CHAPTER 15

Red Is for Courage

You’re not the kind of girl to live in this wilderness!”

As Libby decided what clothes she’d take, Caleb’s words spun around in her head.

Soon after she met him, Caleb had let her know what he thought of her fancy dresses. According to him, women coming into this newly settled area should be proud to wear a jean dress or a checked apron.

Well, I’ll surprise you, Caleb Whitney! In secret she had sewn a skirt made from jean cloth. Now it was ready to wear.

Then Libby remembered her hair. Caleb hadn’t liked her long, tight red curls either. Her hair was combed out now with just a curl at the end, and the front of her hair pulled back. Yet Libby was certain that in no time her hair would be full of twigs.

When ready for the next day, Libby spread the quilts she hadn’t given Elsa on the floor of Pa’s cabin. Still feeling upset with both Pa and Caleb, she fell asleep.

Hours later Libby had a nightmare. In her dream she knew she had to rescue Pa. Over and over she called for help, but her voice wouldn’t come.

As she tried to cry out, Pa shook her awake. “Libby! Wake up!”

At first she didn’t understand what was happening. Then she began to sob.

“What’s wrong, Libby?” Pa asked as she came awake. “Are you afraid of the walk to Red Wing?”

Libby shook her head. “I dreamed that something was happening to you.”

“Something bad?”

Between sobs, she nodded.

“Oh, Libby!” Pa exclaimed.

She heard him moving about, then saw a soft glow as he lit the lamp next to his rocking chair. Pa led Libby over to the chair, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap.

Not since she was a little girl had Pa rocked her, and Libby felt almost silly. She was really too big to fit on his lap, but Pa’s arms went around her.

For a time he rocked her, saying little. Then he asked, “Libby, do you worry about what might happen to me?”

Her face tucked against his chest, she nodded. Then she remembered Pa’s talk with Caleb. “Do you worry about what might happen to me?” she asked.

“I try not to,” Pa answered. “But I want to be careful, to be wise about taking care of you.”

“Is that why you’re sending me with Caleb?”

“It’s a hard choice, Libby. It seems to be the lesser of two evils.”

“So you don’t really think I’m strong and courageous.” Libby began crying again. “The worst of it is, I’m not!” she wailed. Her nightmare still seemed real. “I get so scared about you!”

When her sobs quieted, Pa spoke gently. “Libby, I’m your Pa. It’s my job to take care of you, but it’s not your job to take care of me. No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to do it.”

“Then what do I do?”

“Maybe you’d better let God take care of me.”

God. There it is again, Libby thought. “Are you sure God can manage?” she asked.

Pa smiled. “I’m sure,” he said. “Even if the very worst happened, God would be with me. He’s the one who takes care of both of us. Wherever we are, He is.”

Reaching out, Pa pulled the lamp closer to them. “Do you see this, Libby?” he asked.

She nodded. More than once she had noticed the lamp. Inside the glass base, a piece of red flannel floated in the oil.

“This lamp always reminds me of your ma,” Pa said. “Christina was like a lot of pioneer women. She put the flannel in the lamp to remind herself that red is for courage.”

“You’ve told me that before—that Ma had courage.” Yet it seemed as though everything Libby tried had worked out wrong. “How did Ma get courage?”

Pa rested a hand on his big Bible. “Your mother found verses—promises that helped her trust the Lord. There’s one she liked especially much. ‘Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God.’”

Startled, Libby sat up. The words I heard down in the hold! So that’s how I knew them! Libby’s voice joined Pa’s. “‘I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.’”

Strangely comforted, she looked Pa in the eyes. “Did Ma teach me that verse?”

Pa smiled. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Whenever she needed courage, she repeated those words over and over again.”

When it was time to leave, Pa looked Libby straight in the eye. “Don’t forget you’re a Norstad, Libby. And remember your mother’s verse.”

Pa’s hug felt warm and strong, making Libby believe she really could walk all those miles to Red Wing. Maybe Elsa will get well, after all. If only we can find Doctor Sweney and bring him back in time.

It was still dark when Caleb led Libby and Jordan down the gangplank. Without making a sound, they crept up the steep bank next to the river. The town was quiet now. Even the nearby steamboats lay silent.

Then Libby heard footsteps from behind. She strained to listen. There it was again—the sound of boots on the gangplank.

Libby tugged at Caleb’s arm. She barely heard his warning shush, but she knew. Caleb had also heard the footsteps.

When he picked up his pace, Libby and Jordan stayed with him. As they passed one of the town’s seventeen hotels, a dog started barking. Caleb walked even faster. They were a short distance beyond the hotel when the dog fell silent.

Moments later he barked again, and Caleb hurried on. As silence filled the darkness before dawn, Libby once more heard footsteps. Soon Caleb slipped into the shadows between large warehouses. Libby and Jordan joined him in the darkness.

In a few minutes, three dark shapes hurried past them. As Libby caught her breath, Caleb’s warning fingers tightened on her arm.

Along the streets of Reads Landing, no one else stirred. Before long, the footsteps of the three men died away. Caleb slipped out from between the buildings. For a short distance, he walked along the street next to the river. Nearby, the great steamboats rose from the water. In the darkness their tall stacks seemed to disappear.

At a street leading upward, Caleb turned. On the hillside above the waterfront, he turned again, this time onto a dirt street that ran the same direction as the river. Near the north end of town, the street became a road. Muddy now from wagons bringing wheat and other goods to Reads Landing, the road looked well used.

