Page 39 of Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Jeremiah shook his head. “No, and I don’t know why he wants to help that cause.”

“And why isn’t he stopped?” I asked. “Shouldn’t someone stop him?”

“He’s not breaking the law. He’s abiding by it. It is the laws that must change. Until they do, there will always be greedy men like Mr.Johnson who want to make a profit off of others suffering.”

“If you know that it’s Mr.Johnson behind this, why was my brother spying? If you already have the answer then there is nothing that can be done about it.”

“There is always something that can be done. I must believe that,” Jeremiah said. “I must believe that to keep going.”

Emily tapped a glove-covered finger to her cheek as if she was deep in thought. “To learn why Henry was killed, we have to learn what he knew.” She looked to me. “The only way to do that is to spy on Mr.Johnson ourselves.”

I stared at her. She could not be serious. We were young women. We couldn’t be spies. And we didn’t even know who or what we were spying for.

Before I could make any of what I thought were very logical arguments against it, Emily said, “And he just so happens to be headed to Washington on my train. We have no choice but to go and find out what his real purpose is for traveling to the capital.”

I squinted at her as if I didn’t hear her correctly. “We?”

“Yes, you need to join the family in Washington.”

“I can’t do that. Miss O’Brien has so much work planned for us to do while the family is away. We are cleaning the house top to bottom, and we are organizing the attic and the storage areas, so that moving at the end of the year will be easier. I can’t leave. Miss O’Brien would never allow it.”

Emily lifted her chin. “You work for the Dickinson family, not for Margaret. It is not her decision. You will be on that train with us.” She turned to Jeremiah then as if the conversation was over. “Who else is here that we can speak to about Mr.Johnson?”

“Please don’t,” Jeremiah said. “I implore you to just go home. If Mr.Johnson knew you were here he would be angry. If you really do plan to follow him in Washington, I think that it is best that you leave here now. You don’t want to tip him off.”

Emily nodded. “I suppose you’re right, and we need to go home to make arrangements for Willa to join my family on the train.” Without saying goodbye, she headed for the stable doors.

Jeremiah looked to me. “This is a bad idea.”

I agreed with him, but Emily was my employer. If she wanted me to go to Washington with the family, I had to go.

I glanced in the direction that Emily disappeared. “Is there anything you can tell us to help us? Anything at all? If it is dangerous, the more information that we have before we leave, the better.”

Jeremiah looked to me. “Did you open the package I gave you?”

“I did.”

“And what was it?”

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head. “I think I know.”

Unsure why I was telling him, I said, “It is my brother’s diary.”

Jeremiah frowned. “That is what I was afraid it was. I hope that he didn’t write anything damning in it.” He stepped closer to me. “You have to be careful with it. If the wrong person knew that you had that diary, you would be in danger.”

I stumbled back from him. “The wrong person? Mr.Johnson, you mean?”

“You must be careful. Keep it safe. It’s more than your life at stake, so much more.”

Emily reappeared. “Willa, are you coming? We have a great deal to do.”

My chest heaved up and down. I did my best to calm my breathing, so Emily didn’t see how upset I was. “Yes, I’m coming. I was just asking Jeremiah about Terror and how the horse was doing.”

Without missing a beat, Jeremiah said, “He is on the mend. He’s eating a bit of his feed again and drinking water.” He shook his head. “He is not himself just yet. He misses Henry terribly.”

That made two of us.

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