“You sure you’re okay?” Edward asked.
Opal smiled her reassurance and that put him at ease.
“What else did you see?” Daddy asked, wiping his chin with his napkin.
“We saw an old gypsy woman,” Ayden announced.
Heath’s eyes flew open.
“What do you mean a gypsy woman?” Momma gasped.
Ayden looked to me, realizing he had said too much. The three of us quickly tried to think of what to say. Of course, Heath knew right away what to do. He had to lie.
“As soon as we saw her in the woods, we hurried away.”
Momma took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then said, “Thank goodness. Those people are witches. You children stay far away from gypsies.”
Ayden gulped hard as Heath looked at me. He warned me to stay calm, that I had nothing to fear.
“I’m just glad you all had a good time and got home safe.”
“Amen to that,” Opal added.
Heath, Ayden, and I asked to be excused. We wanted to escape before anyone realized we were lying. Before I went inside, I thanked Heath and Ayden and hugged them both. “That was a close one,” I said quietly.
“That it was,” Heath replied, and with Ayden, walked through the shadows of twilight, back to their house.
It wasn’t long before Momma came up for our goodnight ritual. I was grateful to be safe in my room, on the island, and under Momma’s love and care. No longer did I have frightening visions of the old gypsy woman. Momma’s warm touch and soft voice put all of my fears to rest.
“Did you really have a good time today?” she asked as she began to brush through my hair. My hair had grown so much since we first arrived. It hung past my hips. Momma’s hair was only inches shorter, but she always kept it up in a bun until bedtime. Then she spent hours brushing it after she brushed mine. The only time she couldn’t was when she felt ill. Then I would offer, but she would send me away so she could rest.
“I did, Momma. I hope the circus comes next year. Then I want to go again.”
“When I was a little girl, I went to the circus once. My daddy took me. I was about six years old.”
“What was he like, Momma?” Momma hardly ever talked about her daddy, my grandfather.
“He was a handsome man, almost as handsome as your daddy. I was his angel, and he adored me.”
“Does he still live in Savannah?” I asked.
Momma sighed as she ran her fingers through my hair. “My parents are long gone, Lillian,” she said, with a pain in her voice I only heard when she infrequently remembered them.
All I knew was that they had lived in Savannah where he met my grandmother. I tried to imagine what he looked like, for there were no photographs of them. We had none of anyone in our family. I couldn’t imagine anyone as remotely handsome as Daddy.
“What was his name?”
“Whose name?”
“My grandfather’s.”
“Thomas. His name was Thomas,” she said, then cleared her throat and began to fidget. Then she removed herself from the bed and told me to blow out my lamp.
Just before she turned to leave, she gazed out my bedroom window, and after only a moment said, “Mrs. Dalton is expecting a baby come spring.”
“A baby? Really? How exciting,” I cried. Momma didn’t seem very excited about it.
“I suppose so,” she muttered.
“Momma?”
“Yes, Lillian?”
“Why didn’t you have any more babies after me?” I asked. I had often wondered why I had no brothers or sisters. Especially that day, I wondered why I was a sole child. Momma came back to me and took my face in her hands, making me look up into her melancholy eyes. She sighed then said, “I am unable to have any more babies.” She said that with so much anguish that her pain went straight to my heart.
Momma knew I wanted to know why, but that night she wasn’t ready, and as she said goodnight to me, left with eyes full of tears.
_______________
Chapter Five
The very next Saturday was my birthday. It was the first birthday ever that I was going to celebrate with people other than my very own family. In years past, the day came with a gift and a cake and that was all. I had never had a real party. Momma used to tell me one day I could have one; one day we would be able to have the luxury of a birthday party in my honor. As far back as I could remember, I had wished for it to come. Now it had finally arrived.
Opal and Momma spent the morning baking my cake. Daddy told me I didn’t have to do any of my morning chores; I could go off and play. Heath and Ayden asked if I wanted to go fishing. I had just put on my Sunday dress, my only dress for a special occasion. Normally, I would have gone fishing with them, but that day I didn’t want to get dirty.
