Tides of Charleston 2 Book Box-Set

by Jerri Hines

  Tacy’s face turned pale once more, but her eyes fell upon Cathryn. “I’m no good at those things, but now the Misses here...she has a way about her.”

  “Miss Blankenship?” Captain Sanborn questioned Tacy, as if it was an impossibility. “I can see if there is another woman in the passenger’s quarters that could help.”

  Cathryn’s mind raced. She had been with Juriah when she was needed with a birth of one of her father’s slaves, but she had never done so herself.

  Of course, there had been the horses. She wasn’t supposed to be there, but she had found she loved the moment when a new life emerged. Sumner found, along with her father, she was going to be there when her horses foaled whether they wanted her there or not. But to help deliver a baby alone?

  “We’ll go together to see what help we can offer. I’m not certain what we can do, Captain, but we will do what we can,” Cathryn stated with reluctance. She eyed her maid harshly, following the captain toward the cabin of the young woman. She leaned into Tacy and said, “She has a way about her?”

  “Well, what did you want me to say, Miss? It’s what Miss Juriah has always said about you.”

  “Not about delivering babies, Tacy!”

  “Well, ma’am, it was either you or me and it certainly ain’t gonna be me,” Tacy shot back. The captain glanced back over his shoulder, unsure about his decision to let the two women help. Tacy smiled at him. “We’ll be just fine, Captain, sir.”

  Cathryn heard the girl in the hallway. Tacy gripped hold of Cathryn’s hand tightly. Cathryn jerked it back. She squared her shoulders and prepared herself.

  But nothing she had done before could prepare her for the sight that awaited her. Upon entrance, she saw a young, tiny girl lying within the bed, sweating profusely. The girl stared, holding within her large brown eyes only a frightened look. Moaning, she twisted endlessly, to one side, to the other.

  She moaned. Cathryn shoved Tacy forward for her maid had frozen in her spot. Toward the corner, an older plump woman sat clenching her copious bosom to still her fluttering heart. Cathryn recognized her. Fanny Peterson.

  Charles Town wasn’t such a large community. Most knew each other within their social circle. Cathryn wondered, though, who lay in the bed.

  “Mrs. Peterson?” Cathryn asked, surprised, but didn’t have time to continue with her train of thought.

  The girl screamed and clutched her stomach. She seemed oblivious to everything except the medical officer who stood helplessly by the edge of the bed.

  The screaming pierced the thick air and quickly played upon Cathryn’s nerves. She turned to the officer. “Pray, sir, unless you feel you are helping at this moment, leave!”

  Unsure whether to do as she commanded, he hesitated, but his captain stood behind her and nodded. Cathryn turned to Captain Sanborn and said, “I’m afraid you will have to leave also, at least until I can calm the situation.”

  Tacy smiled at the captain with a nod that seemed to say told you so. Cathryn paid her maid no mind. Instead, she began giving instructions. “See to it that we have all we need. Hot water and towels and whatever else that medical officer thinks will be useful.”

  Tacy nodded and exited quickly. Cathryn sat upon the bed. “What is her name?”

  “Mary, Mary Montross. Oh, Miss Blankenship. I didn’t know he would impose upon you. She’s so afraid of that officer. I couldn’t calm her. Oh, this is bad. So bad. The poor little thing,” Mrs. Peterson rambled. She stood over Cathryn, crowding her. “Mary, it will be okay. My dear, tell her.”

  “Mrs. Peterson, why don’t you step outside with the others?” Cathryn said abruptly for she had lost her patience. Having been thrown into the situation, she had to think and she couldn’t with all the commotion around her. She waited until Mrs. Peterson shut the door behind her. Then she took the small thing’s hand and rubbed it gently.

  “Mary, they are all gone,” she said in a soothing voice. “I’m going to help you through this. You need to believe that. Do you understand?”

  The dark-eyed girl nodded. She didn’t seem to be able to speak as tears ran freely down her cheeks. Cathryn wiped them back as she studied her.

  The girl could be no more than thirteen, fourteen at the most. She was small in stature with a sweet timid face. The tiny thing looked as though she would get lost upon the bed she lay with her dark hair dripping wet and sweat pouring down her face.

