The Swindler's Treasure (9 page)

“You know him? How?” Libby wrote back. Serena had given them a description, but Libby wasn't sure it would be enough to recognize the swindler.

“When your father was taking me to buy clothes, I saw the man walk toward the boardinghouse,” Peter said. “I'll take you to where he lives.”

“Where he
lives
?” Libby asked, writing again. “Why would he rent a room if he lives in Galena?”

“I told Caleb,” Peter said, as though trying to be patient with her. “Maybe the swindler saw Jordan carry the carpetbag and wondered what it held. Maybe he rented the room to find out.”

By now Caleb and Jordan were far ahead. Libby called to them. “Stop a minute!”

Peter led them to the house where the man lived, and Caleb knocked on the door. When no one answered, Peter turned the handle, but the door was locked. Carrying his slate with him, he walked around to the back.

As Libby started to follow, she saw Peter talking to a neighbor. Soon Peter returned with words written on the slate. The man Peter thought was the boarder had said he was going away for a while. They had no choice but to start once again for the
Christina
.

“When we get to Alton, we'll try to find the swindler,” Libby said.

“You need to know what he looks like,” Peter answered. “Brown hair. Blue eyes. About five feet, ten inches tall. He wore a suit and white shirt and tie. A hat too. He dresses good.”

“Well-dressed, you mean?” Libby wrote.

“But he doesn't know how to wear clothes.”

Strange
, Libby thought.
What does Peter mean by that?

Peter explained. “He has money but hasn't learned to dress like he is rich.”

“Have you seen such a man?” Libby asked Jordan.

He hadn't, but according to Serena, the boarder had taken meals in his room during his one-night stay. It would have been easy for him to keep out of Jordan's sight.

“When we go to Alton, you will be the only one who can identify the thief,” Libby told Peter. “How can we thank you enough?”

“You better learn to sign what you want to say,” Peter answered, and Libby wasn't sure if he was teasing or not. Soon she found out.

“Your name,” Peter said. “L for Libby.”

Watching closely, Libby learned how to sign the letter
L
. Pointing to Jordan, Peter made the sign for
J
, then a
C
for Caleb.

When they reached the
Christina
, Jordan talked with Pa about what had happened. Captain Norstad told him, “Yes, you can work for me again.” Jordan returned home long enough to say goodbye to his family.

The next morning the
Christina
again steamed down the Galena River. Libby and the three boys met with Pa in his cabin. Caleb sat next to Peter, explaining on a slate.

“We have three problems now,” Captain Norstad told Jordan. “Finding your father, finding the man who stole money from your church, and finding the man who robbed me.”

Four problems
, Libby thought, then guessed that Pa didn't want to mention his need to make a double payment on a loan by August fifteenth.

The July day was warm and humid, and the windows in Pa's cabin were open. For a moment he walked around, looking through the windows as though making sure that no one hid on the deck to listen. Then he returned to where the rest of them sat at the table.

“Word has gotten around about how you rescued your family,” the captain told Jordan. “It will be an especially dangerous time to ask about your father.”

Jordan nodded, as though he understood the risks.

But then Pa said, “When we get close to the county in which your father was sold, you need to hide.”

Clearly Jordan was disappointed. “Who will do the asking at the courthouse?”

“Not Captain Norstad,” Caleb said quickly. “If the wrong person sees him there, it could wreck everything he's doing to help runaway slaves.”

Pa agreed. “Slave catchers will search the
Christina
even more than they do now. Caleb needs to be the one who asks.”

“Caleb?” Libby asked. Deep inside she felt scared just thinking about the danger.

But Jordan objected. “Captain Norstad, slave catchers know Caleb. They know what he's up to. If they recognize him, they'll be watching him every second.”

“That's why I'm leaving the decision up to Caleb and his grandmother. It's impossible for you to go, Jordan. But it's almost as dangerous for him.”

The captain turned to Caleb. “Before we get there, I want you and Gran to agree on what you should do.”

Then he changed the subject. “We have a number of stops on the way down the river. Tomorrow night we'll tie up in Hannibal, Missouri. On Wednesday morning, before first light, we'll start our celebration of Libby's fourteenth birthday.”

“My birthday?” Until now Pa hadn't spoken a word about it. The way Caleb looked, she suspected he already knew Pa's plans. But neither he nor Pa would tell her more.

“Don't be surprised if Caleb's grandmother wakes you up when it's still dark,” Pa told Libby.

“So Gran is in on it too?” Libby could hardly wait for her big day.

In the early morning hours, Libby heard a quiet rap on the door of her room, then the soft voice of Caleb's grandmother. “Happy birthday, Libby.”

Kneeling on her bed, Libby reached out to open the door.

“Are you awake?” Gran asked as she came in. “It's your special day!”

“I'm awake.” Libby's voice was groggy, but then she remembered. “It really
is
my birthday!”

Because of the danger of fire, Libby wasn't allowed to have a lamp in her room. In the darkness she heard Gran set a pitcher of water on the washstand in the corner.

As Libby yawned and stretched, the corn husks in her mattress crackled. When Gran left, Libby bounded out of bed. She didn't want to waste one moment of this special day.

