Runaway Read online

  We ate in silence for a while. Napoleon swallowed his thick slab of ham in two bites, a feat which usually impressed me, but this time my mind was too busy to watch. I poked at my piece of cornbread and thought about Lucas. Did he trust me? How long could he stay in my fort? What would happen if Sam Black found him?

  We were just starting on apple cake when someone banged on our door. It was our neighbour Jeremy McDougall, Kate’s older brother. He accepted a huge piece of cake and then talked quickly with his mouth full. “Sam Black was at our place this morning.”

  “He was here too,” said Papa.

  “He’s been up and down the lake to everybody’s farms,” said Jeremy. He brushed crumbs from his mouth. “Looking for his boy. My pa says we should put together a search party if the boy’s not back by morning.”

  “A good idea,” said Papa. He looked at Napoleon and Napoleon nodded. “Tell your pa to count Napoleon and me in.”

  My heart pounded. “Maybe he doesn’t want to be found. He’s not lost. He ran away. That’s different.”

  Papa gave me a searching look and I stared down at the table. Then he said slowly, “Whether he wants to be found or not, he’s just a boy. The nights are cold and there’s wild animals.”

  “You can’t make him go back to Sam Black’s, Papa!” said Ellie. Her face was white.

  Papa sighed. “I told you before, I can’t interfere with how a man raises his son.”

  “That’s not fair,” said Ellie.

  “And he’s not his son,” I cried. “He’s not even kin!”

  Everyone stared at me and my cheeks went hot. “He told me that at The Landings,” I muttered. “His ma married Sam Black, but he’s not blood kin!”

  Jeremy shifted uncomfortably and said, “I don’t know about that. But my pa says everyone should check their barns and cowsheds. He could be hiding anywhere.” He eyed the last slice of cake, but Ellie pretended not to see.

  “I’ll do that now, before it gets dark,” said Papa. He stood up. I pushed back my chair and Papa added, “Max, I see that handwriting is still waiting to be done. I want you in the cabin working tonight.”

  I stayed at the table until everyone had gone and Ellie had her back turned, scrubbing fiercely at a pan. I knew Ellie would stay mad at Papa all night. Quickly I grabbed two chunks of cornbread, and slid them in my pocket.

  I slumped over my handwriting, my mind spinning. A search party! How long would it be before Papa thought of the fort?

  CHAPTER SIX

  I tossed in my bed in the loft, thinking about Lucas. Our cat Pirate jumped with a thump onto my stomach. I reached down and pulled him up to my face. I hugged his warm body, and listened to his soft purring.

  Yip! Yip! Yip! Somewhere in our field coyotes sang. Pirate stiffened, squeezed out of my arms and thudded to the floor. I was used to the noise, but it still sent tingles up my spine. Lucas must be listening to them too. Was he scared?

  I climbed out of bed and went downstairs. I scooped a drink of water from the bucket and stood by the window. Papa and Napoleon were on the porch, their pipes glowing in the dark. The door was open a crack and snatches of their voices drifted tbrough.

  Papa said, “I’ll paddle across to the Indian camp… long way, but he might have gone that far.”

  And then I heard Napoleon’s soft voice, “…not fit to raise a boy …trouble in New York…I knew I’d seen him before…”

  I slipped closer to the door, straining to hear.

  Papa murmered something and Napoleon said, “…in the tavern in Montreal…I heard him talking…”

  The coyotes burst into a new song, and it was hard to hear. I caught part of Naopleon’s voice, “…man was dead…Sam Black left New York in a hurry…”

  I gasped out loud. Silence fell on the porch. Then Papa coughed and pushed the door shut.

  The back of my neck prickled. I didn’t care if Papa knew I was listening. So everything Red said was true. Sam Black had killed a man. Legs shaking, I went back upstairs to my bed.

  Sam Black was a murderer! I tried to remember Papa’s exact words when Ellie said, “You can’t make him go back to Sam Black’s!” He had said something about not interfering. After hearing Napoleon, would Papa still think that? I pulled my thick quilt up to my neck but I stayed icy cold.

  I decided to stay awake all night so I could get up early before Papa. I had to warn Lucas!

