The Fiddler's Secret

by Lois Walfrid Johnson

  Once more the man stood near the door to the deck. Dressed in a long black coat and hat, he seemed to melt into the shadows next to a pile of stacked chairs. Libby still could not see the man’s face, only the back of his hat.

  Trying not to attract attention, Libby walked back to Caleb and Jordan. “There’s something bothering Mr. Kadosa,” she whispered to Caleb.

  When he nodded, she whispered again. “Do you see that man along the wall?”

  Again Caleb nodded. “We’ll take care of it.”

  So slowly that they seemed not to move, Caleb and Jordan separated. Both of them edged sideways, but in different directions. Caleb took the left side of the room, while Jordan moved along the right. By the time Mr. Kadosa announced his last number, Caleb stood far forward in the upper left of the room. Jordan stood close to the stack of chairs and the man in dark clothing.

  Staying well back, yet close enough to see and hear, Libby followed Jordan toward the mysterious man in the shadows.

  In the silence after Mr. Kadosa’s last note, the audience burst into wild applause. As if to give the violinist a message, Caleb moved forward. The man in the black coat stepped from the shadows. Suddenly the heap of stacked chairs crashed to the floor in front of him.

  Libby gasped. The audience turned to see what had happened. The man from the shadows turned on Jordan. “How can you be so clumsy?”

  “Let me pick them up, sir,” Jordan said quickly. “I’ll have them out of your way in no time.”

  “You get out of my way,” the man said rudely. Stepping to one side, he started around the chairs scattered across the floor. But passengers already filled the aisle.

  CHAPTER 5

  Safe and Free?

  Soon after Libby returned to Pa, Annika, and Aunt Vi, a tall young man joined them. With brown hair and blue eyes, he wore the finest suit of clothes that money could buy. Stretching out his hand to Pa, he introduced himself as Oliver White III.

  “Captain Nathaniel Norstad,” Pa replied. “What may I do for you?”

  “Will you or the first lady kindly introduce me to your lovely friend?”

  “The first lady?” Pa asked. It was a term often used for the captain’s wife, but Pa was widowed.

  “Your wife.”

  Pa still looked puzzled. The young man glanced toward Aunt Vi.

  “Oh!” Pa said. “This is my sister-in-law, not my wife.”

  “I beg your pardon.” Mr. White tipped his head toward Annika. “This is the young lady I would like to meet.”

  “Of course.” Pa’s mouth twitched, his eyes showing the humor of it. “I have the honor of presenting to you Miss Annika Berg.”

  Annika stretched out her hand, palm down. Mr. White took it and raised it briefly to his lips. “May I have the pleasure of a walk upon the deck?”

  Annika’s quick glance took in Pa’s face. “I’m sure that would be just fine with the captain and his first lady,” she said smoothly. But her eyes held the look of mischief Libby had come to know.

  The moment Annika left with Oliver White, Libby managed to escape from Aunt Vi. As she passed through the boiler deck on the way to her room, Libby saw Annika walking and talking with Mr. White. The thick fog closed in around them but hadn’t spoiled Annika’s enjoyment of a good time. Her laughter filled Libby with despair.

  Once again the boat was tied up, and the ship’s bell rang. This time the pilot, Mr. Fletcher, had managed to bring the Christina into the backwaters. Libby was glad to see the boat out of the main channel behind an island. “Where are we?” she asked the first deckhand she met.

  “Minnesota Territory,” he told her. “About eighty miles from St. Paul. Near Wabasha and Read’s Landing.”

  On the way to her room, Libby stopped at Pa’s cabin. His bed was tucked against the wall on one side. Nearby was a stand with a pitcher of water and a basin. The rest of the cabin served as a sitting room and place to bring guests when Pa needed to talk business. When necessary, the cabin also became a classroom.

  Libby found her father sitting in his large rocking chair. As she sat down on the low stool beside him, he said, “One of these days you’ll be so grown-up that you’ll leave me.”

  Libby smiled. “No, Pa. Not for a long time yet.”