  “Help me,” Mary whispered. “I’m going to die.”

  “No, no. I won’t let you,” Cathryn said stubbornly. Her mind raced to when she had helped Juriah. Bits and pieces came back to her. Give comfort, maintain calm, and time...it always seemed to take such a long time.

  The young girl clutched Cathryn’s hand. Cathryn let her. Tacy rushed back into the room and sat a bowl of water on the table beside the table. Cathryn took a wet cloth and wiped the girl’s brow as she had done with Tacy. She couldn’t do more at the moment than wait.

  The girl cried out. Her cries cut through Cathryn like a knife but Cathryn encouraged her. She talked to the girl to get her mind off of her pain. She talked of Elm Bluff, of her horses...her father.

  The young girl said nothing, but she calmed the more Cathryn spoke. While Cathryn spoke, her attention remained focused on the young thing, so delicate and frail and becoming weaker by the minute. Cathryn had no idea how much time had passed.

  The dim, dark room was bogged down in heat and pain. Perspiration poured off of every inch of her being, but Cathryn didn’t leave Mary’s side.

  As she sat with her, the girl began calling out for her mother. Cathryn calmed her once more.

  Time passed slowly. Then the girl screamed a blistering blood-curtailing scream. Cathryn’s eyes immediately caught sight of the linens becoming red in color and the color spreading.

  Cathryn stood up. She whispered to Tacy, “Go get the medical officer, now.”

  “But Miss Cathryn, the girl?”

  “She won’t know. By all within me, Tacy, go get him. Now!”

  Cathryn turned her attention back to the young patient. “Mary, I want you to listen to me. I want you to look only upon me and listen to me. Do you understand? This is important. Trust me. Please.”

  Cathryn glanced up when the officer entered. He understood and worked quietly, not saying a word. Cathryn sat in such a way as to hide the officer from her view, but the girl was beyond caring. From behind Cathryn, the officer told her what to say to Mary. The girl screamed, cried, moaned and then silence.

  Faint sounds that reminded Cathryn of the noise of a young kitten emerged in the silence. The baby had been born.

  Without warning, the officer handed Cathryn the bundle. “Keep him warm.”

  Blood was everywhere. The young girl fell back. At first, Cathryn thought the girl had died, but seeing her chest heave, Cathryn realized Mary had only fainted. Immediately, Fanny Peterson bustled back into the cabin. Cathryn could feel Tacy’s arms direct her out of the room and she withdrew with the infant to the common way.

  “Here, Miss Cathryn, sit,” Tacy directed, finding a quiet spot.

  Gone was the rough movement of the ship, but Cathryn didn’t seem to notice. She felt as if she was in a fog, watching all around her, even herself. The babe, so small and tiny, lay in her arms. Cathryn rocked him gently and began singing sweetly. Her hand gently caressed the infant’s face, touched his little fingers.

  Tacy glanced around at Cathryn. “Is something wrong, Miss Cathryn? You don’t look right. Why don’t you let me look at the wee one?”

  Cathryn stubbornly refused to release him. Tears began to flow. The infant had only taken a few breaths. He had no life within him.

  * * * *

  Cathryn had no idea how long she held the little one or why she didn’t want to let go of him. How unfair life was! In the background she heard rumblings. Tacy bent down and told her that the girl would survive. Tacy again tried to take the infant, but again Cathryn held tight to the lifeless baby.

  F
rom the corner of her eyes she could see Mrs. Montgomery and Mrs. Peterson, but no one moved toward her. They both must have thought her strange. She didn’t care.

  Cathryn pulled back the towel used as a blanket. He looked so perfect, much like a china doll. A beautiful round face, five small fingers.

  “Cathryn,” a voice called to her. “Cathryn, may I sit by you?”

  She nodded slightly, but her eyes were still upon the infant.

  “Cathryn, they need to take the babe. There is nothing more that can be done. I’m sorry. Truly, I am.”

  She nodded again and caressed his tiny cheek. “He’s not even mine. I don’t know why I’m such. I know I shouldn’t be,” she uttered in a voice barely above a whisper.

  “It’s understandable, but they need to take him now,” he said gently. He reached over and tenderly removed the infant from her arms. He handed the small bundle to Tacy who stood nearby. Cathryn glanced up. The look the two exchanged wasn’t lost upon her.

