What Once Was Lost (44 page)

Levi swung out of the wagon, and the lawyer leaped out after him. “C’mon, Abe,” Levi said.

The man cleared his throat. “The name is Benjamin Paul Edgar, thank you.”

Levi would shake his hand and get formally acquainted later. Right now they had a job to do. Lanterns in hand, they headed in opposite directions between broken-down buildings and across the thick grass laid flat by the spring winds. They met at a cross point, Lawyer Abe’s long shadow stretching past Levi’s as if racing to a finish line. Levi only hoped Tommy waited at the end of that line.

“Do you hear it?” Levi strained to hear over the night sounds—an owl’s mournful hoot, wind, and their feet tromping on grass.

“No.” The man sounded disappointed. “But the wind was stronger then. Maybe it was only a wind noise and that’s why we aren’t hearing it now.”

Levi resisted the man’s reasoning. He so wanted to believe the sound was made by Tommy’s harmonica. He raised his voice and bellowed, “Tommy! Tommy! Are you here?”

Lawyer Abe took up the cry, too. “Tommy! Tommy!”

Although Levi wanted to break into a run, cover lots of ground, he forced himself to maintain a slow pace. A quieter movement. Side by side he and Lawyer Abe eased in a circle around the abandoned property. Stopping now and then to holler Tommy’s name. Creeping forward a few more feet, lanterns high, eyes searching. More calls.

Nothing.

Levi lowered his lantern, his spirits falling with the beam of light. It was useless. If it had been Tommy’s harmonica, the boy had moved on by now. Levi had let his hopes carry him away. Just as Mor’s hope for Far’s recovery had been futile, so was Levi’s fragile belief that Tommy would be waiting at the old farm.

Lawyer Abe tromped a little farther, then stopped, turning back to send Levi a puzzled look. “What’s the matter?”

“He’s not here. We might as well give up.”

The tall man shook his head. “We haven’t explored the entire grounds. Let’s make sure before we turn back.”

“But—”

And then it came. A single note—weak, trembling, but clearly not from a bird or even the wind. Levi stumbled forward two steps, swinging the lantern first left, then right, his pulse beating so hard his head ached. “Tommy! Tommy! Play some more!”

Another note—this one lower in pitch and even weaker than the first—reached Levi’s ears.

Lawyer Abe pointed. “Over there!” Excitement quavered in his voice.

They bolted forward, lantern light leading the way, one long note after another pulling them the way a horse pulls a plow. Then Levi saw it—a round, warped, wood-planked cover perhaps six feet in diameter. He handed the lantern to the lawyer and dashed ahead. He tripped over something in the grass and fell hard with his hands landing next to the cover. Hope burst through Levi’s chest, bringing the sting of tears. “Tommy! Tommy!” He pried at the edge of the wood with his fingertips.

The lawyer set the lanterns down and knelt beside Levi as he thrust the cover aside. Lying on his belly, Levi peered into the opening. “Tommy?” A black void met his eyes. No answer rose from the darkness. He turned to Abe. “Give me a lantern.” The man pressed a handle into Levi’s waiting hand, and Levi held it over the opening. The dim light flowed across a rickety ladder to a
small shape pressed against the rock wall. Levi squinted, his heart pattering with hope. Was it …

Joy exploded through him. Yes, there at the bottom, Tommy huddled with the harmonica gripped in his fists, his dirty face aimed upward. His lips moved, but no sound emerged. Fear seemed to pulse from the boy.

“Tommy, it’s me—Mr. Jonnson.”

Delight broke across Tommy’s face. He reached with both hands. Tears carved clean paths down his cheeks, and his wide-open eyes beseeched Levi. But he still spoke not a word.

“Grab the ladder, Tommy, and come on up.”

The boy took hold of the ladder’s frame and slowly, as if every step carried him through thick molasses, he pulled himself upward. Levi held his breath, counting the steps, and the moment Tommy was within reach, he caught the boy under his armpits and pulled him the final distance. On his knees he swept Tommy into his embrace.

The boy clung, repeatedly rasping in a coarse whisper, “You came. You came. He told you.”

Levi buried his face in the boy’s moist neck, thankfulness washing through him in waves. Yes, God had to have led them here. “Yes, He told me, Tommy. You’re safe now.” He held the boy for several more minutes, stroking his hair, kissing his temple. “I’ve got you. You’re safe. You’re safe.”
“I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
The words reverberated through Levi’s mind, and an image of God’s guiding hands holding fast even when Levi couldn’t see Him formed in his head.

Still gripping the boy, Levi struggled to his feet. Tommy wrapped his arms and legs around Levi’s frame, resting his head on Levi’s shoulder. Levi imagined God’s arms enfolding them both. He turned to Abe, whose smile beamed as brightly as the light glowing from the lantern in his hand. “Get my gun from the wagon and fire up a shot—let the others know we’ve found him. Then I’m going to take Tommy home.”

Abe held the lanterns well in front of them, lighting their way as they
headed for the wagon. “Although I’m not well acquainted with firearms, I shall gladly alert the men. But afterward I’ll need you to transport me to the poor farm so I can retrieve Miss Willems. I left her there caring for Hamilton Dresden.”

At the mention of Dresden, Tommy’s arms put a stranglehold on Levi’s neck. Levi was forced to stop and loosen the boy’s grip. “What is it, Tommy?”

Tommy burrowed deeper into Levi’s shoulder. “Dresden, he …”—his words scraped out—“put me in the well.”

Levi clung to Tommy, offering security with his own strong hold. “Why would he do that to you?”

“ ’Cause I know … what he done.” Tommy went limp in Levi’s arms.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this later,” Levi said, setting off again for the waiting wagon in a determined stride. “This boy needs water and rest.”

