The ferry rode high, lurching on its leash like an ill-mannered dog. A man in an oil-slicked coat waited for them. “You had to pick tonight,” he grumbled as they pulled up their horses. “Normally I wouldn’t chance taking her out on a night like tonight.”
The men swung off their horses. Jesse moved to help Diamond, hoping she wouldn’t notice how his hands were shaking. She slid into his arms with a groan, barely able to stand after their wild ride.
“You’re a good man,” Crawford said. “We appreciate your help.”
Diamond eyed the churning river. “Do we need to cross? Can’t we just head south?”
“We could, but this gives us a better chance at avoiding pursuit,” Crawford said.
“Can we make it?” Diamond asked the ferry operator.
“She’s stouter than she looks. She won’t break up.”
Jesse noted he hadn’t answered Diamond’s question. He looked down at the swirling water choked with branches and other debris. He wasn’t sure he could force himself to step on the ferry. His legs felt weak and a roaring in his head echoed the sound of the racing river.
Crawford attempted to lead his horse onto the wooden planks, but the animal balked, back-stepping nervously and tossing his head. Crawford spoke soothingly to him, but the horse rolled his eyes and planted his hooves on steady ground.
“We don’t have to do this,” Diamond said. “Crawford can cross, if he gets his horse to cooperate, but we could just go south. We’ve got a head start on any pursuit.”
She knows. Jesse swallowed. Janet or Jack must have said something about how the Mississippi had nearly taken his life on that long ago day. Jack might have bragged about how he had saved his little brother and kept Janet from getting in trouble with their father for not watching him closely enough. They must have told her he still avoided water at all costs.
“We need all the advantages we can get. We should cross.” He forced the words out despite a mouth so dry his tongue felt clumsy.
She stepped closer although with Crawford and the ferry operator busy with the reluctant horse, he didn’t think they could hear them. “You can do this. We crossed Reelfoot Lake. I didn’t want to enter those shadowy waters even though I know how to swim. And I now know what it must have taken for you to trust me to guide us through. Trust me again.”
“I’ll always trust you.” He couldn’t tell her he’d been so delirious with fever he barely remembered their lake crossing. But he had known what they were undertaking and had counted on this strong, determined woman to get them through.
“Next,” the ferry operator called, having gotten Crawford’s horse aboard.
Diamond tugged at her own horse’s reins. Her mount appeared less jittery, but didn’t want to take that final step. The ferry operator stepped forward and helped persuade the horse to step onboard.
It was Jesse’s turn. He murmured to his horse, trying to concentrate on the animal’s fear rather than his own. “It will be all right,” he said, hoping to convince both of them. The horse threw his head up and whinnied, the sound carrying in the quiet after the storm.
They heard an answering whinny in the distance. Crawford’s head shot up. “Could be pursuers,” he said, his voice low and tense. “Hurry, we have to get going.”
Jesse pulled off his jacket and draped it over the horse’s eyes, keeping him from seeing the turbulent water. He coaxed the horse forward, his own heart sinking as they stepped on the bobbing contraption.
The ferry operator slid the rope free and pushed off. The current caught them instantly, spinning them in a circle. The operator ran from one side of the craft to the other, trying to maintain control.
Jesse stood, head buried in his horse’s mane, taking deep breaths. His horse seemed calmer now, standing steady, but he could hear one of the other horses, Crawford’s probably, shifting nervously, hooves rattling against the wooden planks. He felt a hand on his back and realized Diamond had drifted closer. She didn’t speak, but he took comfort from her presence even as his cheeks burned with humiliation. How would he be able to look at her again if they made it to the other side?
“We will overshoot,” Crawford called out.
“No help for it,” the operator replied.
The raft took another sickening turn, and Jesse heard Diamond catch her breath as water sloshed over the top, wetting their already soaked feet. They might all die if it overturned.
A bang sounded from shore and bark flew from where a bullet buried itself in the ferry’s railing. Diamond screamed and drew closer. The men on the bank were shooting at them.
The ferry operator yelled some obscenities, then gave up fighting to bring them into shore and caught the center current which carried them quickly downstream. Another volley came from shore, but this one missed the speeding raft entirely. The men raced their horses along the bank for a few minutes, firing as they went, but the river carried the ferry along quicker than the men could follow and they were soon out of range.
Once they were no longer under fire, the operator tried once more to bring them to shore. He struggled to move the raft against the strong current. Crawford still fought to control his unruly mount. Someone needed to help the operator and Diamond hadn’t sufficient strength.
“Hold him.” Jesse shoved his reins into Diamond’s hand.
“Where are you going?”
“He needs help.”
“But—”
Jesse didn’t allow her to finish. He stepped towards the operator, his stomach rolling with the pitch of the deck. He grabbed the pole, too, and together they fought against the strength of the
