Blockade Runner (6 page)

L
eah struggled to make herself presentable as the
Greyhound
moved across the dark waters of the estuary. Her hair presented the greatest problem. It was so long and thick and heavy that she usually washed it on a warm day, then sat outside and let the sun’s warmth dry it. Now, however, the best she could do was towel it vigorously, plait it into braids and finally wind it into a coronet on the back of her head.

As soon as she was finished, she went to the door and made her way down the dark deck. There were no stars, and it was a moonless night. She heard the soft slapping of the waves against the side of the ship and was still so blinded from the light of the lantern in her cabin that she could see almost nothing.

Suddenly she bumped into someone and let out a small scream.

“Be quiet!” Someone reached out and steadied her in the darkness.

“Jeff! Is that you?” Leah whispered.

“Yes, it’s me. But we’ve got to be quiet. Those Federal gunboats are just sitting out there listening for us. It’s too dark to see anything, but if they hear us, they’ll send a rocket over our heads. Then they’ll see us.”

Leah wanted to say something to Jeff about how sorry she was about their last meeting and the
argument that they had had, but his voice sounded stiff, so she said, “What’s going to happen now?”

“I don’t know. What are you doing on this ship, anyway?”

“I can’t tell you. It’s not my secret.”

At that moment, another soft voice came out of the darkness. “Miss Carter? Are you there?”

“Yes, I am.” Leah recognized the voice, and then her eyes adjusted and she saw the form of the captain.

“Are you all right?”

“Oh, yes, I guess a little water never hurt anybody.” She peered beyond him. “Is that you, Mr. Pollard?”

“Yes, it is, Leah.”

He came forward, and, although she could not see his face well, she knew that he was pleased with her.

“That was a brave thing you did, coming all the way to warn us about this spy.”

“Oh, anyone would have done it,” Leah protested.

“I’m not sure about that. But in any case, we’re forewarned. Now all we’ve got to do is catch him.”

Jeff could no longer keep quiet. “Catch
who?”
he said. “Is there a spy on the ship?”

“Yes, there is, Jeff,” Captain Bier said. “And we’ve got to move fast.”

“Do you know who it is?” Leah asked.

“No. He may be one of the crew. We’ve got some new men, and it’s not always easy to be sure of a man’s loyalty.”

“I don’t see how you can even tell where you’re going,” Leah protested. She stared out into the darkness but could see practically nothing. “How do you know where you are?”

“I don’t really—but the pilot, he does.” Captain Bier laughed. “I think pilots have cats’ eyes. They know every inch of the waters around here. Come on to my cabin. I’ll tell you our plan.”

After the door was closed and the curtains were drawn, Captain Bier lit the brass lantern that hung beside his small desk. Turning to the others, he said, “We’ve got to catch this fellow before he has time to move.”

“How do you think he’ll let the gunboats know where we are?” Mr. Pollard asked.

“I think he’ll set off a rocket when we’re within range of them. He probably knows these waters pretty well.” He chewed on his mustache for a moment, then said, “Most of the other ports have been closed up tight by the blockade. Wilmington’s the best.”

Jeff said, “But how are we going to know who it is?”

“Well, here’s my plan,” the captain said. “I’ve got at least eight men that I
know
are loyal to the Cause, but the new hands—well, I can’t say about them. It’s going to be hard to find the agent. He could be on the rail or up on deck anywhere, and as soon as he lets that rocket off, every Federal gunboat in this area will be down on us like ducks on a June bug.

“But I know the four of us are safe, and I know those eight of my men are. That gives us twelve. That leaves—let’s see, twelve more men not accounted for. Some of them will be in the engine room, so they won’t be setting off any rockets. The rest of us will take a man each, and we’ll watch him. There’ll be only a certain place where the agent can alarm the gunboats. You’d better stay in the cabin, Miss Carter.”

“No!” Leah said. “I can see pretty well in the dark once my eyes get accustomed to it. Just let me watch, and then, if I see someone pulling out a rocket, you can believe I’ll holler loud enough.”

“Good girl!” John Pollard laughed. “Let’s let her do it, Cap.”

Captain Bier considered, then said, “All right. We’ll do it.”

