“I am sorry, Jim Davis, but if I was always where people expect me to be, I would not be alive today.”
“I know, Danny, but you need to remember—I’m the man who had the heart attack. You can’t do that to me, ever again.”
“Even if you sneak up behind me while I am praying?” Danny asked.
In spite of himself, Davis laughed. “All right, but if you recall, I did allow you to finish,” he said, gripping Danny’s hand in a strong handshake. “Friends again?”
“Yes, but I can’t stay here anymore, not even tonight,” Danny said.
“You’re right,” Davis agreed. “Chances are good the soldiers will come looking for you here tomorrow, and they’ll tear this place apart. I need to uncover the fireplace and maybe move the table, so it doesn’t look like I’m trying to hide anything.”
“I need to leave the fort and get to my family. Can Rick help?”
“Maybe, but they’ll be watching him too,” Davis said.
In the silence that followed, a soft knock sounded at the door.
Davis looked at Danny and Danny froze, but for only a moment. In a flash he leapt behind a stack of boards against the wall. Davis waited, hoping whoever was knocking would think he was asleep and leave.
Whup, whup, whup. Once more the knock floated across the carpentry shop, like a soft cloud. “Just a minute,” Davis said. “I was nodding off to sleep.”
He opened the door, expecting a group of soldiers. Instead, a young girl stood before him, staring at the ground at her feet. “Are you Rick’s daughter?” Davis asked.
The girl nodded, and Davis reached for her shoulder and hurried her inside. He looked right and left, peering into the shadows, looking for any movement or dark shapes that should not be there. When he saw nothing, he entered his shop and turned to the girl.
“Did anyone see you? Did the soldiers follow you? Are you sure?”
“No one saw me,” she answered. “I was very careful. My mother and father do not even know I am here.”
“Where do they think you are?”
“Asleep under my blanket.”
“Oh my,” said Davis. “I hope they don’t discover you’re gone. Rick has seen how cruel the slave traders can be. He’ll look everywhere for you.”
“I won’t stay long,” she said. “I want to make sure Danny Blackgoat is safe. Do you know where he is?”
Davis hesitated. Rick’s daughter thinks it is safe to come to my shop in the middle of the night, he thought. If she knows Danny is here, she won’t leave until she sees him. We’ll all be in danger.
“You can trust me,” the girl said, as if reading his thoughts. “I will tell no one except my mother and father, and they know to be careful.”
Davis smiled. “You are as smart as Danny,” he said. “What is your name?”
“I am Jane,” she said. “My grandmother’s clan is Bead People, and my grandfather’s is Bitter Water. We live at Fort Davis but came to Fort Sumner with my father on one of his trips.”
“My name is Jim Davis, and I am of the Davis family from Virginia. Before I tell you where Danny is, let me have one more look around.” Davis rose and walked to a single window, covered only by wooden shutters, at the rear wall of the shop. He opened the shutters and looked up and down the roadway. Seeing nothing unusual, he crossed the shop and quietly creaked open the front door.
“Looks like we are safe for now,” he said to Jane. “Why did you come here looking for Danny?”
“I heard soldiers talking to my father, asking him to keep a lookout for Danny. You are his best friend. You helped him escape. He will come to you as soon as he can.”
“You are right,” Davis said. “He is here now. Danny,” he whisper-called across the shop. “It’s safe to come out.”
From behind the stack of boards, Danny stepped forward. He hung his head and mumbled, “It is good to see you, Jane.”
Davis smiled and shook his head. “Danny Blackgoat,” he said. “I have never seen you so shy.” When Danny said nothing, he realized the two Navajos were more than friends. “I’m gonna guard the door for a few minutes,” he said, leaving Danny and Jane alone. In a short while, Jane joined him at the door.
“I better go,” Jane said. “And do not worry. I will walk in the shadows, and if anyone sees me, I will tell them I am lost.”
“It is nice to meet you, Jane. I guess Danny told you he will not be here in the morning.”
“Yes,” Jane said. “I know I will see him again. He always surprises me.”
“Danny Blackgoat is full of surprises,” Davis said with a smile. As they turned to look at him, Danny crawled through the open window and leapt to the ground, disappearing into the night.
Davis smiled at the truth of his words. “Jane,” he said, “maybe you can stop by often, during the day. Just for a short visit. That way if you really need to let me know something, or if I have news your family should hear, the soldiers will already think of us as friends. Your coming here will not seem unusual.”
“Yes, I will do that,” Jane said. “Good-bye for now.”
Davis closed the door quietly behind her, then walked to the rear of the carpentry shop to close the window shutters. “I’ve got a Navajo boy climbing out my window, a Navajo girl hiding in the shadows around my front door, it’s the middle of the night, and the soldiers want to hang me. How did I ever get myself into this mess?”
He stood for a moment and thought of the evening.
Would I do it all again? he asked himself. Yes, I would. These Navajos are a good people, and I’ll help them any way I can.
He climbed into bed with a smile on his face, and before he drifted off to sleep, he said a quiet prayer. “May Jane return safely to her family, and may Danny Blackgoat leave the fort before the soldiers find him.”
Only one of his prayers was answered.