Runaway by Becky Citra

Author:Becky Citra
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2003-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

I tossed in my bed in the loft, thinking about Lucas. Our cat Pirate jumped with a thump onto my stomach. I reached down and pulled him up to my face. I hugged his warm body, and listened to his soft purring.

Yip! Yip! Yip! Somewhere in our field coyotes sang. Pirate stiffened, squeezed out of my arms and thudded to the floor. I was used to the noise, but it still sent tingles up my spine. Lucas must be listening to them too. Was he scared?

I climbed out of bed and went downstairs. I scooped a drink of water from the bucket and stood by the window. Papa and Napoleon were on the porch, their pipes glowing in the dark. The door was open a crack and snatches of their voices drifted tbrough.

Papa said, “I’ll paddle across to the Indian camp… long way, but he might have gone that far.”

And then I heard Napoleon’s soft voice, “…not fit to raise a boy …trouble in New York…I knew I’d seen him before…”

I slipped closer to the door, straining to hear.

Papa murmered something and Napoleon said, “…in the tavern in Montreal…I heard him talking…”

The coyotes burst into a new song, and it was hard to hear. I caught part of Naopleon’s voice, “…man was dead…Sam Black left New York in a hurry…”

I gasped out loud. Silence fell on the porch. Then Papa coughed and pushed the door shut.

The back of my neck prickled. I didn’t care if Papa knew I was listening. So everything Red said was true. Sam Black had killed a man. Legs shaking, I went back upstairs to my bed.

Sam Black was a murderer! I tried to remember Papa’s exact words when Ellie said, “You can’t make him go back to Sam Black’s!” He had said something about not interfering. After hearing Napoleon, would Papa still think that? I pulled my thick quilt up to my neck but I stayed icy cold.

I decided to stay awake all night so I could get up early before Papa. I had to warn Lucas!

Men’s voices drifted up through my window in the loft. Blinking from sleep, I crawled out of bed and peered outside. The morning was foggy, but I could see the shapes of men gathered at the side of the road, Papa and Mr. McDougall and Jeremy and two farmers who lived at the end of the lake. The search party! I had slept in!

The men faded away in the fog. I hurried downstairs. Ellie was still asleep. Hastily I laid a cloth on the table and filled it with pieces of bread and ham from last night’s supper. I rolled it up tightly, grabbed my coat and dashed outside.

Thump! I bumped straight into Napoleon who was coming in the door. I dropped my bundle, and bread and ham scattered everywhere. He stepped back while I gathered up the food, my cheeks blazing.

“My breakfast,” I stammered. “I’m going to help look for Lucas and I didn’t have time to eat.

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