The
Greyhound
moved through the darkness, always hugging the shore. Out in the blackness lurked Federal gunboats with cannon big enough to blow them out of the water, and they would have been alerted that a signal would be given by the spy.

Leah had been stationed by Captain Bier up in the stern. He’d said, “You can watch the whole stern from here. If you see a man do anything unusual, just holler. I’ll be right across the way on the port side.”

“Which side is that, Captain?”

“The left side. Over there.” He moved away then to station his reliable men around the deck. When they were in place, he went back to take up his own position, passing by Leah. “The next ten minutes will be crucial,” he said. “We’re passing through the shallowest area and the narrowest gaps. If the gunboats catch us here, we’re done for.”

He disappeared into the darkness, and Leah put her back against a bale of cotton and waited. She could hear the propeller churning up the water. Vainly she peered through the darkness. There were a few stars out now, shedding a little light, and a mere sliver of moon, just enough to see by.

On through the dark waves the
Greyhound
glided. Off to one side was solid land, while to the other was nothing but the coastal waters of the Atlantic.
Leah’s heart was pounding so hard she thought she could hear it.
I hope the spy doesn’t hear it!
Actually, she was hoping that the spy would not be in her area. There would be little she could do but call for help.

On and on and on the long, low ship slipped over the black waters. Somehow the pilot did know every inch of the shoreline and clung as close as he could. The larger, heavy gunboats could not come in this close. They had to wait until the pilot saw his chance and made for the deep water between the Federal forces.

Suddenly Leah felt the boat shift beneath her feet and knew they were turning. “We’re heading for the deep water,” she murmured and grew tense. “If the spy’s going to do anything, it’ll be right away.”

Her eyes were burning, and she blinked furiously, straining to see through the stygian blackness. Then she heard a faint sound and instantly turned her head to the right, straining her eyes even more.

A dark form appeared not ten feet away. It was a man, and he was creeping along the rail!

If I call out too soon and it’s not him, it will tip off the real spy
, she thought desperately,
but if I wait too long, he’ll fire the rocket!

Taking a chance, she shifted position so that she could get a better view. Her shoes squeaked, and she stopped, her heart in her throat. She thought that the figure also stopped to look around, and she froze solidly to the spot. Finally the dark form turned his back to her.

What to do? Call out or wait? Chance letting the gunboat hear them? She could not decide and in an agony of indecision stood frozen to the deck.

And then she saw the man take something out of his coat and hold it up.

“Captain Bier! Jeff! Mr. Pollard!”

The man whirled toward her with a curse. He was fumbling with an object in his hand.

Leah continued to yell. She ran toward him then, threw herself at him, and pulled at his arm so that something went clattering. He cursed louder and struck at her, his blow catching her on the shoulder and knocking her to the deck.

All of a sudden another dark form sailed out of the darkness and barreled into the man, who grunted and reeled backward. From the opposite side came another figure. Another blow was struck, and suddenly someone lay on the deck.

Leah scrambled to her feet and moved forward cautiously.

“I think we got him, John!”

“Yes, Captain. Here, you—hold still, or I’ll break your neck!” Mr. Pollard was a big man, and as Leah came up she saw that the spy was slight and very short. Mr. Pollard had him around the neck with one hand.

“Well, don’t kill him, John.” Bier laughed quietly. “Bring him on inside. Maybe we can get the truth out of him.”

Then he turned to Leah. “You did a good job. I think I’m going to have to put you on my regular crew.”

Leah was happy that she had been able to be of help. She followed the two men into the cabin and listened as Captain Bier interrogated the agent.

“I ain’t telling you nothing!” the man said. He was rat faced with scanty gray hair and a pair of beady eyes. “You ain’t got no proof!”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think that rocket you were about to fire off is all the proof we need. It’ll probably get you hanged,” Captain Bier said cheerfully.

Fear came to the small man’s face, “You can’t hang me! It ain’t a hanging offense to let off a rocket!”

“It is if you’re a spy, and I say that’s what you are,” Captain Bier said, stern now. “Watch him, John, while I get one of the men to take him below. We’ve got a place where we can keep him until we get to Bermuda. Then we’ll have a trial.”

