Race for Freedom (24 page)

CHAPTER 20

F
illed with panic, Libby turned back to the stairs.
Where’s Pa? I’ve got to find him!

Just then Jordan bounded down the steps. When he nearly crashed into Libby, she stopped him. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Hutton!” Jordan pointed behind him.

“Wait!” Libby cried.

“I has to hide!”

Libby felt sure he wanted to reach the secret place in the hold. “You can’t,” she said. “The slave catchers stopped Caleb!”

Libby peered around the corner. Caleb and one man still stood close to the engine room door, blocking the hatch Libby had found. Like a watch dog, the other slave catcher had moved forward and stood near the door to the cargo space. Beyond that door was the second hatch for Jordan’s hiding place.

“They’ve blocked off your secret place!” Libby warned.

Frantically Jordan looked back up the stairs. “Hutton’s after me! I is trapped!”

Just then a whistle tooted. “The
War Eagle!
” Jordan whispered.

The steamboat lay on the side away from where Caleb stood. Crouching down, Jordan kept his head low. Weaving between freight and passengers, he crept across the
Christina’s
deck. When he reached the edge, Jordan leaped, landing on the
War Eagle
. In the next instant, he disappeared behind their freight.

Not one second later, Hutton hurried down the stairs. To avoid his questions, Libby quickly walked away.
I can’t go to Pa now. Hutton would know what I’m doing
.

Trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, Libby slipped into the crowd at the bow. As the
Christina
steamed upriver, the
War Eagle
slipped into place beside her.

A few minutes later Caleb joined Libby. Facing forward with his back to the passengers, he spoke in a low voice. “Did you see what happened?”

“Worse.” Libby also looked straight ahead. “Hutton was after Jordan.”

“So they all came back! They probably thought their best bet was to keep an eye on the
Christina
. They were right.”

Caleb sounded as though he were talking about the weather. But Libby knew better. He, too, was deeply concerned.

“And they stayed out of our way till now,” Libby said. “They must have thought this was a good time to capture Jordan.” Libby told Caleb what had happened to Jordan.

“He’s on the
War Eagle
?” Caleb spoke just as quietly.

“I saw him make the leap. I think he’s somewhere between those piles of freight.”

“And Hutton?” Caleb asked. “What happened to him?”

“I don’t think he knows where Jordan went,” Libby said. “What will Jordan do?”

“Pretend he’s a deckhand.”

”
And work as though he belongs on the
War Eagle
?”

“That’s what I’d do.”

“Caleb, do you always think about what you’d do? Do you always plan ahead?”

Caleb grinned. “With you on board, I might have to stop trying. And we still don’t know if Riggs is here.”

As the
Christina
reached Lake Pepin, Libby tried to see everything. Sure enough, there was a narrow channel of black water.

Three other paddle-wheelers were ahead of them. As they steamed farther into the lake, Libby saw giant blocks of shifting, crumbling ice. When the lane they had entered seemed to widen, she felt relieved.

Soon the
War Eagle
passed the
Hamburg
and the
Sam Young
. As the
Christina
kept up with the
War Eagle
, the other boats fell behind.

Turning, Libby watched the steamboats that followed them. From their time of waiting at Reads Landing, she recognized many of them. The
Golden State
was coming up fast. When she passed the
Christina
, Libby moaned. “Two ahead of us now.”

“Just wait,” Caleb told her. “It’s a long race yet.”

As Libby and Caleb watched, the
Golden State
kept gaining on the
War Eagle
. Libby tried to remember Caleb’s words, but she found it hard.

Then a large cake of ice floated by, close to the
Christina’s
wooden hull. Seeing the ice, Libby felt uneasy. Around them the wind and current pushed against the thick, jagged blocks.

Soon shifting ice started to fill the narrow lane of black water. Huge chunks bumped against the
Christina
, jolting the boat. Libby felt glad that Elsa no longer made her bed close to the edge of the deck.

As the sound of bumping ice grew stronger, Libby’s uneasiness grew. When she faced into the wind, she felt sure it had picked up.

“I don’t like it,” Caleb said.

Libby knew the great chunks of ice could break a hole in the
Christina’s
hull.
Is that why there aren’t any runaway slaves in the hiding place
? Libby didn’t know if the
Christina
brought fugitives this far north. Yet the first run to St. Paul would be extra dangerous for anyone down in the hull.

Looking back again, Libby saw more boats in their wake. The
Galena
, the
Falls City
, and half a dozen others.

