Chapter Seventeen

The trip into town was uneventful. Cory passed the butcher, the grocer, the baker, the cobbler, the tailor, and the harness maker before reaching the livery. Lou Smith was the owner. He bragged he was older than the flood, and no one argued. He was wrinkled on every part of his body except the smooth cap of his bald head. Lou took Nell’s bridle as Cory climbed down from the buggy.

“I’m taking the train to Akron and won’t be back until late.” Cory recalled Tyler’s instructions. “Nell needs a couple of nails put in her right rear shoe.”

He sighed. “I’ll try to find time.”

Lou looked tired. “You should hire someone to help you.”

“I’m too old to train someone, and it’s impossible to find a good blacksmith.”

“I know a good blacksmith,” Edward Vandal announced from the shadows of the livery. He stepped into the bright light of the yard. Cory saw Buck and Clyde hovering behind him like rats on rafters ready to leap on unsuspecting prey.

“Do you?” Lou asked. “Is he a hard worker?”

Edward was referring to Noah. If he didn’t have to worry about being dragged back to Virginia and sold into slavery, he could work for Lou. She almost argued her point before remembering Edward was looking for Noah to find Tess. He was baiting her to discover if Noah was at Glen Knolls. “Lou has wanted to retire for years. Perhaps this blacksmith can take over for him.”

Edward stared at Cory. “Do you know where I can find him?”

“How would I know?” Was he suspicious? Maybe her nervousness would work in her favor. She wanted someone to follow her. She jumped when she heard the train whistle blow. “I have to buy my ticket.” She gathered her basket and purse from the buggy. “Good day.” Clyde and Buck stepped out into the light. They didn’t look any less menacing.

The livery stable was opposite Darrow Falls Inn. Cory headed west on River Road toward the train depot built on a rise above town. She focused on the small rectangular building, afraid she might glance toward the church tower and reveal Tess and Adam’s hiding place. She wasn’t good at disguising her true feelings. No wonder Adelaide had hesitated to tell her about Noah. She’d never done anything this dangerous, and although baiting the chasers was part of the plan, her heart was beating at a frantic pace.

She bought her ticket and boarded the train. Her seat was on the opposite side of the depot and gave her an overview of the town. Edward stood in the livery yard, holding the reins to a horse. His chasers were missing.

The sheep that grazed on the square to keep the grass shorn were absent today. Several men were cleaning up the center of town in preparation for tomorrow’s holiday. Businesses would be closed, and shoppers were busy making last minute purchases. Tomorrow a new flag with thirty-three stars would be displayed on the front of the Town Hall to mark the Fourth of July. Cory glanced toward the church. Somewhere inside Tess and Adam were preparing for their final flight to freedom.

She spied Edward and Clyde riding south on Darrow Falls Road. Where was the other one? She turned to show her ticket to the conductor and saw Buck Cassell seated in the rear of the passenger car. She quickly faced front. At least one of the chasers was following her.

The train gave a long blast on its whistle and chugged out of the station. Cory saw Edward and Clyde race down the street to Akron and cross a covered bridge. As the train left them behind, she spied their prey. Tyler drove the draft team at a fast clip on the dusty road to put some distance between him and the chasers. The train would beat all of them by at least an hour, but Cory had some shopping to do while in town. She hoped Buck wouldn’t mind.

****

Akron was built on a steep hillside with Summit, Broadway, High, and Main streets running parallel between the train tracks at the top and the canal below. Exchange, Middlebury, State, and Center streets crossed them in a grid with every corner a coveted spot for businesses. Churches with towering steeples were the centerpieces of neighborhoods scattered on the hillside and beyond. Cory led Buck along Center Street to the downtown area.

She explored several establishments before she reached a general store on Main Street. Buck stayed hidden behind bags of feed while she examined some cotton diapers. Cory bought a dozen along with a baby gown, booties, and a cap. She added pins and a blanket.

“When are you expecting your baby?” the woman behind the counter asked.

Cory was startled by her question. Did she look like she was expecting? “It’s a gift. I’m not even married.”

“What’s wrong with young men today?” She wrapped the items. “You’re too pretty a young lady not to be married.”

Cory wondered. There were plenty of women younger and more attractive, and men weren’t lining up to propose. Tyler had given her plenty of reasons he couldn’t marry her, and what if Douglas didn’t ask? What if he did? Would his kisses improve over time? Maybe life as an old maid wasn’t as bad as it appeared. She enjoyed teaching, and her students could be substitutes for no children of her own. But children weren’t the only reward of being married. It had been different the last few days with a man in her life. Tyler shared the chores and provided lively companionship. But would it be as nice if the man was Douglas?

