Page 71 of Caroline’s Compass

Charlotte brought a cup of coffee and stood beside her. “You can be frightened and still be in command.”

“Rebecca said something similar last week.”

“We discussed you.”

“I suspected.”

Charlotte did not ask whether Thomas would return. She asked what signal they expected and recorded it. Caroline watched the ridge until dusk thinned every shape into rain. When hoofbeats finally came, hope rose so quickly it hurt—and fell just as sharply when only Mr. Hall emerged.

Near sunset, a horse emerged from the rain. Mr. Hall bent low over its neck. The animal limped badly, and Thomas was not behind him.

Caroline reached Hall before his boots found the ground. “Where is he?”

“We separated at the fork.” Hall struggled for breath. “My mare stepped wrong. Reed said he could reach the limestone ridge alone and come back by the marked line. I waited. Then the creek cut between us. I fired twice, but the storm swallowed it.”

“Did he answer?”

Hall shook his head.

Rain slid from Caroline’s hair into her eyes. Around her, twelve wagons stood on higher ground because she had kept her place and done the work required of her. Thomas was somewhere beyond the flooded creek because he had done the same.

She opened the compass. The needle trembled, then settled beneath the cracked glass.

“Show me the fork,” she said.

Chapter Seventeen

May 14, 1854

The Search

At first light, the flood had eaten another six feet of bank. Nathaniel stood beside Caroline while she packed rope, dried meat, bandages, a lantern, and Thomas’s copied field notes into two oilskin bags.

“I can lead the search,” he said.

“You can,” Caroline agreed. “And while you do, eleven families can argue about whether the water is dangerous enough to obey Eleanor.”

“Twelve families,” Eleanor said from behind them. “Ours argues more efficiently than most.”

Nathaniel looked from his wife to Caroline. His jaw tightened, but he did not mistake concern for authority. “Who are you taking?”

“Rebecca, Mr. Hall, and Mr. Coleman. Hall knows where they separated. Coleman is strongest with rope. Rebecca understands horses and has the sense not to flatter me.”

“A rare qualification,” Rebecca said, approaching with four saddled horses.

Eleanor checked the food and bandages, then fastened the oilskin tightly. She did not tell Caroline to be careful. She took Caroline’s hand once and said, “Bring everyone back.”

Charlotte came forward with the company ledger. Caroline wrote the time, their intended bearing, and the names of the search party beneath the previous day’s entry.

“If we are not back by dark, show Nathaniel this line,” Caroline said.

Charlotte’s eyes were steady. “I will.”

Lucy pushed between two sisters and held out a strip of blue cloth. “For Mr. Reed to signal with, since he forgot his white one.”

Caroline tucked it into her pocket. “I’ll tell him you object to his preparations.”

“Tell him I object very much.”