Teddy’s anger boiled. “What?” He turned to go back to the house.
Lavinia grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Teddy, I can take care of myself. Before too long we’ll be married and I’ll be out of there. Please, I need this job. We need this job.”
Teddy, calmed by her pleading, took her arm once again, and they walked toward the park. That night, he decided it was time to get Lavinia out of that house.
He asked Mr. MacDonald to watch out for a better berth. John was interested, too. On his next trip, Lavinia gave him a small black and white photo of herself. She’d paid Margaret’s photographer five cents to take her picture.
“I’m afraid you’ll forget me, Teddy. You are gone so much,” Lavinia said.
“Don’t be silly, Vinie. How can I forget you? I can’t wait to return to you. I’ll treasure this picture and look at it every night before I go to sleep.” Teddy held her and spun her around. “Soon, Vinie, soon. Before the end of the summer, I promise.”
He missed her more and more each trip. They had so many plans and were so excited about their future together. Teddy told John all his hopes and dreams. John had none of his own but followed Teddy like a water dog pup on the dock. Berth to berth, they were inseparable, but on the land it was Teddy and Lavinia. John helped him save money and helped him find a house near John’s father’s that he could call home. He just needed one last trip to make it possible. Lavinia was more and more anxious to leave the Jacksons. She didn’t talk much about it, but Teddy sensed the change in her each time he came home.
12
“Well, John, we’re home.”
“Yes, Ted. It’s good to be back. Lavinia will be so happy to see you.”
“It’ll soon be time for you to settle down, too, John. Any girl would be happy to have you.”
“I’m not ready for that yet, Ted. That’ll come in time,” John said, dismissing the remark. “I can’t wait to see the look on Lavinia’s face when you tell her you’re buying a house.”
“I know. It seems strange that a homeless boy could end up the richest man in the world,” Teddy said. “I couldn’t have done it without you and your father.” Ted reached his hand out for John’s and shook it firmly. John clapped him on the back.
“Hey, Whitey, heard you’re going to marry some maid,” McPherson shouted from the bowsprit. “Is that true? You can’t even get a real woman for yourself.” The rest of the crew roared with laughter.
“The five of you are just jealous,” Teddy shouted back.
“Maybe I’ll find the maid and teach her a thing or two,” McPherson hollered.
Teddy dropped the crate he was carrying and turned to McPherson. “You touch her, and you’ll die. That goes for any of you. You hear me?”
“Ted, come on,” John said. “Get back to work, and we’ll be out of here before dark. They’re not worth the bother.”
“You’re right, John. Somehow you’re always right, my friend. How my life has changed since the day we met.” Teddy chuckled and ignored the taunts from the bow. Eventually, the men quieted down.
They had almost finished unloading the boat when John’s father rushed toward them where they stood near the crates on the wharf.
“John, Ted, I was afraid I’d miss you,” said Mr. MacDonald. “I told the harbourmaster to let me know when you arrived. He said he almost forgot.”
“What’s wrong, Father?” John asked. Mr. MacDonald’s face was flushed, and his eyes flitted between the two young men.
“You must come home with me now. I have a wagon waiting for us.” John and Ted followed the older man. He didn’t speak until they were home and inside.
“I’ve some sad news for you, Ted.” Mr. MacDonald hung his head and reached for Teddy’s hand. “Your Lavinia is dead.”
Teddy reeled and gasped for breath. “Dead?”
“Yes, son, she’s dead.”
John came up behind him and helped him to a chair. Teddy put his head in his palms for a few moments before he stood up again. “But how? What happened?”
“I’m not sure, really. There are two stories going around.” Mr. MacDonald told them both that Lavinia had been whipped by Mr. Jackson, supposedly for stealing liquor and money from him. But one of the other maids said that Margaret wanted Lavinia whipped because she was being disrespectful and wasn’t paying enough attention to her needs. The maid also said that she’d heard noises from the kitchen and that Lavinia had run out. Jackson had come out a little while later, and his face was red on one side, as if he’d been slapped.
