Race for Freedom (4 page)

I
n the days that followed, Libby trailed the boys more than once. Each time they disappeared somewhere near the engine room. When that happened, it made Libby even more curious.
What’s their big secret? Why won’t they let me in on it?

Finally Libby asked Caleb, “Are you still watching for Riggs?”

“Yup,” he answered. “Aren’t you?”

Libby nodded. “I’m starting to wonder if I’ll recognize him.”

“You will,” Caleb told her. “Remember the deep lines from his nose to the outer corners of his lips? It’s like he does nothing but frown.”

Libby remembered all right, though she wanted to push aside all thought of Riggs. She wanted to forget the danger to Jordan and Pa, but Caleb’s words stayed with her:
“We can be sure of one thing. Wherever we are, Riggs won’t be far behind!”

Then one April morning, Libby woke to the crowing of a rooster. In her room high on the texas deck, Libby lay in bed, listening to the sounds of a great city.

During the night the
Christina
had come into St. Louis. On the cobblestone levee, wagons rumbled and horses clip-clopped. Farther away, blacksmiths pounded their hammers.

Libby slipped out of bed and poured water into a basin. Quickly she splashed her face and dressed.

Libby’s room was seven or eight feet wide and six feet long. It had two doors, one on either side of the boat. A window filled the upper half of each door. To give privacy, shutters closed over the windows.

Opening the shutter on one side, Libby looked across the mighty Mississippi River. Just then the great orange sun edged up over the horizon. When it grew too bright to watch, Libby turned to the opposite door. From there she looked toward the city of St. Louis. Tall, new buildings stood in a proud row near the levee. The rising sun caught the stones and brick, turning the buildings pink.

The city drew Libby. She wished the
Christina
could stay in St. Louis for a long time. She wanted to see all that was going on in this important gateway to the West.

Already workers filled the levee. Up and down the gangplanks they scurried like ants bringing food to a nest. Wherever Libby looked, barrels and crates waited to be loaded onto a steamboat.

When Libby heard the bawling of oxen, she wondered about the trail that drew countless pioneers westward. Then all other thoughts flew out of Libby’s head. Striding across the levee was a short, slender man.

Libby stared at him.
Well dressed
, she thought.
Expensive-looking suit in the latest style. A fashionable cane with gold on the handle
. From the way the man marched straight toward the
Christina
, he didn’t need the cane for walking.

Six or seven other men followed behind the first. With each bold step they took, Libby’s dread grew. When the first man was close enough for her to see the evil lines in his face, she felt certain. It was Riggs!

Forgetting her shoes, Libby hurried out on the texas deck. Only a few steps below lay the hurricane deck. From there Libby looked down. A clerk stood next to the
Christina’s
gangplank. When Riggs handed him a piece of paper, the clerk read it carefully.

“Hurry up, hurry up!” Riggs complained. Even from here Libby heard the impatience in his voice.

But the clerk took his time. Finally he nodded. Turning, he called to someone on main deck. “Get Captain Norstad!”

Libby’s heart turned over. Taking the stairs back up to the texas deck in one leap, she raced to her father’s cabin. There she pounded on the door.

Seconds later Pa flung it open. “Libby!” Even his eyes looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Riggs is here!” she exclaimed as her father drew her inside his cabin. “He’s got a paper—a search warrant, I think.”

“Probably so.” Captain Norstad’s voice was calm, as if he had expected this.

“But Pa, they’re coming for you! They’ll search the
Christina
.”

Still her father showed no surprise. “Yes, that’s what they’ll do.”

“They’ll ask you questions.” Libby’s words tumbled out.

“Go and warn Caleb,” Pa said.

“But the men are coming for
you!”

A shadow passed through her father’s eyes. “Libby, find Caleb. Then stay away from the men. Don’t let them see your face.”

Tears rose in Libby’s eyes. “Pa, I’m scared. What if something happens to you?”

“Please, Libby.” Captain Norstad’s voice was gentle, but there was no denying his request for obedience. “After you talk to Caleb, try to get back to your room. Stay there till the men leave.”

Never before had Libby disobeyed Pa’s orders, but this time she waited, not wanting to leave.

“Hurry!” he said. Even now Libby heard the sounds of men coming up the stairs. Pa pushed her out the door toward the stairs on the other side of the
Christina
.

“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered. “Find Caleb.”

Without another word Libby hurried down the steps. As she reached the deck below, she heard loud pounding on the door of her father’s cabin.

“Open up!” a man called. Libby felt sure it was Riggs.

Libby ran on, searching the boiler deck for Caleb. To her relief she found him in the area where first-class passengers took their exercise.

“Riggs is here,” Libby said quickly.

“I know,” Caleb answered. “It’s all right.”

“What do you mean it’s
all right
?” Libby felt angry. Caleb looked as calm as her father. Was Caleb used to this kind of thing?

“Everything will be okay,” Caleb said. “Stop looking so scared.”

“I’m not scared,” Libby answered.

“Yes, you are. You look like a jackrabbit fleeing for your life. Go hide your face.”

“Hide my face? What do you mean?”

“Go to your room,” Caleb answered. “Don’t let Riggs or his men see you.”

“But they’ll arrest Pa!”

Caleb refused to listen. Without another word he stalked off. Libby stared at his back, then took the stairs two at a time. By the time she reached the texas deck, her heart was in her throat.

