Mysterious Signal (4 page)

Libby couldn’t blame Peter for wanting to stay out of Dexter’s way. She dreaded even the thought of what an angry Dexter might do. In spite of the morning sunlight, Libby shivered.

Reaching around Peter, Caleb pulled open the door and walked in boldly. To Libby’s great relief she couldn’t see the jail cells from where they came in. Libby felt sure the cells were just beyond a closed door. But Peter kept glancing around, as though wondering if Dexter was looking over his shoulder.

“Good morning!” The policeman who arrested Dexter greeted Libby and Peter like old friends. When Libby introduced
Caleb, the policeman stretched out his hand and shook it.

“So you’re all together again,” he said warmly. “Then I expect you want to travel on.”

From a nearby safe, the policeman took the two bags of money he had held for safekeeping. One bag was Jordan’s share—the money collected by his church in Galena. The other held the money stolen from Pa’s safe on the
Christina
. When the policeman set the two bags on a table, Libby realized they had a problem. “We can’t carry money like that.”

“I have a basket you can have,” he said. “It will look as if you’re carrying food for a picnic.”

Libby set Pa’s bag of money in the basket and covered it with food from her knapsack, then a towel offered by the policeman. Caleb divided Jordan’s share of the money three ways. He, Libby, and Peter stuffed the bills in their knapsacks.

As they started to leave, the policeman stopped them. “Just a minute. Your friend Allan Pinkerton left a message for you.” Taking an envelope from a drawer, the policeman handed it to Libby.

Libby started to tear the envelope open. She couldn’t imagine what the great detective wanted to tell her. Then she noticed how nervous Peter looked. He was glancing over his shoulder again. A line of sweat stood out on his upper lip.

Forgetting the message from Mr. Pinkerton, Libby turned back to the policeman. “How is your prisoner doing?”

“He had one visitor last night—a man I didn’t know. Seemed to be from out of town.”

By now Peter had edged over to the outside door, and Libby felt sure he wanted to leave. After thanking the policeman for all he had done, she and Caleb followed Peter outside.

When the sunlight caught Peter’s hair, he seemed even more blond. But Libby also saw the scared look in his eyes. “What’s the matter?” she asked him, using signs Peter had taught her.

As though not wanting to admit how frightened he felt, Peter straightened his shoulders. “When I told Dexter I didn’t want to steal, he said, ‘If you ever go against me, I’ll get even.’”

Dexter had threatened Libby’s pa the same way. Holding up a clenched fist, he shook it at Pa, saying,
“If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll get even with you!”
And Dexter
had
gotten even.

Trying to forget her own memories, Libby wrote on the slate. “You stood up to Dexter anyway. I was proud of you.” Yet for that very reason Libby felt afraid.

Peter glanced up from the slate. “Dexter said he’d hunt me to the end of the earth to get even.”

Libby couldn’t ignore her own scary thoughts.
If Dexter ever got out of jail, what would he do to Peter?

Again she tried to offer comfort. “Pa says that sometimes we have to pay a price for doing the right thing.”

When the scared look in Peter’s eyes didn’t change, Libby felt sure she had said the wrong thing. Glancing up, she wondered if a cloud had passed over the sun. The morning sky was blue and clear with no clouds in sight. Just the same, Libby’s uneasiness would not go away.

By the time they returned to the Springfield depot, a long line of passengers waited to board the train. Caleb hurried into the depot to telegraph Libby’s father, telling him to send any message to the train depot at North Bloomington.

As Libby and Peter took their place in line, she noticed a tall, thin man board the railroad car. Libby poked Peter.

“Mr. Lincoln,” he said. “Remember how he carried important papers inside his hat? I wonder where he’s going?”

Moments after the conductor called his final “All a-booooard!” Caleb caught up to them. Libby showed her pass to the conductor, then started up the steps. At the top she turned for one last look at Springfield. Though she had been in the city only a short time, she liked it there. She especially loved the big capitol building with its tall pillars and great dome.

As Peter and Caleb stepped up beside her, the train whistled twice. Railroad cars clanked together, then jerked.

Just then Libby saw a man running down the street. “Stop!” he cried. “Stop!”

With a
chug, chug, chug
, the train started to roll. Suddenly Libby saw who the man was. Grabbing Peter’s arm, she pointed. “The policeman!”

As the train picked up speed, the man waved frantically. “Dexter!” he called. “He escaped!”

“Escaped?” Caleb shouted.

“When I brought him breakfast, he was gone!”

CHAPTER 3

T
he moving train drowned out the rest of the policeman’s words. A few minutes later he was only a tiny dot far down the tracks. In another minute the dot disappeared.

“What did he say?” Peter asked as Libby followed Caleb into the railroad car.

Libby hated to tell him, but Caleb tried. He didn’t bother taking out the slate. Instead he finger spelled the letter
D
in the sign Peter had taught them to use for Dexter’s name.

“Dexter broke out of jail,” Peter said. It wasn’t a question. He knew. “When did he escape?”