“I don’t understand. How would that have killed her?” Teddy voice was calm, but he was infuriated and ready to strangle the whole Jackson household.
“Jackson tied her outside near the stables and whipped her. She was out there all night, and the staff were under threat of arrest if they tried to help her or even speak of it. One of the maids returned the next evening with Lavinia’s mother. Jackson threatened her as well, but the woman refused to leave without Lavinia. Apparently, it was quite the scene. By this time, Lavinia’s back was raw from the beating. Her wounds had become infected and she died two days later. Lavinia’s mother has left town for nobody knows where, and the three brothers had unexpectedly come into a fishing enterprise of their own.”
Mr. MacDonald crossed to Teddy and put his arms around him. Teddy’s stance was stiff and straight. “I’m sorry, son. She’s gone.” Teddy felt awkward. He didn’t return the embrace.
“What of the police?” he asked. “Surely this cannot be allowed or to go unpunished.”
“Horas Jackson has not been arrested. He claims he was defending his property.”
“But that can’t be! Lavinia would never steal. When we were first together, she told me she’d leave me if she found out I was stealing.” Teddy sat on the chair and rested his head in his palms. “I can’t believe this.”
“Son, I know you’re angry and upset.” Alexander MacDonald clasped Teddy’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Please don’t get yourself in trouble.”
“You’re damn right I’m angry,” Teddy shouted, standing once more. He paced the room.
“I’ll look out for him, Father,” John said. He put an arm around Teddy’s shoulder and led him to the table.
Teddy ate his supper without knowing what was in front of him. The evening went by in a blur. John’s father mixed him a few stiff drinks of rum and put him to bed afterward. He awoke sometime during the night and stared at the ceiling until dawn. His Vinie was gone—he couldn’t believe it! He tossed and turned before he finally dozed again. The crackling fire and a pan scraping on the stove awoke him. Mr. MacDonald was making breakfast.
“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Teddy asked him.
“I should be here with my sons,” was the man’s simple reply. The three had breakfast before visiting Belvedere Cemetery to see Lavinia’s grave. Teddy brought daisies he’d picked from a nearby meadow. He sat with Vinie while John waited near the fence.
“There was always one more trip, John. Always one more,” Teddy said after they left the graveyard. “I should have gotten her out of there earlier.”
“Don’t blame yourself for this, Ted.”
“How can I not?”
“I liked Lavinia. She was good for you” John said. “Don’t dishonour her memory by doing something stupid.”
“I loved her, John. I couldn’t tell her that. I wasn’t ready. Now I’m ready, but she’s gone.”
“I spoke to my father last night,” John said. “He told me that the whole town is angry about this. No one is buying anything from Jackson’s stores. The town is demanding justice.”
“Lavinia won’t get justice. The town will forget, but I won’t forget.”
“Father also said that there are a bunch of homeless boys hanging around outside the three stores,” John said. “People a
re afraid to go in. The police have tried to drive them away, but they keep going back.”
Those boys hadn’t forgotten Teddy’s kindness to them each time he was ashore. He spent the next week in a daze, and then it was time for them to sail again. McPherson clapped him on the back when he got aboard. The crew all steered clear of Teddy that trip, but not John. John was his rock. He let him talk about Lavinia and his plans. He told Teddy that he’d help pick out a stone for her when they arrived back home again.
Back in St. John’s for the second time in two months, Mr. MacDonald told Teddy that Horas Jackson was to be tried for Lavinia’s death. Teddy continued to visit her grave and left wildflowers for her each time. “You’ll have your justice, Vinie.”
However, the following trip, he learned that the courts had determined that Lavinia Walker had died from venereal disease and that Horas Jackson was cleared of all charges. His Vinie was disgraced. Teddy also learned that Jackson and his family were returning to England. They’d sold all their property and were leaving on the morning tide.
“I’m going out for air.”
“I’ll go with you, Teddy,” John said.
