Page 20 of Eleanor’s Earrings

“More than it did yesterday,” Nathaniel said. “The operator knows the river is high.”

That caused another burst of complaints.

Eleanor raised her hand.

A man near her frowned. “This is a council of wagon owners.”

“I own two,” Eleanor said.

“Your father—”

“Is dead. The wagons are mine.”

The man opened his mouth again, but Nathaniel spoke first.

“Miss Whitaker has the floor.”

Eleanor looked at him. He gave her a small nod.

“Waiting will cost food and grass,” she said. “Floating the wagons risks every supply we carry. If the ferry can take the wagons safely, the price should be compared against those losses rather than against what we hoped to pay.”

“Easy to say when you have money,” the same man muttered.

Eleanor turned toward him. “It is easy to say because I can add.”

Caroline made a sound behind her that might have been a cough.

Nathaniel's face remained serious, though his eyes did not.

A tall man carrying several rolled maps stepped forward. Eleanor had noticed him during the first days but had not spoken with him.

“The river rose nearly two feet yesterday,” he said. “I measured the bank and spoke with a freight driver coming east. It may fall if the weather holds, but not quickly.”

“Thomas Reed,” Nathaniel said to the group. “Surveyor and mapmaker.”

Caroline's attention sharpened at the word mapmaker.

Eleanor noticed because she noticed everything her sisters did. Caroline would deny it if asked, so Eleanor decided to save the question for a more entertaining moment.

Thomas unrolled a rough map over the top of a barrel. “The ferry is here. There is a ford several miles upstream, but it is not safe at the present height.”

Caroline stepped closer. “How recent are your measurements?”

Thomas looked at her. “This morning.”

“And the current?”

“Strong enough to turn a wagon if the team loses its footing.”

Caroline studied the map. “Then we should not attempt the ford.”

“I agree.”

Eleanor looked away before Caroline caught her smiling.

Nathaniel decided they would travel to the ferry and negotiate as a group. It was sensible. It also meant that the operator would see twelve wagons arriving with no safe alternative.

By afternoon, they reached the river. The water was broad, brown, and fast. The ferry was little more than a flat platform guided by a cable, and Eleanor watched one wagon cross while trying not to imagine the cable breaking.