River Queen (40 page)

“I’m coming with you,” she decided.

They went down to the boiler room, where the crew were busy hauling firewood and loading it into the furnaces, getting the boilers up to a heavy steam. Jesse was directing them and studying the gauges.

“All set, Jesse?” Dallas asked.

“Yes, sir. Got four whole cases of that rich pine.”

“Good, Jesse, that’s really good. He turned, walked over to a wooden case, picked up a small piece, and handed it to Julienne. “See this? Smell of it.”

She took the chunk of wood he handed her and said, “It smells strong, like turpentine.”

“Well, that’s about what it is. Your hands are probably sticky now.”

She handed the wood back and asked, “Yes, they are. What is it?”

“Well, most of the time we use hardwood as fuel on these boats. It burns longer, and you don’t have to stop as often for wood. Besides, it’s easier to get than this kind of wood. We call this rich pine. I can remember when I was a boy my folks would send me out to collect it. You don’t need any paper or anything to start it. Look.” He pulled a match out of his pocket, struck it on one of the boilers, and held it under the piece of wood. Almost at once it began to glow and then burst into flame, and he dropped it into the furnace. “It’s like a torch. It’s full of turpentine, and you know how that stuff burns.”

“Why is that better than hardwood?”

“It burns quick and it burns hot. If you stay up in the pilothouse with me,” Dallas said, “you’ll hear me call for quick steam. Rich pine will blaze up and get that water in the boiler to boiling almost at once. More steam, faster engine, faster paddle wheel, win the race,” he said. He was excited, his dark eyes alight, his face alive with enthusiasm.

Julienne couldn’t help but smile at him. “Then why doesn’t everyone use it?”

“It’s tricky stuff. It burns quicker, so you have to stop more often for wood. And it’s not like chopping down an oak tree. You have to hunt for rich pine.”

They went back to the engine room, where Rev and Ring were checking and double-checking the engine. “You know she’s in perfect shape, Rev, it’s pretty much up to her now. If we’ll just keep her all steamed up and happy, she’ll come through for us, all right. Ring, you keep a sharp eye out on Rev and Jesse and the crew. Anything happens, any little thing, you let me know, all right?”

“Sure, Captain Dallas,” Ring said playfully. Darcy had happily fired Francis Tisdale, and they hadn’t bothered to hire another captain. All of them had been calling Dallas the captain.

“Well, the Lord be with us,” Rev said, grinning. “I’ve been saying my prayers. I usually don’t pray over sporting events, but this is different. I believe you’ve been taken in usury, ma’am, and it’s only righteous that the usurer get his due and not a penny more.”

“Thank you, Rev. That’s kind of you,” Julienne said with some confusion. When they left she asked Dallas, “What did that mean?”

“I dunno. But if it made Rev pray for us to win, then I’m all for it.”

He took her hand again as they walked up the stairs. “Are you sure you want me in the wheelhouse, Dallas?” Julienne asked. “Are you sure I won’t be a distraction?”

He grinned. “I’m sure I want you in the wheelhouse, and I’m sure you’ll be a distraction. A welcome one.”

They went into the pilothouse and waited. Dallas took his stance behind the wheel, resting his hands on it like he had done thousands of times before. He savored the feel of it, the growl of the engine just beneath them. He could feel the
River Queen
straining to go.

A cannon sounded, and immediately Dallas ran the backing bell. The
Queen
backed up obediently, and just at the right moment he rang the forward bell, and she surged forward.

There were six boats in the race, and all of them battled to get away from the wharf, the side-wheelers turning neatly and the stern-wheelers backing and filling, as the
Queen
did. But still, in mere minutes they were all six heading up north.

“Why don’t you try to get in front of them all, Dallas?”

“Going to be a little bit tight here. Six boats this close together, it’s too easy to have a collision. Happens a lot, even when you’re not racing.”

He spoke prophetically for just ahead of them the
Oscar McCoy
was rammed by the
Lady Gay.
The
McCoy
was left behind leaking, the captain shaking his fist at the
Lady Gay
as she trundled by him.

“And so there are five,” Dallas murmured. He rang the bell twice, his and Jesse’s private signal for “open her up,” and she began to gain speed. Dallas nodded with satisfaction. “I see the
Columbia Lady
running for the front of the pack. It’s two hundred sixty-eight miles from New Orleans to Natchez. We’ll let ’em slug it out for awhile and then we’ll pass them.”

JULIENNE WAS ENJOYING THE race. The boats were scattered out now. Two were almost out of sight, the slower ones. “They’ll never make it, they’ve already fallen too far behind,” Dallas observed. “Looks like it’s us, the
Lady Gay
, the
Princess of Orleans,
and the
Columbia Lady
’s still in front.”

Darcy came up to join them. “Do you think we can catch her, Dallas?”

“Oh, sure. She’s going to have to stop for wood soon, probably at Baton Rouge. That’s when we’ll make our move.”

“What move?” Julienne asked curiously.

“We have a plan, Miss Julienne,” Dallas said jovially. “But you’re just going to have to wait and see what it is.”

Sure enough, when they reached the port of Baton Rouge, all three of the other boats slowed, then turned into the port. “Going for wood, just like you said, Dallas,” Darcy said with satisfaction.

“Aren’t we going to have to stop for wood?” Julienne asked.

“We’re going to do it a little bit different,” Dallas said. “You’ll see.”

They kept steaming along at full speed, until Baton Rouge was far behind them. Finally Dallas said under his breath, “Right on time.”

He slowed the ship down, guiding it carefully in a ruler-straight line. Darcy stood at the starboard window, watching, and he said, “You’ve got it, Dallas. You want me to go down and help?”

