Jordan’s face glowed with excitement. The worry he had felt about the stolen money seemed to slide off his back.
Libby’s excitement bubbled up. “Your name will be cleared,” she told Jordan. “And Pa can make the payment on the Christina!”
When Jordan shook the chest, it made no noise. “Lots of paper money in here!” he said. Then he turned it over to open it, and his excitement changed to disappointment. “It’s locked!”
“Then it’s the swindler’s treasure for sure!” Libby exclaimed. “Why else would a locked chest be buried here?”
Even so, she felt an uneasy nudge. What if I’m wrong? What if it really doesn’t hold Pa’s money and what Reverend Freeman calls the Lord’s treasure?
Afraid that someone might be watching them, Libby looked around. By now the orange light of the setting sun had started to fade. In the dusky grayness between sundown and night, every tree seemed to hide someone—a person standing straight and tall behind the trunk.
“We better leave the treasure here,” Libby said.
“Leave it?” Clearly Jordan didn’t like the idea.
“If we take it, we can’t prove the swindler buried it,” Libby answered. “If he comes back to dig it up, and we catch him in the act—”
“But if he comes back, and we ain’t here to see him—”
Even the thought of such a possibility frightened Libby. In twelve days Pa had to make his payment on the Christina. Jordan needed to restore the faith his church had put in him. Fugitives in Chicago needed money for the boat ride to Canada. But as she felt the pressure of time, Libby remembered something else.
As if it were still happening, she remembered one scene after another: Pa standing on the deck of the Christina, telling Dexter he couldn’t swindle an immigrant. Reverend Freeman saying, “Let’s not accuse someone unjustly.” Caleb and Jordan standing near Elijah Lovejoy’s unmarked grave. Dr. Brown pleading with Riggs for the life of a slave. Micah Parker sacrificing his own freedom for his son. All those men—Pa, Reverend Freeman, Elijah Lovejoy, Dr. Brown, Micah Parker—had stood for something important.
And women, too—Priscilla Baltimore, rowing fugitives across the wide Mississippi, making sure that slaves learned about Jesus. Frances Brown, hiding runaways, reading Bible stories to them in the attic.
Libby drew a deep breath. What she and Jordan and Peter needed to do seemed simple in comparison with all that. “If we don’t stop the swindler, he’ll keep on hurting people,” Libby said.
When Libby explained this to Peter, he agreed. Jordan thought about it a moment longer, then said, “We need to leave the money, all right. But planting it in the ground sure scares me.”
Jordan’s fear made Libby even more uneasy. More than once she had seen how well Jordan heard the Lord. More than once that still, small voice inside Jordan had helped them find their way. Now that we’ve found the money, what if we lose it again?
Then, as though Jordan guessed Libby’s thoughts, he said, “But it ain’t the Lord making me scared.”
With each of them taking a handle, Jordan and Peter lowered the chest into the hole again. Peter shoveled the dirt into place. Jordan smoothed it out until the ground looked the way they found it.
From that moment on, the three of them kept watch on the place where the treasure was buried. Two at a time, they waited behind a large rock and some bushes, always afraid they would miss the swindler when he returned. Men from the Colored Baptist Church started taking turns, watching with them.
When Libby looked up the address Allan Pinkerton had given her, no one was there. That made Libby even more nervous. Pa wanted them to get help from a law officer if they needed it. Libby hoped that help could be Mr. Pinkerton. Then she discovered the house where he planned to stay belonged to a Springfield policeman, and she felt better.
As Monday night turned into Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday, Libby grew more tired and more frantic. What if we’re watching a box that isn’t really the treasure?
But their troubles were much bigger than that. As one day followed the next, Jordan’s daddy did not reach Springfield. With each day Jordan seemed to grow thinner, his eyes darker with fear.
Added to that, Libby, Jordan, and Peter kept wondering what had happened to Caleb. If all goes well, the ride from Brighton to Springfield takes about two hours, Libby remembered. How can a two-hour ride take all week?