Gasping for breath, Libby slipped inside her room. Quickly she pulled the shutters that hid her from the deck. Without a sound she crossed to the other side of her room and closed those shutters too.

From her father’s cabin, Libby heard the sound of men’s voices—angry voices making demands. Then a door opened. Crouching down next to her bed, Libby listened, every sense alert.

Rough voices and the sound of heavy feet filled the deck. As the men passed her room, Libby waited, holding her breath. Would Riggs search from one stateroom to the next? Passengers were still in bed.

Then Libby heard her father’s voice. “You see?” he asked from just outside her room. “All is quiet on the river this morning.”

It was a warning, Libby knew—a warning to remain where she was, making no sound.

After what seemed forever, she heard the men going down a stairway to the boiler deck just below. Libby pulled back a shutter just a crack.

Soon she opened it all the way. Standing in the doorway, she listened.

No longer could Libby hear the men. Still on bare feet, she took the few steps from the texas to the hurricane deck. As she crept forward, she heard men’s voices again. Libby felt sure they were going down the wide steps at the front of the boat. Even on the thick red carpeting, their boots sounded heavy.

On her knees, Libby peered over the low railing on the hurricane deck. Though two decks away, she could hear shouted orders.

“Push it aside!” That was Riggs, standing at the bow of the boat.

When he glanced up, Libby ducked behind the railing. Soon she heard crates scraping across the deck and barrels tipped roughly over. Then someone slammed something wooden.

Rising up, Libby again looked over the railing. One of the men had thrown back the cover of a hatch near the bow. When Riggs started down into the hold, other men followed. Watching them, Libby grew more and more nervous. Captain Norstad had told Jordan to go to the engine room when the
Christina
was in port. But what about times like now? Was that what Caleb and Jordan had been doing—building a place to hide?

It bothered Libby that Riggs seemed to know where that place might be. A cold fist tightened around her heart.
When they find Jordan, they’ll arrest Pa
.

Waiting for what seemed forever, Libby watched and listened. Finally she saw Riggs come up from the hold. One of his men slammed down the hatch. Crates and barrels scraped against the deck.

“Try another hatch!” That was Riggs again, and Libby felt sure he would search each section of the hold.

Following his orders, the men moved back along the side of the
Christina
. When one of them called out from near the stairway, Libby remembered.
Pa told me to stay in my room. If a man crept up the stairs, he’d find me!

In spite of her curiosity, Libby hurried back, slipped inside her room, and pulled the shutters almost closed. Her hands trembled as she waited, listening for any sound of men coming back up the steps.

An hour later Libby sensed a change.
No more slammed hatches
, she thought.
No loud voices or men stomping up and down
. Instead, the decks seemed strangely quiet.

Tiptoeing, Libby crept out of her room to the edge of the hurricane deck. Again she knelt down and peered over the railing.

Soon Libby spied Riggs on the far end of the gangplank. When he stepped onto the landing, Libby saw only his back. Yet she knew what had happened by the way he walked. The cruel slave trader was angry. So were the men with him.

They didn’t find Jordan
! Libby wanted to jump up and down and dance with relief. To laugh and cry all at once. To shout the good news to the whole world.
Jordan’s safe! And so is Pa! At least for the moment
.

Then Libby faced a new fear.
Riggs will come back. How? And where? And when
? Chills chased down Libby’s spine just thinking about it.

A moment later another thought struck her.
If Riggs can’t find where Jordan hides, how can I?

Slowly she got to her feet and went down the stairs looking for Caleb. Once again Libby had more questions than answers.

“C’mon, Libby,” Caleb said after breakfast the next morning. “I’ll show you how to be a runner.”

“What’s a runner?” Libby stood high on the hurricane deck, watching all that was going on. She wanted to explore the streets and shops of St. Louis, to meet its people, to watch the long trains of pioneer wagons leaving for the West.

“A runner drums up business for a steamboat.” Caleb grinned. “We stand near the gangplank and tell people how great we are.”

As he and Libby started toward the stairs, Caleb explained. In large cities steamboats competed for both passengers and freight. Captains sent boys such as Caleb onto the levees or landings to direct people to their steamboat and bring in whatever business they could.

Libby hung back. “What if Riggs is watching the
Christina
? What if he sees us out in front?”

Caleb shrugged. “He already knows we’re here. Why do you think he brought that search warrant? He figures that wherever he sees me, he’ll find Jordan.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?” Libby still hoped that Riggs wouldn’t recognize her. “If Riggs knows me, too, why didn’t Pa want him to see me?”

Stopping on the wide stairway leading to the main deck, Caleb grinned. “Your Pa knows that your face could get all of us arrested.”

“My face?” Libby asked. “It’s not
that
bad!”

“Your big brown eyes show too much. If you look scared, you’ll give the rest of us away.”

Still not convinced that she wanted to be a runner, Libby trailed down the stairs after Caleb.

“If Riggs comes near you, don’t show him what you’re thinking,” Caleb went on. “You’ll get Jordan in big trouble.”

More than once Libby had admired Caleb for being able to hide his thoughts from slave catchers. Now Libby doubted that she could do the same. All her life she had leaped before looking and talked before thinking.

“When he searched yesterday, Riggs couldn’t find Jordan.” It made Libby curious. Somehow she would discover the
Christina’s
hiding place, but she knew Caleb would never tell her.