“They?”
“Mine and seven other Accomack County families. They are a closely-knit church. The minister descended from Swiss Anabaptists. He and my father share traditionalist Christian views and are determined to start a peaceful settlement on virgin soil.”
“An adventurous notion, however, your father’s timing could not be worse for you.” Frederick stayed in front of the mirror, pinching the waxed tips of his mustache. “If you leave the city while accusations loom, it will solidify your guilt for everyone at Penn—except me of course. You could be expelled. Stay here and defend yourself so you can earn your degree with the rest of us.”
“I wish it were that simple. I’d be worthless as a physician without a degree, but if I disobey my father’s command, I will upset him and might never see my family again. I cannot disappoint him, especially after all he has done to ensure my education.”
Frederick shrugged. “My father believes Virginia will vote to secede from the Union and he wants me back in Richmond soon, but I wouldn’t leave town if I were facing a criminal charge. And neither should you. You’ve worked too hard to let something like this tarnish your reputation.”
“But without an alibi, there might be little chance of a favorable verdict.” Jonah wiped sweat from his temple then raised the letter of warning. “It is true. I was the last medical student seen with the patient. But that doesn’t make me guilty. I would never force myself on any woman, especially not an ailing one. This is simply an opium user’s feverish hallucination.”
“But that opium user also happens to be the college provost’s wife, and if you leave, her accusation will stand.”
“Such a charge would ruin my career.” Jonah refrained from looking Frederick in the eye. “Not to mention, a trial could end in conviction and sentencing. I’ve done everything right my entire life and now I’m being accused of the unimaginable.”
Frederick spread his hands. “The woman has no proof. It probably won’t go to trial if you stay and cooperate with the investigation.”
“And not say goodbye to my family? Or worse yet, let them hear about the charge just before they leave the country forever? That would be too upsetting for my parents. I cannot part with my father on bad terms; it would torment me. And I have four younger siblings, all of whom look up to me. I couldn’t bear the guilt. No. They are setting sail in a few weeks. If I were charged, I would not be able to leave the city.” Jonah’s trembling fingers folded his father’s letter in precise quarters, and he stuffed it into his breast pocket. He crouched near the fireplace, gripped a fire iron, and stoked the burning logs on the grate.
“What are you doing?” Frederick asked.
“I haven’t been charged yet. I’m going to Virginia, but only staying long enough to say goodbye to my family. They know how important my medical degree is to me, so maybe they will understand that I cannot go with them. I won’t tell them about the allegation. I will return to fight this charge, and my family can sail to South America without hearing of the scandal.” He pulled his silver watch from his vest pocket, wiped its spotless surface with his shirtsleeve, and checked the hour. “There is still time to make the night train.” His already fluttering stomach churned. “You can keep all this to yourself, can’t you?”
“Not if I am subpoenaed.” Frederick glanced at the closed bedroom door and lowered his voice. “I won’t perjure myself.”
“I’m not asking you to. Just don’t tell anyone I have left.” Jonah tempted the flame with the edge of the warning letter. The fire’s orange tongues licked at the paper and caught it ablaze. He dropped the burning letter on the log and stared at the stationers’ watermark as the frantic warning blackened and withered before it turned to ash. He lifted his chin toward the door. “Is anyone in the hallway?”
The knob squeaked as Frederick cracked the door. He put his ear to the chink for a moment and then closed the door again. “No. It sounds like the servants are in the kitchen. Are you really leaving the city right now?”
“I must. I would have gone home because of my father’s letter even if there were no allegations to contend with. I just wouldn’t have to be as quiet about it. I will be back in a few days. I should go now while my aunt is out for the evening—”
“Gracing society with her supercilious presence, no doubt.” Frederick flicked his wrist, mockingly. “No wonder your father prefers a country estate in Virginia.”
Jonah hated when anyone joked about his aunt, but he was too preoccupied with the matter at hand to defend her eccentricities. “My father gets along with my aunt; it was my grandfather who… oh, it doesn’t matter. I must go to my family at once.”
He would telegraph to let his father know he was on his way to Virginia, but not mention he wouldn’t be leaving the country with them. Perhaps delivering the news of that decision in person would allow his father to see his sincerity, reducing the devastation to mere disappointment. He stood from the hearth and cast his gaze around the cramped room. “This might be my only chance. I have to go with my family.”
“Go with?”
“Go to my family, I mean,” Jonah corrected himself as he knelt on the cold floor. He pulled two carpetbags from beneath the bed. The sum of his wardrobe and personal possessions had fit into the bags when he traveled from Delaware College to Philadelphia, but he had since spent most of his year’s allowance on textbooks filled with the recent European advances in medicine. He lifted a stack of books from his bedside table and packed them into one of the bags.
“I thought this was going to be a swift trip,” Frederick said, eyeing him. He withdrew one of the books from the bag. “Balfour’s Class Book of Botany?”
“I’m assisting Professor Bradford with some research. I can work while I travel.”