  But he was serious. “It will happen much faster than I’d like. Look how you’ve changed in the time since coming to live with me. You did something really special last night. In a time of danger you acted quickly and got yourself and Annika to a safer place. I want you to remember how important that was.”

  Pa stood up and walked over to his desk. There he opened a secret drawer and brought something out. Returning to Libby, he took her hand and laid a chain in her upturned palm.

  As Libby picked up the chain, she saw a cross attached to it. The cross was small and simple, of a gold that shone in the lamplight.

  “It was your mother’s,” Pa said. “I gave it to her when we made an important choice.”

  Pa stopped and waited until he could go on. When he spoke again, his voice was gruff with emotion. “Your mother knew that if we ever had a disaster on the boat, I wouldn’t leave until all the passengers were off. That bothered her.”

  Libby swallowed hard. She could understand how her mother felt. From the time she had come on board the Christina, Libby had dreaded all the things that could happen to a steamboat. Already the boat named in honor of her mother had run years longer than usual. It frightened Libby that the average life of a steamboat was only five years.

  “Your mother and I never wanted to be apart,” Pa said. “We knew that only death would part us. In the end it was her death, not mine, that separated us. But when your mother was a young bride, afraid of being a captain’s wife, we chose a symbol that would help both of us. We wanted that symbol to be the cross.”

  Libby felt glad that she understood. “The symbol of Jesus dying for us. He didn’t have to make that choice, but He did so we can live.”

  Pa’s smile was gentle. “Your mother made a choice to live with courage. Last night you did the same thing.”

  “I did?”

  “I’m grateful for your quick thinking,” Pa said. “Getting away from that railing in time. Pulling Annika along with you.”

  “It happened so fast. I didn’t think about it.”

  “That’s better yet, isn’t it? That you did the right thing, even without a lot of thought?”

  Her throat tight with emotion, Libby looked at the cross Pa had given her. In her time on the Christina, she had learned what that cross meant to her personally. Now she would also see it as a symbol of the life her mother and father had together. Their spiritual life, Libby thought. Besides loving each other, they shared the same beliefs.

  “Here,” Pa offered. “Let me help you put it on.”

  When the chain hung around her neck, Libby held up the cross to look at it again. “I’ll cherish it and what it means,” she promised her father. “I’ll cherish the double meaning.”

  “I knew you would,” Pa said. “That’s why I want you to have it.”

  Libby still longed for the talks they used to have. Ma always knew what it meant to feel like a girl. Maybe part of me will miss Ma all my life.

  Now Libby felt strange, even surprised. For some reason the meaning of the cross reminded her of Annika. Once, Libby had wondered why the teacher hadn’t married. Annika had made it clear: “I don’t want to marry until I find a man of God who cherishes me the way I would cherish him.”

  As though hearing Libby’s thoughts, Pa spoke again. “I’ve needed all this time to grieve the loss of your mother. She would want me to go on with my life. We talked about it.”

  His words startled Libby. Knowing it was her fault that Pa and Annika had a bad start, Libby felt afraid to speak. More than once she had leaped into something before thinking about it. Nearly always that got her into trouble.

  “Annika is a very special young woman,” Pa went on. “She plans to leave the boat when we reach St. Pa
ul. I’m trying to decide what I can do to change her mind.”

  “She could help you teach us,” Libby said.

  Pa smiled. “That’s exactly my idea. Even though it’s August, we’ll have school again. Tell the boys to come to my cabin after breakfast. I’ll ask Annika to help me.”

  Libby jumped up with one thought in mind. I can hardly wait to see what happens with Pa and Annika.

  At the door Libby turned back. “Thanks, Pa.” Taking hold of the chain, she lifted the small cross. Pa nodded, his eyes soft with love.

  That night Libby had a hard time going to sleep. Staring up in the darkness, she kept thinking about Oliver White. Are he and Annika still talking together? What if Annika loves him instead of Pa?

