Mysterious Signal (18 page)

As Libby headed for the door behind the stairs at the front of the boat, the woman was not far behind. Together they slipped into the cargo area.

The large room was dark, lit only by the torchlight showing through the half-open door. Once that door closed, Libby would have to lead the woman in total darkness.

Then she remembered. Just inside the cargo area that stretched from the front to the back of the
Christina
was a baggage room. There Caleb kept a lantern.

In the sliver of light, Libby fumbled for matches and lit the lantern. “Shut the door!” she whispered. Holding out the lantern, Libby led the woman deeper into the cargo area.

The large open room was filled with freight. Boxes and barrels were stacked high, making weird shapes in the light of the lantern. Soon they passed the entrance to the secret hiding place in the hull of the boat. Instead of stopping there, Libby led the woman to a tucked away spot with more room.

Two-thirds of the way into the cargo area, Libby slipped through an opening between tall piles of freight. Inside was a hidden space, a small room without a ceiling.

As she set the lantern on the floor, Libby had her first good look at the woman. Close up, Libby saw that the loose-fitting dress
had been torn in several places. Many of the tears were L-shaped, as though a branch or something sharp had caught at the cloth. All but the most recent-looking tears were neatly mended.

From between two crates Libby pulled out quilts. “For you,” Libby said as she spread them out on the floor. “You’re safe now. We are your friends.”

Gratefully the woman sank down on the quilts. But she sat strangely upon them, holding her feet off to one side.

Libby knelt down on the floor next to her. “I’m Libby,” she whispered. “What’s your name?”

“I be Sadie.” The woman kept her head down, but her gaze darted here and there, as though looking for a way to escape if needed.

Libby saw the fear in Sadie’s eyes. “Are there others with you?”

“I come alone. My husband got caught when he was trying to escape.” Sadie carried only one thing—a square of cloth knotted into a small bag that she still clutched.

Libby didn’t want to even think how frightful it would be traveling by herself in all kinds of weather through woods, swamps, and creeks.

“Bloodhounds was the worst,” Sadie added. “And snakes.”

“I’ll bring food and water,” Libby said quickly, knowing that Sadie must have existed on roots and berries.

“Please, Miss Libby. Do you have strips of cloth so I don’t hurt your nice quilts?”

Libby moved the lantern closer. Only then did she understand why Sadie held her feet at such a strange angle. In places the skin had grown tough like shoe leather from years of walking barefoot. But in other places—

Libby flinched at the sight of cracks that looked as if they had often been reopened. In some places the blood had dried. In others the blood still ran from deep cuts.

“From one full moon to the next I lived in a swamp before goin’ on,” Sadie said. “The skin grew soft from walkin’ in water and mud and cracked when I walked on them again.”

“And you’re expecting a baby.” Libby felt weak with the thought of it. “What if the baby had been born when you had no place to hide?”

Sadie’s smile was like the rising of the sun. “I told myself I couldn’t have the baby yet. The Lord promised me this child was goin’ to be born in freedom.”

Leaning back on her heels, Libby smiled. “Then you can tell this child it’s time to be born. My Pa is captain here. He’s used to helping babies be born.”

From Caleb’s grandmother, the head pastry cook on the
Christina
, Libby got food and fresh milk for Sadie. When Libby returned to the hiding place, she found the young fugitive sleeping. Libby set down the food and left, knowing that Sadie would find it when she woke.

When Libby made a second trip with water for washing Sadie’s feet, the young woman was still sleeping. But Gran promised to keep a close eye on her.

Quickly Libby searched out Caleb, for he took care of runaways who came on board. If questioned by slave catchers, Pa could honestly say he didn’t know about fugitives. But this time Caleb said, “Be sure to tell your pa about the baby.”

As Libby started toward Annika’s room, she saw deckhands bring in the lines. Putting out from shore, the
Christina
headed north, up the Mississippi River. Libby raced up
the stairs and rescued her quilt from the railing. As she spread it out on her bed once more, she felt excited about the way it had helped Sadie.

Libby found Annika on the boiler deck, where first-class passengers took their exercise. The teacher took one look and knew Libby had something to tell her.

“Let’s go to my room,” she said.