“The poor farm’s closest.”

And according to the lawyer, Miss Willems was there. Levi wouldn’t argue.

A single rifle shot carried on the night air. Christina lifted her head toward the open window and let out a gasp.

Mary Ann Creeger reached across the short expanse of worn carpet and gripped Christina’s arm. “They’ve found him.” Her words washed out on a note of relief.

Yes, the shot indicated Tommy had been found. But unharmed? They wouldn’t know until the men returned. She pressed both palms to her chest and winged up a hopeful prayer.
Let him be all right, Lord, please
.

Cora had fallen asleep in a chair, so Christina roused her and asked her to keep watch at Dresden’s side while she and Mary Ann hurried into the yard. Moonlight spilled across the ground, illuminating the searchers, who came from every direction. Christina scanned each arrival, her heart beating an eager
thrum
. But none of the men on foot or in a wagon carried Tommy to her.

Yet another wagon rumbled toward the poor farm, its horses frothing. Christina squinted at the pair of forms on the seat, lit by the lanterns swinging from hooks on the wagon’s sides. Her heart caught in her throat. One of the men cradled Tommy! With a strangled gasp she staggered forward over the uneven ground, her hands reaching. As the wagon rolled onto the yard, she recognized the man holding the reins and the one holding Tommy. Her gaze jumped past Ben to Levi, and the flutter in her chest became wings of delight. Of course he’d found Tommy. It was only right that the man she loved would return the boy—the boy who owned a significant portion of her heart—to her waiting embrace.

Men crowded behind her, excited voices filling the air, as she held out her arms for Tommy. Levi lowered him to her, and she nearly collapsed beneath his weight. But another pair of arms reached to assist her—Mr. Creeger, with tears in his eyes.

“Let me take him. I won’t let him fall.”

Christina swallowed and released the boy, feeling a great weight lifting not only from her arms but from her heart as she trusted him to bear this burden for her. Mr. Jonnson alighted, and without a second’s hesitation Christina turned and threw herself into his arms.

Chapter 44

Levi held Miss Willems the way he’d held Tommy. Close to his heart, his cheek pressed to her hair. He drank in her scent, amazed at how she completely filled his senses. She belonged right there, nestled in his embrace. His heart bounced inside his chest like a bell’s clapper. He didn’t want to let her go.

But as quickly as she’d fallen against him, she wriggled loose. In the moonlight her cheeks bore bright patches of scarlet. She touched her lips with trembling fingertips, and without thought Levi’s gaze dropped to their rosy fullness. Her blush deepened, and she lowered her head.

“Forgive me.” Her voice released on a whisper. “I was just so thankful I … I lost myself for a moment.”

Odd how her loss was his gain.

Lifting her chin, she met his gaze. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “Thank you, Levi, for finding Tommy.”

She’d called him Levi. She hadn’t quite collected herself yet. “I found more than Tommy, Christina.” He sampled her name and deemed its delivery sweet. “I found my place in Brambleville.”

Her head tipped in puzzlement, and her lips parted as if to question his statement, but someone screeched her name. Christina stepped away from him, toward Cora, who raced across the yard in an awkward gait with her skirts in her fists.

“Miss Willems, he’s rousin’! Hamilton Dresden—he just now opened his eyes!”

The lawyer leaped down from the wagon, captured Christina’s elbow, and propelled her toward the house. The men swarmed after the pair, creating a barrier between Christina and Levi. He hesitated—should he leave? Tommy
was safe now with Christina. Good ol’ Abe would dig to the bottom of Dresden’s activities. Levi wasn’t needed any longer.

The surging crowd suddenly came to a muttering halt. From within the throng, Christina’s voice lifted. “Levi? Levi Jonnson, are you coming?”

Levi grinned and broke into a trot. He’d stay.

Christina walked Ben to the poor farm’s front door. The tall man yawned, then smiled sheepishly. “Forgive me. I’m not accustomed to this kind of activity.” His grin widened. “But I wouldn’t have missed the excitement for the finest desk job in the world.”

Even though Christina had heard Dresden’s confession with her own ears, she still found it amazing how much harm one man could cause. Although at first he’d resisted admitting any wrongdoing, when confronted by Cora and then by Tommy and finally informed, very tartly, by Mary Ann Creeger that Christina had sat by his side and tended his wound, he’d turned into a blubbering mess and spilled every foul deed perpetrated in the name of revenge.

Ben continued, “The sheriff won’t have any reason to continue holding you accountable for either the fire at the poor farm or the theft at the mercantile.” In the soft glow from a lamp on the windowsill, she observed his wink, the daring gesture changing his austere appearance to that of an ornery lad. “I suspect an apology will be forthcoming. And if it isn’t received promptly, I shall have no qualms about encouraging its delivery.”

Christina shook her head. “Being out from under this cloud of suspicion is apology enough.” Although the sheriff had arrived at the poor farm well after Ham’s outpouring, a good dozen of the town’s men had witnessed the disclosures. Word would spread, the truth finally revealed. She recalled Hamilton Dresden’s broken appearance when the sheriff had escorted him to a wagon for transport to the town’s jail. Sympathy twined through her chest. What a miserable man he must be to create such chaos for others. Lifting her face to Ben, she asked, “What about the counterfeit money? Will he face charges for printing it?”

Ben stroked his goatee, his expression serious. “I imagine so. He spent a few of the bills when he knew they weren’t legitimate. He’ll have to answer for that. But the Kansas City authorities might decrease his sentence if he helps them capture the ones who set up the counterfeiting equipment in the first place.”

Christina sighed. “I hope he’ll be willing to cooperate.”