Sarah's Choice (26 page)

“What’s that?”

“It’s about what Sarah told me while I was at her house, saying good-bye.”

He frowned. “I’m not interested in anything she has to say.”

“I think you will be when you hear what it is.”

“I doubt it.”

“Elias, please let me tell you what she said.”

He folded his arms and stared straight ahead. “Go ahead, if you must.”

“When I told Sarah how upset you were over her saying she could never marry a man like you, she said—”

“You discussed my feelings with Sarah?” Elias’s jaw clenched so tightly that his teeth ached.

“Well, yes, and—”

“How could you, Carolyn? How could you even think of talking to Sarah about my reaction to her rejection of me?”

“Since you were so upset about it, I thought she had the right to know.”

He shook his head. “Sarah doesn’t care how I feel.”

“Yes, she does, and she wasn’t referring to the red mark on your face when she said she could never marry a man like you.”

“What was she referring to?”

“She was talking about the fact that you’re a boatman.”

“You mean she’d be ashamed to be married to a boatman?”

“Not ashamed. Fearful.”

“Of what?”

“That the canal might take you or one of her children the way it did her husband. She’s also afraid that if she married a boatman, one of her children might be forced to become a mule driver, the way she and her sister were when they were girls.”

Elias slapped his hand against his pant leg. “That’s ridiculous! I’d never force Sarah’s children or any children we might have of our own to lead my mules.”

“That’s good to hear. Why don’t you tell Sarah that?”

He shook his head. “If she’s fearful of the canal and doesn’t want to be married to a boatman, then I doubt she’d change her mind about marrying me.”

“She might if she knew how much you loved her and if you gave her your word that you’d never make any of the children lead your mules.”

Elias sat silently, mulling things over.

“If you don’t do something soon, it might be too late.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Patrick’s still after Sarah to marry him, and she plans to give him her answer by the time the canal closes for the winter.”

“That’s a few months away.”

“Yes, but she might make her decision sooner, and if she chooses him, it’ll be too late for the two of you.”

“She’d probably be better off with Patrick than me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He’s handsome and doesn’t work on the canal.”

“But if she doesn’t love him…”

“It doesn’t matter. Sarah won’t marry me as long as I’m a boatman.” Elias jumped up. “We need to get back on the boat. It’s time we headed for Easton.”

“Did you get the painting and tell the Coopers good-bye for me?”

“Yes, and I’m sure Mother will be very happy with her birthday present.”

Carolyn sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to go. I wish we could stay right here and enjoy the sunshine and warm breeze blowing off the water.”

“Well, we can’t. I need to get to Easton, and so do you.”

T
hroughout the month of September, Elias avoided Sarah. He’d been thinking about the things Carolyn had told him but wasn’t sure what, if anything, he should do. If Sarah wouldn’t marry him because he was a boatman, then even if he spoke to her about marriage again, she wouldn’t change her mind. Yet if he didn’t speak to her about it, she might end up marrying the blacksmith. Still, if Sarah wasn’t going to give Patrick an answer until the canal closed for the winter, Elias had some time to decide what he should do.

Carolyn had also mentioned that she’d suggested to Sarah the idea of opening a bakery in town, but Sarah had said she didn’t have the money for that. Elias felt bad that Sarah had to work so hard and struggle financially. If she married Patrick, she wouldn’t have to worry about either of those things anymore.

“Ya look like you’re a million miles from here,” Ned said, joining Elias at the bow of the boat. “Whatcha thinkin’ about anyway?”

“Nothing much.”
Nothing I wish to talk about
.

Ned tipped his head back and sniffed the air. “Fall’s definitely here. Can ya smell the musty odor from the leaves that have fallen on the ground?”

Elias gave a quick nod.

“Won’t be long, and the canal will be closin’ down for the season. Got any idea what you’ll do durin’ the winter months?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“Well, you’d better figure somethin’ out soon, ‘cause both of the boardin’ houses in town fill up real quick with the boatmen who’ve got no homes of their own, and word has it that one of the boardin’ houses might be up for sale, so that one could be gone by winter.”

“I hear that some of the canalers live on their boats during the winter months.”

“Yep, that’s true. Think ya might do that?”

Elias shrugged. “Right now my plan is to stop at Cooper’s store as soon as we get to Walnutport so I can pick up some supplies. Then we’ll push on and get our load of coal picked up in Mauch Chunk before the end of the day.”

“Ya still want me to steer the boat when we head into the lock at Walnutport?”

“Yes, I’ll stay below until we get through, and then, unless you need something from the store, you can stay on the boat and keep an eye on things while I go in.”

“Don’t need a thing this time.” Ned clicked his tongue noisily as he shook his head. “Sure don’t make sense to me the way ya hide out below every time we go through that lock. Ya don’t do it at the other locks we go through.”

Elias gripped the tiller until his fingers ached. He wished Ned would stop plying him with questions—especially questions he’d rather not answer.

When Elias entered Cooper’s store, he found Mike sweeping up some broken glass near the front window.

“What happened?” Elias asked.

Mike frowned. “Sometime during the night, someone broke into the store again. This time, they took even more items than before.”

“That’s a shame. Do you think it was done by the same person who broke in the other time?”

“I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Several weeks ago someone stole something from me, too.”

“Really? What’d they steal?”

“A can of money I had hidden in my cabin.”

