Daniel walked on towards the town. There was precious little time until the sun would start to rise and already the darkness had lost its hard edge. He’d heard a train away to his right. He would have to cross the main dirt road into town to get there, but it was still early enough, he hoped, for that not to cause a problem. He waited alongside the irrigation ditch at the edge of the field and listened. The sinister chirrups and rustles of the night creatures were all that disturbed the peace. He smiled – chirrups were good, it was silence he needed to fear. Slowly, so as not to raise his heart rate, he made his way over the dirt track and across the ditch on the other side. This was land he was not familiar with and he reached out carefully to feel the line of the crop and check what obstacles confronted him. He was relieved to find more corn. He needed to make his way through the crop toward the far side of the field. He hoped the farm hands here could sow in straight lines. He reached forward into the darkness to feel his way through the high stalks that grew to either side. If the wildlife would forgive his intrusion, at least the corn would give him cover awhile.
Before he’d finished crossing the field, he could see the corn well enough without use of his hands and wove his way onwards, hoping the railroad wasn’t much further. It was too light to come out into the open within sight of the town, but maybe if the yard were deserted he’d still be able to break cover and make it to a wagon. He was contemplating this when he felt the earth vibrating slightly and he shuddered with the happy knowledge that he was nearer to the tracks than he’d realised. The thought gave him energy and he walked a little faster.
At the edge of the corn, Daniel looked out from the safety of his cover. He could see the rail tracks ahead of him and guessed the rail yard must be away to the left, but not visible. He began to move through the corn in that direction, keeping to the edge of the crop as best he could. He heard another train and pressed his way back into the corn behind him, waiting as still as possible for the train to pass. Once Daniel reached the corner of the field he could see wagons in the distance and knew the yard was at hand. He could wait for night to fall, hoping that this wasn’t a field to be harvested today, or he could try to cross the open ground in daylight. He was impatient to get away and the day was still waking. He reckoned he’d be safe if he took it steady and drew no attention to himself.
He rested a moment to calm his anxiety and then stepped out boldly in the direction of the wagons. His ears were alert to every sound and, whilst he didn’t want to draw attention by turning to look around him, his eyes darted left and right, taking in as much as he could see while looking forward. No one disturbed his progress and within a short time the first of the wagons was close at hand. Daniel could feel himself relax slightly as, from the shelter of the wagon, he looked about for a safe hiding place. There was a line of grain trucks, each covered by tarpaulins. He couldn’t tell if they were full or empty, but if he could get into one of them, under the tarpaulin, he reckoned it would be as good a place as any. He stayed to the sheltered side of the wagons and made his way to the sanctuary of the nearest of the grain load. When he released the corner of the tarpaulin and found the wagon empty, he sent up a silent prayer of thanks. Then, slipping his pack from his shoulder and throwing it in ahead, he hauled himself up and through the opening he’d created, before pulling the tarpaulin almost completely back across the gap, but leaving just a little light filtering through.
For Daniel, the day was slow in passing. His only clue of how much time had elapsed was the change in light as the sun tracked across the sky and the vibrating of the wagon on the tracks with every approaching train. It wasn’t a busy line, but there was freight, as well as the less frequent human cargo. He had hoped that maybe his own wagon would start to move and take him from this place, but he’d heard no one working nearby and, except for the occasional bird, had attracted no company through the morning.
As the afternoon wore on, Daniel’s optimism grew and he started to think what he might do that night when darkness fell. He needed to find a train to stow away on that would be leaving Iowa City, but from the number of trains that were only passing through he feared it could be weeks before that was likely to happen. He wondered if he could risk a ride on a regular fare paying train, but he would have to get past the station master unnoticed. Word would be out by now that he’d gone missing and he had no way of knowing how seriously the sheriff would take it. He took out a biscuit and quelled his aching stomach with a couple of mouthfuls. His meagre supply might have to last a while, so satisfying his hunger was not an option. He waited.
At last the light began to fade and he felt the quiet of night descend like a thick blanket shrouding his surroundings, giving him a false sense of calm and safety. He wondered how Ben and Duke were doing without him and hoped that his leaving had not been a burden to them. Then, hearing nothing from outside, he eased himself up from the metal floor and moved each limb in turn to get some life back, ready to venture out. The wagon creaked slightly as he moved and he stopped again, listening for any answering sound. None came. He reached for the lip of the wagon, threw back the tarpaulin and hauled himself up to look out into the night. He could see nothing and that was good.
He dropped silently down again and retrieved his pack. He would make his way further up the tracks in the direction of the station, but staying as far behind the goods wagons as he could. He hoped an idea would come to him somewhere along the way.
His arms were strong from the work and he was able to haul his own weight, then lower himself down the outside of the wagon with ease, onto the gravel below. Even so, there was a crunch as he landed and he strained his ears to hear any returning noise. How far would he have to get before he would feel safe?