“This time, I’d like to go alone.”
“Ted, I know you. You are planning to do something stupid.”
“John, I’d like to go alone.”
“That means ‘yes.’ I’m going with you.”
“I must insist, John,” Teddy said. “But I swear on Lavinia’s life and death that I won’t go to Jackson’s place.”
“Ted, I’m worried.”
“There is nothing to worry about. I’m just going for a walk to clear my head and think about all this.”
Teddy made his way to the docks. He met McPherson, who introduced him to a cousin who was crewing on Jackson’s ship, the Loue. Teddy could think of no better way to spend the bulk of the money he’d saved for his life with Lavinia. A deal was struck—the Loue would not see England.
On his next trip ashore, John’s father gave Teddy the news that the Loue had been wrecked off the Isle of Man. No lives were lost, but Jackson’s fortune was gone, and it was unlikely that it would ever be recovered.
McPherson sent him a message the next day that the schooner belonging to the Walkers had mysteriously sunk in Petty Harbour the week before. Lavinia’s brothers had a complete loss.
Teddy visited Lavinia’s grave for the last time. He laid wildflowers near her new stone and whispered, “That’s the best I can do, Vinie. Please forgive me.”
Several months later, Mr. MacDonald brought home news.
“The Walrus is looking for two crewmen. The captain told me this morning. He heard about my sons and wanted to know if both of you were interested.”
Teddy reddened at the mention of being a son. Pride rose from his belly and warmed him. John looked at him and smiled. Teddy grinned, lowering his head. Belonging was a powerful thing.
“What do you think, Ted? Want to try the Labrador?”
“When do we leave?”
“Day after next,” Mr. MacDonald said.
Two days later, they boarded the Walrus. McPherson greeted them. “Friends of the captain,” he said. “I told him about you boys.” John and Teddy shook his hand. “Hope you brought your mittens, fellows. It gets mighty cold on the Labrador.”
They set out on the evening tide, bound north. They had to pick up salmon, trout, fish oil, and salt cod along the coast before heading to Montreal to exchange for provisions to bring back to Labrador. The Labrador Coast was dotted not only with small settlements but migratory fishing enterprises the residents called “green fishermen,” who inhabited the area from early spring till late fall. The Walrus was to replenish the outports while the fishing was active and return to St. John’s, depending on the weather, in late November. The Hudson’s Bay Company paid well, and John and Teddy had come into a prosperous berth. They would be away for the rest of the summer.
Teddy didn’t mind. In fact, he wouldn’t miss St. John’s. He was glad to have John with him. They enjoyed each other’s company. The young men talked for hours in the evening and played cards with the rest of the crew. They worked hard, side by side. John and Teddy’s was an easy friendship.
A few weeks later, things went terribly wrong when McPherson turned on them all.
13
Teddy dragged John out of the waves and up onto the rocky shore. John coughed, vomiting blood and salt water. Teddy pushed himself upright and scanned for a hiding place. He saw a stand of trees in the distance. “John, can you walk?”
John shook his head from side to side. His breathing was ragged. “Ted, save yourself.”
“John, I can get you to those woods and head back to the boat for something to close the wound.”
“Ted, listen to me. We both know you can’t. I’m not going to make it. You have to tell my father what happened.”
“Don’t be saying such nonsense. You just have to hang on.” Teddy put both arms under John’s shoulders and struggled to drag him higher on the beach. His arm buckled under the pain of his own wound. “What the hell were you doing, anyway?”
John groaned and coughed again. This time it was only blood that spewed from his mouth. He motioned for Teddy to stop. John was trying to say something.
Teddy leaned closer just as two shots rang out in the distance. He looked out over the rise of the beach to see the captain and another of the crew fall. Three had already been murdered on the boat, and it would have been five if John hadn’t stepped in front of the bullet from McPherson. Teddy had grabbed John and pulled him over the side into the sea as the second bullet creased his own right arm.
