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  “We have to wait now,” said Lucas shakily. He sat down on the end of a log. I sat beside him, rubbing my arms to get warm and to stop my teeth from chattering. A candle flickered in the cabin window. I watched it for a long time.

  For awhile, Lucas and I whispered together. Lucas told me about New York and I tried to imagine the huge crowds and the tall buildings and the ships in the harbour. Then Lucas was quiet. I shifted, easing a cramp out of my leg.

  I tried to think of good things like Ellie and supper and our cabin. I thought of Napoleon loading the sacks in the wagon, leaving a space for Lucas.

  There was a thud near the cabin and Lucas and I both jumped but it was only a squirrel dropping pinecones. It was so dark now that I couldn’t see the horse but I could hear him moving restlessly in the shadows.

  After a long time, Lucas said, “I think I can get it now.”

  I stared at the dark cabin, my heart thumping. “The candle…”

  “He must have left it burning. I know him. He’ll be asleep for sure by now. Come on.”

  We ran across the clearing. I stepped on a branch and the crack sounded as loud as a gunshot. I was terrified that any second Sam Black would come charging out after us. We crouched under the window for a minute, catching our breath, then Lucas peered through the dark glass. He gave a low grunt. “I told you, he’s gone to bed. And there’s enough candle left to see by.”

  We slipped over to the door. Lucas stood there for a minute, breathing hard. Then he eased it open. It gave a low creak and I held my breath. Lucas froze. I peered over his shoulder into the dark cabin, my spine tingling with fear. The candle was on the middle of a table, just a stub left, sputtering in a pool of wax. A sour sweaty smell made me wrinkle my nose. In the flickering light I could see a few more pieces of furniture, an old dresser and some chairs, and a thin mat in the corner with blanket spread across it, which must have been where Lucas slept.

  Then I saw Sam Black, his huge body crumpled in a heap at the bottom of a rickety ladder.

  Lucas gasped.

  “He’s dead,” I said.

  Just then Sam Black rolled his head back. His eyes opened and he let out a long moan.

  “Run!” yelled Lucas. “Run!”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Help!” called Sam Black.

  Lucas and I froze outside the door. My heart was pounding so hard I thought my chest would burst. Sam Black’s voice was thin and weak but it still sent chills down my back.

  “Help!” he called again.

  The moon had slipped out through the clouds and the clearing around the cabin and the road were bathed in light. Napoleon’s wagon must be ready by now, loaded with sacks of potatoes, with a small space left for Lucas. It was Lucas’s only chance to get away. The plan had seemed perfect. More than anything I wanted to run down that road for home.

  But Sam Black was lying inside the cabin, badly hurt, maybe even dying.

  I braced myself. “I’ll stay,” I said. “You go to our cabin and get Papa.”

  Lucas acted as if he didn’t hear me and I gave his arm a rough push. “Go, Lucas! Go on the road. You have to!”

  Lucas shuddered, like he was going to be sick. Then he turned and ran. I waited until I couldn’t see him anymore. I took a deep breath and went back inside the cabin.

  Sam Black grunted when he saw me. “Ever see a man die? “he mumbled, and fear flashed in his eyes.

  “No!” My voice sounded high and frightened. His leg was bent at a strange angle. I swallowed. “What should I do?”

  Sam Black closed his eyes. His face was grey and beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. For a long time, he didn’t answer and I thought he was dead for sure. Then his body started to shake violently and he said, “Water…I need some water.”

  I took a cup from a clutter of dirty dishes on the table and filled it from a bucket by the door. Slowly I stepped towards Sam Black. I set the cup on the floor beside him. He eased himself up on an elbow and took a few long gulps.

  He leaned back and shut his eyes again. His body shook. I grabbed the blanket off the mat on the floor. It was dirty and thin, but I couldn’t see anything else. I laid the blanket over his huge body, trying not to look at his leg. I thought I would throw up if he opened his eyes and looked at me.

  I moved back against the door. I swallowed. Papa! Please come, Papa! Lucas was a fast runner. I remembered how fast he had run through The Landings when we chased him. How long would it take him to get Papa?

  Sam Black’s voice made me jump. “In the dresser. Top right…”

  Reluctantly, I stepped closer. “What’s in the dresser?” I asked.