  When morning finally came, Libby dressed and went out on the hurricane deck. The fog was milky white now, and she still could not see more than a few feet beyond the front of the boat. Finding Pa in his cabin, Libby asked about the man in the shadows.

  “After you left last night, I talked with Mr. Kadosa,” Pa said. “I offered to help, but he seemed afraid to talk.”

  “He watched the Shadow Man as if he didn’t trust him.”

  “I know.” Pa looked troubled. “Mr. Kadosa wouldn’t explain to either Caleb or me. If he doesn’t want my help, I can’t force him to take it.”

  On the big table, Pa set out the inkwells, slates, and books they needed for school. Over the summer he had purchased the largest blackboard Libby had seen. Looking around, she remembered how she felt when she came to live on the Christina. At first she thought she wouldn’t have to attend school. Then she discovered that Pa taught Caleb, and she would be part of that class. To Libby’s surprise Caleb told her, “Your father makes learning fun.”

  Fun! From that moment Libby thought Caleb was strange. How could learning be fun? But Pa had gradually changed her mind. Just the same, there was one thing Libby still disliked. Pa expected them to talk about their ideas and beliefs, and Libby always wondered what Caleb would think of her. Now the class also included Jordan and Peter.

  “I think you’ve grown at least two inches this summer,” Pa told Jordan when he and Caleb came in. Already tall when he came on board the Christina, Jordan seemed to grow from one day to the next.

  “Three inches, sir,” he said respectfully. “Caleb measured me just this morning.”

  “We mark our height on the doorpost in Gran’s kitchen,” Caleb explained. “So far Jordan is winning, but I’m only an inch behind.”

  Terrific! Libby told herself. Five months ago she had been only one inch shorter than Caleb. Taller than most girls, Libby was glad to know he was keeping ahead of her.

  Peter came in, and he and Jordan took places where they could see the blackboard. Libby and Caleb sat down on the opposite side of the table.

  “I’ve asked Miss Berg to join us this morning,” Pa said. “Here she is now.”

  When Annika entered the room, her gaze rested on Libby and a smile passed between them. As if seeing through Annika’s eyes, Libby looked around Pa’s neat cabin.

  The large table used for school took up much of the room. Nearby was the desk where Pa often worked on his papers. Close to his rocking chair were bookshelves and a small table that held Pa’s open Bible.

  Big windows filled the front and sides of the room. From where Libby sat, she usually watched the river flow past. Today the milk-white fog shut off any view of the water.

  “Would you like to sit here?” Pa invited Annika as he placed a chair next to the blackboard.

  Pa’s warm smile took in all of them. “I’ve missed our classes this summer. A special welcome to you, Miss Berg.”

  Usually Pa started his teaching by reading from the Bible. This morning he turned to the eighth chapter of Romans and handed the Bible to Peter so he could read along.

  Pa gave verse twenty-eight from memory: “‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’”

  Then Pa bowed his head. “Thank You, Lord, that You have called us with Your love. We’re grateful that even when hard things happen to us, You bring something good into our lives. We ask You to build our faith and courage in You. Amen!”

  When everyone looked up, Annika wrote quickly on the blackboard, explaining to Peter what Pa had prayed. Although Peter was teaching all of them sign language, they still had much to learn. The blackboard and the slate Peter carried in a bag over his shoulder helped them explain what they wanted to tell him.

  “Before we reach St. Paul, I want to talk with you about what you’re going to see,” Pa said. “In 1851 the Dakota Indians signed treaties that opened up the sale of millions of acres. In just one year, 1855, over thirty thousand people arrived in Minnesota Territory. You’ve seen the immigrants crowd our decks and how eager they are to settle in the Territory.”

  Again Annika wrote quickly for Peter. Then Pa went on.

  “If there’s land available, there will be people to sell it. Many of them sell land at a fair price. But St. Paul also has a lot of speculators—people who take part in risky buying or selling in the hope of making a profit.

  “Many people who came to Minnesota Territory bought land at a low price and sold it high. They made honest fortunes. But speculators sometimes describe land in ways that aren’t true. Or they sell worthless land to people who haven’t seen it.”