John had been wary of McPherson these last few days and had told Teddy so. The man kept watch most of the time, offering to take everyone’s shift. He was pacing a lot during the day and scanning the horizon. However, when the rowboat approached with three men aboard, Teddy should have known something was up. McPherson was anxious to get them on the ship and asked them where they’d been instead of asking what happened. Teddy recognized McPherson’s cousin. Moments later, the shooting started.
Now, McPherson stood over two dead men with an axe. Their heads rolled down the beach toward the water. Teddy threw up, lurching forward just in time to miss John.
He ducked low when McPherson and the others scanned the area in their direction. “John, we’re in trouble. I have to get you out of here.” His heart was pounding and his ears ringing. “John, please try.”
John wheezed, obviously struggling. Teddy lifted him by his shoulders to help him catch his breath. “Ted, please listen to me. Save yourself,” John whispered. “There is no place in this world for me. I love you, Ted. Promise me you’ll seek out my father. Tell him I love him.”
“Stop talking, John. Save your strength.”
“Promise me.” John gasped for breath and reached for Teddy’s hand.
“I promise,” Teddy told him.
John coughed again, and his head fell toward Teddy’s chest. Teddy closed John’s eyes and cradled his friend for just a moment before laying him back on the rocks. He held his own face with his bloodied palms and rocked back and forth. Teddy sighed before he summoned the nerve to look once more at the body of his best friend. The men’s voices carried on the breeze—they were coming.
The scrappiness he had learned as a boy on the streets of St. John’s kicked in. Teddy tore a piece of his shirt and tied it around the wound on his arm. “Damn you, John, for getting in the way. It should be me lying there.” He kept low and moved back on the beach. At first he was going to attempt to reach the woods, but he realized that was where they would look. Instead, he hid behind a shelf of waist-high rocks, out of sight of the boat, close to the water’s edge.
McPherson and the others came over the rise and ran to John’s body. “That’s MacDonald.” Teddy cringed an
d felt the bile rise in his throat when McPherson brought the axe down on John’s skull and left it there.
“McPherson, what’d you do that for?” his cousin asked.
“I told you, nobody can know I’m alive. That leaves White,” he said. “Spread out and scour that woods. He can’t have gone far. Looks like he dragged MacDonald here, but I know I hit him.”
“Who put you in charge? Captain Baker’s not going to like this.”
“We won’t tell him, now, will we, Simmons?” McPherson said. “He wants a ship, and a ship he’ll get.”
McPherson grabbed another man’s arm. “Dixon, you come with me. We have to get their belongings off the Walrus. Make it look like it was them that camped here.”
McPherson and Dixon headed back toward the rowboats as Simmons and two other men passed within earshot of Teddy on their way to the woods.
“Thought them two was supposed to be easy to get rid of,” the tall man said.
“That’s what McPherson said. It looks like this complication might cost us another night here,” Simmons replied. “Damn the shoals. Captain shouldn’t have listened to McPherson wanting to take over the Walrus so far north. We’d still have the Vagabond if we hadn’t run aground.”
“Now McPherson can forget the captain’s job,” the tall man said.
“The new Vagabond will be mighty fine and sturdy,” Simmons said as he glanced over his shoulder toward the Walrus. “Wasn’t McPherson’s fault we ran aground. Damn winds, that’s all. Now stop your prate and let’s find that . . .”
Teddy lost the rest of the conversation as the men headed away from him toward the woods. He had to find a better hiding place before they returned. The three men had their backs to him when he rose to search for a more secluded spot, one that would shelter him from the wind but also keep him out of sight of the others.
He froze in place, then silently retched when McPherson kicked the heads of the captain and his crewmate into the ocean. McPherson and Dixon got aboard the smaller boat and rowed out to the Walrus. Teddy scrambled to a hiding place a little higher on the beach that would give him a vantage point. A small outcrop of rocks and sod connecting the cliff and the landwash would serve that purpose. With the tide coming in, the men probably wouldn’t venture around the bend to find him.
The Liars Page 8