The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder (10 page)

“Then all three of you can put some time in doing extra chores tomorrow as well,” added Mary, anxious to contribute to the scolding.

John was disappointed about missing the trip to Langham, but he knew it could have been far worse. Right now he felt desperate for information that would save River's Voice and yet he didn't know where to turn. He only knew he had three days to help prove his innocence.

***

“Got any tonight, Mister?”

The train belched coal-fueled smoke into the dark night and groaned during its brief stop. A scowling, older rail engineer looked at the three boys in front of him, his grizzled features formed from a lifetime of hard travel along the railway.

“It's a bit late for you kids to be out, isn't it?” he snapped. “I'm busy. We're only in Borden for five minutes, then on to Prince Albert.”

“Come on,” said the tallest of the three boys. “We came all the way here to see them. We know this is the right train. My cousin works for the Canadian Northern Railway and he told me this is the train the prisoners always come in on. We've never seen real prisoners before.”

“Yeah, well your cousin has a big mouth,” said the engineer. The boys didn't move, their eager faces staring up in anticipation.

“Fine,” the engineer relented. “If it will get you kids out of

here, let's get this over with. I've only got three tonight so there's not much of a show.”

He muttered to himself as he picked up his lamp and marched over to a dark brown train car and grasped the metal lever. The boys followed close behind, so they could see clearly. With a heave the heavy door slid across. The old CPR worker stood there, arms crossed.

“Satisfied? Now can I get back to work?”

The boys blinked. “You mean you've only got two tonight, right, Mister?” said the same boy.

The engineer scowled. “What are you talking about, boy?” as he walked to their position to look into the train car. “If you're looking to provoke me tonight, it just might work.”

For a moment the engineer was stunned. He shoved the lamp farther into the train car, as two blinking prisoners stared back. As he moved the lamp around, he could see the empty handcuffs hanging from the steel bar and began to shake his head slowly back and forth as the other two prisoners began to laugh menacingly.

“No, no…not him…” the old man said, looking terrified. Suddenly he grabbed the tallest kid by the shoulders and bent down to look at him closely, his frightened green eyes wild in the summer night.

“Run boy. All of you, run! And don't you stop until you reach home safely, you hear?” he warned fiercely.

The boys nodded, shocked, and ran as fast as they could, sneaking glances behind them at the old man.

“Breach! Breach!” the engineer screamed, running to find his colleagues on the train.

Chapter 11
The Warning of the Red Coats

“I thought we agreed you would stay out of sight,” the tall man said sternly, standing beside a figure lying on his back near a fire pit. The tall man held a metal coffee mug and stared down into the dull embers.

“I have!” said the other man gruffly.

“Come on, how long have we known each other?” said the tall man. “Since school days! I know when you're lying. You were seen at Taggart's General Store. I have a source who confirmed this. You were also seen at the hotel at least once. We can't have this, you know. You've got to stay hidden.”

The man on his back said nothing. A smear of white stars cast only a small amount of light. The moon, too, was weakened in its cycle. On the ground, only the dying coals of the latest fire barely pulsed. Otherwise the camp site was shrouded in darkness.

The taller man then picked up an object that he did not recognize.

“What is this? Did you steal this?”

“So what if I did?”

“Keeping items is not part of the plan. That is not what this is about!”

“Hey, I have to profit from this, too!”

The tall man shook his head. “Not this way. You can wait for success a little longer. And if you don't want to wait,” said the tall man with an edge in his voice, “I will find someone who can.”

The man lying down raised his head slightly. “You know, I know a few things about you, too.”

The tall man extended his coffee mug and poured it onto the fading embers, extinguishing them. “And you will take them with you…to your grave.”

***

There is an old prairie joke that says the land is so flat you can watch your dog run away from home for three days. Although that might be an exaggeration, there was no doubt it was fairly easy to see anyone approaching. With field after field of nothing but flat or gently sloping land, it was difficult to sneak up on anyone. That's why John, William, Ed and Elmer were not startled early the next morning at the sight of two Royal North West Mounted Police officers in their scarlet red tunics on

horseback, coming up their laneway. They had watched them get closer for quite some time and worked until they arrived.

