Braham and Alvin tried to lift the lid, but it was locked.
“I don’t have a key for this.” Alvin spoke through clenched teeth as he tried to pry it open.
Braham looked around the room. He found a hoe. Lodging the metal end beneath the hinge, he began to try to pry it off. Alvin also grabbed a spade and did the same on the other hinge. Braham struggled to get the hoe to stay directly between the metal piece of the hinge and the wood. After a few tries, he pressed his feet against the wall and leveraged it with all his might. The hinge began to loosen.
He looked up, sweat blinding his view. “Alvin, is it working for you?”
“It is, I almost—” He grunted loudly, and a cracking sound echoed in the room. His spade flung across the floor. “It split the wood.” He managed to break off the hinge with the heel of his boot.
Braham continued to work on his end, and he finally got the metal hinge off. Together, Alvin and Braham forced the lid until a loud snap indicated the locking mechanism was broken. Alvin held up the lantern. Yellow light flooded inside the trunk, revealing a person balled up like a kitten.
Braham could see a small blond curl against a face half covered by a handkerchief.
“Josie?” He carefully turned her by the shoulder. Her eyes were half-shut and her face was damp with sweat. A handkerchief prevented her from speaking, but sobs shook her small frame. “Oh no!” He quickly lifted her out, her body limp. All the men rushed up around them. Braham untied the gag, and Josie breathed deep and hard. He loosened the rope around her wrists then wiped away the moist hair that matted against her forehead. “Dear, sweet Josie. What has happened here?”
Her breaths quickened. A panic flashed in her swimming blue eyes. “Braham.” Her voice was thin, shaky. “Oh Braham. It is not what we thought.”
“What?” He leaned back, uncertain as to what she meant, but sensing dread invading the stale barn air.
“They lied.” She lifted trembling hands to his cheeks. “Gerald knew that Audra was guilty all along.” She turned to Alvin. “Did you know?”
“About Audra?”
“No, about Gerald.” Her nervous glance back at Braham forced the dread to sit heavy upon his chest. His brain reeled, trying to figure out what she meant.
Alvin lowered his head and kicked the trunk. “I had seen them about town together. I am no match against that man. Are they engaged?”
“Not that,” Josie said. “He was your boss, wasn’t he?”
“Boss? No, I’ve never worked for him.” Alvin scratched his head. “At the factory?”
Josie shook her head. “No. Who did you answer to for the … bodies?”
“It is a secret network. We gather notes from designated places to find the drop-off location, but the person in charge is to remain hidden.” Alvin stepped over and crouched down. “The note for this evening’s location was in …” He gulped. “In the lantern hanging from the gate at the Bates estate. Come to think of it, many of the notes were hidden on those grounds.”
That very first night, Braham had seen Alvin leave there.
Braham’s jaw tightened. “What have you learned, Josie? What did we get wrong?”
She only stared at him, her eyes wide with pity. “He’s part of it.”
Braham fell back and sat on his backside, the pieces forming a horrific puzzle in his mind. It couldn’t be. He ran his fingers through his hair. The letter to Dr. Brown—the goods to be delivered— “No, it can’t be,” he whispered.
“It is, Braham.” Josie spoke quietly. “Gerald has been part of this the entire time. He is the one in charge of collecting bodies.” She wagged her head. “He and Audra are working together.”
Braham grabbed his mouth and tried to remember any evidence against such an accusation. But the man who’d hated him all this time had done nothing to prove himself innocent. In fact, moments flooded to Braham’s mind—the secret whisperings between Audra and Gerald, the letter to the doctor, the targeted mill girls, the death of the executor of his uncle’s will … Gerald was not a murderer also, was he?
“Audra and Gerald tied me up here, and that is when I found out.” Josie’s hand flung to her mouth, and her eyes filled with fresh tears. “Oh Braham, he … he admitted to killing your uncle’s executor—Gerald is a murderer.” Braham pulled her close and held her tight against him, trying to still his shaking body. A long groan threatened from deep within him. Josie rasped, “They were going to kill me if they did not have enough bodies—” Sobs racked her small frame.