  Men’s voices drifted up through my window in the loft. Blinking from sleep, I crawled out of bed and peered outside. The morning was foggy, but I could see the shapes of men gathered at the side of the road, Papa and Mr. McDougall and Jeremy and two farmers who lived at the end of the lake. The search party! I had slept in!

  The men faded away in the fog. I hurried downstairs. Ellie was still asleep. Hastily I laid a cloth on the table and filled it with pieces of bread and ham from last night’s supper. I rolled it up tightly, grabbed my coat and dashed outside.

  Thump! I bumped straight into Napoleon who was coming in the door. I dropped my bundle, and bread and ham scattered everywhere. He stepped back while I gathered up the food, my cheeks blazing.

  “My breakfast,” I stammered. “I’m going to help look for Lucas and I didn’t have time to eat. The search party has gone already.”

  Napoleon nodded. He stared thoughtfully at the bundle of food clutched in my hands. He said, “I went out early. I couldn’t sleep thinking about the boy. He’ll be mighty hungry by now.”

  I squirmed. Finally Napoleon said, “I’m going to grab a mug of coffee.”

  I waited until he had shut the door and then ran to the henhouse. I looked back once and sucked in my breath. There was a shadow at the window and I was sure I saw someone move. Then the window was empty. I sped down the trail to my fort.

  Lucas was awake and hungry. He ate eagerly while I talked. “You can’t stay here. There’s a search party looking for you. Papa will think of the fort; I know he will. And they’ll make you go back to Sam Black.”

  Lucas stopped chewing. “I’m never going back there,” he said. “I’m going to New York.”

  My mouth dropped. “What?”

  Lucas swallowed. “I been thinking about it all night. I got friends in New York. And I can get my old job back selling newspapers. I know I can. I just got to get to The Landings without him catching me. Then I can get a stage coach to Montreal.”

  I stared at Lucas admiringly. “What would you do after that?”

  For a second Lucas looked uncer tain, then he shrugged. “I’ll think of something. Maybe I’ll hide on a ship sailing to New York.”

  We were both silent for a few minutes, Lucas chewing and me thinking hard. Then I said slowly, “Some lumbermen have a camp a couple of miles past our farm. They’ve been cutting down trees for weeks. They must be ready to take a log boom to The Landings any day now. One of the men is my friend Pierre. He’ll take you.”

  Lucas looked wary. “Can you trust him?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “And you won’t tell anybody else I’m here?”

  “I told you, I swear!” I said. But I felt uneasy when I remembered the thoughtful look on Napoleon’s face when he looked at my bundle of food and the shadow at the window.

  Lucas relaxed. “Okay.”

  I jumped up. “I’ll go now. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  I ran down the trail, my head buzzing with plans, when suddenly a man’s voice made me skid to a stop. I froze, shrinking back into the trees.

  Napoleon and Sam Black were standing beside the henhouse.

  “He’s hidin’ here somewhere,” said Sam Black. “That boy here knows something.”

  I swallowed hard.

  “I told you, he’s not here,” said Napoleon. “And I told you to get off this farm.”

  “I ain’t goin’ til I get the boy.” Sam Black swung his arm and I saw he was holding a brown bottle.

  “You won’t find him here,” said Napoleon evenly. Despite my fear, a thrill spread through me. Napoleon didn’t sound scared of Sam Black at all.

  Then Sam Black stared straight at the trees where I was hiding. I was close enough to see the black stubble on his face and his mean bloodshot eyes. “Well now, I figure someone’s been going back and forth here,” he said. “Think I’ll take a look around.”

  “It’s a deer trail,” said Napoleon. “It doesn’t go anywhere. And I’ve searched all around here anyway. There’s no sign of Lucas.”

  Papa always said that Napoleon was as truthful as the day was long. And he had just lied to Sam Black! I shivered.

  Sam Black took a swig from his bottle. “I always said to his ma the boy was no good. I’ll whip him when I find ‘im.”

  Napoleon’s face tightened. “I told you to get off this farm.”

  “Get off the farm,” Sam Black mimicked in a sneering voice. He dropped the bottle and it smashed on a rock.

