Mysterious Signal (25 page)

W
ith a gentle splash Peter’s barrel landed in the river. Slipping in after it, Libby swam to the side of the barrel away from the
Christina
. The one-inch chine, or ridge, on the bottom of the barrel gave a good handhold, and she hung on.

A moment later Jordan’s barrel splashed down. As soon as Caleb slipped off the stern, he also took the side of the barrel away from the boat.

Then Libby felt the current against her legs and was glad that Pa and Caleb had told her not to fight it. Using one arm to swim and kicking to propel herself, she let the current carry her.

Can anyone see us?
Libby wondered. With dread she thought of Dexter and Slick and felt glad for the darkness.
Does it look like the barrels fell overboard? That they’re just floating down the river?

As the barrels drifted away from the boat, Libby looked up. Pa stood on the hurricane deck, watching them. She wanted to wave to him, to tell him how scared she felt. But then without being told, she knew. Pa was praying for them. She could sense the help it gave.

When the barrel drifted well with the current, Libby turned it so the hole in the side faced the sky. Knocking twice, she waited for Peter, then caught the cork as he pushed it out. Shoving the cork into a pocket, Libby swam on.

So far so good
, she thought, feeling pleased with how they were doing.

Farther and farther from the
Christina
they drifted. With each foot and yard of distance Libby felt better.
We’re leaving Dexter and Slick behind!

Often Libby glanced at Caleb. With the moonlight making a path across the water, he was easy to keep in sight. Bobbing now above the rocks, moving more swiftly where the current was strong, they kept the barrels fairly close together.

Once, Libby scraped against a boulder. Another time she caught her breath in an eddy that flung them around. Finally, some distance downstream, she stretched her legs and felt bottom. Still guiding the barrel, she stood up and pushed it to shore.

“We got away!” she exclaimed as she and Caleb rolled their barrels up the bank. “We got clean away!” Even now it seemed too good to be true.

Three times she rapped on the barrel, and Peter kicked off the lid. When he and Jordan climbed out, they rolled the barrels farther up on shore, lodging them behind a clump of bushes. Then they set out, following the river to find their way to LeClaire, Iowa.

Inside their barrels, Jordan and Peter had stayed dry. At first Libby’s wet clothes felt cold and clammy. Then as they walked, the shirt and overalls began to feel steamy with heat.

In the half-light before dawn, Libby looked ahead and saw
the spreading arms of a great elm. “The Green Tree Hotel!” she exclaimed. From earlier trips up the river she remembered the famous Rock Elm.

“Folks say it’s one hundred and twenty years old,” Caleb told them.

Because of its position at the head of the Upper Rapids, most steamboats stopped in LeClaire, either before or after going through the dangerous stretch of water. River people from St. Paul to New Orleans knew about the Green Tree. Under its branches the rapids pilots waited, talked together, ate, and slept until a steamboat came along and needed a pilot.

Sawmills lined the LeClaire shoreline. Near a shipbuilding company stood the great beams used to launch boats. At river’s edge a number of steamboats were tied up.

One of them already had steam billowing from its tall stacks. While Caleb stopped to ask when it would leave, Libby, Jordan, and Peter went on to where the Green Tree arched its branches over a large area of sloping ground. Filled with relief, Libby dropped down on the big roots. Pulling off her high-top shoes, she wiggled her toes in the sand.

Dawn was breaking as she looked across the river. Seeing the welcome light, Libby felt hope.
Today we pay off Pa’s loan!

But now there was something more. Something inside Libby had started to change. Walking upstream she had found time to think. As she dangled her feet in the river, old memories seemed to wash away.

Then a soft tapping broke the early-morning quiet. Libby looked up. High on the nearby steamboat, the captain gently tapped his pipe against the bell.

On the main deck, the first mate came to attention. At
the top of the boat, the pilot left his bench for the great wheel. Libby pulled her feet from the water. “We need to hurry!”

Eager to go but wishing she didn’t have to leave the Green Tree, she scrambled up. Shoes in hand, she led Jordan and Peter to the steamboat. Moments after they joined Caleb at the gangplank, the crew took in the lines.

“Eighty-five miles to go!” Caleb exclaimed as the steamboat headed upstream.

“Eight and a half hours,” Libby answered. “We’ll be in Galena by two-thirty.”

For Peter it would be going back to a city in which he had lived for a time. For Jordan it would be more.

“I’ll be seein’ my family again!” he exclaimed. “Can you imagine what Momma and my brother and my sisters will say when they lay their eyes me? And Daddy—do you think my daddy is there?”

“You’ll know soon.” Caleb grinned at Jordan’s excitement. “If all goes well, we’ll have an hour and a half to find the man and pay the money for the
Christina
.”

If all goes well
, Libby thought.

In the woman’s room she changed out of her wet clothes into her dress. Carefully she wove the braid into her hair the way Annika had shown her. Then, as her gaze met the brown eyes of the girl in the mirror, Libby decided there was something she needed to do. Now, while her thoughts still felt real, Libby wanted to write them down.

Going back out on deck, she looked for a place where she could be alone. At first Libby just sat there, feeling the cool wind on her face. Then she took out her drawing paper and a pencil. Instead of making a sketch she started a list.

Libby smiled.
No wonder I don’t like looking scruffy and dirty
.

When she finished the list, Libby felt better.
I don’t feel hurt anymore
, she thought with surprise. Suddenly, like a song pushing up from within, Libby knew.
I don’t have to be perfect! I just need to do what the Lord asks me to do
.