John wondered silently if they were here because of something to do with River's Voice. His heart felt like it was in his stomach as he kept working and thinking, trying to figure out other reasons they may be visiting again so soon. So much had been going on in such a short period of time he could barely process everything at once—their neighbour is murdered, their friend is imprisoned, a prairie fire almost destroyed their home and yesterday John almost drowned. Now, the police were visiting the homestead again, thought John.

“This better not delay getting to Langham,” William muttered to Ed.

Ed nodded then replied, “It won't.”

John couldn't picture anyone stopping his mother's butter sales plans, even though she couldn't go herself now. His mother had banged her leg on the woodpile last night, creating a painful bruise in the process. William had convinced her to stay home and let Ed be the butter salesman for today, while still taking Elmer and Summer with him for help. She didn't slow down for much, which meant that agreeing with this idea was a big deal for her. John would remain on the farm and help William out, while Mary would get some rest for her leg, if she could only agree to stay off of her feet and rest it. She knew that delaying the trip wasn't an option, or else the butter would spoil,

and she certainly didn't want that to happen.

John was working alongside his father to mend a hole in the chicken coop while Elmer was helping Uncle Ed in the vegetable garden. Only Summer and Mary were in the house at this time preparing breakfast and didn't know the police officers were approaching.

Soon it was obvious that Sergeant English and Constable Wood were the visitors. Sergeant English was pointing his finger in a wide sweeping motion towards the blackened prairie area. Constable Wood was nodding. They seemed to be discussing the impact of the fire the Diefenbakers had narrowly escaped, thanks to a quick response and a lot of team effort.

William stood up straight and stretched his back, dropping his tools beside him.

“Good enough, John. We'll tend to this later.”

“Mary!” yelled William when he had first seen them approach. “We've got company.”

Mary appeared in the doorway. After taking one look at the two officers coming in the distance, she went into action, with Summer's help, preparing coffee for the arrivals.

“Yes, sir,” said John, happy for the break and unsure of how he felt seeing the police. As the officers approached, John realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to make sure they knew about the big debt Hans Schneider owed to Max Taggart's store.

“Father,” John said quickly. “I couldn't help but overhear you and Mr. Taggart talking about the debt Mr. Schneider owed to the general store. Do you think it's a good idea to see if the police know about it?”

William frowned at John. “Actually, I was already planning on telling them about it. I hope eavesdropping is not a regular pastime for you, either.”

“No, sir, sorry Father,” said John, relieved that the police would know about Mr. Schneider's debt.

When John heard the officers talking about the fire's path, he realized that perhaps they were simply here to check up on people in the area.

Ed and Elmer had already left the vegetable garden and were cleaning up. John could hear Elmer, trying to engage his mother in conversation when she was busy. That was his first mistake. “Mother, the police are here!”

“Yes, I can see that Elmer, with the two eyes the good Lord gave me.”

“Oh.”

Choosing a new topic for the sake of conversation was his second mistake.

Mother, will we ever get a telephone?” asked Elmer.

“A telephone!” Mary snorted. “What are you thinking, boy? What do you think I'd need with a telephone, to do as much yakkin' as you do?”

“Well, I was thinking…”

“Can't say I believe you were thinking at all. Now, since you're here, full of ideas as usual, why don't you fetch me a basin of water. And don't spill any.”

“Yes, Mother,” said Elmer, sighing.

William, Ed and John walked closer to the officers, who were dismounting. They tied their horses to a makeshift tethering post near the barn and then greeted one another.

“From what we just saw,” said Sergeant English, “it looks like you folks must have thought pretty quickly when the fire struck. Really glad to hear you're alright.”

“Thank you,” said William. “It was quite the battle. Any word on the extent of the damage?”

Constable Wood nodded. “Some. We're in the middle of checking it out for ourselves. Not everyone escaped as lucky, that's for sure.”

“And how are you, young man?” asked Sergeant English to John.

For a split second John felt angry that the police were assessing fire damage when they should be figuring out who the real killer of Hans Schneider was. River's Voice was about to be shipped off to Regina in three days if the real murderer wasn't found. But then, of course they believed they already had the person who committed the murder. John felt stuck, with too little time to think and investigate. He wanted to solve this

mystery before River's Voice was moved to Regina.

