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ESCAPE into the NIGHT

Moody Publishers

Contents

1. Nighttime Surprises............................112. The Mysterious Boxes...........................193. Here Comes Samson!.............................294. The Bad Start..................................375. A Day with Caleb...............................496. Strange Message................................577. The Judas Goat.................................658. The Underground Railroad.......................759. Caleb's Secret.................................8310. Libby's Choice................................9111. Code of Honor.................................9712. Let My People Go!.............................10513. Riggs!........................................11514. The Big Test..................................12515. More Danger...................................13516. The Hiding Place..............................14317. Skunk River...................................15318. Trapped!......................................16319. Samson's Disguise.............................17320. The Never-Give-Up Family......................183Study Guide.......................................189A Few Words for Educators.........................199List of Characters................................203Acknowledgments...................................207Excerpt from Race for Freedom.....................213

Chapter One

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.

"Hey there!" the large man shouted. "You on the Christina!"

As the man held up his lantern, Libby saw that something had changed. The long plank from boat to shore was no longer in place.

When no one appeared, the man shouted again. "Hey there! I know you're on board! C'mon out!"

Around him, the dogs set up an even greater racket. Then a lantern moved slowly across the forward deck. When the person with the lantern held it up, Libby recognized the boy she had seen only minutes before.

From near the railing he called down. "Can I help you?"

"Of course you can help me! Where are the men that boarded your boat?"

"You saw men?" the boy asked.

"Where is your captain?" the large man roared.

"He'll be back soon, sir. Would you like to wait?"

"Where's your first mate?"

"I can't tell you, sir,"

"Then let us board!"

"I can't let you board, sir. Not without the captain's permission."

"Then run out your gangplank! We'll tell you whether someone went aboard!"

The boy stepped backward and set down the lantern. As Libby watched, a long plank dropped down between the boat and the shore.

Once again the boy held up the lantern, but he stayed at the top of the gangplank. Strong and confident looking, he guarded the deck, as though unwilling to let anyone step past him.

With the lead dog running ahead, the pack of dogs pushed forward. Nose to the wood, he sniffed up and down the plank. Finally he returned to his owner and sat down on his haunches.

Holding up his fist, the large man shook it at the boy on board. "I don't know what you did!"

The boy seemed undisturbed. "Maybe you should look somewhere else," he called down.

The man's sudden growl sounded like a dog's. Just the same, he turned away. When the bloodhounds sniffed their way back to the warehouse, the men followed.

As they disappeared around the end of the building, Libby heard voices in the sitting room. Quickly she tiptoed across the floor and knelt down at the door between the two rooms.

"I just can't seem to change Libby into what she should be," That was Auntie Vi again.

Since the death of her mother four years before, Libby had lived with her aunt and uncle in a Chicago mansion. In that second week of March 1857, Libby and Auntie Vi had traveled to Burlington, Iowa, so that Libby could visit her father.

"How do you want to change her?" Captain Norstad asked.

"She can't do anything right!" Auntie Vi answered. "She does like nice clothes, but—"

"She likes nice clothes, all right!" the captain agreed. "Libby told me that she didn't like my uniform—that it's too old-fashioned!"

"That sounds like Libby," Her aunt sounded pleased. "She's developed excellent taste. Whatever costs most, that's what Libby chooses,"

"Does she now?" the captain asked. "Is that why she calls me Faw-thur, like some high society girl? The last time I saw...