Escape Into the Night
Read Escape Into the Night Online
Authors: Lois Walfrid Johnson
FREEDOM 1 SEEKERS
ESCAPE
into the
NIGHT
LOIS WALFRID JOHNSON
MOODY PUBLISHERS
CHICAGO
© 2013, 1995
LOIS WALFRID JOHNSON
Previously published as
The Riverboat Adventures Series
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Interior Design: Ragont Design
Side-wheeler illustration by Toni Auble
Map of Upper Mississippi by Meridian Mapping
Cover Design: Brock, Sharp & Associates / Faceout Studio
Cover Image: Odessa Sawyer
978-0-8024-0716-0 - Printed by Bethany Press in Bloomington, MN - 02/13
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Johnson, Lois Walfrid. The Freedom Seekers
Escape into the night / Lois Walfrid Johnson.
p. cm. — (The freedom seekers; #1)
Summary: In 1857 thirteen-year-old Libby joins her father aboard the
Christina
and proves that she can be trusted to assist in the escape of a fugitive slave.
ISBN 978-0-8024-0716-0
[1. Fugitive slaves—Fiction. 2. Slavery—Fiction. 3. Afro-Americans—Fiction.]
I. Title. II. Series: Johnson, Lois Walfrid. The Freedom Seekers; #1
PZ7.J63255Es 1995
[Fic]—dc20 95–18990
ISBN 978-0-80240716-0 CIP
AC
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To each of you who have told me
how much you like
the Adventures of the Northwoods
and Viking Quest books
I dedicate this
Freedom Seekers series
to you.
Love always!
Elijah
Lovejoy, Dr. and Mrs. William Salter, Henderson Lewelling, Amos and Ellen Kimberly and their son Samuel, Reverend Asa Turner, and Deacon and Mrs. Theron Trowbridge are all historic characters who lived in the 1850s. Emma is based on the story of a real mother helped by Deacon Trowbridge. All other characters are fictitious and spring with gratitude for life from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.
In the time in which this book is set,
African Americans were called
Negro
,
the Spanish word for black,
or colored people.
CHAPTER 1Nighttime Surprises
A
slender moon hung in the night sky as Libby Norstad gazed down from the hotel. In the river below, her father’s steamboat lay next to the landing. Dark now except for a lantern near the gangplank, the
Christina
seemed to be asleep.
Then as Libby’s eyes grew used to the darkness, a shadow separated from a building off to the right. A second shadow followed, and a third. Without making a sound, three men crept toward the river.
At a warehouse near the
Christina
they stopped. As silently as they came, the men crept around the building and disappeared.
A few minutes later the three men returned. This time they slipped into the deep shadows next to the warehouse. All during that March day in 1857 it had rained, and a large puddle lay between the tall building and the steamboat.
Trying to catch even one small movement, Libby peered into the night. Soon clouds blotted out what little moon there was, making it even more difficult to see.
Just then Libby heard voices from the sitting room next door. Her father was there, and her aunt. Libby strained to hear.
“She’s thirteen now. She needs a change in her life.” That was Pa, and Libby knew he was talking about her. But the rest of his words faded away.
Without making a sound, Libby slipped over to another window. There she was closer to the wall between her bedroom and the sitting room.
“Somehow that girl always manages to attract trouble!” That was Auntie Vi speaking.
Libby pressed her ear against the wall. At the same time she stared down at the warehouse. Not one movement gave away the three men.
Then from somewhere in the night a dog barked. In the next instant the men leaped from the shadows. Breaking into a run, they headed straight for the large puddle between them and the
Christina
. Long boards lay across the puddle, but the men sloshed through the water with bare feet.
In the same moment a boy raced across the
Christina
’s deck. When he reached the oil lantern, he blew out the flame. Sudden darkness hid the men.
Libby raised the window and leaned forward, straining to see. What had happened to the men? She felt sure they were trying to board her father’s boat.
As Libby wondered if she should warn him, the quiet night seemed to explode. Around the hotel the streets came alive. Instead of one dog barking, there were several.
Soon Libby heard dogs enter the street just below her window. Eight or ten men ran close behind with lanterns held high. In their light Libby saw leaping dogs. Yipping with excitement, they strained at their leashes. Bloodhounds!
The dogs sniffed along the side of the warehouse, then followed
the trail to the large puddle of water. At first the lead dog sniffed his way onto the boards. Seeming to find no scent, he went back to the edge of the puddle. This time he sniffed his way around it.
On the far side, the bloodhound barked again. As the other dogs joined him, their barking set up howls from dogs all over town.
Nose to the ground, the lead dog sniffed his way toward the
Christina
. At the edge of the riverbank he stopped. Looking up at the tall, heavy man who held his leash, the dog barked.