Anger and disgust filled his gut. He pressed Josie closer to him, smothering his face in her hair, trying to will away the tears.
Once he calmed the current inside him, he looked up at Alvin. “We must get there quickly. This is coming to an end tonight.”
Josie refused to stay at the barn alone, and the men agreed that they needed every single one of them to capture Gerald, Audra, and whoever else might be waiting. Braham’s best overseer, Tom, went up to the road to retrieve a horse where they had left their carts. He met them at the back of the barn.
Alvin informed them that Gerald would be the one in the black cloak; his face would be hidden. Audra wore her mourning clothes at meetings like this. It was a disguise in case they were caught. She would play the part of a mourning family member, seeing that the body was transported safely to a family cemetery.
“They have never once been stopped or questioned,” Alvin said as he led them through the back of the barn. “There’s nobody along these wooded paths at the midnight hour.”
Everyone but Alvin slipped inside the cart, lying flat on their backs. Josie stayed close to Braham, clutching at his hand by their sides, trying to forget the cargo that lay here last. She shook all over even though the night was warm.
“Do not fear, my love,” Braham whispered, squeezing her hand. “We will be free of all of this soon.”
“I am so sorry about your cousin,” she muttered, resting her cheek on his shoulder as they lay close.
“Me too.”
She could feel his body shudder against hers, and she wondered at his grief. “Will you be able to do this, Braham? You do not have to be a part of—”
“It must be done.” He sighed. “There are many people he has hurt over the years. And now he has risked smearing my uncle’s legacy.”
She tried to see him in the darkness and could only make out his profile—a tightly closed mouth, eyes squeezed shut.
Alvin appeared above them with the white canvas in his arms. “Typically, we lay hay over the … goods … just in case we are stopped.” He grimaced then cleared his throat. “But if we are caught by someone, there’s nothing to hide anymore.”
His shoulders slumped. The man had become a near hero now. Josie saw him in a new light. The yellow lantern that hung on a hook shone on the face of a worn-out gentleman—a man who had his heart broken by the woman he loved and who had left the life of crime because of an innate awareness for life. He had stopped his wayward existence because he wanted nothing to do with murder. Just as he had saved Josephine from Dr. Chadwick’s table.
For the first time since her mother was alive, Josephine saw Alvin as a decent man, one who was loyal to her father and a friend to her. Now, as he took the lantern from the hook, she prayed that he would always be guided by a lamp unto his path and that darkness would no longer tempt him.
“Do not forget, I’ll place the lantern at the edge of the clearing so you will see your way,” he reminded them, then set it down to pull the canvas over the top of the cart.
“We will look for it,” Braham assured him.
Josie nestled up against him once more and closed her eyes as the white canvas fell heavily on top of them.
Braham kissed her forehead. “You are safe, Josephine Clayton. This nightmare will soon be over.”
The ride was bumpy. Braham’s shoulders took the brunt of the movement as he was directly above a wheel. He lay between Buck Walters and Josie. Their lungs were filling with t
he mildewed scent of the canvas, yet he kept breathing deeply to calm himself in the tight space. His mind raced with the possibilities of how this plan might fail. By the time the cart maintained a steady pace, his grip on Josie was tight and sweat had covered his brow.
“Buck, if something happens to me, take Josie and hide in the woods, do you hear me?” His voice was barely a whisper, competing with the churning wheels.
“Aye, sir.”
Josie clutched at his arm with her other hand. “I feel like I am going to fall off.”
He slid his arm beneath the heavy canvas and embraced her as best as he could. “I won’t let you, love.” He pressed his cheek to her forehead. The edge of the canvas flapped up, revealing a bright moonlit sky along the crest of a hill. They had planned for Josie to lie at the very edge of the cart in case Gerald wanted proof of a body. Alvin would say a mill girl perished this morning—one who needed to be transported to her hometown. Josie would hold her hand perfectly still, allowing it to poke out from the canvas. However, the position may threaten peril before they even arrived to the meeting place. She seemed dangerously close to the edge.
