Race for Freedom (20 page)

“Get rid of your food!” Caleb called.

Libby threw the bag after the sandwich. In that moment the bear turned from her. With a single gulp, he swallowed the sandwich she had thrown.

Unable to run, Libby stared at him. With another great paw, the bear pushed at the cloth bag and sniffed the sandwiches inside.

Just then a hand reached out to grab Libby’s arm. As the bear gulped a second sandwich, the hand pulled Libby back.

In terror she tripped, then caught herself. Looking up, she saw Caleb’s frightened face.

“Hurry!” he commanded.

Pulling her along, he walked as quickly as she could follow. When they reached the path, Caleb kept going. Faster and faster he moved, with Libby stumbling behind. Only his strong hand kept her from falling in the snowy slush.

After a time Caleb drew her off the path into the trees. When at last he stopped, Libby’s side ached from hurrying. Only then did she realize that Jordan was just behind them.

Caleb dropped her hand. Anger filled his face. “I have never in my life—”

“I’m sorry,” Libby said quickly.

“You are
sorry
for trying to get killed?”

“I didn’t know.”

“How can you be so stupid as to take on a bear for one little sandwich?”

Suddenly Libby began to cry. “It was all the food I had,” she wailed.

“No, it wasn’t.” The anger disappeared from Caleb’s face. “You had my food and Jordan’s food.”

Libby giggled. “You’re right. I wasn’t very smart, was I?” As though it were the funniest thing she’d ever done, she started laughing.

Moments later, tears ran down her cheeks. Her entire body shook with sobs.

“Libby!” Caleb commanded. “Stop it!”

But Libby could not stop crying.

“Libby Norstad!” Caleb’s voice filled with panic. Bending down, he scooped up a handful of snow and clapped it across her face.

In that instant both tears and laughter left Libby. Only anger remained.

“You … you!” she sputtered. “Who do you think you are?”

Caleb looked relieved. “Your pa said I had to take care of you.”

“Well, you have a strange way of doing it!”

“Yup.” Caleb seemed pleased with himself now. “When you start going into hysterics, I better do something.”

Feeling as if she were going to explode, Libby stared at him. “How can you be so awful?”

Caleb grinned at Jordan. “Guess she’s back to normal.”

But Libby didn’t feel grateful to Caleb.
Why does this terrible boy always have to be right
? she wondered.
I wish that just once he’d make a fool of himself!

By now she even felt angry with Caleb for rescuing her. With the bear far behind and her fear gone, she wondered about only one thing.
How can I ever win
?

She almost felt like praying.
Just once, God, let me beat Caleb at something
.

Then she pushed the thought aside. From what she knew about God, Libby didn’t think He’d answer that prayer.

As though making sure she was all right, Caleb gave her one last look, then started walking again. When he came to some large rocks near Lake Pepin, he stopped.

“Watch out for snakes,” he told Libby.

“Snakes!” she exclaimed. That would be even worse than a bear! What other horrors hid out in this wilderness?

Libby turned to Jordan. “Is Caleb teasing?”

Jordan’s gaze met hers. “Snakes likes to lie on warm rocks,” he said simply.

Libby shuddered, then was sorry she had shown her fear. Opening the cloth bag he carried around his waist, Caleb spread out his lunch. “Help yourself,” he told Libby.

But Libby’s pride was wounded now. Not for anything was she going to eat Caleb’s food. “I’m not hungry,” she said.

“Yes, you are,” he answered. “You’re just proud.”

His words upset Libby even more. How could he possibly know how she felt?
Not for anything will I give in now!

As Libby drew back, her stomach gurgled.

“Hear that rumble?” Caleb asked Jordan without looking at Libby. “How can such a skinny girl need so much food?”

Jordan grinned. “Bet your granny bakes those lip-smackin’ pies just for Libby.”

“I ate a big breakfast,” Libby said, surprised that Jordan dared tease her. Bravely, she backed away. “Thanks anyway.”

She looked at the rocks, then remembered what Jordan said about snakes. Walking off a short distance, she sat down on a log. When Caleb chomped down on his sandwich, she glanced away, trying to not think about food.

Along the shore a narrow band of black water separated her from the great mass of ice in Lake Pepin. Although the day was growing warmer all the time, the ice still looked solid.

Before long, Caleb and Jordan closed up their sandwiches.

“I’ll figure out which way to go and be right back,” Caleb said.

As soon as he disappeared, Jordan offered Libby a sandwich. “I saved it for you,” he said. “Eat up now.”

Glancing around, Libby saw that the trees hid her from Caleb. Grateful that Jordan had waited until Caleb was gone, Libby took the sandwich.

“Thanks, Jordan,” she said.

With her gaze on the trees where Caleb disappeared, Libby wolfed down the sandwich. Quickly she brushed her skirt, making sure that no crumb showed. No sooner had she wiped a hand across her mouth than Caleb returned.

