He saw a store he’d patronized before, a general store near the river. He strolled inside to buy candy for the children. He gathered licorice strips and peppermints, as well as the hard lemon candies Jenny liked, and took them to the counter. As he counted out the coins, he told the proprietor the candy was for his family back in Oregon City.

“Saw your son in here a few weeks back, Mr. McDougall,” the proprietor said. “He and another boy.”

“My son?” Mac asked in surprise.

The man nodded. “I recollect you and him comin’ in my store last summer. He didn’t give his name, but his companion called him Will. That’s your boy’s name, ain’t it?”

“Will was here? When?” To his own ears, Mac’s tone sounded strident.

The storekeeper’s eyebrows shot up. “I don’t rightly remember the date,” he said. “Sometime early in May, I suppose. I ain’t as good with dates as with names and faces.” He frowned. “Is there a problem?”

“Will ran away,” Mac said. “We haven’t seen him since late April. This is the first news I’ve had of his whereabouts. Did they say where they were headed?”

“I don’t think they did,” the man said, stroking his beard.

“Did he mention Jacksonville?” Mac asked, thinking of Joel Pershing. Will didn’t know anyone else to the south. “Or a Joel Pershing?”

The proprietor shook his head. “I think I woulda remembered if he’d said a name, but I don’t.”

The blast of the steamboat sounded, signaling its imminent departure. Mac debated whether to stay in Eugene another day and ask others in town whether they’d seen Will. But Jenny expected him tonight. “Let me leave you my address in Oregon City,” he told the storeowner. “Please send word if you remember anything else.”

As he rode the steamboat north, Mac wondered how Jenny would take the meager news. All the storekeeper knew for certain was that a boy had been in his store, a boy whose companion called him Will. The man hadn’t heard Jonah’s name. He hadn’t heard Joel’s name. He hadn’t heard any reference to Jacksonville. It was the flimsiest of information.

Jenny sat in their room lengthening Nate’s trousers as she waited for Mac to get home. She expected him shortly before supper, soon after the steamboat was scheduled to dock.

He arrived when she’d predicted. “How was your business?” she asked when he came upstairs.

“Fine,” he said. “Pengra and his partners have thought through their plans. I think their road is worth my investment, though their goals may be overly optimistic.” He described the meeting.

She listened with half an ear. “So your trip was worthwhile?” she asked when he finished, turning back to her mending.

“For more reasons than that.” Mac hesitated, then blurted, “A storekeeper in Eugene thinks he saw Will a few weeks ago.”

“William!” Feeling her heart jump, Jenny dropped the half-hemmed trousers to the floor. “In Eugene? Why would he go there?”

Mac held up his hands. “All the man said was that two boys came into his store, one called the other Will, and he thought one boy looked like our Will. I’d taken Will into the store last year.”

“When did this happen?” she asked, wanting every bit of information Mac could give her.

“He wasn’t sure. Sometime in early May.”

She stood and grabbed Mac’s lapels. “You have to go back to search for him.”

“Jenny, I questioned the man as best I could. He didn’t know where Will was headed. If it was Will. He wasn’t sure. And I’m not either. As you said, why would Will go to Eugene?”

“But it’s our only clue,” Jenny protested. “We need to tell Esther and Daniel. Maybe Daniel can go after them.” She paced the room. “Esther’s confinement is so soon. Daniel can’t go.” Her skirts whirled as she turned back to Mac. “You have to return to Eugene.”

“Let me talk to Daniel. I’ll go see him tomorrow,” Mac said.

The next morning, June 2, Mac left for Daniel’s farm shortly after breakfast. He spoke to Esther at their house. “There’s been a possible sighting of the boys in Eugene,” he told her, and he described his encounter with the storekeeper.

“Was it Jonah and Will?” she asked, pressing her hands to her chest above her swollen belly. “Have we found them?”

“Not yet,” Mac cautioned. “Possibly they were in Eugene a month or so ago. We aren’t sure. And we don’t know where they went from there.”

“They must have gone to see Joel,” Esther said. “I wrote him, but I ain’t heard back yet. He’s a poor correspondent. He might not write, even if they show up on his doorstep.”

Mac cleared his throat. “Where’s Daniel today? I want to speak with him about our next steps.”

“He’s cuttin’ timber with his pa and our Sammy,” Esther said. “In the woods between our claims.”

He tipped his hat to Esther and left. It was too bad Daniel was with his father—the elder Abercrombie would surely interfere.

Mac found the men where Esther said they’d be and called out as he approached. Daniel walked over. Old Samuel leaned on a bandsaw and spit a stream of tobacco juice, and Sammy waited with his grandfather. Mac dismounted to speak with Daniel.

“What is it?” Daniel asked, and Mac described his meeting with the Eugene storekeeper again.

Initially, Daniel thought they should investigate further. “But I can’t leave home till after Esther has the baby. Our Cordelia can handle the household, but I don’t want her responsible for the birthin.’ If the Tullers were still alive, I’d get Mrs. Tuller, but—” He shrugged.

“What about Hannah Pershing?” Mac wasn’t eager to embark on a wild goose chase, but if Jenny insisted he go, he wanted Daniel with him.

“I don’t know,” Daniel said. “We have so many young’uns now, it’s hard for anyone to look after ’em all. And you’re not sure it’s worth the trek to Eugene.”

“No, I’m not,” Mac said, glad Daniel agreed with him. He’d wondered why Jenny and Esther were so sure the sighting in Eugene was true. He hoped he cared about Will as much as Jenny did, but maybe he didn’t. Maybe that’s why this lead on the boys’ whereabouts didn’t seem substantial enough to pursue.

Daniel continued to plan out loud. “But after Esther’s confinement, I can go. Pa can deal with the timbering and Zeke with my crops. They can manage while I’m gone. How long do you think a trip would take?”

Mac threw out his hands. “I have no idea. We don’t know anything except the boys might have traveled through Eugene. In the meantime, we’ll wait to see if Joel responds to Esther’s letter.”

Chapter 30: Supply Train

Lieutenant Colonel Drew was not at Fort Klamath when the cavalry and mule trains got there. For two days, the reconnaissance unit milled about the fort with little to do. The sergeants kept the soldiers doing drills, but the civilian packers received little supervision. Only Sergeant Geisy paid the packers any mind, and he harangued them daily over caring for their horses and mules. He also put them on alternating day and night guard duty. But when they weren’t occupied with these tasks, the packers’ time was free.

Jonah went fishing in a creek near the fort, and Joel hung around the campsite with the older packers.

Will took out his Bowie knife and scrounged a small piece of a fallen oak limb to start whittling. Before long, the rough shape of a mule emerged from the wood. By evening, Will was bored, and pulled out his journal.

June 1, 1864. Heavy rain today. First rain in many days. I’m carving a mule. So far, Army life doesn’t have much to recommend it—it’s mostly waiting, with occasional hard work thrown in. And no sleep when I have night guard duty.