Unwept

by Tracy Hickman

  The crying began again, and seeing that the nurse was totally absorbed in her paper, Ellis stood in the gently rocking train and stepped around her to look at their third traveling companion. Blue ribbons fringed the basket. A boy. The baby’s fists beat wildly at the air. A small patchwork quilt of blue and yellow lay in disarray around his tiny form. Ellis reached forward to touch his palm. His tiny hand closed about her finger. Ellis made cooing noises to soothe the infant and reached her free arm around the baby and swept him from the basket. The crying stopped. Relief and silence filled Ellis as she cradled the child. The baby looked wide-eyed at her and she wiped his wet cheeks. Ellis smiled and sang softly:

  “Over there, over there

  Send the word, send the word over there

  That the Yanks are coming…”

  “Stop that!”

  “Stop what?”

  “Put that down this instant! You shouldn’t be holding an infant.”

  Ellis froze in place with the child, a feeling of defensiveness stole over her and she straightened and came to her full height in the train compartment.

  “I don’t feel weak. Besides, he’s more content being held.” She smiled down at the baby, who smiled back. Peace settled in her chest for the first time since she’d awakened. She plucked and smoothed the quilt around his form and made certain her grasp was firm but gentle. “He’s fine. What are you doing here, little fella?”

  The train shifted and lurched across the tracks, causing Ellis to almost lose her footing. She staggered and swayed with her bundle, dropping back safely into her seat.

  Finny stood, folding her paper abruptly, bending toward Ellis and the baby. “Young woman, until you are turned over to Dr. Carmichael, you must do as I say. You’ve been placed in my care and for now I know what is best.”

  She scooped the child from Ellis’s arms and with a deft motion deposited him lightly back in his basket. He chuffed in protest, inhaled deeply and let out a protesting wail in response.

  “But I’m sitting now. Please just let me—”

  “No.”

  “Please.”

  “No, it wouldn’t be safe for either of you.”

  Ellis could not fathom the implications of Finny’s words. Either of us? It made no sense.

  “Nurse Disir, isn’t he in your care, too? Shouldn’t you be holding him?” Ellis felt sympathy for the infant with his renewed cries and her indignation overthrew politeness. Ellis’s frayed nerves were jangling. Her “nurse” didn’t seem to understand what either of her charges needed.

  “Really, it’s not to be borne … my patients telling me what to do,” Finny muttered, and grappled with her now-rumpled newspaper. She readjusted her boater hat firmly on her head, and as she squared her high-necked cape on her shoulders she met and locked with Ellis’s level, sober gray gaze.

  “Nurse, I may have to mention to the doctor how distressed I was about the baby’s weeping.” The continued gaze lasted until the nurse broke it off, looking into her lap.

  “Fine. Please don’t mention the baby to the doctor.” Finny shook her head ruefully. “You were never one to be trifled with, miss.”

  She felt the pleasure of winning a victory for her tiny companion. Then Ellis inhaled an “Oh” of surprise as she suddenly understood from Finny’s comment that she and the nurse had known each other for some time.

  “Oh, stop looking like a fish; we are old acquaintances! Don’t think they’d trust you to just anybody? Here, if I’m not going to finish the paper then you might amuse yourself with it for a while.” She shoved the newspaper into Ellis’s gloved hands and leaned over the baby boy, clumsily caressing and clucking him into a tearstained silence. Ellis opened the newspaper and stole glimpses over the paper’s edge, thinking how very peculiar the whole scene was.

  “Please don’t stare at my back, young woman; I wouldn’t want to report your odd behavior to the doctor, either.”

  Ellis shivered in the heat of the train compartment, wondering at the uncanny perceptiveness of the nurse. She leaned into the faded red velvet cushion of her seat wishing she could disappear into it. She allowed her eyes to drop down the page of headlines.

  War. War in Europe. Yes, she thought. I know that. France and England fending off Germany. Our soldier boys are over there. But the fighting isn’t here, not yet. News of the everyday world was both comforting and disquieting.

  She read about the picture of the people in gas masks. It was from Boston. High-society matrons modeled them to raise awareness of the need for donations of walnut shells and peach pits to make charcoal for the masks’ filters.