Because of the danger of fire, passengers were not allowed to use candles or lanterns in their rooms. In order to see, Annika left open the door that let in light from the large main cabin. She was just as excited as Libby that the signal quilt had helped the young woman find safety.

“You said that Sadie is about to have a baby?” Annika asked with concern.

“Pa will help her if she needs it,” Libby said confidently. “That’s part of his job.”

Annika smiled. “I had no idea how much was expected of a riverboat captain.”

Before Libby could ask the teacher what she thought of Pa, Annika tipped her head for a better look at Libby. “Now that you’re on your father’s boat again, is there any reason why you need to keep on looking like a boy?”

“I’ve been wondering about that,” Libby answered. “We didn’t see Dexter anywhere along the way. He could have left town right after he searched your house and barn.”

That bothered Libby. It had been so hard to cut her long hair. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had been worth it. “Maybe Dexter headed for the river to watch for Pa’s boat. If he did, my disguise didn’t make a bit of difference.”

“Dexter always knew how to find your father,” Annika
said. “When he searched the house and barn, he didn’t seem to know you were there. That was protection for both Peter and Jordan, don’t you think? But I wonder who tipped Dexter off. Whoever he is, he’s a danger to everyone in the Railroad.”

Libby didn’t know either. She could only remember the men who passed them on the street as they tried to find a signal for an Underground Railroad station.

Again Libby thought about the way she looked. “I just wish I could glue my hair back on.”

“Glue it on?” Annika looked startled. “You saved your hair?”

“I braided it before I cut it off.”

Annika was delighted. “Then get your braid, and let’s see what we can do!”

When Libby returned with her carefully wrapped braid, Annika ran her fingers through the back of Libby’s hair. “You left it just the right length!”

From one of her carpetbags, Annika took out what she needed. Fingers flying, she wove the cut-off braid into the jagged hair at the back of Libby’s head. To make sure it all stayed together, Annika used hair clasps in four places.

“If you’re careful with these barrettes, I think you’ll be okay,” she said finally. “But don’t give your braid a hard jerk. It will fall off.”

Using Annika’s hand mirror, Libby looked at herself every which way. When she turned to thank the teacher, she tried to speak but couldn’t.

“I know you’re thankful,” Annika said. Her gentle kindness warmed Libby’s heart.

In her own room Libby gladly shed the wrinkled boys’
clothing for a dress. It felt wonderful to put on one of her pretty dresses again. She decided to celebrate by returning to the stairway that overlooked the forward deck. Peter was already waiting there, and Samson flopped down next to them. As though half asleep, Caleb leaned back against a crate near the bottom of the stairway.

An hour later all was quiet on the main deck. Moving without sound, Caleb stood up and crept between the deck passengers who lay sleeping wherever they found room. As though knowing exactly where to go, Caleb headed for the large barrel Libby had wondered about earlier.

Sitting down on a nearby crate, Caleb waited. Now and then he glanced around, and Libby guessed he was watching for every possible danger. Finally he stretched out his hand and rapped three times on the top of the large barrel.

I was right!
Libby thought as Jordan pushed up the cover.

His head still partly hidden, Jordan looked this way and that. As though his legs felt cramped and stiff, he stood up slowly. After another careful look around, he climbed out of the barrel.

As silent as shadows, Caleb and Jordan found their way back between the passengers. When they reached Libby and Peter on the stairway, all of them crept along the boiler deck, then up the stairs to the hurricane deck.

From there it was only two steps to the narrow deck area that surrounded the texas, the boxlike structure in which Captain Norstad, Libby, and many crew members had their rooms. Pa’s cabin was at the front of the boat, just ahead of Libby’s room. Caleb motioned them to go farther, where moonlight fell along one side. Sitting down, they leaned back against the wall.

Jordan’s face shone with excitement. “Me and Daddy got the money to John Jones!”

As Jordan told about his trip, Caleb wrote quickly for Peter. Tipping the slate toward the moonlight, Caleb used the shortcut words they had figured out between them.

But Caleb soon had to put the slate away. It was too hard for Peter to see, and they couldn’t use a candle or lantern.