“Then just come and sit with us. You won’t have to actually fish,” Ayden said. They had their fishing poles in hand and stood waiting for my answer.
“I’ll bait the hook for you,” Ayden added.
“Come on, Lillian. What else are you going to do?”
“I think I want to stay inside and read today. Besides, I’m wearing my Sunday best.”
“But it isn’t Sunday,” Ayden said.
“She knows that!” Heath interrupted. “Okay, Lillian, we’ll see you later.”
I plopped down on my bed and opened my book. It wasn’t long before I would have my school books to study again; there were only three weeks left of fun and play until Heath and Ayden would row in to the mainland for schooling. I would be left on the island to be schooled by Momma. She was a good teacher; Daddy often praised her for my knowledge and intelligence. He’d say, “I know she doesn’t get her smarts from me.”
Momma always told him to never say that. She’d say he was the smartest man she had ever known, and he would smile and kiss her rosy lips.
Though I was smart thanks to Momma, I wanted more than anything to go to school with Heath and Ayden and meet other children. I wanted to see what it was like in a real school house with a real teacher. Each time I brought it up, Momma told me it was out of the question. “Your father and I don’t want to hear this again.”
“Why can’t I be like other children and go to a real school?” I would groan.
Daddy had come down from a long night in the tower and overheard me crying to Momma. “You are not like other children, Lillian. Now, not another word of this,” he commanded.
I didn’t understand why I wasn’t like Heath or Ayden—why I wasn’t worthy of attending school. I was a good girl; I was sure of that. Momma and Daddy both knew I was smart. No school would turn me away. I wanted in the worst way for them to tell me why—just once tell me why.
Although I tried to concentrate on my book, I was too excited about the upcoming evening. Daddy gave me no hint as to what my present was. My presents were always special because Momma and Daddy gave them to me, but just once I did want something I’d wished for. Every time we went to the village’s general store, I gazed up at the dolls. Each and every time. Only once did Daddy notice, and that was the day he told me we couldn’t afford a doll like that. I had rag dolls that I played with—but never a real porcelain doll. If I ever did receive one as a gift, I wanted to name her Jane, after Jane Austen, the author of many of my favorite books. Something told me this birthday was going to be different from all others and one of my most memorable days.
I had been working for some time on tying my hair back in one of my prettiest blue ribbons, and as soon as I had it just right, I went downstairs. I was the first one ready for supper. Momma had the table set. But as I lit the candelabra in anticipation of everyone’s arrival, a gust of wind blew them out. From out of nowhere came a powerful storm. The early evening turned dark, and the winds kicked up as the surf began to pound the island. In a matter of minutes, the rain became torrential. Daddy ran in, soaking wet, and flew past me to get up to the tower and light the lamp. I heard Edward calling for Heath. There was a vessel in peril. I ran to see,
too, and just as I stepped outside, the vessel slowly broke apart and went to its watery grave. I could hear men screaming for help, their voices crying out over the howling winds and powerful thunder.
Heath and Edward threw lines out from the shore; it was all they could do. The swells were too dangerous to risk taking the rowboats out. A man bobbed up and down in the huge swells not far from the shore, but the rope just couldn’t reach. We stood there, helpless, as one wave after another swept over him and he continued to scream. Then he went silent and disappeared into the sea. Edward and Heath stayed on the shore in the pouring rain until they were certain they could save no one. Then they waited the rest of the night for bodies to wash up.
After the ferocious storm passed and the swells subsided, a thick fog settled in. The night was long and daunting. Heath and Edward pulled one dead man after another out of the water and laid them on the cold, wet sand. Momma insisted I go inside, but I refused.
“There is nothing we can do for them except say a prayer,” she said.
“Then that’s what we will do, Momma. We will give them a prayer.”
