Escape Into the Night (3 page)

Auntie Vi stopped Libby. “Remember now,” she said. “I’ve brought you up to be a proper young lady.”

“Yes, Auntie.” Libby hiccuped. “I’ll do my best.”

“Hold your breath!” her aunt exclaimed.

All the way up the gangplank Libby held her breath. At the top her father stretched out his hand.

“Welcome aboard, Libby!” He put his arm around her. “I’m glad we’ll be together again.”

Captain Norstad turned to the officers next to him. “This is the very special daughter I’ve been telling you about.”

Libby tried to smile, but she needed to breathe. “I’m glad to meet you,” she said quickly. Her words ended in a loud hiccup.

Libby clapped her hands over her mouth. She wanted to run and hide. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. Again she held her breath, this time so long that she felt like fainting.
How can I embarrass my father so?

“Libby, stop it!” her aunt commanded. But Libby gasped with another great hiccup.

“We’ll get you a glass of water.” Captain Norstad sounded as if it wasn’t at all unusual to have his family hiccup in front of his officers. “This is Mr. Osborne, the
Christina’s
chief engineer.”

Afraid to open her mouth, Libby nodded.

“And Mr. Bates, my first mate.”

Mr. Bates was almost as tall as her father. When Libby hiccuped yet again, he pressed his thin lips together in a frown. It wasn’t hard to tell what he thought of her.

By now a mask had settled over Auntie’s face. From long experience Libby knew that she had shamed her aunt. But Captain Norstad didn’t seem to notice.

“I’ll show you Libby’s room,” he told Auntie Vi, as though nothing had happened. “You’ll feel better if you see how I plan to take care of her.”

He led them toward the wide stairs at the front of the steamboat. Libby hurried after him. The sooner they finished this, the quicker Auntie would be on her way.

The second level, or boiler deck, was above the large boilers that heated water and created steam to run the boat. Here Captain Norstad led Libby and her aunt through a large door.

A long, narrow room—the main cabin—stretched from one end of the boat to another. Waiters in white coats moved about, setting the tables for lunch. Her father asked one of the men for a glass of water for Libby. As though she hadn’t had a sip in months, Libby swallowed the water in one gulp.

Outside the cabin again, Captain Norstad led them up another stairway. When they reached the hurricane deck, Libby walked over to the Burlington side of the boat. Directly below lay the landing. Beyond that was the warehouse where the three men had crept last night.

Again Libby wondered if her father had seen the running men and sniffing dogs. If he had, he gave no sign.

Just then Libby noticed that her aunt was out of breath. “Pa,” she said quickly. “Auntie looks white.”

Though Vi gasped for air, she held up her hand. “I’m fine—just fine.”

From inside her sleeve, Auntie Vi pulled a lace handkerchief. As though using her last ounce of strength, she blotted her perspiring forehead.

But Libby knew what was wrong. To look thin and fashionable,
Auntie laced her undergarments so tight that she couldn’t breathe.

When Captain Norstad offered his arm, Auntie Vi took it. Walking slowly, he led her up the few steps to the texas deck. Named after the state recently added to the Union, the boxlike structure held rooms for some of the crew.

Captain Norstad had the best place of all—an apartment at the front of the texas. From the windows on the front and two sides of the boat, he could see everything that went on.

Above this room was the pilothouse, but Libby knew her father wouldn’t take Auntie Vi up another flight of steps. Instead, he led her and Libby to the stateroom behind his.

As Captain Norstad opened the door, Mr. Bates hurried out. In both arms he carried clothes and blankets. As he glanced toward Libby, he scowled.

Strange
, Libby thought.
I just met him, but he doesn’t like me. I wonder why
.

Moments later she found out.

“I gave you the first mate’s room,” her father said. “I want you next to me.”

So I get the second-best room on the boat
, Libby told herself and felt glad.

After one peek through the window of Libby’s room, her aunt turned away. In spite of the coolness of the March day, she glanced up at the sun.

“Why don’t you look around?” Captain Norstad told Libby. “I’ll take Vi down to the main deck.”

By now Auntie’s face had changed from white to red. Bringing out a small fan, she waved it back and forth.

Grateful to be alone, Libby walked into her stateroom.
About seven or eight feet wide and six feet long, it had one bed and a few coat hooks. Beneath a mirror, a small stand held a basin, a water pitcher, and a chamber pot.

From this place I’ll see the world!
Libby’s excitement returned.

But as Libby turned around, her full skirt filled the entire area between her bed and the washstand. Where will I put my trunk? she wondered.

In Chicago Libby had lived in a mansion. Here, two doors led out of the tiny room, one on either side of the boat. Between those doors, the walls seemed to close in on Libby.
I could fit three of these rooms into my big room. And Auntie Vi always gave me whatever I wanted!

Feeling she couldn’t handle the small, narrow space, Libby rushed out. Like a chipmunk running for cover, she scurried into her father’s cabin. Just looking at the larger room where he lived and worked made her feel better. At least she could turn around without her skirt touching something!

