowned, shaking his head. "Brought in more guard