Ever since meeting Caleb, Libby had dreaded the idea of someone hurting him because of his work with the Underground Railroad. Now she wondered if her worst fears had come true.
Where are you, Caleb? Libby’s heart cried out. Are you safe? What has happened to you?
Day after day, the family living at the house used by the Colored Baptist Church gave Libby, Jordan, and Peter a place to stay. Throughout the week the family fed and encouraged them. Yet on Saturday morning, Libby woke up feeling as if she couldn’t handle another moment of waiting. Exactly one week from today Pa needs that money. And we still need to find Pa and get to Galena.
Climbing out of bed, she walked over to a window. Standing in the light, she began to pray. “Lord, I always depend on Caleb. I don’t know what to do.”
But I know. Like a still, small voice the words came. Ask me.
Instantly Libby prayed. “Lord, I do! I ask You to show me.”
In the stillness Libby listened. From somewhere in the house, she heard the chiming of a clock. From down the street came the rumble of a wagon. Then from near at hand—as near as Libby’s mind and spirit—she remembered Caleb’s verse: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
At last Libby knew what to pray. “Lord, right now, in this moment, I’m making a choice—to depend upon You.”
After supper that evening, Libby walked alone to meet Jordan and Peter near the swindler’s treasure. By the time she reached the large rock, it was dark. To her dismay neither Jordan nor Peter was there.
Something happened, Libby thought. Why did Peter leave? Why isn’t Jordan here?
Her first thought was that the swindler had come for the treasure, and the boys followed him. But the ground wasn’t dug up.
Where are you, Jordan? she wanted to cry out. Where are you, Peter? Why aren’t you here? Turning every direction, Libby tried to find some hint of where they could be.
Fearful now, she began praying again. There could be only one reason for both of them being gone. Something was wrong.
Then, as Libby prayed, a memory flashed into her mind. Riggs standing at the back of the train during the prairie fire. Riggs talking to the swindler while everyone else worked desperately to put out the fire.
In that moment Libby remembered something she had seen but hadn’t thought about. Riggs gave money to the swindler. Why?
Either the swindler had already done something for Riggs or the swindler was about to do something for him.
Like a thunderbolt, a thought entered Libby’s mind. Has Edward Dexter somehow tricked Jordan about his father?
Just thinking about such a terrible thing filled Libby with panic. More than once Caleb had said, “The one place where Jordan doesn’t use good judgment is when he gets scared about his family.”
Feeling desperate, Libby started walking around. When she came to the top of a hill, darkness veiled the trees, the bushes, the narrow valleys between hills. With growing fear, she peered into the night, trying to see.
Then, as if someone were walking through a ravine, Libby saw the light of a lantern below her. The lantern moved from side to side, as if the person who held it could not walk a straight line. Peter!
Trying to keep the light in sight, Libby started after him. There could be only one reason for Peter leaving the treasure. He had to be following Jordan. That had to mean Jordan needed help.
But what if I’m wrong? Libby asked herself. What if this is a trick to get us away from the treasure? What if the swindler comes while we’re
all gone? If he digs up the treasure and disappears, Pa loses the Christina!
Still staring at the light, Libby stopped. How can I make such a choice? I’m walking away from helping my own father! From saving the Christina—Pa’s hiding place for fugitives, Pa’s way to earn a living, our home!
CHAPTER 20
Nobody Knows
Torn by fear, Libby stood there. Then she remembered Pa standing up to the swindler in spite of great cost. She remembered Micah Parker giving himself away so his son could escape.
Libby drew a deep breath. What is money—even our steamboat—compared to Jordan’s freedom and perhaps his life?
The light was gone now, but when Libby started walking, she saw it again. Faster and faster Libby hurried in the darkness, trying to catch up. Then Peter passed onto a road. Sometimes he was harder to see, but still the light bobbed back and forth.
As the ground leveled out, Libby started to run. Staying on the grass, she tried to move without sound. Then she realized Peter was passing close to the house where Allan Pinkerton said he would be. Can I find Mr. Pinkerton and not lose Peter?