“I should switch places with you, Josie.”
“No, just hold me.”
They could no longer speak when the cart slowed down to a creeping pace. Before it completely stopped, Josie rolled back to her position. The darkness was thick, but he could feel her breath on his neck. She squeezed his hand with a passionate grip.
“Do not fear,” he whispered. Buck warned him to hush with an elbow in his ribs.
Alvin’s singsong voice carried to them. “The mourn is done, the time is come. Never fear, we are here.” The signal. He had mentioned at the barn that the secret code would be sung three times, and then he would be permitted to draw close to the bridge where he would meet the head snatcher.
Every breath beneath the canvas seemed to hitch on the silence that followed Alvin’s hoarse verse. If the silence remained, then that meant that Gerald did not trust the delivery.
“Ho there, do you need assistance?” Gerald’s voice traveled up to them, and Braham’s shallow breath trembled. A final crumb of hope that they had got it wrong—that the cruel man was not as cruel as to profit from such a business—that small sliver in his heart dissolved, broadening his agony once more.
The cart began to move again. They headed downhill, Josie’s side pressed against him, warm and delicate, his assurance that he was not alone and that love had not disappeared with his aunt’s final word.
They came to a halt. He stiffened. His ears strained to hear beyond the rush of blood barreling through his body.
“Alvin, what are you doing here?” Audra’s sharp tone was close. She must have stood right next to their side of the cart. “I thought you were done with this.”
“Opportunity arose.” Alvin chuckled. “I could not resist.”
Braham’s heart leapt and splashed into doubt. The man sounded smug.
“I’ve not heard from Minnie. Is this from Gloughton?” A knock against the cart rattled along their heads.
“Only one girl. She’s en route to her hometown. Shame that robbers might meet us along the road.” He chuckled at the story they’d come up with at the barn. A snort came from Audra.
Minutes passed. No word was spoken. He prayed that Josie stayed perfectly still in case they checked on them. They all waited for Alvin’s signal. He was going to ask for a bit of whiskey by the fire before the exchange.
They waited.
But it did not come.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I am going to get out and look,” Josie whispered in Braham’s ear.
He clutched at her arm. She froze, afraid that the movement was obvious. “No,” he breathed out.
“They have not said anything for several minutes. Perhaps Alvin forgot the signal and is in trouble.” She would slip easily from beneath the canvas and crouch behind the cart. “I will be careful, I promise.”
Braham tried to hold her tight, but she wriggled free and slid away. She begged God to protect her as she carefully lifted the canvas, turned on her stomach, and dropped to damp mud.
The air outside carried a more pleasant smell than the dirty cart offered—one of lingering rain and quenched leaves. She crouched behind the large wheel and filled her lungs. Although the moonlight was bright, the trees were guards against it. Only a flicker shone several yards away. She squinted, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She could see a fire. An occasional figure walked about it. Unease crept up her spine, wondering what Alvin might be up to. Did he truly forget the signal?
“Hey there!” The shout shook the silence on the road ahead of them. Her heart stopped then regained its strength with erratic thumps. The voice was too far away to have been directed at her. She caught her breath and crawled around the cart, her dress dragging in the mud. She snuck to the front and could just make out another cart like theirs, the white canvas catching the moonlight. A lantern’s light swung between two men—Alvin and a stranger—as they lugged a body into the wooded area. Several times Alvin looked over at their own cart. The glint of the lantern revealed his concerned brow.
“I haven’t much time,” the stranger grunted. “I need to get back before they get suspicious.”
“I’m doing the best I can,” Alvin snarled. “I have my own load, you know?”
“Knock it off, Alvin,” Audra snapped from somewhere in the trees. “You’ve got nothing but time. Nobody cares where you are.”
Fury stabbed Josie’s heart. What a callous woman. Poor Alvin was facing her now.