  “Painkiller,” whispered the man. “Brown bottle.”

  My hands shaking, I pulled open a drawer and fumbled through a clutter of candles stubs, strips of leather, a knife…no bottle. Behind me, Sam Black moaned. My hands touched something smooth and hard, wrapped in a piece of cloth. I picked it up and a small silver heart on a chain, dull with tarnish, fell into my hand. The locket! Sam Black hadn’t sold it after all! Forgetting for a second about the man, I snapped the locket open. Inside was a faded picture of a woman. Lucas’s mother.

  “That’s mine,” said Sam Black icily. “Leave it alone.”

  My heart lurched. His eyes bored into my back. I dropped the locket in the drawer.

  “I said…the… right drawer.” Sam Black gasped for breath between each word. I pulled open the right drawer and spotted the brown bottle. I took the lid off and then handed it to Sam Black. I watched with a mixture of fascination and horror as he poured some into his mouth. He grimaced and brown liquid dribbled on his chin.

  He looked at me once and said, “You afraid of me, boy?”

  “No!” I said.

  Then he gave a huge groan and his head dropped back down on the floor. His cheeks had a strange grey sheen and his huge body shook right through the thin blanket.

  Please, please don’t die until Papa gets here, I whispered to myself. I didn’t want to be alone in the cabin with a dead man.

  I put a chair beside the door and sat on it. I was afraid to open it, in case the cold air made Sam Black die even faster, so I had to keep jumping up to look out the window. For the first time I noticed that the candle had burned out, but there was enough moonlight coming through the window to see. After what seemed like forever, Papa galloped up the road on our horse, George.

  I ran outside. I wanted Papa to pull me into his arms and hug me tight but he just gave me a quick word, “Are you all right, son?” and when I said “Yes,” he pushed past me into the cabin.

  Shivering, I followed Papa. He wrinkled his nose at the smell and then he stood over Sam Black. He pulled back the blanket and grunted and then covered him up again.

  “Is he dead yet?” I whispered.

  A ghost of a smile crossed Papa’s face. He said, “No, and he’s not going to die. But he’s got a badly broken leg and he’s in shock.” Papa put his arm on my shoulder. “You were brave, Max. You did the right thing. The blanket was a good idea. It’s important to keep him warm.”

  Then Papa leaned over Sam Black and said, “You’re going to be fine. Napoleon has gone for the doctor.”

  I couldn’t bear to be in the cabin any longer and I went outside to wait for Napoleon. After a long time I heard hooves and Napoleon trotted up on our horse Billy. A few minutes later, the doctor’s wagon rattled into the yard.

  The doctor dropped the reins and jumped down. He gave me a concerned look and then went inside. After a few minutes, I heard Sam Black shout out in pain and I put my hands over my ears.

  Finally Papa came outside. “The doctor says he wants you home and in bed.” He scooped me up and put me on George. Then he swung up into the saddle in front of me.

  “Why did Sam Black yell?” I asked.

  “The doctor set his leg,” said Papa. “He’ll be all right now. The doctor and Napoleon will stay for awhile.”

  I took a big breath. “Lucas…?”

  “We’ll talk about Lucas tomorrow,” said Papa in a firm voice.

  I rested my head against Papa’s back and tried to still the fear in my chest. Would Papa make Lucas go back to Sam Black? I wished tomorrow would never come.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Lucas slept beside me in my bed in the loft. He tossed and turned and it was a long time before I could get to sleep. Once in the middle of the night Lucas sat straight up and called out something. In the morning his face was white with black smudges under his eyes.

  We ate breakfast in silence. Each mouthful stuck in my throat. I kept looking at the empty spot where Napoleon usually sat and then at Papa but he avoided my eyes.

  After the meal, I followed Papa out-side. “You can’t let Sam Black have Lucas. Sam Black is a murderer!”

  Papa was walking to the barn. He stopped and turned around. His face was dark and I added nervously, “It’s true! I heard Napoleon telling you. Sam Black left New York because a man was killed.”

  Papa gave me a long hard look. “Sam Black says he and the man had argued over some money, but nothing more. He left New York because he was afraid he might be falsely accused.”

  My face felt hot and Papa added sternly, “I suggest if you’re going to listen in on conversations, you listen to the whole thing before you form your opinions.”