“Did they leave any clues?”

Elias shook his head.

“Well, they left one here.” Mike reached under the front counter and produced a faded piece of blue material. “I found this stuck to a chunk of the glass that was still in the store window. I’m guessin’ it came off the thief’s shirt when he crawled through the window.”

Elias pursed his lips. “Hmm… There’s nothing unusual about the color of the material. I suppose it could belong to most anyone.”

“But here’s something interesting. Look at this.” Mike pointed to a blotch of blood on the material. “Whoever came in through the window must have cut his arm on the broken glass.”

Elias studied the material. “That’s definitely a clue—or at least it would be if we knew who in the area had a cut on his arm.” Whew! At least he knew for sure that it hadn’t been Frank or Ned. They were definitely not here last night, and neither of them had a cut on their arm. “Have you looked around outside for any clues? It rained yesterday, so maybe the thief left some footprints.”

“No, I haven’t looked. Let’s go see.”

Elias followed Mike out the door. Sure enough, a pair of large footprints led to the window of the store.

“So we know it was a man,” Mike said as they returned to the store. “Only trouble is there are a lot of men in the area with big feet.”

“Have you notified the sheriff?”

“Not yet. I was going to do that as soon as Kelly had time to mind the store for me so I could go to town.”

Elias was about to say that he would tell the sheriff, when the door opened and burly Bart Jarmon stepped in.

“Came to get a few supplies I didn’t realize I still needed,” he said, looking at Mike.

“That’s fine,” Mike replied. “Look around the store and get whatever you need.”

Bart headed down one of the aisles and returned a few minutes later with several items, which he placed on the counter.

“That’ll be ten dollars,” Mike said after he’d added up Bart’s purchases.

Bart reached into his pants pocket. As he fumbled, trying to get his money, a gold pocket watch fell out and landed on the floor.

Elias gasped. It was his missing watch—the one Grandpa had given him.

“Where’d you get that?” he asked Bart.

Bart’s face colored as he bent to pick it up. “Found it. Can’t remember where, though.”

“Can I take a look at it?”

“What for?”

“I had a pocket watch like that, but it’s missing.”

Bart quickly stuck the watch back in his pocket. “What are ya sayin’? Are ya accusin’ me of takin’ your watch?” He squinted his beady eyes and glared at Elias.

Mike moved closer to Bart and pointed to the bandage sticking out from under the man’s rolled-up shirtsleeve. Elias hadn’t noticed it until now.

“What happened to your arm?” Mike asked.

The crimson color in Bart’s face darkened, and rivulets of sweat beaded up on his forehead. “I…uh…cut myself on a piece of metal.”

Mike looked over at Elias, then back at Bart. “Someone broke into my store last night, and I’m sure whoever did it cut their arm on the broken glass in the front window. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

Bart’s eyes narrowed as he shook his head. “And you’ve got no proof that I do.”

“Maybe we ought to take a look around your boat,” Elias spoke up. “Just to be sure you’re telling the truth.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Mike agreed.

Bart shifted nervously and pulled his fingers through the sides of his dark, bushy hair. “There’s no need for that—no need a’tall.”

“Why’s that, Bart?” Mike questioned.

Bart started edging toward the door, but Mike moved quickly to block it. Elias, his heart hammering in his chest, jumped in front of the door, too.

Bart scowled at them. “Get outa my way! Ya can’t keep me here, ya know!”

Mike planted his hands on his hips and stared at Bart. “Then tell us what you know about the break-in here at my store.”

Bart put up his fists like he was ready for a fight, but Mike didn’t back down.

Elias had never been one for violence and didn’t know what he’d do if Bart started swinging. He sure couldn’t let Mike, who was several inches shorter and weighed a lot less than Bart, do battle with the brute alone. On the other hand, Elias wasn’t sure how successful he and Mike would be, even if they both took Bart on. A man like Bart, whose breath smelled of liquor, might be a lot stronger than the two of them put together.

“All right, I’m the one,” Bart blurted, staring at Mike with a look of defiance. “I broke into your store twice and woulda done it again if I’d run outa money.” His gaze swung to Elias. “And yes, I came aboard your boat when you were docked here so you could attend one of them Bible-thumpin’ preacher’s meetings, and I stole your pocket watch and a bar of that white soap that floats. Then later, when you was docked near one of the stores in Mauch Chunk, I took the can of money.”

White-hot anger welled in Elias’s chest, and he had to take a couple of deep breaths to calm down. “Why, Bart?

What made you do such a terrible thing?”

“I’d like to know that myself,” Mike put in.

Bart took a step back and leaned against the counter. “Things have been bad for me lately, and I was afraid I might lose my boat.”

“How come? What’s happened?” Mike wanted to know.

“I spent most of my money on liquor and gambling, and if I hadn’t done somethin’ quick, I’da been headed for the poorhouse.”

“Stealing other people’s property is not the answer,” Elias said. “ ‘Thou shalt not steal’ is one of God’s commandments.”

Bart slammed his left fist into his right hand. “I don’t give a hoot nor a holler ‘bout God’s commandments! I live by my own rules. Have ever since I was a boy and my old man ran off and left me, Ma, and my three sisters alone to fend for ourselves.”

“I understand you’ve had a hard life,” Mike said, “but stealing’s against the law, and now you’ll have to go with us to see the sheriff.”