“I'm doing well, Sergeant English, thank you,” John managed politely. “But did you know Uncle Ed burned his arm badly in the fire?” he asked, wondering why no one had brought this up yet.

“I was just about to ask about that bandage on your arm,” said Sergeant English.

Ed shook his head. “It's nothing too much to be concerned about. Thanks to an ointment Summer got for me yesterday, it's doing a lot better.

John thought about the fact that Earl T. Wright had not stopped in yesterday to check on Uncle Ed and recommend a salve that would help, like he said he was going to do. That seemed strange—and it was right after he had lied about the contents in his wagon. Oh well, at least Summer had supplied an ointment. “Yes, we heard the daughter of River's Voice is staying with you right now,” said Sergeant English. “We need to speak with you for a few moments, if we may.” William turned to John.

“I want you, Elmer and Summer to go find something to do…outside,” he said with emphasis. “Officers, would you like to come inside for some coffee?”

The police officers nodded while John and Elmer ran into the house to tell Summer. She followed the boys outside, looking warily at the officers.

The trio walked toward the barn a few paces, out of sight of the house. Once they couldn't be seen, John spun quickly.

“Let's go back and listen underneath the window. We might be able to get some more information.” It suddenly occurred to John that eavesdropping actually was becoming a regular pastime. But how else was a kid supposed to get information?

Elmer looked thrilled with the idea. “That's a great idea, John, let's…”

“Elmer, there has to be no talking. We can't be caught. Let's hurry, and when I motion it's time to go, we move quickly. Got it?” John asked in a serious tone.

His younger brother and Summer both nodded and the three deftly scooted back towards the house, inching more slowly once they got closer. Finally, the three of them squatted underneath the kitchen window, which John knew had been open all morning. He held his hand to his lips as the sound of talking filtered through.

“…don't see why you wouldn't think it was a good idea to have her stay with us?” they heard William ask.

“Take it easy,” said Sergeant English in his deep voice. “Look, we wanted to let you know there are a lot of folks out there who are getting kind of uneasy with the Cree and with the Indians in general.”

“Why?” asked Ed.

“Ever since Hans was murdered and we arrested River's

Voice,” began Sergeant English, “well, folks are angry that something like this could happen in a town the size of Borden.”

“It didn't happen, that's the problem,” said William. The officers looked quizzical.

“The murder itself obviously happened,” William continued, “but you've got the wrong man. River's Voice did not murder anyone.”

Sergeant English made a sighing sound. “Look, his necklace, which he admitted was his, was found almost in the exact location where the murder was committed. He was in two heated arguments with the deceased and we have Kyle and Isabelle Jennings saying they witnessed River's Voice utter a death threat to Hans Schneider when they were arguing in Borden over pelts. You may not think that's enough evidence but men have gone to jail and stayed there with less evidence than that sometimes.”

Summer clapped her hand over her mouth to stop from crying out. John and Elmer looked at her and hoped she could continue to listen. On a positive note, John believed that he had just overheard a clue to follow up on that he didn't have before. He now knew who witnessed Hans Schneider and River's Voice arguing—the Jennings.

“The bottom line is there's a new level of distrust out there right now,” said the sergeant. “We just want you to watch your back. People can be irrational.”

John, Elmer, and Summer crowded in to listen, but there seemed to be an awkward silence. They heard Mary ask about more coffee and the sergeant politely decline. Then they heard Constable Wood.

“Some are even saying this fire was set by the Cree in retaliation for the arrest of River's Voice.”

“That's crazy,” said Ed. “I don't believe it for a minute.” Summer looked at John and Elmer with disbelief, too. Constable Wood spoke with a calming voice. “But this is the way things are now. It seems as if this tragedy involving your neighbour has stirred up a lot of tensions. We heard the fire hit the Coulter family pretty hard two farms north of you and Karl Petersen lost about a third of his crop. I don't know what old Karl thinks, but the Coulters think the Cree are striking back because we arrested River's Voice.”