“Father, what’s happening?” I said as I clutched a boat post next to me. “I don’t like this.” “We’re okay,” he assured me. “Watch.” The swing gates behind us closed tightly together, and water started rushing in from the bottom of the lock. We floated straight up like a cork and rose higher as more water entered from below. I looked at the little children on the boat next to us and they were laughing out loud. I felt a little foolish being so scared. In less than five minutes, the water level inside the lock was equal with the water level on the other side of the drop gate. In fact, the drop gate wasn’t there anymore. Some part of the process caused it to lower itself. All I could see in front of us was an open canal with lots of moving boats. I shook my head in disbelief at how well the lock worked. Colin threw the towline back to Father and within seconds Conan and Rogan were pulling us up the towpath. I stood and watched everything around me. “Father, we did it!” I shouted. “Yes, Finn, we did. Are those dishes cleaned yet?” “Right away, Captain,” I said. “And your coffee will be on deck in a minute.” The Belfast Queen passed through thirteen more locks that day and made its way past Bethlehem, Allentown, Catasauqua, Stemton, Newport, Siegfried’s Bridge, and Treichler’s Station. That night we moored at a boat basin south of a little canal village called Lockport. Colin took the mules to a nearby barn and when he returned, I served a meal of ham, potatoes, carrots and my first loaf of baked bread. We were quite exhausted, and had no problem resting in the cabin. “We have done well, boys,” Father said. “I am very pleased. Let us give thanks for a fine start and a wonderful meal.” After supper we went on deck and gazed at the stars. One shot across the sky and disappeared in the north. “That’s our lucky star,” Father said. “It’s leading us to White Haven.” We all smiled. An owl hooted in a nearby pine tree and my eyes began to droop. The lantern light in the cabin drew us to our straw beds and we stretched out and closed our eyes for the night. I clutched my stone and drifted into a deep sleep.
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