“C’mon,” Caleb said as the wind grew stronger. “We better go up to your pa’s cabin.”

From there they watched the ice start to layer. One huge block slid on top of another. Frightened now, Libby watched the ice build up. Small peaks appeared here and there across the wide lake.

Suddenly a gust of wind caught the drifting ice. Close behind the
Christina
, the ice slammed into the
Falls City
, forcing the steamboat up on shore. Her hull crushed like an eggshell, the
Falls City
keeled on one side.

Libby gasped in terror. “What happened to the people?”

“They’ll be all right,” Caleb said. “Part of the boat is on land. But the boat looks like a total wreck.”

As they watched, passengers scrambled up a stairway. Within minutes the main deck of the
Falls City
disappeared under water. On the tilting upper decks, people clung to whatever would hold them until someone on land rescued them.

With ice shifting all around her, the
Christina
poured on even more steam, making a run for it. Through the long hours of the passage through Lake Pepin, Libby stood in Pa’s cabin with Caleb and Samson beside her.

Ahead of them, the
Golden State
and the
War Eagle
stayed only a short distance apart. Once Libby felt sure she saw Jordan working on the
War Eagle
’s deck.

At Wacouta, the head of Lake Pepin, the
Christina
finally steamed into safer waters. Libby felt weak with relief to see the last of the ice.

By now the
Golden State
had fallen back, but Captain Laughton’s boat, the
Galena
, had crept up. Though the
War Eagle
stayed in the lead, the
Galena
was closing in.

“We’re getting close to Red Wing,” Caleb told Libby shortly after dark. Together they walked back to stand outside her room.

Doctor Sweney had allowed no one but Mrs. Meyer to see Elsa. Now Libby felt unwilling to have her friend leave without saying goodbye. But Doctor Sweney expected Libby and Caleb to stand at a safe distance.

As Libby watched, the doctor stretched a blanket between two poles to make a stretcher. When Elsa was safely settled, two deckhands picked up the stretcher.

“Goodbye, Elsa,” Caleb called as the men headed for the stairs.

Elsa raised a hand. “’Bye, Caleb.” Her pale face seemed the color of her white-blond hair.

Libby wanted to rush forward to hug her. To tell her, “Be sure and get well.” Instead she called out, “Auf wiedersehen!”

At the sound of her voice, Elsa tried to lift her head. The shadow of a smile crossed her face. “Auf wiedersehen, Libby,” she said softly. “I love you.”

Tears welled up in Libby’s eyes. “I love
you
, my friend!”

Doctor Sweney went first, walking ahead of the stretcher down the steps, then turning to make sure Elsa was safe. Moving as if she were glass, the deckhands carried her from the texas and hurricane decks to the boiler, then the main deck. Elsa’s mother followed close behind. Keeping their distance, Libby and Caleb followed her.

As the
Christina
nosed into the Red Wing waterfront, Doctor Sweney gave his orders. When the gangplank went out, he turned to Libby and Caleb.

“Elsa will get well,” he said, as though wanting to give them hope.

A moment later he and Mrs. Meyer, Elsa, and their few belongings were gone.

With lightning speed the deckhands unloaded everything else bound for Red Wing. Again the
Christina
put out, once more racing to St. Paul.

Above Red Wing, a full moon rose over the water. Standing at the bow on the main deck, Libby watched the golden pathway across the river. Samson stood beside her, his great tail thumping against her.

Ahead of them, the
War Eagle
and the
Galena
were neck and neck. Around the
Christina
were a dozen other boats. Osborne, the chief engineer, poured on steam. One by one, the other boats fell away, and the distance between the
Christina
and the lead boats grew less.

“We’re catching up!” Libby told Caleb as he came to stand beside her.

As though she could push the
Christina
ahead, Libby leaned into the wind. If only they could overtake the
War Eagle
and the
Galena
. If only Pa could win first place. Just the honor would bring him even more business!

Then, as Libby wished, it seemed to happen. Instead of a great leap forward, the
Christina
crept gradually ahead. Inch by inch, she moved up on the
War Eagle
’s starboard side. As the bow of the
Christina
came even with the stern of the
War Eagle
, moonlight fell on the small deck in back of the cargo space.

Libby grabbed Caleb’s arm. “There’s Jordan on the deck!”

“He’s awfully close to the edge,” Caleb answered. “If the boat jerks, he’s in trouble.”

Standing on tiptoes, Libby tried to see. “He and a deckhand are tying a rope.”