Then an even stranger thought entered Libby’s mind.
Auntie never had any children. Maybe she tries to put all her love for children into me. No wonder she has to make sure I turn out right!

At that Libby giggled.
I’d better not tell Auntie. Things will get even worse
.

Once more Libby looked at the list.
That day on the train Annika talked to me about God’s love, and I pushed her away. Have I been doing the same thing to You, God? Have I pushed You away when You wanted to wrap Your arms of love around me?

When the steamboat left the Mississippi and started up the Galena River, Libby stood with the boys near the bow. On the banks of the river, willow branches hung low. Clumps of birches grew here and there, the leaves still and limp in the August heat.

Galena
, Libby thought with excitement. She looked forward
to seeing the busy city again. Settled early because of the lead mines in the area, the town had become a legend.

After all they had been through to reach this point, Libby felt sure they had finally won. “We still have over an hour to find Mr. Thompson and pay off Pa’s loan!” she said as they tied up in Galena. “The
Christina
is safe!”

From his years of living in the city, Peter knew exactly where to go. As they left the riverfront, he and Jordan led the way with Libby and Caleb close behind.

On a side street Peter suddenly stopped. In the next instant he turned, headed across the street, and slipped between two buildings. As the rest of them followed, Peter stepped deeper into the shadows. Pulling them in beside him, he pointed back.

Across the street two men stood as they did in the dark area between two buildings. Libby could see only their backs, but she would recognize them anywhere.

“Dexter and Slick!” Peter whispered.

Leading them again, he hurried through the narrow space to the back side of the buildings. When he turned to face them, Libby raised her hands palm up and shrugged to ask, “How did you know?”

“I smelled his hair oil,” Peter said.

Libby couldn’t believe that Dexter and Slick were really in Galena. “It’s like living the same nightmare a hundred times! Will we ever get away from them? Will we ever get Pa’s loan paid off?”

“Not till they’re in jail,” Jordan growled. “If they stop us now, they’ll grab your daddy’s money again.”

“And we wouldn’t be able to pay the loan on time.” Libby felt sick. Then she felt angry. “How did they get here? We
sneaked away in the dark of night. I was sure no one saw except Pa.”

“Probably no one did,” Caleb answered. “But if you were a crook and started wondering if you’d get caught on board, what would you do?”

For a moment Libby thought about it. “I’d lower the yawl at the end of the
Christina
. I’d row upstream in the slack water close to shore. Then I’d catch a boat in LeClaire the way we did.”

“The way we did, except for one thing.” Caleb pushed his blond hair out of his forehead. “They didn’t have to drift downstream, then walk up.”

Taking the slate, he wrote to Peter, “They were ahead of us.”

“But they didn’t see us,” Peter answered. “Just now, as we started to pass them, they were looking a different way. When we walked down the gangplank, they probably didn’t notice us because they expected us to come on the
Christina
.”

Again Libby felt angry. Dexter’s desire to get even frightened her.
How long will he keep trying to ruin Pa?

Standing in the shelter of the building, Libby tried to think, but her ideas tumbled in every direction. With each moment that passed Libby felt more upset.

Then, in the midst of her turmoil, her worried thoughts fell away. Again she remembered the verse in Annika’s Bible. “I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I will not be moved.”
I will not be shaken!

In that moment Libby straightened, standing tall against the building. She knew what to do.

“This time we ask God to help us win!” she said. “This time
we have Dexter and Slick where we want them—where the police can search Dexter’s house and find Slick’s press for making counterfeit money.”

Half writing, half signing, Caleb explained to Peter. When Peter said, “Yes!” Caleb wrote, “We need a plan.”

Peter’s blue eyes shone with excitement. “I have a plan. We get them to follow us.”

Libby stared at him. “You’re crazy!” she blurted out. “I’m tired of running.” But even as she wiped her hand across her forehead, then made the sign for “Run away from here!” she started to laugh. “That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”

Judging by the expression on his face, Peter guessed what she said. Looking from Libby to Caleb to Jordan, Peter answered, “We can all run faster than two men, can’t we? You wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Staying behind the buildings that hid them from Dexter and Slick, Libby, Caleb, and Jordan waited. When Peter returned, a satisfied grin lit his face.

“My friend, the city marshal, is on duty. Right now he’s collecting some men to help him. We just bring Dexter and Slick into their arms.”

As soon as Peter told his plan, he, Libby, Caleb, and Jordan hurried back to the Galena River. On the way there they were careful to stay out of sight. When they reached the open area along the water, they stood near the steamboats. Then, as if they had just come into town, they headed toward the heart of the city.

This time Peter led them along the street that Dexter and Slick faced. Near the opening between the two buildings, Peter crossed to the other side of the street. Walking slightly ahead,
he turned toward Libby, Caleb, and Jordan, as if talking to them. When they passed the place where the men hid, Peter glanced toward the shadows.

Almost at once he signed Dexter’s name. Still walking at the same pace, Peter led the others onto Main Street. As they made the turn, Libby risked a quick look back. The two men were following them.

Along the winding street, new red-brick buildings stood tall and beautiful. On the side away from the river, a tall bluff rose straight up, directly behind the business places.

Around them the street was busy with people hurrying in and out of shops. With their thoughts wrapped up in their own errands, no one seemed to notice Peter. When he started walking faster, the men did too. Each time Peter picked up his pace, so did they.

Then from the boardwalk behind her, Libby heard the thud of footsteps moving faster. Her fear growing, she took another quick glance back. Dexter and Slick were catching up.

Moments later Peter looked around. As if seeing the men for the first time, he broke into a run.