River Queen (27 page)

DALLAS OPENED HIS EYES and did not know where he was. Then, with the sharp sense of a pilot, he realized he was on his boat, and in the captain’s cabin.
Someone must have fixed this up for me,
he thought warmly. Then, with the memories of the day and night before starting to crowd in on him, he reflected irately,
Bet it wasn’t Julienne.

With a groan he sat up on the side of the bed, dropping his head and holding it with his hands.
What a head-pounder! Feels like someone’s driving a spike through my head. And it serves me right too. Acting like an ignoramus roughneck! Seems like Julienne might be right about me after all.

Pushing the unwelcome thoughts away, he got up and found that his clothes had been brought up from the crew quarters, washed, ironed, and folded neatly into the little chest. Quickly he washed, shaved, and dressed and hurried down to the main deck.

In the boiler room he found Darcy, wearing new workingman’s clothes, a plain gray shirt and rough linsey trousers. Dallas saw he was oiling the valves. Darcy smirked when he saw Dallas’s wan face, and he said, “Morning, Bronte. I recommend Libby’s pancakes.”

Dallas didn’t know what kind of insult that might be, but he just grunted, “Morning,” and went into the engine room.

Jesse and Ring were standing there talking to a young man. He looked vaguely familiar to Dallas, but finally the liquor cloud cleared a bit and he remembered it all. He was an engineer, Dallas had hired him, and to top it all off he had had to carry Dallas to the boat. And Dallas couldn’t remember his name.

The man came forward, his hand stuck out, and automatically Dallas took it, surprised that it was like a rough paw, as big as his own. “Good morning to you, Mr. Bronte,” he said. “I’ve already introduced myself to your crew, and to the Ashbys. I know you were a mite under the weather last night, so maybe you can’t quite get ahold of my name. It’s Revelation Brown.”

“Yes, yes, sure,” Dallas said hastily. “Good morning, Rev. And call me Dallas. I see you’ve been looking the old girl over?”

He grinned, and he looked about sixteen years old. “Mr. Bronte, this is no old girl. This is the prettiest, spryest, most delightful lady I’ve ever seen.”

“You must be talking about the engine,” Dallas said dryly. “We haven’t had the money to pretty her up. I kinda hate that too. She deserves better. So you think the engine’s in good shape?”

“The best,” he answered succinctly. “Ring showed me that little jog in the rods, and I’ve already fixed it. This engine is as good and solid as I’ve seen on a floating palace. Whoever put it together bought the best parts money could buy.”

Dallas said with a tinge of sadness, “Yeah, it seems like Mr. Ashby loved to have the best. And four boilers, on this little boat! No wonder she’s the fastest on the river. And wait ’til you see the pilothouse; it’s got every bell and whistle and speaking tube anyone ever thought of. Now all we need is some freight, and I haven’t been able to scrounge up a thing to haul.”

Rev sucked his lower lip, then said, “You know, I’ve already prayed for these engines and the boilers and the paddle wheel and all the parts, and for the decks, and for the Ashbys, and for you and the crew. But somehow I forgot to pray for some freight. Don’t you worry, Dallas. I’m going to have this girl full up to the Texas and running down this old river like a thoroughbred!”

Dallas couldn’t believe it, but he had to believe it. That very afternoon Jacob Fender came down to the
River Queen.

“I don’t have a load myself, Dallas,” he said after Dallas’s welcoming greeting. “But Lamar Inman is a good friend of mine.”

Dallas’s smile faded. “Yes, I know Mr. Inman. In fact, I talked to him just yesterday, and he told me he didn’t have anything for the
Queen
.” Inman & Sons were perhaps the busiest shipping agents in Natchez. Every single day Dallas went into their office to ask about freight, and they always told him there was nothing for the
River Queen.
But Dallas knew very well what they meant: There was nothing for Dallas Bronte.

Fender nodded. “I know, because I’m just coming from Lamar’s office, and he told me. But I recommended you, Dallas, and I told him about the fast clean trip you did for me to New Orleans. Now, he’s got a load going to Cairo, all kinds of household supplies and equipment. Everything from tinware to ovens. He’s willing to give you the load, if the
River Queen
can carry it. It’s not so much the weight as it is the square footage. He can’t break up the shipment, so it’s either all or none.”

“We’ll carry it,” Dallas said with determination, “if I have to sit on crates of dishes to pilot her.” He stuck his hand out, and Fender took it, and they shook hard. “How can I ever thank you, Mr. Fender? We’ve known each other for several years, and I consider you a friend, but just in a business sort of way. I never would have expected you to vouch for me personally.”

Fender pushed his hat back on his head and said steadily, “You know, I used to be a wild man, when I was younger. Paid a heavy price for it, too, and took some beatings that I really didn’t deserve. People aren’t fair. But now I know the Lord, and He is just and He is fair. So whenever I see an injustice that I can do something about, I do it.”

Dallas grinned. “You know what, sir, I really need to introduce you to my new engineer. Because it just so happens that he agrees with you, and he knew you were coming.”

“What?” Fender asked with some confusion.

“When you meet Revelation Brown, you’ll understand exactly what I mean.”

Dallas proudly showed Fender the
River Queen
and introduced him to the crew. When he told Rev about Fender bringing them a haul, he whooped, “Hallelujah! You’re an answer to prayer, Mr. Fender!”

“Told you, sir,” Dallas said. Fender’s normally somber round face was split in a wide grin.

Dallas introduced him to the Ashbys, and their gratefulness seemed to embarrass him deeply, so Dallas brought him away quickly, saying he had to get to Inman & Sons. Fender left, and Dallas hurried to the shipping agent.