And that was the way it was. The spy was hauled off, kicking and screaming, by two strong sailors who laughed at his feeble efforts.

When they were gone, Jeff suddenly appeared and said, “What happened, Leah? I couldn’t see anything.”

“Oh, Mr. Pollard and the captain caught the spy.”

Captain Bier, standing close by, said, “Well, we couldn’t have caught him without your help, Leah. Your uncle’s gonna be mighty proud when he hears what you’ve done.”

“My wife’ll be proud too,” Mr. Pollard said. “She didn’t relish having a husband in jail for the rest of the war.”

Leah said, “You think I can get on a boat and go back?”

“Not now,” Captain Bier pointed out. “The pilot’s already got us out in the open sea. Look over there!”

Leah followed his gesture. “What is it?” she asked.

“See that little light there—and there’s another one—and there’s another one?”

“Yes, what are they?”

“Federal gunboats. They keep on the move all the time. We’re just liable to bump into one.” He
looked regretfully at her. “Sorry about that, but you’ll just have to make this trip, Miss Leah. But you and Jeff, you’ll have a good time—get to see Bermuda. That’s a sight to behold! Kind of a vacation for the two of you.”

That gave Jeff a good chance to speak up and say something nice, she thought. But he didn’t. He stared at Leah, turned, and walked out of the cabin.

“What’s the matter with that young man?” Captain Bier asked. “He’s always been pretty cheerful. You reckon he was scared of all this spy stuff?”

“No, Jeff’s not afraid of anything,” Leah said.

Captain Bier peered at her carefully. “You’ve known him before, I take it.”

“Yes, we were best friends—once.”

“Oh, I see. Yes … well … I’ve had young daughters of my own. I know how it is … well,” he said, “it’ll be all right. We’ll have some pretty weather tomorrow, I think … some nice sunshine … get to a nice tropical island.” He squeezed her arm and winked. “It’ll be real romantic. That young man’ll come around.”

Leah shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so, Captain Bier,” she whispered.

Leah started to walk away, and the captain looked after her, scratching his head.

“Blamed if it ain’t a job and a chore and an aggravation growing up,” he muttered, then turned and went back to his duties.

T
he
Greyhound
plunged through the blue-green waves with a rolling motion that Leah at first found a little difficult. Finally, though, she acclimated herself to it and took great pleasure standing in the stern and feeling the up-and-down movement.

Captain Bier came by once, stopping long enough to say, “You think you’ll make a sailor, missy?”

“Oh, it’s so much fun, Captain Bier. I love it! Why, I wouldn’t have missed this for anything!”

“Well, I reckon if we hit a hurricane you won’t love it quite so much.” He grinned at her. “But right now, I’ll have to admit it’s right pretty.”

Leah looked out over the wide expanse of waves. She had never been at sea before, and something about the vast immensity that lay before her pleased her. The blue sky met the green water in a line, but it was difficult to tell just where one ended and the other began. The green of the waves was broken by whitecaps that glittered under the burning sun. There was a salty tang in the air that made her take deep breaths, and she thought,
The captain’s teasing me—but it would be nice to be a sailor
.

Later that morning she encountered Belle Boyd walking around the deck. The young Rebel spy had rosy cheeks, and her dark eyes were sparkling with pleasure. “Isn’t this marvelous, Leah? I’m so glad we’re here. I always liked the sea,” she said, joining arms with Leah. “Have you been to sea before?”

Leah stared out over the rolling billows for a moment, then said, “No, this is my first time.”

“I made two short trips, but it was stormy both times. But this is so lovely.”

The sailors aboard the
Greyhound
had their eyes full that morning. The two attractive young women were the object of every eye. One sailor became so engrossed with watching them that he ran into the rail and almost fell overboard.

Belle and Leah saw this and giggled. Belle whispered, “Wouldn’t it be funny if he did fall overboard? I wonder what the captain would say to him?”

The first officer on the
Greyhound
, a young man named Mailer, was clearly enamored of Belle. Belle herself shared this with Leah. “He follows me around like a puppy,” she said. “He’s rather handsome but too young for me. Why, he can’t be over seventeen!” Her eyes crinkled in a grin, and she said, “Now,
you
are more his age.”