Page 23 of Caroline’s Compass

They returned Samuel to Mrs. Turner. She hugged him, scolded him, hugged him again, and assigned Mr. Turner to keep the boy within arm's reach.

Caroline walked back toward the creek.

Her hands shook.

Thomas did not mention it.

“He was supposed to be watched,” she said.

“He was.”

“Not well enough.”

“You were not responsible for Samuel.”

“I saw him.”

“After he had already left the wagon.”

“If we had been closer to the edge—”

“We were not.”

“If you had not caught him—”

“You caught him too.”

Caroline stopped. “There is always something. A wheel, an ox, a child, food, weather. If I fail to notice one thing—”

“The world does not become yours because you noticed it.”

She stared at him.

“That is a terrible comfort.”

“It is not meant as comfort.” Thomas's voice softened. “Responsibility chosen by a group is different from responsibility seized before anyone can offer help. Samuel has parents. This company has a captain and a co-captain. Your sisters are not helpless.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

Caroline looked toward camp. Eleanor stood beside Nathaniel while he spoke with the drivers. Rebecca was checking teams. Martha had Grace and Lucy filling kettles well away from the bank. Charlotte recorded the break. Lydia held Samuel's hand and told him something that made him laugh despite his mother's anger.

Everything continued without Caroline directing it.

“I dislike this lesson,” she said.

“Most useful lessons are rude.”

“Did a surveyor tell you that?”

“My first employer. Usually after sending me into a swamp.”

They resumed the search.

Half a mile downstream, Thomas found a gravel shelf running diagonally across the creek. The water was still too high, but branches caught in the brush showed that it had already fallen several inches.

“This was likely the old ford,” he said. “The main channel shifted toward the far bank.”