In the clouded dark, he walked as a blind man, using his hand to feel his way along the wagons in the yard. As each ended, he groped to feel the next and was relieved when it came. Part way down the line he sensed a change in the shape and wondered what these new wagons held as he continued down the long line. The next gap was a longer one and he thought he might be at their end. He inched to his right, searching for the edge of the track, and in doing so almost walked into the back of an engine’s cab that overhung where he was walking. He felt his way around its side and imagined its graceful lines. He knew it would be dirty, but he was no stranger to dirt and a little blacking might help act as camouflage.
He hadn’t got past the front of the engine when he saw a lantern in the distance and heard the heavy tread of a boot on the gravel. He flattened himself back against the engine, his heart quickening. He breathed slowly and deeply. Now was not the time to panic. It could be anyone and, likely as not, nothing to do with him. He realised he’d be best out of the way and as he was only a couple of steps past the train’s cab he inched his way back as silently as he could and reached out to find the step that would give him access to the footplate.
The lantern was swinging as it was carried and he found it hard to tell the light’s direction, but as the beam seemed to be gaining slightly in brightness, Daniel guessed it was coming toward rather than away from him. He felt for the opening of the engine cab and then ran his hands around the edges of the inside to find a corner more suited to hiding him. He dropped down below window level and crouched in the dark. He needed to steady the pounding in his ears, but his body was giving every indication it was ready to run.
The uneven rhythm of the crunching gravel told him there was more than one man, but they were still too far away for him to hear their voices. He cursed himself for staying around the train tracks and not making his way back into the relative safety of the corn, but it was too late for remonstrations now. His only hope was that they weren’t looking for him.
Chapter 15
William looked down at the paper in his hands. He felt a shudder run through him. He hadn’t thought it would come to this, although others he was at school with had been called away to fight and some had signed up willingly. He presumed it was because they could
see little else but farm work in their futures, but it was different for him. He was already working alongside his father and doing mighty fine. He’d decided not to go to university. He said it was because he wanted to be no place but at home with his parents and that he thought his pa would teach him as well as any man could. His words had the effect he’d hoped for and the pride that Ma and Pa showed in him proved it.
That wasn’t the whole truth, though, and he knew it. At the heart of his choice was a fear that they’d forget him if he weren’t there, or worse, that Briggs might find a way to show him for what he really was. He’d got his sights set on owning this town, or as much as wasn’t owned by the Round Oak Stove Company, at any rate. At least, he would do so if there were a way to get out of the draft.
“Sir,” he said, knocking courteously on the door of his father’s office. “May I talk to you, please?” As a clerk, William sat outside the office, although his father included him in meetings whenever he could.
“What is it, William?” His father was poring over a document on the large table in the room. As far as William knew, it related to an Indian land holding which some of the town were disputing. He looked up at William with a distant look of bafflement across his face.
“Sir, I received a letter this morning. I’ve only just opened it.”
His father shook his head, then put his pen down and gave his attention to William. “I’m sorry, William, can this wait until later? I’m expecting Councillor Taylor along shortly and I want to be ready for him.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but no, I don’t think it can wait.” William felt dazed. “It’s my draft papers, sir. They want me to present myself to the recruiting office next Monday.” He gulped as the closeness of the date sank in. “Sir,” he continued, looking down at his shoes, “I don’t want to go.”
Mr Dixon removed his spectacles and looked closely at William. “I guess you’re right, William. This is pretty important.” He folded the plans which were on the table, moved them to the side and, indicating to the chair, said, “Sit down, son.”
William moved to the table and with a trembling hand pulled the chair out and sat opposite Pa.
“It seems to me there are four lines of possible action.”
William thought Pa sounded as though he were addressing a client about a case, but sat quietly. He’d been thinking it through for himself and had thought of only three possibilities.
“Firstly,” said Pa, “you could be there at 8 a.m. sharp on Monday.” He hesitated before going on. “But that’s not something any of us want to see happen, especially not your ma.”
William gulped.
“Secondly…”
William looked up sharply. He was relying on one of the options being better.
“Secondly, we could place you with one of our clients in an essential occupation, such as farming, and ask for you to be excused.”
William’s eyes widened. He had not thought of that possibility. He looked down on the children who’d ended up with farm work and he certainly didn’t want to find himself having to roll up his sleeves and get his own hands dirty. “And the other options, sir?”
“Well, thirdly, we could try to buy your place out and have you excused. I could claim your ma needs you at home or that you are essential to the office.”
“Would you, sir? Would you?” William couldn’t mask the eagerness in his voice.
“I’m not so sure that one would work, William. You’re still learning and it’s hard to show I couldn’t do without you here. As for Ma…” Pa shrugged.
“You said there were four possibilities, sir… that leaves one other.” William was desperate to hear what it was, and hoped it tallied with his own thinking.
“Well…” His father sounded ponderous. “… We could offer to send someone in your place and buy you out that way, but the question would be whom?”
Silence fell between them and William thought better than to fill it.
After a while his father continued. “It would need to be someone who wouldn’t be receiving draft papers otherwise. Someone excused for a different reason, whose place you might need to take. It would cost to do it, but that’s not an issue.”