Momma took my hand, and we bowed our heads. Opal, Heath, Edward, and Ayden came to stand with us as we listened to Daddy ring the fog bell in ten-second intervals. We held hands while Momma gave the Lord’s Prayer for the fifteen sailors and captain that Heath and Edward dragged out of the water.
I didn’t remember it was my birthday until the sun began to rise and the fog turned into an eerie white cloud that blanketed the island. The new day was surrounded by death, and my birthday was over. Heavy-hearted, I returned to my room. It wasn’t long before there was a soft rap on my door.
“Lillian, it’s Heath.”
Heath stood, exhausted and drained, out in the hall. He was cold and wet, but he wanted me to have my birthday present. From his pocket, he pulled a necklace made of sea shells. “Happy birthday.”
The gesture brought me to tears, and I fell into his arms. Heath caught me and held me as I cried.
Heath awkwardly put his arms around me, and tried to comfort me. “It’s okay,” he kept repeating. “Please don’t cry,” he said. Then he opened my hand and put the necklace in it. “Doesn’t the necklace make you happy?”
“Yes, yes, of course. I love it, Heath. Thank you.”
“Don’t say anything to Ayden, but he made you a bracelet to match,” Heath whispered softly in my ear.
I stepped back and looked up at him. “Really?”
“Promise you will act surprised?”
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and agreed. I wouldn’t tell Ayden I knew he had made me the bracelet. I wouldn’t tell him how happy that made me, and I wouldn’t tell him I knew he finally had come to like me.
“I have to get back. We have to row the men to the mainland, to the undertaker.”
I reached for his hand and squeezed it tight, then said, “You did the best you could, Heath.”
He gave me a solemn half-smile. “I wish we could have saved them. It just makes me want to leave this place and become a doctor so I can really save people. I won’t have to battle the rain and the wind; I won’t have to fight the sea. I won’t have to stand aside and watch as they get swallowed up by the dark, cold water.” And with that, Heath left to go load up the bodies and take them to the undertaker, where they would find their final resting place.
The heavy fog didn’t lift until exactly one week later. There were times I believed I would never see the sun again. Even though I hated the sea sometimes, I longed for the damp fog to retreat and leave us be, so I could once again gaze out and see the whalers and schooners. For days on end, Daddy worked the light with Edward, the two taking turns. Momma fell to bed, sick with sadness over the loss of the sailors. Opal was left to do the cooking and cleaning, while Heath tended to the general maintenance around the houses. Ayden stayed close by as the others were kept busy. When I wasn’t helping with Opal, Ayden and I would go off looking for something to keep us busy.
“Why don’t we play hide and seek?” I suggested. “I bet you can’t find me in this dense fog.”
Ayden was up for the challenge. “Okay, I’ll hide first,” he said, and he ran into the fog. He disappeared instantly. “Can you see me?” he called.
“No, I can’t see you.”
“Come and find me, Lillian.”
My only landmark was the light from the tower. If I didn’t have that, I would certainly be lost. I slowly walked into a foggy world that resembled nothing of Jasper Island. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. In the distance, I heard Ayden laughing and remained on his trail. His laughter was light and silly for a while, then faded. I stopped and closed my eyes, then intently listened for him. He had stopped laughing. All I could hear was the fog bell and the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. Once or twice, I heard the steam whistle of a vessel in the far distance, then not long after, I heard the melancholy songs from a pod of whales.
I searched for Ayden by the shore, and over the island, walking slowly, afraid I would fall off the bluff. It was eerie being alone. When I couldn’t find him, I grew tired and called for him. Through the murkiness, I could tell I was very far from the lighthouse.
“Ayden, I give up,” I called. “Come out; come out, wherever you are, Ayden!”
Still he didn’t give up.
“Ayden Dalton, where are you?”
I heard him call my name. I turned in circles, lost and confused as to what direction he was calling me.
“Ayden, I can’t see you!”
“Over here, Lillian.”