  I sucked in my breath, trying to steady my pounding heart. Then I heard distant voices, Papa calling to someone, and a horse whinnying. Relief flooded through me. Papa and the men were back!

  Sam Black turned his head and scowled. Then he said, “I’m goin’, cause I got things to do. But I’ll be back. I want that boy.”

  I watched Napoleon follow Sam Black towards our cabin. I stayed in the trees a long time, until I heard Sam Black’s wagon rumble down the road.

  Then I set off at a run for the logging camp.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Pierre!” I shouted.

  My voice echoed through the empty camp. I pushed open the door of the long log shanty where the lumbermen lived. Bunks lined the walls, with neat bedrolls at each end, and wool pants, coats and hats hung on nails. A leftover smell of woodsmoke and roasted meat hung in the air. But there were no men.
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  I went back outside and looked at the lake. My heart sank. I was too late. A huge log boom floated on the water, farther from shore than I could yell. The lumbermen paddled along the side in their big birch canoes and two men stood on the log boom holding long poles. I recognized Pierre.

  He saw me standing on the shore and waved and shouted something but I couldn’t hear.

  “Come back!” I hollered. “Please Pierre! Come back!”

  Pierre smiled and waved again. My shoulders slumped as they moved slowly down the lake. They were paddling towards a point of land, covered with blueberry bushes, that formed the end of the bay. Ellie and I had named it Blueberry Point and we walked there in the summer to pick berries. It was about a mile from our farm.

  When the lumbermen passed Blueberry Point, they would be close to shore, maybe close enough to hear me. If I ran hard, I could beat them there! I raced back down the trail towards home, my heart pounding in my chest, and veered off on our well-worn path to Blueberry Point. After a few minutes I broke out of the forest. I pushed through the blueberry bushes, branches swiping my face and pulling at my clothes, until I was at the shore.

  “Pierre!” I hollered

  The lumbermen had passed the point and were heading out to the middle of the lake. I picked up a rock and hurled it at the water.

  Pierre waved his pole in the air and shouted, “See you in a week!” Then the lumbermen burst into one of their lively French songs.

  With a huge sigh, I waved back. I watched them until they were just a speck down the lake and their songs had faded away. The lumbermen would be back to cut more trees and build another log boom. But they wouldn’t go to The Landings again until next month.

  Lucas couldn’t wait that long.

  I walked home, looking fearfully at the road in front of our cabin for Sam Black’s wagon. But the road was empty. Ellie was hanging some washing on the clothesline. “Is Papa back yet?” I called.

  “Not yet,” said Ellie. “Come and help me.”

  I passed up wet shirts while Ellie clipped them to the line. All the time she worked, she talked about how mean Sam Black was and how she hoped he never got Lucas back. Then Ellie went inside and I slumped down on the porch step. How could I tell Lucas that the lumbermen had left without him? That I had been too late!

  A plume of smoke drifted from the stovepipe sticking out through the top of Napoleon’s tent. He knows, I thought. He knows Lucas is in the fort and he didn’t tell. I jumped off the step and ran to Napoleon’s tent and called loudly, “Napoleon? Are you home?”

  “Come in, Max,” said Napoleon, and I pulled back the canvas flap. I loved Napoleon’s tent and wanted to live in one just like it some day. It had wooden boxes for his things, a tin stove, his mysterious black trunk and even a bed.

  I stared in surprise, forgetting for a second all about Lucas. Napoleon was kneeling beside the trunk and the lid was open! Finally I could see what was inside. I peered over his shoulder eagerly and then blinked with disappointment. There were no treasure or bones or old maps or anything exciting. The trunk was full of clothes!

  Napoleon smiled at the look on my face. He lifted out a thick wool jacket and held it up. “This belonged to my son, Noah,” he said. His voice was matter of fact but his hands shook. I knelt beside him.

  “Were all these clothes Noah’s?” I asked.

  “Yes,” said Napoleon. “I put everything in here when he drowned.” He held up a pair of pants. “He was a little older than you, but he wasn’t very big.”

  I looked into the trunk and spotted something shiny tucked into the clothes. “Oh, look, Napoleon!” I said, pulling out a thin metal harmonica.