Frederick handed him the book. “I can’t. Good luck reading on the train.”
Jonah moved to a narrow dresser beside the shuttered window, took clothing from its drawers, and filled the other carpetbag. Though in a hurry, he slowed to carefully disassemble the brass pieces of his microscope.
Frederick fidgeted with his cuffs. “You’re too meticulous for a man on the run. Just take your coat and go.”
“I will be back before any charges are filed.”
“Not if you continue at this pace. Why are you taking your microscope?”
“There is no need for my studies to suffer if I am delayed.” Jonah nestled the microscope pieces into a mahogany box and carefully wrapped the eyepiece with a swatch of felt.
After one quick survey of the room, he fastened the closures on the carpetbags then shrugged into his overcoat and tucked his prized copy of Pancoast’s A Treatise on Operative Surgery under his left arm. “No lengthy farewells,” he said as he gripped the handles of his bags. “I will see you in a few days. Go out the front door. I will go out the back so we aren’t seen leaving together. I would not want to make you an accomplice.”
“It appears I already am.” Frederick opened the bedroom door then stopped in the hallway and glanced back at Jonah. “Be safe, old chum. Come back soon.”
“I will.” Jonah pressed his lips together.
After Frederick disappeared toward the front of the house, Jonah slipped quietly through the hallway and into the cold autumn wind.
…
Download Aboard Providence in the Kindle store.
More Books By Keely Brooke Keith
The Land Uncharted
Book One in the Uncharted series
A hidden land settled by peaceful people
The first outsider in 160 years
Lydia Colburn is a young physician dedicated to serving her village in the Land, an undetectable island in the South Atlantic Ocean. When Lt. Connor Bradshaw’s parachute carries him from the world war to Lydia's hidden land, his mission could expose her simple society.
As Connor searches for a way to return to his squadron, his fascination with life in the Land makes him protective of Lydia and her peaceful homeland, and Lydia’s a
ttraction to Connor stirs desires she never anticipated. But will they be able to keep the Land hidden?
Uncharted Redemption
Book Two in the Uncharted series
Mandy Foster spends her days building musical instruments and her nights avoiding the discontent that plagues her after sundown. She’s learned how to guard her heart with skillfully played songs and flirtatious smiles.
Levi Colburn is building his house outside the village—across the road from Mandy to be exact. Though he’s been in love with Mandy since childhood, she rejected him once and has been unattainable to every man in the village ever since.
When Mandy’s life is in danger, it’s up to Levi to rescue her.
But will she accept the tender care of the one man who truly loves her?
If she does, her secret would be exposed.
Uncharted Inheritance
Book Three in the Uncharted series
As Bethany Colburn completes her apprenticeship and dodges unwanted suitors, a mysterious man arrives in her village. He brings charm Bethany has never encountered and illness the Land has never known. She will need more than her heightened intuition to uncover the truth about life in the Land.
Just when Everett Foster finds the courage to confess his love for Bethany, a stranger threatens his future with her—and their whole society. Everett must protect the Land, run a farm, and win back Bethany’s heart.
Christmas with the Colburns
Book Four in the Uncharted series
It’s Christmastime in Good Springs, and Lydia Bradshaw is eager for the light at the end of her year—the Colburn family’s big holiday gathering. When she discovers none of her siblings are coming back to the village this year, she believes Christmas will be ruined. As Lydia faces a gloomy holiday in the Colburn house, an unexpected discovery brightens her favorite season. Will it be enough to rekindle the light of Christmas?
Spend Christmas with the Colburns in this inspirational holiday novella. Holiday recipe included!
Uncharted Hope
Book Five in the Uncharted series
Sophia Ashton’s new medical assistant job comes with the perks of living on the Colburn property, which include being surrounded by a loving family—something she’s never known. During the job’s trial period, a patient puts Sophia in a questionable position. Now she must prove her competence or lose her job and home.
Nicholas Vestal is working on a sheep farm to earn a starter flock, but before his contract is up, he inherits a house in the village. While fixing up the old house, he pursues Sophia Ashton, believing she is the woman God wants him to marry. But when Sophia’s difficult past blocks Nicholas’s plan, he must find a way to her heart.
Meanwhile, outside the Land...
When plant biologist Bailey Colburn is offered a research job, she knows Justin Mercer is playing her somehow. Working for the former naval flight officer sounds better than her other options in post-war Norfolk, even though Justin says he once met her long lost relatives. But when Justin introduces Bailey to the mysterious gray leaf tree, his unbelievable claims change her world.
Uncharted Journey
Book Six in the Uncharted series
Young widow Eva Vestal assumes loneliness is God’s permanent plan for her life. She keeps busy by raising her son and co-managing the Inn at Falls Creek with her elderly father, but her heart yearns for more.
Solomon “Solo” Cotter has spent his life working with horses, but he secretly wants to write a book of the children’s stories his grandfather told him as a boy. He barters with Eva’s father for a 40-night stay at the inn, a needed respite from work to get his stories on paper.