For a few minutes she stood there, drawing deep breaths. Not for anything would Libby admit how scared she felt. Scared of leaving her beautiful belongings in Chicago. Scared of all the changes in her life. Scared, most of all, by one thought.
People say it’s really dangerous living on a steamboat!

A short blast of the whistle broke into her thoughts. The signal for leaving Burlington! Libby yanked open the door.

When she hurried outside, she crashed into a boy. As a pail flew from his hand, water covered Libby from head to foot.

In horror she looked down. Dirty streaks of water covered her new white dress. More water dripped from her face.

“Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” she sputtered.

“Why don’t
you
watch where
you’re
going?” The boy’s
blond hair fell over his forehead. Libby guessed that they were almost the same age.

Now his blue eyes glared at her. “What are you doing, snooping around here, anyway? That’s the captain’s room—off limits if you aren’t invited!”

Libby straightened. She was almost the same height as this good-looking boy. “I have a perfect right to be here,” she answered proudly. “I am Libby Norstad, the captain’s daughter.”

The boy stepped back in surprise. A red flush spread across his face.

Lifting her head, Libby tossed her long curls. “And who are you?”

“Caleb Whitney,” he told her. “Your father’s cabin boy.” He spoke politely, but the anger did not leave his eyes. “I beg your pardon,” he added, as though knowing he had no choice.

“I should hope so.” With all the dignity Libby could manage, she started away. But suddenly she hiccuped.

When Caleb snickered, Libby felt even more embarrassed. Then she knew what to do. Her head still high, she turned around. “I’ll speak to my father about you.”

Caleb’s grin faded. Standing with shoulders back, he answered, “Yes, miss.” But his voice didn’t sound as polite as his words.

Afraid she would hiccup again, Libby turned away and swept down the steps. Not until she reached the boiler deck did she remember.

With a shock she realized who the boy was. Last night she had seen him twice—both times on the main deck of the
Christina
.

Again she wondered what had happened to the men she
saw. “I’ll ask Caleb,” Libby decided. “He works for Pa. He’ll have to tell me.”

By the time she reached the main deck, the
Christina
had left Burlington. Libby found her father and aunt standing at the bow of the boat. Already the strip of water between boat and land had grown wide.

“Libby!” her aunt exclaimed. “Whatever happened to you?”

“I bumped into—” Libby started to put the blame on Caleb. Then she saw that her father was listening. His lips twitched, as if he wanted to laugh.

Libby didn’t know what to do.
If I tell on Caleb, will he tell me about last night?

In that instant she changed her words. “I came to say goodbye,” Libby said instead.

Across the river from Burlington, Iowa, lay Gulfport, Illinois. As the
Christina
nosed into the landing, Libby saw railroad tracks and a waiting train.

“Don’t forget,” Auntie Vi told Libby. “You always have a home with us.”

“I know,” Libby answered softly. “Thanks for all you’ve done for me.” As she leaned forward to kiss her aunt’s cheek, Libby felt surprised at how hard it was to say goodbye.
Just because I’m scared! Just because Auntie’s house seems so safe!

Again the strange world along the Mississippi River seemed frightening. Yet Libby put on her best smile. Not for anything would she let Auntie know she had second thoughts about living on a steamboat.

Captain Norstad led Auntie Vi toward the train. From the bow of the
Christina
, Libby waved as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

When the passengers had cleared the gangplank, deckhands started carrying barrels and crates. Two men slid a large wooden box across the deck. With each man taking a side, they picked up the box and carried it down the gangplank. As they set it in a wagon on the landing, the boy Libby had met came down the steps.

By the time the deckhands returned to the boat, Caleb had taken up a post near the gangplank. Slender and self-assured, he wore the white coat and black trousers of a cabin boy.

“Careful, careful,” he told the men as they picked up a second large box.

This one also seemed heavy. But it was Caleb who made Libby curious. Why was a cabin boy watching over the loading of freight?

In no time at all, the men had loaded the second box onto the wagon. As they slid a third box across the deck, the morning sun slanted against one side. The sun’s rays lit a large knothole in the wood.

Suddenly Libby grew watchful.
Did something move inside that box? Or was it my imagination?

Again Caleb guided the deckhands. Whatever the box held, it was both heavy and valuable.

When the men drew close to the railing, they picked up the box. With the weight balanced between them, one man backed toward the gangplank. Suddenly he stumbled over a small barrel.

Losing his grip, he tumbled backward. As the box crashed to the deck, Libby heard a groan.

Wanting to see more, she hurried forward. Just as quickly, Caleb stepped between her and the box.

CHAPTER 3

W
hen Libby tried to walk around Caleb, he stopped her. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked.

Libby tossed her red curls. “I want to see what’s going on.”

“You’re in the way,” Caleb answered. “Please step aside. We need to put that box on the train.”