William closed his eyes for a moment, hoping his father might have the same person in mind as he had.
“To be honest, William, I can’t rightly think of anyone just for the minute.”
William’s heart sank. Then, taking a deep breath, he proffered his thought. “Sir, what about Briggs?”
“Briggs?” His father sounded surprised. “Well,” he said, pursing his lips, “he certainly wouldn’t be called with this wave of recruits.” His nose rested on his steepled fingers as he considered. “I’d a mind to offer him a pension at some point anyway, so the money wouldn’t be an issue, and obviously if anything happened to him I’d see to it his family were well looked after…”
“So you’ll do it, sir?” William was finding it hard to contain his enthusiasm. Anyone else coming into the groom’s role would afford William the respect he deserved, now he was pretty much an adult within the family.
“I can’t be sure he’ll say yes, mind.” His father smiled. “But I’m sure we can make it worth his while. And he’s always had a soft spot for your ma. I’ll talk to him tonight. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He picked up his glasses and the plans. “… I’ve a meeting to prepare for.” He gave William a conspiratorial wink.
All William could do was wait for the outcome. He knew his father would tell him as soon as there was news. When the lunch hour came he took up his coat and went out into the fresh air. He would have enough time to walk down to Jeanie’s house and break the news to her. Even if Pa managed to send Briggs in his place, it wouldn’t hurt for her to think about what might have been and to focus on the fact she could lose him at any minute. He grinned to himself.
Jeanie wasn’t the most beautiful girl in Dowagiac, but he’d go a long way to find a better catch. Her father was Congressman Makepeace, re-elected that year for the Republican Party and happy for his daughter to be affianced to the son of the renowned local lawyer, George Dixon. Neither Jeanie nor her father knew much of William’s early life, but they were all happy that this respectable young man must be worthy of the life he now led and William wasn’t about to tell them otherwise. It would go well for him to have a suitable wife on his arm when his father took him into the partnership, and Ma and Pa’s introduction to the Makepeace girl had been a clear signal on their thoughts. Besides, what was marriage, to him? It had hardly served his own parents well. If he could better himself by his choice then so much to the good.
He walked briskly through the town to their house and was there within fifteen minutes, at the grand entrance which made even the Dixons’ own home look small. He was shown by the maid into the drawing room, where Mrs Makepeace was embroidering and her daughter was reading to her as she worked. As William entered, they both rose to greet him.
“I had no wish to disturb you both; please don’t get up on my account.”
“William! We had no idea you were coming today. I’d have had lunch prepared for you if I’d known,” said the older lady, putting down her work and bustling across to ring the bell.
“Please, don’t trouble anyone. It is only a brief visit. I’ve had news I thought I ought to share with Jeanie and yourselves immediately.”
Jeanie looked concerned and moved to his side.
He was gratified to see the colour rise in her cheeks and watched carefully for the effects his news might bring. “I’ve…” He hesitated for impact. After his talk with Pa the papers seemed no more real than reading of them in a novel. “I’ve received my orders to attend the recruiting office… on Monday.”
Jeanie gasped and swooned onto the settee. He went to her and put an arm to support her.
“Oh, my poor dear,” said Mrs Makepeace, fussing over her daughter. “William, that is a terrible shock to give a young girl. You’d have been better to have told Mr Makepeace and
have him break it to her.”
William almost smiled. He admired the tough edge in the mother, though her excessive concern for her daughter was probably the cause of the latter’s fragile nature. He did feel somewhat irritated that her first concern had not been for himself having to go off to war.
“I presume your father will be appealing against it.” Her words were matter of fact rather than in any way emotional. “He will speak to Johnson if he needs any back up.” It came out as a statement rather than a question.
“I’m sure he will, ma’am and had Jeanie not fainted when she did, I would have gone on to tell her that I hoped she had nothing to fear.”
As he said this, Jeanie started to revive, with a little help from her mother’s smelling salts.
“Please say it’s not so, William?” She looked up at him with her cornflower blue eyes, and William’s soft smile was quite genuine.
“Yes, dearest one, it’s true, but I hope Pa can address matters so I don’t have to go. How could I leave you, even for a little time?”
That was enough to make Jeanie smile and he gently took her hand and kissed it. He talked another minute or two to the mother and daughter and then took his leave, promising to tell them as soon as he knew if Pa’s plan had succeeded. He was satisfied that both the women he was leaving would hold him at least a little dearer for the thought they might have lost him to the war, even if the chance now seemed unlikely.
William had an extra bounce in his step as he walked briskly back to the office. As long as Mr Lincoln didn’t have his way, then William Dixon was going to do just fine. If things went in his favour, one day he might even take over the Congressman role from his father-in-law, which would suit him rather well, from what he could see. He was William Dixon and that was all they needed to know, particularly if Briggs were out of the way too.
New York Orphan (Tales of Flynn and Reilly Book 1) Page 14