  She turned the page and found a long article detailing two recent murders in a string of murders in Halifax. Ellis glanced furtively above the top edge of the page to be certain the nurse was still busily engaged with the child. She glanced down again at the article and knew that this was what had kept the nurse’s rapt attention against the crying of the baby. Ellis also knew that it was inappropriate reading for a young woman such as herself. She dove into forbidden territory.

  The illustration accompanying the article showed the body of a woman lying in an alley, her face obscured by a military coat. Two policemen were lifting up the coat to examine the face of the victim and both were in apparent shock at the visage. The headline read:

  IMPASSIONED PREDATOR

  THIRD MAIDEN MURDERED IN NEW BRUNSWICK

  Citizens in Grip of Fear

  Ellis read down the lurid column through the sketchy details of the death of a young woman. The killer was unknown, but it was thought that this case related to others. Wondering just how close she and her companions were on the map to these murders, Ellis shivered, and the vague feeling that she had known the victim slipped into her thoughts. It’s impossible.

  The squeal of the coach brakes filled the air. Ellis’s head snapped up, jolted away from the story as the train perceptibly slowed. Outside the window she could see the hats of people on a train platform sliding into view. The fog outside appeared to be retreating, though the pall still remained.

  “Finally!” Nurse Disir stood adjusting her clothing and scooping up the basket. “Your baggage claim check is in the right pocket of your jacket, miss. I’ll take my leave of you here, as I have a pressing errand.”

  The nurse hoisted the basket elbow height in emphasis and turned on her heel to leave just as the train came to a stop.

  “Wait! Aren’t you going to introduce me to the doctor? How will I know him?” Ellis half-stood trying to get her footing on the still-lurching Pullman to follow the nurse.

  “Don’t be a silly goose. He’s Uncle Lucian; he’ll know you.” Finny’s words were tossed over her shoulder as she disappeared out of the train door.

  The abandonment of her nurse shocked Ellis into uncertain silence. She glanced about the empty train compartment and filled with trepidation she stepped quickly through the door into the vestibule. She moved at once down the coach’s stairs and onto the station platform.

  The nurse had already vanished into the crowd.

  3

  END OF THE LINE

  Ellis stood on the platform next to the train, smoke and hot steam sighing loudly about her. The morning fog receded, slowly revealing a large crowd of people milling about, greeting one another beneath the roof that sheltered the long platform. The throng wound in and around one another with greetings and laughter. There was a cluster of soldiers near the far end of the platform on the other side of the station house. They soberly stood apart from the main crowd who blindly moved around them. It seemed no one had come to greet the soldiers and the rest of the people were determined not to acknowledge them.

  Ellis was certain she knew none of these people and was disquieted when she became aware that a number of people were furtively glancing at her. Among them was a young girl with large violet eyes clutching sheet music and a dark-haired artist with her easel, paint case and canvasses in hand. Many in the crowd openly ogled Ellis. She tried to avoid their ga
ze as she tried to see if she could somehow divine which among them might be the doctor, her uncle.

  She fingered the baggage ticket in her pocket, wondering if someone here had a similar ticket with which they might claim her. Her lips moved as she went over the short litany of things she had been told about herself.

  I am Ellis Harkington; I have been ill. I have been sent to Gamin to get well. My cousin is Jenny. My uncle is a doctor who should be—

  “Ellis, at last.”

  —here.

  Ellis looked up into sharp green eyes placed in a craggy face shaded by a straw skimmer set at a jaunty angle. He had a square jaw and a clean-shaven face wrinkled and weathered with age. His ears looked too large for his head and, though largely hidden beneath his hat, his white hair stuck out at wild angles.

  “Dr. Carmichael?” She deflated a bit as she took him in and realized that she felt no recognition.

  “Uncle Lucian to you, my dear.” His face split into a gap-toothed grin. “It took me a moment to spot you in the crowd. Where is your nurse?”

  “I don’t know. She left the train in a great hurry with a baby. She … she…” Ellis wondered how to explain the nurse’s odd actions.