“Let’s stay off the path and climb higher,” he said.

With Lake Pepin on their right, they headed into the trees. Jordan led again, and Libby fell into line with Caleb behind her. Though they didn’t follow the path, they stayed close enough to catch a glimpse now and then. Jordan and Caleb seemed to move in agreement, as if knowing exactly what they were doing.

Soon they started up a steep slope that rose far above the pebbly shores of Lake Pepin. As Libby hiked along, she heard a low voice at her back.

“Take it,” Caleb said and pushed a sandwich into her hand.

Libby looked down. With every part of her being, she wanted to grab the sandwich. In spite of what Jordan had given her, she was still hungry. But Libby shook her head.

“We still have a long way to go,” Caleb told her. “If you’re hungry you’ll be weak.”

Again Libby hesitated, her pride in the way.

“Elsa needs your help,” Caleb said.

Libby’s pride vanished. Caleb had given her the one reason she couldn’t argue. “Thanks,” she said softly.

“Don’t mention it.”

Libby grinned. “I won’t.”

Without slowing her pace, she gulped down the sandwich. Granny’s chicken and bread had never tasted so good.

For at least fifteen minutes, they walked with the ground growing ever steeper beneath them. More than once Libby clutched at small trees and branches to pull herself up. Finally Jordan stopped.

Behind a thick growth of bushes he waited. When Caleb came close, Jordan pointed to a spot just below them. “There’s the path,” he said. Both boys crouched low.

Kneeling beside them, Libby stared down the steep hillside. Shrubs hid the path, and Libby wondered how Jordan knew it was there. As the minutes stretched long, she grew impatient.

When she started to speak, Caleb laid a warning hand on her arm. “Shush!”

Moments later Libby heard men’s voices. Trying to push aside her nervousness, she listened.

Then just below them, a young man stopped. Through a small opening between bushes, Libby saw his face and blond hair.

I know him!
Libby gasped.
He’s one of the bullies who chased Jordan! So he’s a slave catcher now!

Squeezing Libby’s arm, Caleb warned her to be quiet. Instead, she hiccuped loudly.

As Caleb glared at her, Libby clapped a hand over her mouth.
Oh no! What should I do?

From somewhere beyond the blond slave catcher came a call. “Hey! What’s keeping you?”

Just then Libby felt another hiccup coming. Filled with panic, she tried to hold it in. When she breathed deeply, Caleb clapped his hand over hers. Swallowing hard, Libby gasped.

Suddenly Caleb clutched the back of her head and pushed her face into the ground. When the hiccup came, it was gigantic.

On her head Caleb’s fingers stiffened. Desperately Libby held her breath.

Just below them, still another man was talking. His voice seemed familiar to Libby. With a quick flash of fear, she wondered if it was Riggs. Still afraid to breathe, she dreaded the next hiccup. When it came, it seemed to rumble across the hillsides.

At last the three slave catchers passed beyond them. For long minutes Libby and Caleb and Jordan waited, silent and watchful. Then Caleb pounded his fist into the ground. “Libby, I cannot believe how you do it!”

In the next moment, he looked at her and started to laugh. “How can you manage to get hiccups at a time like this?”

Her eyes wide, Libby stared at him. Not for anything in the world would she admit that she had eaten three of Granny’s big sandwiches.

CHAPTER 17

H
ow did you know they were still following us?” Libby asked Jordan as they walked on.

“I gots the jiggles right here.” He pointed to his heart.

“Jiggles?” Libby asked. “You felt uneasy?”

Jordan nodded. “When I just a little boy, my momma tell me, ‘Jordan, when you is doing something that should be good and the Lord wants your attention, you notice the jiggles. You pray, ‘What’s botherin’ me, Lord? Is it you?’ If the Lord says, ‘Yes’m!’ you pay attention.”

Libby stared at Jordan. “So it’s
God
talking to you? That’s really strange!”

Jordan moved quickly now, still being quiet, but not as careful about noise. Slipping and sliding on old wet leaves, they dropped down to a lower part of the bluff.

When Jordan stopped for a minute, Libby wanted to know more. “You still haven’t told me how you knew the men were behind us.”

“I just hear God say, ‘Jordan, hold up now.’”

“In words like that? He spoke out loud?”

“Not this time,” Jordan said, as if he had no doubt that God could. “This time He keep it secret-like, kind of deep inside.”

“No voice?” Libby asked. “But what? How did you know?”

“I just knew.”

When Libby threw up her hands, Caleb grinned.

As Jordan started on again, Libby spoke quickly. “No, wait. It’s important. How can I hear God the way you do?”

Jordan’s smile spread across his face. “You gots to let Jesus git you, Libby. Then you hear Him talk.”