  Annika wrote worthless land and drew a frowning face.

  “Now,” Pa said, “if an area is overflowing with new settlers, what do you think will happen?”

  “Minnesota Territory will become a state,” Caleb said.

  Pa nodded. “Because St. Paul is the territory’s capital, you might see people working to make the territory a state. You might see some of the difficult things that happen in a changing area. But you’ll also meet good people who want to carve out a new life on the frontier. Or people who want to help others shape their lives into something good.”

  “People such as Harriet Bishop.” Annika’s eyes shone with excitement.

  “I haven’t met Miss Bishop,” Pa answered. “But I hear that she cares deeply about what happens to people. When the city was new, she put up with a lot of hardship in order to teach children.”

  Pa looked around the room. “During our time in St. Paul, think about the speculators, the immigrants, the people who want to build a new state. Do they have a dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? What do you think they want? Then think about your own beliefs.” In large letters Pa put his questions on the board:

  What is most important to you?

  What do you want?

  “Write your answer in one sentence,” Pa told them. “Write it on your slate, then on a piece of paper you can keep.”

  At first the room was silent, as everyone thought about their answers. Libby searched her mind, trying to think what to say. It would be easy for Caleb. He wanted to be a newspaperman—a reporter or editor. More than once he had said so. But it was a different matter deciding for herself.

  Pa knows I want a never-give-up family. And I can’t say that I want Pa and Annika to get married. Libby’s face burned with shame as she remembered her words to Annika after a threat from Aunt Vi. “If you and Pa got married, I wouldn’t have to go back to Chicago.” Since Annika hadn’t even met Pa, she didn’t appreciate Libby’s help.

  Then Libby remembered her fear in the fog. She knew what to do.

  Soon the silence was broken by the sound of slate pencils and Jordan speaking softly to Annika. While a slave, Jordan hadn’t been allowed to learn how to read or write. In the months since reaching freedom, he had made great leaps in what he knew. Yet he still needed help in writing, and Annika put down what he wanted to say.

  After a time Pa went to the board, pointed to his questions, then to Peter to tell him, “Let’s start with you.”

  “I want to be an explorer, and I want to help people,” Peter answered. “All of you have been helping m
e. Now I want to help you.”

  Tears welled up in Libby’s eyes. For Peter, being an orphan had not only meant having no family. The man Peter lived with after his family died had been dishonest and cruel.

  Leaning forward, Libby signed words Peter had taught her. “Little brother.” Then she changed one word to show how much she liked his answer. “Big brother.”

  “Jordan,” Pa said. “What about you?”

  “I need to know what to tell my family about St. Paul.”

  “You’d better explain what you mean.” Pa hadn’t had a chance to talk with Jordan since leaving Galena.

  “My brother, Zack, keeps pestering my momma and daddy,” Jordan said. “Zack says, ‘Are we really safe now?’ So Momma and Daddy have been talkin’. Before I left for St. Paul, they told me, ‘Jordan, you go spy out the land. Take a look around and see if that’s a place where we can live in freedom.’”

  Pa nodded. “St. Paul might be just exactly what your family needs.”

  But it might not, Libby thought. What if someone from the South recognizes Jordan or his family?

  “So,” Pa said, “there’s something even bigger than knowing the place where you should live.”

  “Yessuh. All our lives we have been wantin’ to go to Canada. All the years we were slaves, that was the Promised Land—the place where we could be free at last. But two nights ago Daddy said, ‘If we go to Canada we be leavin’ this country. Maybe we need to be helpin’ other slaves who want to start a new life. If we stay here, we can help make this country a place where us colored folk live free.’ So I want to find a place where our family can help others live safe and free.”

  “I’ll be in St. Paul longer than usual,” Pa told Jordan. “It will give you a few days to look around.”

  Pa looked at Libby. “Your turn. What are you thinking?”

  Just then Libby saw beyond Pa to the window. In that moment she forgot everything else.

  What was it? A person? Did someone look in, then step back out of sight?