Victor will be mad at you when he finds Iâm missing,â Emily whispered back.
âDonât worry about me,â said Jackson. âItâs you heâs after.â
âBut what will become of
me?
Iâll be all alone!â Emily whispered, her voice faltering.
âYouâll take a chance, Emily, thatâs what youâll do,â whispered Jackson. âItâll be the bravest thing you ever did. Tell the men at the way station that you got off when the team was changed. Tell them you fell asleep and the coach went off without you. Theyâll put you on the next stagecoach coming through to Redbud. Youâll just get to your auntâs a couple days later, thatâs all.â
At that moment Mr. Muffit rolled over slowly until his whiskers were in Emilyâs face. His voice was so low that Emily could hardly hear him, but this time he didnât sound old at all:
âListen to me,â he whispered. âI am a secret stagecoach inspector. My job is to ride all the way to California to see how well the drivers do their job. No one must know who I am. Do as your friend says,Emily. Iâll help him make it appear that you are asleep here in the coach.â
Emily and Jackson couldnât see the manâs face in the darkness, but they lay openmouthed in surprise. His fake beard scratched Emilyâs forehead.
Emily wondered what the three neighbor women would suggest.
Mrs. Ready might say, âEmily must decide whether she can do the brave thing!â
Mrs. Aim would ask, âBut should she trust the inspector?â
And perhaps Mrs. Fire would answer, âIâd trust him before Iâd trust that snake of an uncle!â
Emily could hardly bear the thought of another delay in getting to Aunt Hildaâs, but she whispered her thanks to the stagecoach inspector and turned to Jackson once again.
âYouâve been a good friend, and I wouldnât have made it this far without you. I hope you find a good family to live with in the West.â
It was just as Jackson had said. The coach stopped around midnight only long enough to change horses.Most of the passengers went on snoring, and fortunately, Uncle Victor was one of them. As it was still dark and the stationmaster was busy with the animals, no one noticed the small child being helped out the window by a man with a beard. Emily dropped silently to the ground and ran around a corner of the way station.
A few minutes later the driver cracked his whip and the stagecoach was off again, each bend in the road taking Jackson farther and farther away.
Emily had never felt so aloneâ
really
alone. She crept back to the stable where the horses and mules were kept and dug a little nest for herself in the hay. She was still in Jacksonâs britches, still in Jacksonâs shirt. Her socks were filthy, her little boots were muddy, and her hair stuck out in short brown spikes all over her head. Meanwhile, her dress and petticoat and bonnet were on their way to Aunt Hildaâs.
She opened Rufusâs box and kissed his little face. His skin and shell looked dry. âOh, please stay alive, Rufus!â she told him. âYouâre all I have from my mother.â As soon as it was light, she would find somewater for him to drink, some bugs for him to eat, and some grass that he might crawl through.
She wished she could explain to him that it would be only two more days before another stagecoach arrived to take her to Aunt Hildaâs, but she kissed him instead, and he tucked his head back under his shell. Emily fell asleep.
â¢Â   â¢Â   â¢
Something cold and metallic touched the side of Emilyâs leg, and she jumped and opened her eyes.
A manâs voice said, âWhere the dickens did
you
come from?â He was standing there with a pitchfork, feeding the mules and staring wide-eyed at Emily. âHorace!â he called. âCome see what we got