  “Never mind that now, dear girl. I will speak with her later. Baby, eh? Well, they can be an awful lot of trouble.” His voice was gentle, but the green eyes looked stern. “So, missy, how many pieces of luggage will I need to load into the Steamer?”

  Dr. Carmichael ushered her through the platform’s doors into the large, enclosed waiting room inside the station house. Ellis could smell the freshness of the paint on the gingerbread-trimmed beams supporting the roof above them. Ceiling fans with tinkling crystal teardrops circled slowly overhead, scattering small rainbows about the walls and stirring the damp air above the crowded room. Polished brass shone brightly on all the fixtures. It was opulent for such a small town. The beveled glass doors were open on all sides despite the crisp autumn air.

  “Over here.” He guided her by the elbow to a corner near the ticket desk where a single large trunk sat alone. He bent to hoist the unwieldy piece. Ellis jumped as it slipped and thudded to the floor.

  “Let’s be certain it’s mine.” Ellis offered him the baggage claim ticket. Once again she felt the eyes of the crowd following her, and she felt her cheeks grow warm.

  “It’s the only piece here, girl.” He looked about for a porter and then bent to struggle with it again and gazed at her from his awkward angle under the trunk. “I’m sorry, Ellis; I should have known you wouldn’t recognize it. It’s just that we have so few travelers stopping here, it just couldn’t belong to anyone else.”

  Ellis nodded politely wondering what he was talking about. Few travelers? The station had been jammed with people when she arrived. She stole a glance at the now-thinning crowd, many of whom were now openly staring at her.

  “Ellis.” It was a deep, husky sound murmuring her name behind her. She turned to see a man stepping out of the crowd. He was handsome—too handsome, Ellis thought, in the way that some women wear too much perfume. He was clean shaven, but there were the shades of a dark beard remaining about his strong jaw and cheeks. His hair was carefully groomed but long in a way that was no longer fashionable. His manner suggested that he did not care about fashion. His eyes were a striking light blue, intense and somehow sad, like a dog that had been beaten and did not comprehend why.

  “Don’t mind them; they are all agog about any outsiders,” he said with an ingratiating smile. He was certainly older than Ellis. He wore a morning coat, waistcoat, striped pants and, incongruously, bowler hat.

  He strode up with a young woman on his arm. She had luxurious blond hair beneath her wide-brimmed hat. She was about Ellis’s age and gazing at her with a look that left Ellis uncertain. At the man’s words the crowd began to dissipate.

  “Merrick. How good of you to come.” The doctor allowed the heavy trunk to slide to the floor once more. Ellis wondered exactly what she saw in the old man’s eyes as he spoke to the younger man. Fear? Respect? The look was gone like the shadow of a cloud moving across the sun.

  “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything.” Merrick sighed through a beaming smile that made Ellis blush.

  “Merrick, would you be so good as to take this woman’s baggage to my auto?” Dr. Carmichael gestured to the large trunk beside him. “It appears to be too heavy for this old man.”

  “Not until we’ve said hello.” In a breach of decorum he snatched up her hand before it was offered. The smile he beamed down on Ellis was at once charming and sad. Ellis gauged him to be a number of years more mature than herself, perhaps almost thirty, but could not determine his age. She took in the look in his piercing blue eyes, which both terrified and thrilled her at once. How ridiculous I am, she thought, mustering common sense and brushing off the fleeting tingle up her spine.

  “Oh! I believe we have met,” she stated simply, feeling she finally understood the situation.

  “Why, yes! Do you know me?” Merrick pressed in close to her, too close, retaining a firm hold on her fingers. Ellis retreated a half step. He gazed down on her so earnestly that she wished she could tell him yes, if only to escape his intense scrutiny.

  Lucian stepped in toward them. “Merrick, I believe it’s quite obvious that the young lady is being polite. She doesn’t even know her own baggage yet. Allow me to reintroduce you: Miss Ellis Harkington, this is Mr. Merrick Bacchus, benefactor of the entire town.”

  Merrick tipped his hat graciously and let go of Ellis’s now-numb fingers. “Glad you’ve safely arrived, Miss Harkington. May I see you safely to Summersend?”