I turned again and again, spinning in circles, trying to figure out where he was, then out of nowhere, a figure appeared from the mist. I screamed.
“Lillian, where are you?”
“Ayden!”
Ayden came through the fog, running until he found me, and then he stopped short next to me and stared with disbelieving eye at the ghost. Then the ghost vanished, just as quickly as he appeared.
“Did you see him, Ayden? Did you see Victor?”
“I saw him.”
I took hold of Ayden’s hand then whispered, “Did you see him the night you almost died?” Our eyes locked onto one another, and the fog bell rang. “He saved you, Ayden.”
As unbelievable as it was, as much as Victor left both Ayden and I with wide eyes and our hearts pounding in our chests, we knew he was there to protect us. His image was frightening, but we were safe when he was around. And only Ayden and I could see him.
Ayden didn’t let go of my hand as we made our way through the fog, following the light back to the tower.
“We tell no one of this,” I said to him. “This is our secret. Do you swear, Ayden Dalton? Swear you won’t tell a soul.”
Ayden squeezed my hand, his eyes unwavering, then said, “I swear.”
After the week of ominous fog, the sun brought bright blue skies and rejuvenated us all. Daddy was exhausted and fell into bed just as Momma came out of her long sleep. She allowed him to sleep that first star-filled night while she manned the tower.
The days that passed seemed more like a strange dream than reality. I, more than anything, didn’t want to remember most of it. I hated thinking of the dead bodies, the eerie fog, Momma’s ill sleep, Daddy’s fatigue, and the ghost that stayed near. The only thing that kept those thoughts from turning into horrible nightmares was Ayden’s new friendship for me. And there was one other very special thing besides my friendship, besides the warm sun that chased the fog away that lifted my spirits.
Just before Daddy collapsed into bed, he came to me with a box in his hand. I had been reading on my bed when he knocked on my door. Poor Daddy; it was the most tired I had ever seen him. His eyes were hollow, his face pale. His uniform was unkempt, his hair messy under his cap. But he came to me with his last ounce of energy and placed the box next to me.
“I’m sorry about your birthday, Lillian,” he sighed.
“It’s okay, Daddy.”
I put my book down and brought the long box onto my lap. Slowly, I opened it, and inside was the doll, the beautiful doll I had wished so hard for.
“Oh, Daddy,” I cried. “Thank you so much.”
“Are you happy?” he asked, with such worry.
I jumped up and hugged him as tight as I could and covered his scruffy face with dozens of kisses.
“I have never been so happy,” I exclaimed.
“You know I would go to the ends of the earth to make you happy, don’t you, Lillian?”
I took his face in my hands and said, “I love you the most, Daddy.”
He brought me close and stroked my long, thick hair. “You will always be my special princess. No matter what life brings, no matter what dark shadows are cast over the bright sun, know your daddy loves you. Never believe anything less of me, my darling daughter.”
Daddy was practically begging me to understand him. Of course, I promised him. Why would I think anything different? I could never doubt Daddy’s constant love for me. Nothing in the world could ever change the way I felt about him. Daddy had the deepest part of my heart; he had my love, which was so strong, not even the most brutal of storms could break it. My love for him could never sink, not like the ships that broke in half and plunged to the bottom of the sea. My adoration for Daddy kept me from any affliction that came my way. There was no reason to believe otherwise.
I was eager to show Heath and Ayden my beautiful doll. They had just returned from fishing. Both had caught a half-dozen fish, and Opal took them to prepare for supper.
“Look at what Daddy gave me for my birthday,” I said, gleaming with happiness.
“That’s some doll,” Heath said.
“Her name is Jane. I am the luckiest girl to have such a doll.”
“You be careful with her, Lillian,” Heath said.
“Oh, of course. I’m going to keep her on my bed. She is not a doll for playing with.”
“Then what’s the point?” Ayden asked.
“Well, she is to look at and admire.”
Box Set: The ArringtonTrilogy Page 36