Libby knew who John Jones was—a free Negro tailor in Chicago who used his business success and big house to shelter runaway slaves. Mr. Jones and his wife had taken in countless fugitives.

“He’ll use the money to help fugitives get to Canada?” Libby asked.

Jordan grinned. “Mr. Jones took us to see the roomful of people waitin’ to leave. Mr. Jones introduced Daddy and me. He told them about the money from my church. And he said, ‘Jordan brought this money for
you
! This money buys your ticket to the Promised Land!’”

Jordan paused. “I never thought—” As though unable to keep on, he broke off.

When he spoke again, his voice was strangely quiet. “When the people in my church chose me to take the money to Chicago, I never knew how hard it would be. And I never thought how
good
it would feel to give the money. All those people in Chicago rose up from wherever they were sittin’. They rose up and clapped for the good people of my church. Then they raised their hands and clapped for the Lord!” Lifting his hands above his head, Jordan showed them.

“When they were done clapping their thank offering, Mr. Jones led them to the boat for the Promised Land. That boat
took them all the way across Lake Michigan to Canada!”

Jordan grinned as though still not able to believe it. He wore his proud look now—the look Libby noticed the first time she saw him.

“Do you know what else happened?” Jordan asked. “I met Mr. Frederick Douglass.”

“You met Mr. Douglass?” Caleb’s voice was filled with awe.

Libby knew what an important person Frederick Douglass was. A former slave, he had spoken openly against slavery in the United States. He had also become a highly respected, much-loved speaker in England.

Jordan held up his right hand, turned it this way and that in the moonlight. “Mr. Douglass shook this hand!”

Jordan stared at it. Then his eyes grew serious. “Remember how my momma named me after the Jordan River? I was just a little boy when she said, ‘You is goin’ to take our people across the river. You is goin’ to lead our people to the Promised Land.’”

Jordan stopped, swallowed hard, then went on. “When my daddy was sold away from us, the Lord gave me a big dream. That we would be a family again, a family living free. If Daddy and I get to Galena—if our whole family be there—we are goin’ to know what freedom is!” As though unable to believe it himself, Jordan shook his head.

Jordan met Caleb’s gaze. “When you and Libby started teachin’ me to read and write, I thought about those people who said I couldn’t do it. I just wanted to prove I could. But now it’s something more.”

Once again Jordan looked at his hand. “When Mr. Douglass spoke, I saw the power of words. Good words help people. Good words change lives.”

Jordan leaned forward, talking fast now. “I am goin’ to reach high, to get myself educated. I am goin’ to learn to speak like Mr. Douglass. And when I do—” Jordan paused as if afraid to say what he was thinking, as if his dream was too big for telling.

“When you do, you will still lead your people,” Libby said softly. “You’ll lead them in a different way.”

When Jordan grinned, Libby knew she had guessed what he was thinking.

“A big dream is worth having,” she said. “Someday Caleb and Peter and I will come hear you speak. We’ll see you standing up in front of a big audience.”

Jordan laughed. “Libby, you sure enough can tease.” But Libby knew he was pleased.

Then Jordan grew serious again, as if hearing Mr. Douglass still meant so much to him that he could barely explain. “Just when I see one dream comin’ true, the Lord gives me a new one. I thought, ‘If I am goin’ to be a speaker, what am I supposed to say?’ Then I knew. I am goin’ to tell people about the Lord!”

In the moonlight Jordan’s eyes shone strong and steady. For a time they sat quietly, the sound broken only by the slap of paddle wheels against water. Then Libby remembered that Jordan had to be warned.

“Jordan,” she said. “You know how slave owners come north to Minnesota Territory in summer? How they want to go where it’s cooler? Some of those people might be on board. And there might be men who read the wanted posters for you.”

“What you trying to say, Libby?” Jordan asked. There seemed to be no doubt in his mind that slave catchers would
want the big reward on his head. But in the end it was Caleb who told Jordan about Dexter escaping from the Springfield jail.

“Where is Dexter now?” Jordan asked.

“We don’t know,” Libby answered. “He searched the house and barn where Annika stayed. He was very interested in the two empty barrels.”

Jordan grinned. “That man is mighty close on my trail, isn’t he?”