  Without thinking I played a few notes. I stopped, stricken, when I saw Napoleon’s ashen face. “I’m sorry,” I stammered.

  “No one has played it since Noah,” said Napoleon.

  “I’m sorry,” I repeated. I would have given anything to take that sad look off Napoleon’s face. I put the harmonica back in the trunk, and watched while Napoleon sorted through thick socks, a furlined cap and a wool shirt.

  I swallowed. “Napoleon,” I said, my words coming out in a rush. “Lucas needs to get to The Landings before Sam Black finds him. I tried to see if Pierre would take him, but I was too late. They’d gone already. I ran all the way.”

  I stopped talking and waited, my heart pounding.

  Napoleon said softly, “I can’t take a boy away from his father, Max. That would be kidnapping.”

  “He’s not his father!” I said desperately.

  Napoleon sighed. “His stepfather, then. I’m afraid it would be the same thing in the eyes of the law. But I can try to talk to Sam Black.”

  “It won’t do any good!” I said. “Please Napoleon! Just to The Landings!”

  “I can’t, Max.” Napoleon put his hand on my arm but I pushed him away. I stood up.

  “Take him the jacket and the hat,” said Napoleon. “It’s getting so cold at night.”

  I looked at Napoleon for a long time, then I took the clothes. “Thank you,” I muttered.

  Napoleon and I went outside. I felt him watching me as I walked away.

  “Max!” he called.

  I turned around slowly.

  “I’m thinking that I should take a trip to The Landings tomorrow, but there’ll be no room for passengers. The back of my wagon will be full of sacks. Potatoes and grain.” He gave me a long hard look. “Do you understand?”

  I stared at Napoleon, then a smile spread across my face.

  “I’m leaving early,” said Napoleon. “Before it’s light. I’m loading the sacks tonight.”

  I nodded and then I broke into a run, Noah’s clothes pressed tight against my chest.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “I can’t go until I get my money,” said Lucas.

  I stared at Lucas, horrified. He was sitting on a stump in the fort, huddled in the warmth of Noah’s wool coat. His face looked pale and ghost like in the fading afternoon light.

  “He’ll kill you if you go back,” I said finally.

  “I’ll sneak in,” said Lucas bravely. “When he’s asleep. I have to. It’s my money and I need it for New York.”

  I fell silent, my head spinning. Lucas was right. I was sure Napoleon would take him to The Landings but without money, he’d be stuck there. And Sam Black would find him for sure.

  Lucas said, “The money’s in a can under the floor. There’s a loose board. I’ll just take what’s mine.”

  I shivered. “He’ll wake up.”

  “No he won’t,” said Lucas flatly. “He drinks all afternoon and then he climbs up into the loft and stays there until morning. It’s always the same.”

  I shuddered. How horrible it must have been for Lucas. It seemed forever ago that I had told Napoleon that I didn’t like Lucas Black.

  I took a deep breath. “I’ll come with you.”

  Lucas looked at me for a long time. Then he licked his lips and stood up. “We better go now.”

  We followed the creek through the forest to Sam Black’s cabin. We didn’t talk. It was almost dark when we got there and I worried that Ellie would be calling me for supper. I pushed the thought out of my head. I would tell Papa everything, once Lucas was safe. Papa would understand.

  Lucas and I hid in the trees at the edge of the clearing, studying the cabin. The thin grey horse stared at us and I held my breath, afraid it would whinny and give us away. But after a long look, it lowered its head and picked at the scraggly grass in its pen.

  “Someone ought to feed that horse,” I muttered.

  “No hay,” said Lucas flatly. He touched my arm. “Shh. Listen.”

  There was a thumping sound and the door of the cabin swung open. Sam Black filled the doorway, scowling into the night. Lucas and I shrank back deeper into the trees.

  Sam Black laughed, a loud mean laugh that ran down my back like ice. “I know you’re out there, boy!” he yelled.

  For a second, I thought he had seen us but then his eyes swung wildly from side to side. I tried not to breathe, to stay as still as I possibly could.

  Then the door slammed and my knees wobbled.