This time Caleb used the slate. “Sometime during the night. When the policeman brought Dexter breakfast, he was gone.”

“So he had already escaped when we were there.” It wasn’t hard for Peter to figure out the next step. “The policeman ran to the depot, hoping to catch the train before it took off. He wanted to catch Dexter before he left town.”

As if forcing himself to be brave, Peter lifted his head. “Dexter might have gotten on this train before we got here. If he did, I’m going to find out right this minute!”

Taking the lead, Peter started through the first railroad car. Libby and Caleb followed close behind. Toward the back of the second car, two seats faced each other. There a group of men huddled together, blocking the aisle for anyone who wanted to walk through. Peter led Libby and Caleb far enough to see what was going on, then stopped.

At the center of the group was a man whose gaze darted from one person to the next. His dark hair was parted almost in the middle and slicked down against his head. His mustache spread wide, curling up at both ends. With long slender fingers he held up one piece of jewelry after another, then spread them out on the seat turned to face him.

Just then a man put down a dollar bill and threw dice across a wooden board. When they rolled to a stop, everyone leaned forward. A cheer went up.

Making sure that all of them could see, the man with the mustache held a piece of jewelry high. When he handed it to the man who rolled the dice, another cheer went up.

Suddenly three men grabbed for the dice. After a brief scuffle, one of them held out his closed fist. Around him, other men threw down money. Gathering it quickly, the man with the mustache made change from a roll of bills.

Libby studied the man collecting the money. In spite of his expensive clothing and his businesslike manner, his face looked hard. As Libby watched, he glanced over his shoulder, as if making sure who was behind him.

Peter waited only a moment longer, then whirled around. Without looking back to see if Libby and Caleb followed, he stalked off. Going from one car to the next, Peter walked as far forward as he could go to get away from the men. There, where
two seats faced each other, Peter dropped down.

His eyes flashed with anger. “Did you see him?” he demanded as Libby and Caleb took the seat opposite him. “Did you see Dexter next to the gambler?”

Palms up, Libby shrugged her shoulders to ask, “Where?” She had been so busy watching the man leading the gambling that she hadn’t seen Dexter.

“Next to the man who rolled the dice,” Peter said. “His back was to us, but I would know him anywhere, even from the back.”

So would I
, Libby thought.
Brown hair. Blue eyes. Broad shoulders. About five feet ten inches tall. Usually wears a hat, suit, white shirt, and tie. But somehow I missed him
.

Once, Peter had told her that Dexter didn’t know how to dress. Though he wore expensive clothes, his suit jacket didn’t fit, and his tie often slipped out of place.

“You’re sure it was Dexter?” Caleb asked Peter on the slate. When he nodded, Caleb wrote again. “Let’s talk to the conductor.”

Caleb jumped up and brought the conductor to where they were sitting. “My friend wants to tell you something.” Caleb motioned for Peter to go ahead.

Without wasting a moment Peter started in. “You have a man on the train who escaped from jail last night. The Springfield police arrested him early Sunday morning for stealing money from two different people. He’s sitting with that bunch of men who are gambling.”

The conductor drew back. “How do you know?”

Seeming to read the conductor’s lips, Peter answered,
“I helped the policeman arrest him.” Peter looked toward Libby. “She helped too.”

The conductor peered down over his spectacles. “A young snip like you? And this girl helped, you said?” That seemed to make it even worse.

This time Peter looked puzzled, as though he couldn’t guess what the conductor had said.

“Please,” Caleb said, offering the slate. “Peter is deaf. Please write what you want to say.”

Instead, the conductor stared first at Peter, then at Caleb. “You expect me to believe your story?”

“Yes, we do expect you to believe us,” Caleb answered. “Peter is not making up a story. He’s telling the truth.”

The conductor snorted. “You’re just youngsters! How do I know you’re not trying to make a fool of me? What happens if I accuse a law-abiding man of something he didn’t do?”

“Law-abiding?” This time it was Caleb who scoffed. “The man you want is sitting in the midst of a bunch of gamblers. Those men are playing for high stakes—a dollar a throw. A man can work a long time to earn the money he’s taking from them.”

“You want to get me in trouble?” The conductor shook his head. “You’re not going to trick me into making a fool of myself. Say all you like, but I find it hard to believe that an escaped jailbird is on this train.”

“Those men are blocking the aisle.” Caleb was angry now. “They aren’t even letting the passengers walk through the car. They’re a nuisance to the women and children on board. They shouldn’t be allowed on this train!”

“And I am the conductor, young man! I am running these
cars and taking care of passengers. Perhaps the three of you are the ones who should be thrown off this train.”

The conductor stomped off, then looked back. “Young whippersnappers! I’m not going to fall for a trick like yours!”

When the conductor left them, the railroad car seemed strangely silent. Feeling both scared and discouraged, Libby stared out the window. The train was passing through prairie that stretched for miles around them. Wherever there had been enough water, prairie grass as tall as Libby waved in the wind. Between the long stems grew blue and white flowers with now and then a scattering of red. Even now, in the morning, heat seemed to rise from the ground in waves.