Caleb set a rapid pace, walking around the holes and puddles whenever possible. Then suddenly he left the road. When he came to a small shed, he crouched down behind it.

Kneeling between Caleb and Jordan, Libby listened. It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of men walking toward Reads Landing. One of them was angry.

“What happened?” he asked. “We were just behind them.”

“We can’t let that slave boy get away!” growled another.

As soon as the men were safely past, Caleb returned to the road. They had walked some distance before Libby dared speak.

“Have you gone this way before?”

“Nope,” Caleb answered.

“How do you know where you’re going?”

“Your pa told me. Other men described it to him. Soon we’ll follow an old Indian trail.”

“One they’ve walked for years and years?”

Caleb nodded. “And before them, the buffalo. Indians followed their trails because buffalo find the easiest way. That’s what we’ll try to do.”

“How far is it to Red Wing?” Libby asked.

“By river, twenty-eight miles. Your pa isn’t sure how far it is by land.”

Twenty-eight miles? Libby gulped, then tried to hide her feelings from Caleb. Pa thinks I can walk twenty-eight miles? Maybe he believes in me more than I think.

For the first time, Libby felt really shaky about the trip. She tried to remember if she’d ever done anything to prepare for this. In Chicago she had sometimes walked long distances, but never anything like twenty-eight miles.

“When we get to Wacouta, we might find someone to take us the rest of the way,” Caleb said. “There are supposed to be hotels and a trading post there.”

“And how far is Wacouta?” Libby asked.

“Five or six miles from Red Wing,” Caleb answered, as if he walked such distances every day. And probably he did, more often than Libby liked to think.

“What if we can’t reach Red Wing tonight?” she asked.

Caleb shrugged. “Your pa said there might be a cave in the bluffs.”

Across Libby’s back she carried a cloth bag holding extra clothes. A smaller bag tied around her waist held sandwiches and cookies packed by Granny. Like Libby, the boys had tied their bags on their back or waist to keep their hands free. Caleb had extra gear, including a bucket that hung from a rope around his waist.

Walking behind him, Libby noticed the set of his shoulders. She could almost hear him say, “Your pa said I had to take you along, but I don’t like it.”

Well, I don’t like the way you feel! Libby wanted to tell him. Elsa is my friend too. I want to help her!

Close behind, Jordan walked without saying a word. More than once Libby turned to look back and saw Jordan glancing over his shoulder. It frightened her.

When the slave catchers don’t find us, will they turn around again? Libby wondered. The mud on the road would make it easy for them to follow. Maybe they’re tracking us even now. Maybe they’re just far enough back so we can’t see.

A few miles above Reads Landing, Caleb brought them to a high stretch of ground overlooking Lake Pepin. As the sky turned gold and pink, the sun lit the great expanse of ice. People had told Libby that at places the lake was three miles wide, but she never expected anything so beautiful. In spite of her worries, she wanted to take in everything and remember it all. Someday I’ll paint this! she promised herself.

As they hurried on, tall bluffs rose above them on their left. On their right the ground dropped sharply away to the lake. Gradually the road narrowed, then turned into a limestone trail.

By the time Caleb found a large log and sat down, Libby felt hollow with hunger. Even while eating breakfast, Caleb faced back toward the trail over which they had come. Grateful for the chance to rest, Libby dropped down next to him. But Jordan grasped the lower branches of a tall white pine and pulled himself up. From far overhead he, too, checked the trail.

Watching the boys, Libby felt uneasy. Did they still fear Riggs even after miles of fast walking? It must be hard for Jordan, Libby thought. He’s helping Elsa when he really wants to get his family to freedom.

Finally, Jordan climbed down and began to eat. When all of them finished, Caleb brushed aside his crumbs and Libby did the same.

Using a small pine branch, Jordan swept the ground until their footsteps disappeared. When they returned to the path, he carried the branch along. More than once, dirt had washed over the limestone trail. Where needed, Jordan brushed away their footprints.

As the sun climbed higher, the trail leveled out, and Libby felt grateful. They walked close to the lake now. The sunlight turned the ice into a shining jewel.

Beyond a long point reaching out into Lake Pepin, the ground once again dropped sharply away. Soon after the trail led them farther from the lake, Caleb pointed down to a large paw print. “That’s a big one!”

“A big what?” Libby asked, not sure she wanted to know.

“A bear, probably a male. They’re hungry now. When they come out of hibernation, they eat everything in sight.”

“Food, you mean?” Libby tried to keep the scared sound out of her voice.

“Of course they eat food.” A sparkle of fun shot through Caleb’s eyes. Then he grew serious. “And little girls.”

“Oh, Caleb!” Libby didn’t believe him.

“They’re especially fond of big girls, whether they’re tasty or not.”

“You’re just making that up!”

But Caleb’s face was as serious as she had ever seen it. “If you see a bear—”

“I don’t believe a word you’re saying!”

“Just stay as far from it as you can. Don’t ever get between a female and her cubs!”

Well, that sounds reasonable, Libby thought. So, is the rest of what he’s saying true or not? When Caleb teased her, she didn’t know what to believe.

Libby tossed her head, and her long red hair swung around her shoulders. I refuse to think about it. We’ll reach Red Wing before dark—by four or five o’clock, Pa said. That will keep me safe from any bears!

Besides, it was Riggs and his two slave catchers that Libby worried about. They’re much more dangerous than any four-footed animal!