“No, you take the wheel. I’ll go see about it,” Dallas said, and as soon as Darcy stepped up he ran out of the pilothouse.

Julienne had been sitting on the lazy bench, and she hopped up to stare out the right window. She saw a barge, loaded with wood, that was shoved off from shore and was being poled along by a number of strong-looking men. Dallas appeared on the side of the main deck, along with the fire crew. Jesse threw the barge a line and then the crew pulled it alongside. At once the crew in the wood boat began throwing chunks of wood on board, which was grabbed and stacked by the members of the crew. The
River Queen
never did stop, and Dallas was back in just a few minutes. “I’ll take her back now, Darcy. You did fine. You know this part of the river is tricky, but in a couple of hours you know we’ll be past Point 142 and there’s about two hours worth of straight easy steaming, and then I’m going to let you take over. You ready for it?”

“You’re not leaving me alone, are you?” he asked anxiously.

“’Course not. But I am going to need to sit down on that nice fat new lazy bench and rest and eat something.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Darcy said doubtfully.

“Darcy, I would never let you touch that wheel if I wasn’t sure of you,” he said quietly.

Darcy looked satisfied. “I’m going down to the engine room, see how everything’s going. I’ll be back about eight o’clock.”

After he left Julienne said, “That was a neat trick, with the wood barge, Captain Dallas.”

“That was my secret,” Dallas said with a grin. “What Rev and Jesse did was set up those fellows at that point on the river. All we had to do was slow down and pull up beside them in the stream and tow ’em upstream while we unloaded the wood. Never had to stop, and now we’ve got enough wood to get us all the way to Natchez. It’ll take the
Columbia
a couple of hours to load up enough wood for that monster. And that, Miss Ashby, is how we’re going to win this race.”

DARCY CAME UP AT eight, and Dallas gave him the wheel. Robbie brought up a tray, and he and Julienne sat on the lazy bench and ate biscuits and bacon and drank hot tea. When they finished, Dallas laid his head back on the bench and closed his eyes. He and Julienne were holding hands and she sat contentedly in the dark wheelhouse, watching him sleep.

Once she asked quietly, “Darcy, are you nervous?”

He didn’t answer for a moment, then he answered in a very low voice so as not to disturb Dallas, “I started to make a joke like I always do. But right now I don’t feel like joking. I’m not nervous, not at all. I think maybe it’s partly because Dallas believes in me, and partly because I asked Rev to pray for me before I came up here. Now, Jules, don’t go thinking I’m going to get all crazy like you and Rev and now Dallas. I just figured it couldn’t hurt.”

“Okay,” she said solemnly. “I won’t go thinking you’re going to get all crazy.” She looked back at Dallas and saw a small smile steal across his lips.

After about an hour and a half, Dallas took over again. Darcy nodded to him in a businesslike way after handing the wheel over to him and left the pilothouse. Julienne went down to the galley, made a pot of strong coffee, and took it up to the pilothouse. She stood by Dallas and held his cup. Every once in a while he’d grab it and take a quick sip. He never looked away from the river.

When he finished, Julienne said, “I think I’ll just lie down on the lazy bench for awhile and rest, Dallas.”

“Sure you don’t want to go to your stateroom and take a good nap?”

“No, I’d rather stay here,” she answered.

“Good,” he said quietly. “I’m glad.”

She had no more than laid down when she heard a loud WHANG and then the engine started sounding
ker
-THUNK,
ker
-THUNK,
ker
-THUNK!
She jumped up, and Dallas ordered, “Go to the speaking tube, and shout down there and ask what’s happening. She’s pulling to one side, I can’t let go for even a minute.”

Frantically Julienne ran to the big tube, rang the bell stridently, and yelled, “Ring? What’s happened?”

It was a few seconds before Ring’s voice echoed up through the tube. “Rev says we threw the reach rod. He’s working on it now.”

Even before Dallas could speak, Julienne asked, “Can he fix it?”

They heard Ring’s garbled voice as he stepped away from the tube. Then he answered, “Yeah, he’s got a spare. But we’re gonna have to stop, Dallas. Rev says if we keep going we’ll kick out the pitman arm.”

“That’s bad, isn’t it,” Julienne said.

“Yeah, that would stop us dead in the water,” Dallas answered shortly. He was fighting the wheel, standing on a port-side spoke, for the
Queen
was hitching over to the starboard side. She was slowing, though. “Hang the bells,” he grunted. “Yell down there and tell Ring to shut her down so we’ll just slow to a stop.”

But before Julienne could relay the instructions Ring shouted up, “We’re shutting her down, Dallas. Rev says we have to. Should be drifting to a full stop in just a few minutes.”

“If I can keep her from grounding out,” he said. He was pushing the wheel with all his strength and putting his full weight on one foot on the spoke. Julienne came and climbed up onto the wheel, standing on the spoke right above the one his foot was on. Very slowly the
Queen
drifted away from the dangerously near starboard shore. It seemed like a very long time to Julienne, but actually it was less than a minute that they were out in the middle of the river again. “Step off,” Dallas said tersely, and she jumped off the wheel. He managed to do a slight correction, the wheel seeming to turn more easily in his hand. Darcy came running in, and Dallas said, “Kingpin’s up. Hold her steady.” Then he ran out of the pilothouse.

As the
Queen
wallowed powerless in the water, Darcy kept one hand on the wheel, merely correcting the slight play. The kingpin, the one wrapped in stout leather twine, was pointing straight up, which meant that the rudder was perfectly straight.