They concluded their business and all of the documents quickly, so Dallas wasn’t gone long. When he came back, Roseann, Leah, Julienne, and Carley were still up on the hurricane deck. Jesse had found half a dozen very light balsa wood folding chairs with cane seats and backs for coolness. They made wonderful deck chairs. Dallas had bought a small lightweight tent that they rigged up as a pavilion, so the chairs were shaded. Leah had started giving Carley lessons every morning there. Roseann loved to sit up there, sewing or just dozing. Jesse had brought her an empty shipping crate that served as an ottoman, and she seemed to be very comfortable. Julienne had worked all morning but had joined them after dinner.

“We’re headed for Cairo day after tomorrow,” he announced jubilantly. “And the money’s good!”

“Is it pigs?” Carley asked.

“No ma’am, not this time,” Dallas said with perhaps more vehemence than necessary. “It’s going to be all kinds of stuff for kitchens. And the
River Queen
is going to be full up to the hurricane deck. This haul is so big we’re going to even fill up the ballroom.” Since they weren’t carrying passengers, they had simply boarded up the windows of the ballroom so it would be watertight.

“How long will it take?” Julienne asked eagerly.

Dallas’s odd green eyes shadowed. “Well, it’s about 750 miles to Cairo. The
Queen
could run straight through in about three days. But I’m sorry to say that we—I can’t do that. I’ll only work twelve hours without a rest, any more than that and I endanger the boat. So it’s going to take us about six days, maybe seven, depending.”

“I’m glad,” Carley said happily. “I love riding the river. Can I be the second mate again? I promised Julienne I wouldn’t bother you the first time we went out, but could I maybe this time ring at least the big bell?”

“You bet,” Dallas said, and bent and held his hands out to her.

She flew to him, and he swung her around and around until she gasped, “Oh! I’m so dizzy! It’s so much fun!” He set her down.

“Funny how it’s not so much fun when you’re grown up,” Dallas grumbled under his breath with a furtive glance at Julienne. She smiled at him.

After Carley stopped staggering around, she tugged on Dallas’s sleeve. “Can you stop working for just a little while, so we can celebrate?”

“What exactly did you have in mind?”

“Digging for crawdads? Please?” Carley answered. “And then maybe Jesse will put us out some throw lines tonight, and maybe I can catch another big ol’ catfish!”

“You know, I think I might just take me a little break this afternoon,” Dallas said thoughtfully, and Carley’s face lit up. “I know a good place right down close to the end of Silver Street where we can probably find enough crawdads to catch a mess of fish. And besides, I saw back up the hill there’s a whole field of pretty yellow daffodils blooming. I might even pick a flower and put it behind my ear.”

“Would you? Would you pick one for my ear too?” Carley exclaimed.

“I sure will, Miss Carley, ma’am. You’ll look a lot prettier than me with a flower behind your ear.”

“That’s the truth,” Julienne said, rising. “I have to see this. And I would love to pick some daffodils to put in our staterooms, they look so nice and cheery. So if I may, Mr. Bronte, I’d like to accompany you.”

“Miss Ashby, I would be honored,” he said, bowing elaborately. “I’ll even let you put the flower behind my ear.”

THEY WALKED DOWN SILVER Street in high spirits, with Carley between them, holding their hands. Julienne had threatened to lock her in her room all the way to Cairo if she got excited and ran off.

Silver Street ran down a snaky course from Natchez proper, and it basically turned into the docks and boardwalk. However, it wasn’t the only street in Natchez-Under-the-Hill. The little shanty-town was actually eleven blocks long and four blocks deep. At the south end, the farthest away from Silver Street, the buildings lining the shore were warehouses, with dismal shanties behind. As they came to the end of town, Julienne shuddered as she looked back behind the warehouses. She wouldn’t venture down one of those cross streets for the world. They were little more than mud paths just wide enough for a wagon, with the warehouses brooding over them, making them shadowed and evil-looking. The thought of Carley blithely skipping down one of those dark alleys made Julienne doubly grateful to Dallas and the crew for watching out for her.

They were nearing the end of the path, and ahead Julienne could see the field of flowers, thousands of them, blooming on the sides of the hilly bluffs. Dallas pointed. “Now just up there, where you see that dogwood tree? There’s a whole bunch of crawdad holes there. We’ll have a bucketful of them in no time.”

They turned off the shore path to the right and started angling for the dogwood tree. On their right was the last warehouse, an ancient crooked barn with the windows and loft door boarded up. As they passed it, they heard a scream.

All three of them stopped, frozen. Then they heard a woman’s voice, “Please help me! Please, they’ve locked me in here! Two men have locked me in here, and they’re going to come back and kill me!”

Dallas dropped Carley’s hand and ran so fast that Julienne barely saw him move. The double barn doors had a thick plank set on iron brackets to lock them. He started to lift the plank, but it didn’t budge, and he saw that someone had driven three nails halfway into it to secure the plank. Behind the door he could hear the woman crying, “Please, please hurry, please hurry.”

Furiously he looked around, and in the piles of junk surrounding the barn he saw a hammer head with no handle. Quickly he picked it up, popped out the nails, and heaved the plank. As soon as it cleared the brackets the barn doors burst open. A woman flung herself into Dallas’s arms.

“Good heavens!” Julienne said, grabbing Carley’s shoulders and pulling her close.

The woman wildly pushed Dallas away, ran back into the darkness of the barn, and came out with a canvas sack. Dallas took her arm and led her over to Julienne and Carley. Even though she was dirty, her face smudged, Julienne could see she was a beautiful young girl, much younger than she had thought. For some reason from the hoarse scream, and the situation alone, she had expected a mature woman. This was a pretty blonde girl with wide terrified blue eyes.