The warm water felt good on her face and arms. As soon as she finished washing, Libby put on the dress she liked best after giving away her favorite. Though she could not see much of the dress in her small mirror, she knew the soft blue brought out the honey color in her skin. Brushing her deep red hair, she pulled up the front strands, tying them in place with a ribbon.

When Libby reached the main deck, passengers were still sleeping wherever they had found a place to lie down. At the bottom of the steps Pa waited in the dark. When his arm circled her shoulders in a quick hug, he whispered, “Happy Birthday, Libby!”

“Where are we going, Pa?” she whispered back, but he wouldn't tell her.

As Libby crossed the deck, Peter was ahead of her. At the gangplank he stopped, as if not sure whether he should walk down.

“Go ahead, Peter,” Libby said softly, then remembered he couldn't hear.

Instead of moving on, Peter held back. Then, as if offering a special escort for Libby's birthday, he turned to her and held out his arm. When she took it, he walked sideways down the gangplank.

Gran, Caleb, and Jordan stood next to a team of horses and a wagon. Gran climbed up to the high seat next to Pa, and Libby and the boys sat on the straw in the back of the wagon. As it rolled through the streets of Hannibal, Libby saw the darkness of night beginning to fade.

Before long the wagon rumbled over a bridge, then tilted upward when the horses started up a long hill. In the grayness before dawn, Pa drove the horses off the road and halted them near the beginning of a trail.

Now Libby was really curious. With her eyes used to the dusky light, she had no problem seeing the way. But why was Pa taking them here? And what did this have to do with her birthday?

With Pa leading, the rest of them followed single file. As they walked, the rough trail grew more and more steep. Now and then they stopped to rest, and Caleb's grandmother breathed deeply to catch her breath. Gran was at least fifteen years older than Pa, and it was a difficult climb for persons of any age.

When they reached a large mound, they followed the trail along its side to the top of the bluff. In the half-light only moments before dawn, Libby turned toward the river. A short distance from where she stood, the mound sloped down to a large, flat rock. Jutting out like a shelf, the rock fell sharply away for two hundred feet.

Taking Libby's hand, Pa led her to a safe distance from the edge. As the others gathered around, Libby stared at the enormous drop in front of her. Her heart pounding, she wanted to turn and run in the opposite direction.

Pa doesn't know my fear of heights
, Libby thought. Panic washed over her, and she felt as if she were falling forward.

In that moment her father squeezed her hand. Libby's world steadied, and she saw beyond the jagged rock. Stretched out before her lay the great Mississippi River and its wide valley.

“Look!” Pa said, and with his words, Libby forgot her fear.

Far across the silvery water, beyond the hills six miles away, rosecolored light spread above the line of trees. Without speaking, Libby watched the water turn pink. Above the river, clouds, like puffs of cotton, caught the changing light.

As the color swept around her, Libby turned slowly, and the others turned with her. In the north, south, and even the western sky, thin bands of clouds reflected the rose light. Never in all her life had Libby seen anything like the glory of that sunrise.

Then, as golden light spread upward, the pink faded. The top arc of the great orange ball that was the sun appeared above the horizon.

“It's the dawning of your fourteenth birthday,” Pa said quietly. “Happy birthday, Libby.”

Fourteen!
Libby wanted to sing, to dance, to shout—to tell the whole world,
I'm almost grown up!

Then she remembered.
I've never been fourteen before. What will it be like? How will this year be different from any other year of my life?

I'm not a little girl anymore
. Yet when Libby looked ahead to being a woman, she felt scared.

As she thought about how Pa had planned this moment for her, Libby's throat tightened. Blinking away her tears, Libby squeezed his hand back. “Thank you, Pa.”

Without speaking, she and the others stood there as the orange light moved upward. When the sun grew too bright to watch, Libby looked out over the streets and buildings of Hannibal. From where she stood, the
Christina
looked like a small white toy—a plaything a child could float in any puddle of water. But for Libby the
Christina
was home.

Down the river, then up, Libby's gaze followed the shoreline. By the time they were ready to leave, the sun had cast a pathway of light across the waters of the Mississippi. Turning on the great jagged rock for a final look, Libby watched the waves ripple against the shore far below them.

I'll never forget seeing the sun rise on my fourteenth birthday
, she thought.
Best of all, the people I love most are gathered around me
.

At the bottom of the bluff again, they drove to a grove of trees called Cave Hollow. When Caleb carried a large picnic basket from the wagon, Gran spread a tablecloth on the grass and set out the food.

As everyone sat down around the cloth, Pa again reached out his hand to Libby. One by one they clasped hands until the circle was complete.

Bowing his head, Pa started to pray. “We thank you, Father, that you are the one who created Libby. You are the one who gave her this special day. Even as the sun rose upon her fourteenth birthday, we ask you to watch over her. Care for her, protect her, give her your love. And most of all, Lord, help her to become strong in you.”

When the silence grew long, Libby looked up to find Pa watching her.

“In the name of our Lord, we bless you, Libby.” His voice was husky with emotion.

As Libby looked around the circle, the warm feeling of being loved filled her to overflowing.
Pa. Caleb. Gran. Jordan. And now Peter. My never-give-up family
, Libby thought.
We don't always agree, but we stick together. No matter what happens, we're a family
.