Josie waited a few more moments. She heard the distant footsteps and listened carefully to be sure they didn’t grow close. Reins snapped in the air, and the cart ahead wheeled away.
She took quick steps back along the cart and ducked behind the wheel. The fire flicker was no longer visible, yet the yellow glow of a lantern showed Gerald, Audra, and Alvin sitting with their backs to her, pouring cups of drink. The only way she could tell that Alvin had followed through with their plan was by that lantern he had placed at the edge of the clearing.
Josie carefully lifted the canvas. Although she could not see Braham and the men in the dark, she could hear their breathing.
“It seems that another one of Gerald’s men arrived,” she whispered. “Too bad we could not stop him as well. But I think Alvin has been stuck with Audra bossing him about.” She reached in and found Braham’s hand. “It’s time that we go. The lantern is in place.”
Braham pushed himself to the edge. “I want you to stay back, Josie. These past minutes were an eternity.” His eyes caught the moonlight. They were wide with concern. He jumped down next to her then pulled her by the waist. “They might have seen you and—” He found her chin and lifted it.
“You needn’t worry. I stayed close to the cart.” She cupped his cheek.
“You are brave, I’ll give you that.” He gently kissed her. A shiver traveled through her. The nightmare was over, and soon the dream would begin. A smile threatened her lips as they pulled away.
She could not fully smile until this last scheme was accomplished.
“There now,” Tom whispered behind them. “Let us get this over with.”
Josie was thankful for the night hiding her blush. She slipped behind the men. Braham gathered some rope from the cart then held his hand up to her, insisting she stay back.
“I will stay behind you. I promise,” she assured him.
The men crouched down with pistols in their hands and the constable leading the way. Josie prayed, keeping her word by staying behind them at a distance yet creeping forward slowly. She would not stay at the cart alone.
Braham pushed down the anger that erupted at the sight of Gerald’s broad shoulders as he slung back whiskey beneath a black hood. The constable stopped just beyond the circle of light cast by the lantern. They were close enough to hear the conversation by the fire.
“Are you certain you won’t miss this?”
Audra reached behind Gerald and ran her hand across his shoulders.
“Why get our hands dirty if we have the money from the trust?” Gerald snorted. “There is no proof that my uncle put a stipulation on it. There is no evidence of the ward’s part in the will at all.” He wagged his head then chuckled. “If you could have seen Williams’s face. He thought he was safe after I forced him to give me the money. Did not see what was coming—” He sniffed. “He died quickly. Easy and quick.”
Bile filled Braham’s throat. The heartless words of a murderer rang in the air, and it was from the one person he could call family.
Alvin stood up. The constable straightened his shoulders, and the others stepped forward with Braham. They waited for the signal.
“Oh look,” Audra whined. “We’ve made Saint Alvin uncomfortable with all this talk. He only likes stealing the dead, not helping them along.” She giggled, and Gerald laughed.
The constable flicked his head, and they crept up behind Gerald and Audra, who were still sitting. Alvin slung the rest of his drink in the fire, just as planned. The flames swelled then smoked.
“Watch it, man,” Gerald reprimanded. “You’ll put it out.”
Tom lunged at Gerald and grabbed his arms. “What the—” He squirmed, trying to get free, but Tom was nearly twice his girth. He swiveled him around, revealing Gerald’s befuddled face.
Alvin held Audra in a full-on embrace from behind. She screeched and hollered. Braham did what he was supposed to and waited behind the constable with the ropes to tie their hands.
“I never had a good feeling about you.” Tom spoke through his teeth in Gerald’s ear. “Your uncle was right to choose Braham over you.”
Braham winced. The truth would hurt any son.
Gerald’s face flashed with fury. He flung himself about trying to get free. Constable James stopped him with a pistol inches from his face. “You have just confessed to murder, Mr. Bates,” he said, his hands shaking. “Tie him up, Braham.”
When Braham stepped forward, he could not help but look Gerald in the eyes. “What have you become?”
The Yellow Lantern Page 24