Once Eva discovers the barter, she believes Solo is taking advantage of her father’s failing memory. But when tragedy strikes and Solo works hard to save the inn, Eva sees his true nature. As her heart stirs with feelings for Solo, she wrestles with the guilt of loving someone new.
Meanwhile, outside the Land...
Bailey Colburn arrives at the coordinates of the Land on the autumn equinox and finds nothing but ocean. The sun sets, ending Bailey’s dream of a safe and simple life with the family she’s never known. Just when she decides Justin Mercer lied about visiting a hidden land in the South Atlantic Ocean and meeting Bailey’s distant relatives, the atmosphere around the boat changes and ushers her into an uncharted world, but her entrance into the Land comes at a devastating price.
Uncharted Destiny
Book Seven in the Uncharted series
Bailey Colburn is safe in the Land, but her father figure, Professor Tim, never made it to Good Springs. When Bailey discovers Tim is lost in the Land’s dangerous mountain terrain and out of his life-saving medication, she sets out to rescue him. Even with the help of intriguing native Revel Roberts, Bailey faces an impossible journey to save Tim. The mountains are shrouded in dark folklore and full of deadly surprises.
Revel Roberts never stays in one place too long. No matter where he travels in the Land, he avoids the Inn at Falls Creek, his boyhood home and the business he will inherit. But when fearless newcomer Bailey Colburn needs Revel’s help to find her friend, he joins the mission and is forced to return to the place he’d rather forget.
Bailey and Revel’s friendship strengthens as they need each other in ways neither of them imagined. But nothing can prepare them for what awaits in the Land’s treacherous mountains.
Uncharted Promises
Book Eight in the Uncharted series
Sybil Roberts uses the warmth of delicious meals to lift the spirits of road-weary travelers at The Inn at Falls Creek. Her life at the inn would be perfect if she could just get her brothers and mother to move back home.
And if she could see Isaac Owens again.
He visited the inn once when he interviewed for the farm manager job, and she’s dreamed of his return to Falls Creek ever since.
Isaac Owens knows how to run a farm. His family might not have faith in him, but if he succeeds at Falls Creek, he’ll prove them wrong. He arrives at the inn thinking the job is his, but the inn’s senile owner offered the position to another man too. Isaac must spend the winter competing if he wants to win the job… and Sybil’s heart.
It will take more than warm meals on cold nights for Sybil and Isaac to find love while working at the isolated inn.
The Uncharted Beginnings Series
Aboard Providence
Book One in the Uncharted Beginnings series
In November 1860, Marian Foster joins a group of Virginia families who are sailing away from America to form a new settlement off the coast of Brazil. As an amateur botanist, Marian eagerly anticipates exploring a new land. During the voyage, her heart is drawn to Jonah Ashton, the ship’s handsome physician.
When family obligation forces Jonah Ashton to escort his family to their new settlement, he plans to return to medical school in Philadelphia immediately. But while sailing, he is beguiled by Marian’s optimistic spirit and finds himself in uncharted waters.
And soon an uncharted land.
The mysterious island is all Marian has ever dreamed of.
Soon Jonah makes a startling discovery that changes everything, but will it change his heart?
Above Rubies
Book Two in the Uncharted Beginnings series
It’s 1863, and Olivia Owens believes education should be a top priority in the new settlement of Good Springs. Between planning lessons and helping on her family’s homestead, Olivia doesn’t have time for Gabriel McIntosh’s charming advances. When the council denies her request to build a schoolhouse, Olivia must challenge their ruling while hiding frequent bouts of word blindness (dyslexia).
If the council knew the new teacher couldn’t always read, they wouldn’t allow Olivia to teach anymore.
As a carpenter, Gabe McIntosh is working hard to help build the settlement of Good Springs, and once his land is granted, he begins constructing his own house. When Olivia discovers he plans to share it with her, she guards her
heart from him. But Gabe is determined to win her affection and to discover what she’s hiding.
All Things Beautiful
Book Three in the Uncharted Beginnings series
He is the last person she wants reading her story…
And the first person to awaken her heart.
It’s 1868 in the settlement of Good Springs, and Hannah Vestal is passionate about writing fiction and keeping her stories to herself. By lantern light she slips into her story world and dreams the adventures she’ll never experience. When her father asks to read her work, she decides to have it printed secretly for his 50th birthday. Hannah tries to arrange the printing with the settlement’s pressman, but the witty and dapper Henry Roberts won’t make it easy for her to prove her writing is worthy of his ink.
If Henry Roberts did nothing else for the rest of his life but print and bind books, he would die a satisfied man. In order to secure settlement support for his printing press, the elder council says Henry must print an error-free copy of the New Testament before the settlement’s 8th anniversary celebration. He is determined to meet their challenge, but when the enigmatic Hannah proves to be a beguiling distraction, Henry longs for something more than a life at the letterpress.
Uncharted Promises Page 20