Cory debated the merits of becoming Mrs. Douglas Raymond as she shopped. She marked off the items on Adelaide’s list: Plain white buttons, white thread, black ink, matches, salt, and sugar. Most of the items could have been purchased in Darrow Falls, but Buck didn’t know that. He kept a watchful eye on her at a discreet distance while she filled her basket.

It was around eleven, and Cory needed to find Grandpa Donovan. She headed for Exchange Street, which crossed the canal to Lock One. Boat captains had to pay the toll at Lock One to travel on the canal. The collector would know whether the Irish Rose had reached the lock.

She was still three blocks away when a stocky white-haired man with sparkling blue eyes hailed her from a group of men in front of the Thirsty Lizard Tavern. “I thought it was you, darlin’!” He picked her up and twirled her around like she was six years old.

“Grandpa!” She hugged Captain Michael Donovan in return.

“Orva Miller said you’d be in town and needed a ride.” He looked inside her basket. “I see you didn’t pack a lunch. Where would you like to eat, darlin’?” he asked in an Irish brogue forty years in the states had failed to erase.

She glanced around. “Where would you suggest?”

“The Thirsty Lizard has a steak three inches thick.”

She inhaled the cornucopia of smells, some pleasant like meat sizzling on a grill behind the restaurant and others putrid like the garbage tossed into the waterway. “It’s awfully close to the canal.”

“I like to keep an eye on the Irish Rose.”

Cory knew the history of the canal and her family’s role in it. Michael Donovan had traveled to Ohio in 1825 to help build the Ohio Canal. He worked from sun-up to sun-down for thirty cents a day, a jigger of whiskey, food, and shelter. Armed with picks and shovels, workers dug a hole twenty-six feet wide at the bottom, four feet deep and forty feet wide at the top. Men cleared trees and brush twenty feet on each side of the canal for towpaths.

Stones were cut and hauled from the quarry near Peninsula for the walls, and white oak was used for the miter gates. A balance beam attached to the top of each gate opened and closed the double doors for a watertight seal.

Michael Donovan was able to buy his own boat a few years later. He moved his family aboard and began his life as captain on the Ohio Canal.

Cory wondered where the Irish Rose was now. “Is she still docked?”

“The pilot is taking her down through the staircase. Charging me fifty cents. I’d do it myself, but the man needs the money. He has nine children.”

Cory looped her arm through his as he led her to the tavern. “You have a generous heart, Grandpa.”

The dining room was filled with canal boat captains and crew members. Whole families lived aboard canal boats, and many of the patrons were women and children. Grandma Donovan had worked along with Grandpa and their children for years, but now Caroline Josephine Donovan ran an inn in Peninsula, half way between Akron and Cleveland. The Irish Rose docked at night to split up the run between the two cities. The inn provided income for off season when the canal was shut down for repairs and dredging.

The Thirsty Lizard was dark but a cool retreat from the heat. Michael greeted several other canal captains as he entered. “You remember my granddaughter, Courtney Rose, don’t you?”

A man with a gray-streaked beard tipped his hat. “You’ve grown into a lovely lass.”

“Where’s your grandson Zeke?” he asked.

“He’s working at the butcher shop on Howard Street. He’ll give you a good deal on meat. Tell him I sent you.”

“Butcher, you say?” Grandpa grinned at Cory. “Good catch for a girl. Never go hungry.”

Cory didn’t need to worry about finding a husband as long as Grandpa was around. They sat near a window overlooking the canal. South was Lock Three where a dry dock was located for building and repairing boats. A tannery was located to the north at Lock Four. All along the canal route’s waterway, mills for lumber, flour, and machinery had sprung up like wildflowers. Basins at locks Six and Seven allowed for loading coal and grain.

Fifteen locks stepped down the water route through Akron from Exchange Street to beyond North Street. The closely-placed locks were difficult to maneuver, and special pilots took the boats down the steep incline the city was built upon.

“When will the Irish Rose reach Mustill Store?” Cory asked. The waiter served two steaks layered with sliced onions and green peppers. On separate plates, he served diced potatoes seasoned with fresh herbs and corn on the cob swimming in butter. A loaf of wheat bread on a cutting board was placed between them. He gave each of them a mug of cold beer.