By the time Libby reached the house, she was out of breath. The moment she pounded on the door, Mr. Pinkerton answered.
“Come!” Libby cried. “We need help!”
For one moment Mr. Pinkerton stepped back into the house. When he returned, a man in a policeman’s uniform followed him.
Once more Libby broke into a run. A block farther on, she saw Peter again. A block beyond that, he started to slow down. As Libby drew close to Peter, she understood why. A short distance ahead of him, a man carried a lantern—a man whose broad back looked like that of the swindler. With him walked a boy who seemed to be Jordan.
When the boy started to follow the man up the steps of a house, Libby cried out, “Jordan!”
Instantly Mr. Pinkerton and the policeman stepped behind a large pine tree. As the swindler turned, his gaze took in Peter and Libby.
“What are you doing here?” Dexter demanded.
“Jordan!” Libby called again. “Don’t believe what he’s telling you!”
With her words Jordan moved away from the swindler. When Dexter tried to grab his arm, Jordan leaped out of reach and hurried over to Libby and Peter.
For one instant the swindler stared at all of them. As if knowing he was outnumbered, his eyes filled with hate. “Go! All of you!”
Without another word he opened the front door, stepped into the house, and slammed the door behind him.
“He said my daddy got hurt running away,” Jordan told Libby and Peter. “He said he’d take me to him. It’s not true? My daddy ain’t here?”
“I don’t think so,” Libby said. “I think it was Dexter’s way to get you to follow him. Is that why you went with him?”
“I thought maybe he was lying.” Jordan’s shoulders slumped with discouragement. He kicked a stone on the street, then looked up. “You think the swindler wants the reward on my head?”
In that instant Libby realized something. “Dexter gave up too easily!”
As Jordan stared at her, Libby’s thoughts tumbled on. Does that mean Dexter doesn’t have slave catchers to help? Or is he trading the hope of Jordan’s reward for the bigger treasure he buried? If Jordan kicked up a fuss, the swindler wouldn’t be able to leave town with his treasure.
Suddenly Libby broke into a run. Slipping from tree to tree, she moved close to the house and crouched down. As she crept along the side wall, she heard the back door open, then close. Moments later she saw the dark hulk of a body pass through the yard toward a garden gate. When the gate squeaked, Libby caught the glint of moonlight upon metal. Was the swindler carrying a shovel?
Turning, Libby saw with relief that Peter was right behind her. So! Once again he guessed what the swindler was doing!
Behind Peter were Jordan, Mr. Pinkerton, and the policeman. By the time Libby followed Dexter through the yard and the gate, he was already out of sight. Libby gulped with panic. She had all she could do not to race ahead until she once again saw the swindler. Then she remembered. I don’t need to see him. I know where he’s going.
When Dexter started climbing a hill, his dark shape moved into sight for a minute or two. Then he once again disappeared.
Libby and the others walked faster now. Peter’s lantern was no longer lit. In the darkness he reached out and took Libby’s elbow. Just knowing he was there made her feel better.
Passing through the ravines, all of them moved swiftly but without sound. By the time they reached the large rock near the hiding place, Libby heard the clink of metal against metal. Hiding behind thick bushes, she and the others knelt down and watched.
Soon Dexter finished shoveling earth from the hole. Down on his knees he lifted the small chest. Setting it aside, he shoveled dirt back into the hole and smoothed it out. Then he hid the shovel beneath some bushes.
When Dexter went back to pick up the chest, Peter moved out from where he hid.
“You again!” The man glared at Peter. “What are you doing here?”
For an instant Peter shrank back. Yet Libby knew he had not heard the swindler’s words. Instead, the angry expression on Dexter’s face made it clear what he was saying.
Shaking a fist, Dexter started toward Peter. Just then Allan Pinkerton and the policeman stepped out. Looking at Peter, the detective motioned toward Dexter. Lifting his shoulders as if in a question, Mr. Pinkerton seemed to ask, You know this man? How?
“From Galena,” Peter answered. “I lived at his house.”
