Harriet Tubman and the Star that Pointed North

Long ago in Maryland, a girl named Harriet was born into slavery. That means she was not free. She could not choose where to live, or what to do with her days.

But Harriet had heard that far to the north there was a place where she would be free. And she knew a secret that would help her find it.

At night, if you look up, there is one star that never moves. All the other stars wheel slowly around the sky, but that one stays exactly where it is, pointing north. People called it the North Star.

So one night Harriet walked. She followed the North Star through woods and across rivers, sleeping in the daytime and moving in the dark, until at last she stepped into a place where she was free.

And here is the astonishing part. She could have stayed safe forever. Instead she turned round and went back — about thirteen times — walking all that way again and again to lead other people north to freedom too. Around seventy people followed her out. Not one of them was ever lost.

They called her Moses, because she led her people home.

Tonight, if your window faces the right way, that same star is still up there. Still steady. Still pointing north.

Goodnight, brave heart. Goodnight.