“My granddaughter doesn’t drink beer.” He placed his hand on her mug when the waiter tried to remove it. “I’m thirsty enough to finish both. Serve her some lemonade.”

He looked at Cory. “The pilot guaranteed me two o’clock. Are you going to ride down the canal with me?”

“How long will it take to reach River Road?”

“Be there by suppertime if traffic is light.”

“Then I’ll meet you at Mustill Store after I go to Sam Morris’ office.”

“Who’s Sam Morris? A beau?”

“He’s a lawyer.”

“A lawyer?” He lowered his voice. “Are you in trouble, darlin’?”

“I’m meeting someone at his office. He had some business to take care of before we head back to Darrow Falls.”

He raised a bushy eyebrow. “He?”

“Tyler Montgomery is your other passenger.”

He studied Cory and then glanced at her steak, half untouched. “Aren’t you going to eat that?”

“I’m full.”

“I’ll have them wrap it up along with all the other food you barely touched. Your cousins will want it.”

She didn’t know what was wrong with her appetite, but the food wouldn’t go to waste. “Thank you for buying me lunch.”

“It’s a bribe,” he said. “Jessica and Colleen are helping your mother put up preserves, and Jake wants to stay in town and spend the holiday with his steady girl, making me short-handed. Can this fellow handle a pike?”

“He’s a lawyer, too.”

“I don’t know what you girls see in those mollycoddles. Probably have to tether him to the deck so he don’t fall overboard.”

Cory smiled. He’d find out soon enough Tyler wasn’t a milksop.

The waiter wrapped up the food as Grandpa paid the bill. Cory turned to the door and saw Buck waiting outside.

“What are you hesitating for?” He looked around.

She leaned in close to Grandpa. “See that burly man outside with the droopy hat and long beard?”

“The one with a pistol tucked in a holster on his hip.”

Grandpa didn’t miss a thing. “When we pass him, say to me, ‘I’ll deliver your package to Cleveland.’ Can you do that?”

“What sort of mischief are you plotting, darlin’?”

“The less you know, the better.”

They took no notice of Buck. Grandpa spoke his line and left her with a kiss and a wink.

Cory made her way along Main Street to Sam’s office. She climbed the steep staircase on the exterior of the building and opened the door. Inside was a small waiting area and beyond two offices. The door was open to Sam’s office on the left. The shelves were filled with books. Tyler sat in a padded leather chair facing a large desk cluttered with stacks of paper and more books. Sam sat facing her. He was in his forties with a thick mustache and thinning hair. Cory stepped forward. Sam stood and removed his spectacles.

Tyler turned, stood, and made introductions. “Sam helped me straighten out my legal matters with Noah.”

Cory frowned. “I thought you were a lawyer?”

“I am, but I haven’t passed the bar exam in Ohio. I told Sam I’d take it at the end of July and help him with his caseload. It’s the least I can do for all his help.”

Cory wasn’t sure if she had heard correctly. “You’re going to work for Mr. Morris?”

“I don’t want to go back to Boston, and I can’t go back to Vandalia,” he excused.

He was staying in Akron. Cory couldn’t digest the news Tyler wasn’t leaving. She nearly missed his next comment because her mind was boggled with possibilities she hadn’t dared entertain before.

“He’s holding my legal papers,” he explained. “We agreed it would be best.”

Cory didn’t answer. She had barely comprehended the fact he had a job in town.

Tyler ran his hand through his hair. “One close call was enough.”

“If Noah is apprehended again, remind him to make enough ruckus, he’s arrested,” Sam said.

“He knows. He’s worried they’ll take Tess quietly and sneak her back to Virginia.”

“Once she’s over the border, I can’t do anything to help her. Legally,” he added. Sam walked them to the door. “Pleasure meeting you, Miss Beecher.”

Cory took Tyler’s arm as they headed down the stairs. “I’m so clumsy, I might fall,” she excused.

He chuckled but stopped suddenly.

She spied Buck with Edward in the street.

“Our shadows have joined forces.”

One was missing. “What happened to Clyde?”

“Turned back about half way. I hope it gave the Reverend Davis enough time to move Tess and Adam out of the church.”

“Let’s put some distance between them and us,” Cory suggested.

“How?”

“We’ll head up town and circle around to Mustill Store. Grandpa is waiting for us there.” She led Tyler up the hill away from the chasers.