  “I need to go back to my cabin,” Cathryn said. She tried to stand, but her legs trembled with fatigue and strain. She wavered.

  The next moment she felt strong arms around her. She turned her face into his shoulder and cried, uncontrollably. His hand stroked her hair and whispered softly to her. At first, she attempted to withdraw, but then took refuge in his strength.

  Oh, the sight she must look. Blood covered her clothes, hands; her hair was disheveled. She could well imagine what Mrs. Montgomery must think of her. But before she took a step back, her head began to spin and she lost her balance.

  Her eyes flickered. She felt herself being carried. Lieutenant Pennington laid her down upon her bed with Tacy fussing around. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Mrs. Montgomery.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. She has been through so much,” Mrs. Montgomery said. “It was a shame I wasn’t able to help with being indisposed as I was. Still not feeling well, but when I heard about the harrowing delivery, I made the attempt. Mrs. Peterson said Cathryn was solid as a rock until after the babe died. Said she talked the poor child through it all.”

  Cathryn opened her eyes to find the lieutenant looking down at her. He smiled and wiped her stray hair back off her face. His hand lingered upon her cheek. She didn’t know why she found it comforting.

  The lieutenant straightened himself and turned to Mrs. Montgomery. “If you have need of anything, please let Miss Blankenship know, I’m at your disposal at all times.”

  “Thank you so much, Lieutenant,” Mrs. Montgomery answered. “It is a comfort to know such, and I greatly appreciate the thought.”

  Slowly, Cathryn drifted off to an exhausted sleep, a restless sleep with dreams that haunted her.

  She could see so clearly her mother and young brother. She tried to call to them, but they didn’t answer. Then, through a mist her father materialized. He was walking beside them. He turned and smiled at Cathryn. She cried out. “No, don’t leave me. Father, come back!”

  “Miss Cathryn! Miss Cathryn!” Tacy’s voice emerged. “You’re dreaming. Child, wake up.”

  Cathryn sat straight up and immediately hugged Tacy so tightly that she couldn’t breathe properly. “Oh, Tacy! I dreamed my father was with Mother and John Steven.”

  “It’s just a dream, Miss. I’m not surprised with all that happened. Nothing’s happened to your father. It was only a dream. Go back to sleep.”

  Cathryn nodded and lay back down, but she couldn’t dismiss the ominous feeling that encompassed her.

  * * * *

  The sun shone brightly in the small cabin portal by the time Cathryn woke up. She had long ago lost track of time. The events of the last day merged into a cluster of haze. Pain stabbed her when she remembered the babe, so little, so vulnerable. Oh, his poor mother!

  Then her mind wandered to Lieutenant Pennington. How safe she felt in his arms, protected! She shook her head. She needed to collect herself. She was his mission, nothing more.

  Cathryn sat up. She no longer wore the bloodied gown. She had been changed and washed up. She must have been exhausted for she had no recollection of Tacy doing so. She swung her feet onto the floor when the door burst open. Tacy entered with a breakfast tray.

  “Oh, Miss. You have woken,” Tacy said, setting the tray down on the table beside the bed. “They’re having a simple service for the babe. The young girl is asking for you. That is if you’re up to it. Such a young thing, she is...you won’t believe what I have found out about the poor girl, Miss. It is a shame, total shame.”

  Cathryn took a bite out of a piece of toast, but gestured for Tacy to continue. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was.

  Tacy had only needed her encouragement and sat down upon the edge of Cathryn’s mattress. “It seems that the child, the young girl, Mary, for that’s what she is, a child, was under the guardianship of her stepfather. Do you know who it is?” Tacy didn’t wait for an answer. “Franklin Chelton. Can you ever imagine? Him being who he is and all.”

  Cathryn nodded that she knew the man, but what in the world Tacy was talking about she hadn’t a clue. Franklin Chelton was one of her father’s acquaintances. If she remembered correctly, he dealt with shipping.

  She swallowed and asked, “I know the man, but what has he to do with the babe?”