  Ellis surprised by the offer, wondering what he could mean, looked up at her uncle.

  “Now, Merrick, we’ve talked about this. I will take Ellis to her cousin Jenny’s. If you would just be so good as to get that trunk in the back of my car.”

  “She’ll freeze in that rattletrap of yours, old man. At least my auto is enclosed. Besides, Alicia wants to visit with her.”

  Ellis glanced at the woman still clinging to Merrick’s arm. Alicia was still staring back at her in such a way that Ellis was not all that sure that “visiting” was what the woman had in mind.

  Dr. Carmichael shook his head. “There will be plenty of time for visits and parties and all those things you young folks like—”

  Merrick interrupted, turning toward Ellis. “Let’s ask our guest what she wants.”

  The young lady who had been grasping Merrick’s arm through the whole proceeding quietly cleared her throat and stepped forward, closing the tight circle. “Do let us take you out to Summersend, my dear Ellis. Merrick’s motorcar would be far more comfortable for you, and besides, we haven’t seen you for so very long.”

  Dr. Carmichael gestured to the young woman. “This is Alicia, Ellie. She is a very old friend of yours.”

  Both the young ladies nodded politely.

  Ellis could see the couple was keen for her company, and it was heartening to be so welcome in a strange place, even though this pair’s country manners were overbearing. “Thank you for your kind offer. I think for now I should stay with my doctor and go straightway to see my cousin Jenny.”

  “That is exactly what I am offering you, Miss Harkington. Summersend is the name of Jenny’s cottage.” Merrick continued to press Ellis to go with him.

  The lobby of the train station was warm in the confined space and was made all the more uncomfortable by the press of strangers. Every time she took a step back, Merrick pressed forward. Ellis felt the heavy layers of her green traveling suit become warm and prickly. The spinning fans above afforded no relief. Light-headed, Ellis swayed.

  Merrick dropped Alicia’s arm to catch Ellis. He wrapped an arm about her waist in support, which was both a relief and shocking at once.

  “We’ve kept you standing here too long,” he whispered. “Let me help you to the car.”

  Before she could protest, her uncle came to her rescue. “I’ll help my pat
ient, young man. You get that trunk.” He turned to her. “I’m so sorry. I’m a fool for keeping you standing here. I’m sure you’re exhausted. Can you walk? My motorcar is just outside.”

  Dr. Carmichael helped her out through the lobby doors and down the station steps. The fog had thinned considerably now and Ellis could see the shapes of the town buildings down the road through the fog. Merrick followed them out with Alicia. He did not have Ellis’s baggage but had, rather, two young men he had selected from the crowd haul the trunk behind them.

  The Steamer sat just at the base of the stairs. The yellow spokes and rims of the tires were clean, supporting the chassis and brown body on leaf carriage springs. The vehicle was charming—”quaint” came to Ellis’s mind—but its steam boiler hissed ominously. The doctor helped her into the car. She felt revived by the gentle fall breeze and sunlight as she sat on the passenger side of the automobile.

  At Merrick’s direction, the young men placed the trunk into the backseat. Merrick then leaned over the car door and whispered to the doctor, “I’ll let the constable know she’s here and safe. He’ll be relieved.”

  Ellis’s ears burned at his words and her jaw tensed. Whatever did he mean by that?

  Alicia came trailing behind him, carefully skirting the soldiers on the platform and looking downcast. Ellis could not catch her eye to smile in parting.

  The doctor tucked a blanket across Ellis’s lap, then swathed her in a driving veil and goggles. The doctor situated his own hat and goggles and engaged the steam. With a chuffing sound that slowly increased in tempo, the Steamer began to roll and they set out for Summersend cottage.

  And Jenny, Ellis reminded herself.

  The glory of autumn foliage blazed red, orange and gold in the breaking afternoon sunlight. The fog had given way to a brilliant blue sky that contained cotton ball clouds. She mused that the scene looked like a child’s idyllic painting as they rumbled along. She reflected on how exhausting and confusing the day had been.

  She spied under her lashes on her uncle driving the car. She opened her mouth to speak, but he just shook his head, smiling kindly.