Libby stared at Peter. “You lived at his house? That’s how you know him?”
But Peter was watching the swindler. As though to help Mr. Pinkerton ask questions, he pulled out his slate. Strong now, even in the way he stood, Peter looked directly at Dexter. “You were trying to turn me into a thief like you.”
Suddenly Dexter rushed forward. Before anyone could stop him, he grabbed Peter’s slate and slung it away. As it crashed against the trunk of a tree, the slate shattered into many tiny pieces.
As Dexter hurried back to the treasure, Mr. Pinkerton commanded, “Stop!” With a few quick steps, he caught up to Dexter and grabbed his arms. The policeman snapped handcuffs around the swindler’s wrists.
Jordan took one handle of the chest and Peter the other. Hardly daring to hope that their search for the stolen money had ended, Libby walked with the boys and Mr. Pinkerton and his friend to the police station. When Dexter was searched, the policeman found a small key that fit the chest.
With Edward Dexter in a cell and the policeman standing nearby, Mr. Pinkerton spoke to Libby and Jordan. “Now tell me again what you think might be in this chest.”
When Libby told him the amount of money stolen from Pa, Jordan gave the amount from his church. “Reverend Freeman told me there are ink blotches on about ten of the bills.”
Picking up the key, Mr. Pinkerton handed it to Jordan. His hand shook with excitement as he turned the key in the lock and opened the chest. Inside were two separate bags filled with money.
When the policeman finished counting the money in the first bag, it came to the exact amount Libby had told him. When he finished with the second bag, he winked at Jordan. “To the dollar,” he said.
Jordan spread out the bills on the table. On some of the corners were ink blotches.
With Peter’s slate broken, Libby snatched up a piece of paper and a pen from a nearby desk. Quickly she wrote to Peter, “The swindler was the man you stayed with?”
“Until last summer I lived with a family in Galena when I came home from school. But they moved away, and the swindler offered to take care of me. When he stole something and thought he might get caught, he had me carry the carpetbag with the stolen money.”
Again Libby wrote, “Dexter’s note to Pa said, ‘Tell Peter to remember what I taught him.’ What did Dexter teach you?”
Peter flushed with embarrassment. “He tried to teach me to steal any way I could.”
Libby stared at him, then wrote as fast as she could. “So he sent you on the Christina? He expected you to steal from Pa or anyone else?”
Peter smiled, that strange smile that always warmed Libby’s heart. “But I didn’t steal from anyone.”
In that moment Libby remembered Pa’s words. He wanted Peter to grow up living in the sunlight.
All of the pieces had fallen into place. All of the pieces except what had happened to Caleb and to Jordan’s father. And those pieces were the most important of all.
Leaving the money at the police station, Libby, Jordan, and Peter went outside. Far above them, bright stars twinkled against the night sky.
As they walked to the house where they had been staying, the darkness of night turned to the gray light before dawn. One by one the stars disappeared. But one star remained, brighter than any other. Was it the Morning Star?
Drawing close to the house, Libby looked ahead. When she saw someone with Caleb’s blond hair coming along the road, she wondered if she was imagining things. Is it him? Can it be?
As Libby started running, Jordan and Peter ran with her. When they reached Caleb, he threw his arms around all three of them at once. Then all of them were laughing with relief, silly with finding each other again.
“Whatever happened to you?” Libby asked. In all the time she had known him, Caleb never looked better. “We’ve been worried all week.”
When they started toward the house, Caleb explained. “By the time I got the horses to Dr. Brown’s barn, it was too late to leave. Slave catchers had found the marks in the riverbank. They were swarming all over, wanting the rewards for Jordan and Micah Parker.”
“The catchers saw you?” It was what Libby dreaded.
Caleb nodded. “They couldn’t prove anything. Jordan and his father were gone. But if I had come straight here, I would have led them to Jordan and his father.”
Caleb faced his friend. “Where is he? Your daddy isn’t here yet?”
When Jordan shook his head, the glad light of seeing Caleb disappeared from his eyes.
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