Page 45 of Because I Could Not Stop for Death

Emily spoke for me. “My father asked my brother, Austin, to bring our mother, Lavinia, and me to visit him in Washington before his term in Congress came to a close. I brought Willa along as my maid. She has been a great help to me already.”

Matthew pressed his lips into a thin line. “These are dangerous times for young ladies to be traveling.”

Emily sniffed. “That’s something a man would say about any time past, present, or future. They will always claim the times are too dangerous for a woman to travel. And my brother is on the train somewhere. We have nothing to fear.”

Matthew frowned. To our right, a man stood up from a booth where he sat alone and left the lounge. “Let us sit before we make a scene,” Matthew said.

Matthew sat on one side of the booth, and Emily and I sat on the other. I was on the inside closest to the window, feeling trapped.

“Why are you on this train, Officer Thomas?” Emily asked.

He glanced in the direction of Mr.Johnson.

“Are you following Mr.Johnson?” I whispered.

“Shh.” Matthew put a finger to his lips. “Don’t say names. It is loud in the lounge now, but you never know when there will be a lull in the conversation and he might be able to hear you.”

“Are you following him?” Emily was sure to emphasize that she didn’t use Mr.Johnson’s name.

“Yes, and I am only telling you this so that the two of you will stay away from him.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why are you following him? Is it because of the rumors?”

He looked from Emily to me. “What rumors?”

“That he might be working with a slave catcher.” I said the last two words barely above a whisper.

“No, it’s not because of that.”

“Then does it have to do with my brother?”

Matthew pressed his lips together and said nothing.

Emily sat up straight in her seat. “Do you think he had something to do with Henry’s death?”

Matthew looked out the window.

“So you believe that Henry was killed too?” I asked.

Matthew folded his hands in his lap. “I’m open to the possibility. We have witnesses that have told us that Henry was in over his head, and he took the job at the stables to spy on Mr.Johnson at the request of his employer.”

“Whose employer?”

Matthew glanced this way and that as if to make certain that no one was listening to us. “Henry’s. I’m to Washington under the guise of a sightseeing trip to keep an eye on him. I have an uncle who lives in the city, so it made the most sense for me to go.”

“Is this your uncle Nevin?” I asked. Now that he mentioned it, I recalled that he once told me he had an uncle who was a police officer in Washington. It was why Mathew had wanted to be an officer too.

“Yes, but he is retired from service and is living off his pension. As he has not been well, this trip gives me an opportunity to keep an eye on a suspect and visit my uncle.”

“I’m sorry to hear that about your uncle,” I said.

He nodded at my words.

Emily’s forehead wrinkled, and I knew she had to be wondering how I would know that Matthew had an uncle. She must think that it would be an odd bit of information for me to have about a police officer. I knew Emily would never let it go. She would ask me about it later when I least expected it and was caught the most off guard.

Matthew rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish you both weren’t on this train. It complicates things.”

“How so, Officer?” Emily asked.

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