  “He was the father of the babe. Mrs. Montgomery told me. Scandal it is. Her mother died when the fever went through last winter. Mary’s was her only child from her first marriage. And him taking advantage of the young girl! Ruined her he did. The family sent her to England to have the baby, but it was too late. All of Charles Town knows of the disgrace now. Of course, it’s Mrs. Peterson. She couldn’t keep her mouth closed, Mrs. Montgomery said.”

  Cathryn wanted to stop and asked her how he could be the father. Not that Cathryn understood everything about such things. She well had figured out two people didn’t have to be married to produce a babe, but Mr. Chelton was an old man and Mary but a child. Tacy would find her ignorant and tease her if she asked. So she said nothing.

  Tacy leaned closer. “But Mrs. Montgomery said that it was Mr. Chelton’s dead wife’s brother, Henry Peterson, that found out. Had a fit. Was the one who put his foot down! Otherwise, that man would still have the poor girl within his house, hidden away probably.”

  “Tacy, devil be gone! What are you talking about?” Cathryn’s patience had worn thin. “I haven’t understood half of what you were saying.”

  “For someone that is so worldly at some things, you are so naïve at others. The poor girl was taken advantage of by her stepfather, Miss. He had his way with her and then she was left with a child and shame of the situation, although no fault of her own. It is the burden of the woman to bear.”

  “That is awful!” Cathryn declared, horribly shocked. “Why would someone blame that poor girl?”

  “It is life, I’m afraid.” Tacy’s voice trailed off. “Now, Mrs. Peterson says she doesn’t know what to do with the young one. They got no family in England, only friends of Mr. Peterson’s that were going to care for the babe.” Tacy stood and straightened her skirt. “Well, now, we don’t have much time to get you ready, Miss.”

  * * * *

  Cathryn didn’t have a black dress. She wished she had. It would have been more respectful. The darkest dress she had was her green dress which she chose. Tacy worked endlessly with her hair, which desperately need to be washed. Sweat, grime from the day before, but Tacy worked a miracle, brushing out all the tangles and powdered down her hair so it would look presentable. She pulled it back in braids, framing her face.

  The ceremony was a small one. Cathryn found Tacy and herself were the only others in attendance, but she caught sight of Lieutenant Pennington not far to the side. In the late morning air, the girl stood emotionless beside her aunt, such a tiny thing. If Cathryn hadn’t known she had given birth recently, she could never have told for the girl’s face was thinned and pale. Pain was well written in the lines of her young face as tears of grief oozed dow
n her sunken cheeks. The girl gazed down at the ground.

  Feet were stilled, hands folded. The Captain came forward and read the words from the Bible in an attempt to give the ceremony a semblance of religion. “I am the Resurrection and the Life...and whosoever...believeth in me shall never die.”

  Cathryn thought she could find a better passage to comfort the young mother who had just lost her child than that one. The child barely breathed a breath. How could he have believed in anything! But in the next instant, Cathryn stood aghast! Her attention had lain with Mary when she heard the splash. They had thrown the babe’s body overboard!

  Her mouth opened wide in surprise. She wanted to scream, but felt a hand upon her shoulder. Lieutenant Pennington had moved to her side.

  “It is how it is done at sea, Miss Blankenship. Someone should have warned you,” he said in a soft voice. She glanced up at him and nodded slightly. She found she was at a loss for words. “It was good of you to come for the girl. I understand you did her a great service.”

  “Nothing more than most would have done, I am sure.”

  “In that I would have to disagree with you,” he answered. “You surprise me. In truth, I find you are different than I imagined.”

  “I’m not sure what your meaning is, Lieutenant. I am only who I am. If someone asked for help, do you not at least try?”

  “You are much as your father. Are you not?”

  A small smile emerged upon her face with the reference. “I feel I must apologize though, Lieutenant, for my behavior yesterday. I still don’t understand why I behaved in that manner.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for, Miss Blankenship. You were hurting. You cared and there is never any reason to apologize for caring. I hope to see you later.” He bowed slightly and reached for her hand. His hand lingered on hers and she could feel a shiver run through her body. Her eyes never left him as he walked away.

  * * * *

  Cathryn spent the majority of the next week within the fold of the Montgomery family. The boys, eleven and thirteen, were a bundle of energy ready to explode as they had fully recovered from their sickness.