  I waited until Papa had gone and then muttered, “That’s what Sam Black says.”

  I thought the day would never end. After supper, Ellie and Lucas and I played in the barn with the kittens.

  “You can pick one for yourself, Lucas,” said Ellie generously.

  Lucas’s face brightened and then a cloud passed over his eyes. I wondered if he was thinking about his dog that Sam Black had drowned. “Maybe I will,” he mumbled.

  There was a dull feeling in my stomach and after a while I left Lucas and Ellie and went outside. I sat on the cabin step and whittled a piece of wood with my knife. I could hear Papa moving around inside the cabin restlessly. My eyes kept looking up, straining down the road to Sam Black’s cabin.

  Suddenly the clop of hooves rang through the darkness and Napoleon came around the bend in the road, riding Billy and leading Sam Black’s thin grey horse behind him. I jumped up.

  “Papa,” I yelled. “Papa, Napoleon’s back.”

  Papa stepped out through the door behind me. Napoleon rode up to the cabin. I bit my lip to hold back the questions bursting inside me.

  Naopleon looked tired. He climbed down off Billy and wiped his brow with his hand. He nodded at Papa. “Sam Black sold me the horse. He’s going to give up farming and look for work in Montreal.”

  I sucked in my breath. Montreal! Papa didn’t seem at all surprised. “I never saw a man less suited to farming,” he said. “When is he planning on leaving?”

  “As soon as his leg is fit to travel. I offered to take him as far as The Landings in a few days.”

  “Good,” said Papa.

  I should have been happy that Sam Black wasn’t going to be our neighbour for much longer, but all I could think about was Lucas.

  Then Papa said, “And the boy…”

  I went still inside.

  Napoleon cleared his throat. “Turns out Sam Black never legally adopted Lucas. He figures the boy will be a nuisance now he’s leaving the farm.”

  “Well?” said Papa. I looked at him in surprise. Papa sounded as bursting to know as me.

  “I’m planning on taking Lucas to live with me,” Napoleon said in a rush. “That is, if he agrees.”

  “He will!” I shouted. “I’m going to tell him right now!”

  Papa grabbed my arm. “I think Napoleon can handle that by himself,” he said with a smile.

  “One strange thing,” said Napoleon. He reached into his pocket and took out the silver locket. “Sam Black gave me this. He said to give it to Lucas.”

  “There’s a picture of Lucas’s mother in it,” I said slowly. “Sam Black said it was his.”

  “Well, I guess he changed his mind,” said Papa. He put his arm around me. “We’ll never really understand a man like Sam Black.”

  “Napoleon!” cried Ellie, and we all turned to watch Ellie and Lucas running up from the barn. Lucas still clutched one of the kittens to his chest.

  “Ellie, I need you in the house,” called Papa. He turned to me and added firmly, “And you too, Max.”

  Papa lit the lamp and read to Ellie and me. It was hard to listen to the story. I kept popping up to go to the door. I strained to see what was happening down at Napoleon’s tent. Napoleon and Lucas were two black shadows against the firelight, and the murmer of voices drifted to the cabin. Did Lucas still want to go to New York? Napoleon was older than Papa and sometimes he read his Bible all night without talking. Would Lucas mind?

  Then I heard a new sound, a sound which made a tingle run up my spine.

  I said, “Papa, Ellie, Lucas is staying! Come here quickly.”

  They hurried out to the step beside me.

  “What is it?” said Ellie.

  “Shh,” I said. “Listen.”

  Ellie shivered and Papa put his arms around both of us and pulled us close. For a long time we heard nothing.

  And then through the still night came the joyful notes of a harmonica.

  In the fourth volume of her historical series set in Upper Canada in the 1830s, Becky Citra tackles the serious subject of abuse while staying true to her characters and telling a gripping story. In addition to the Max and Ellie stories, Becky is also the author of Dog Days (Orca, 2003) a hilarious story about a boy who must overcome his fear of dogs in order to make friends in a new town.

  A primary school teacher and writer, Becky Citra lives on a ranch in Bridge Lake, B.C., where horses, bears and coyotes abound and where many of the chores have not changed since Max’s day.

 

 

  Becky Citra, Runaway

 

 

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