James Stout

He's not, this is not like a, often you're taken straight to the coast where you're sold.

You are now a slave and you will be sold around.

Like a lot of these people do just stay in Africa.

Right.

And maybe get free or maybe don't, but he is a slave to local Africans for a while.

Right.

His first owner is a local chieftain who treats him really well.

And he thinks has adopted him into the family.

Right.

He works as a blacksmith assistant.

He spends the next month gaining their trust.

And his plan is I want to escape.

Right.

It's like I'm going to get their trust so I can make an escape attempt.

This doesn't pan out, though, and he's ultimately bought and sold several times.

He learns three languages as he journeys across Africa and he ends up in a coastal village where he is sold onto a slave ship.

Now, up to this point, he always emphasizes, and it's kind of a weird part of the book, but he's really emphatic.

I was always treated well.

People were not mean.

I mean, what they're doing, separated from his sister, but they're not cruel.