FORTY-TWO
They walked into the street, their footsteps accompanied by the constant pattern of hammers and saws, noises that had taken over for the songs of birds and schoolchildren. Those other sounds were slowly returning to Halifax, but they had a long way to go. A woman walked by with a train of rope-holding children behind her, somewhat like a duck with tethered ducklings, and Audrey and Danny squeezed each other’s hands with sympathy. The children were blind and scarred, staring but seeing nothing. They would never see their own scars. Perhaps that was a blessing.
Danny held the door open when they reached the orphanage, and Audrey stepped ahead of him. He knew what she saw because he saw it just about every day.
“Danny!”
The boys—his boys, he liked to think—were on him as soon as they looked up from the little toy horses Danny’d carved for them. They wrapped their arms around his legs and squeezed. Behind them, little Norman grinned at him from all fours. He was growing like a weed, that little fellow, reaching for the wall and daring himself to stand.
Danny led the boys back to their brother, then squatted between them. “Boys, I have someone very important for you to meet.”
All eyes went to Audrey, standing beside him. Norman crawled over and grabbed a fistful of her skirt, struggling to find his balance. When he grinned up at her, chin shiny with drool, Audrey sank to her knees and took his little hand in hers, helping him up.
“This is Mrs. Baker,” he told them. “She’s my wife.”
“You’re pretty,” Eugene said, staring at her. “Like my mom.”
Danny and Audrey exchanged a glance. The little boy’s words tugged at Danny’s heart, but he smiled. “I think she is too.”
“And you all seem like very fine gentleman,” Audrey assured them. She tapped Norman on the tip of his messy nose. “Even you.”
Norman gurgled something, waved one arm wildly as his balance abandoned him, then plopped down to the floor.
“Danny made us horses,” Harry said helpfully, holding out one of the toys for her to inspect.
“Well! Aren’t those lovely,” she said.
She looked at Danny, and he saw a deep, desperate hope shining in those beautiful eyes. It struck him that she’d never known little children, really. And now she stood before these three, quite possibly the salvation they all needed, and Danny realized she was afraid of rejection.
“May I hold it?” she asked Harry.
The twins’ expressions were sober but trusting. “You can hold mine too,” Eugene said. “Mine’s bigger.”
“Is it?”
“No, it isn’t,” Harry said.
“Yes, it is,” replied his brother.
“All right, all right,” Danny said. “Enough of that or I’ll take them both back.” He looked at Audrey. “Mrs. Baker, I have to go to work. Would you like to stay here a while?”
“With these little gentlemen?” she asked. “Oh yes. Would you like that, boys?”
In reply, the boys hopped around, grinning, thrilled at having made a new friend.
“That’s settled then.” She reached for Norman, who curled his hand around her finger, making her smile.
Danny loved watching her fall in love with them, just as he had.
“Good,” he said, rising. “I’ll see you all later.”
She stood beside him. “Are you still doing construction on Barrington Street?”
“I am. Guess I’ll be there a while yet.”
“I’ll bring lunch later.”
Danny smiled all day. In the evening he came home, and Audrey had supper ready. It was like before—no, it was better than before. There was no reek of scotch clinging to the air, no bickering over small things. She made them a simple stew, which Mick practically inhaled. After supper the men lit cigarettes while Audrey cleared the dishes.
“It’s a strange thing to say,” she said, pouring boiling water into a basin for the dishes. “But I’ve missed this. I’ve missed cleaning up and feeling like I’m doing something useful.”
“Yeah?” Mick asked, blowing a perfect circle of smoke toward the ceiling. “I would’ve thought you’d have been too busy with parties and stuff.”
She grinned but kept her back to them. They could hear the smile in her voice. “Well, it was busy. I don’t remember the last time I had a quiet day. When Pierre wasn’t having people over, he expected me to host teas, and we went to a lot of parties. It was all about business, really. He needed to keep up the impression that he was in charge of all the business in Halifax, you know? And I met some interesting people. A lot of them asked me to paint for them.” She glanced over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “I still have most of that money, Danny.”
“That’s my girl,” he said proudly. “We’ll need that to build our house.”
“So you’re gonna move back up the shore?” Mick asked. He shook his head. “Why anyone would want to move away from this town is a mystery to me. This is where the action is, folks! Everything you could ever want is here. Then again, I guess if you prefer reeking of fish and manure, well, you’ll find it out there.”
“That’s right, Mick. I’m headed back for the manure. Just can’t get good-enough shit out here.”
“Danny!”
“Sorry, Audrey. Only teasing.”
“Well, I’ll miss you. Won’t be the same around here without your snoring,” Mick said.
“You could come with us . . .”
“Ha!” Mick guffawed, smacking his thigh. “I ain’t no fisherman, no way.”
When the dishes were put away, Audrey sat back down at the table with them and brought out some scribbled drawings the boys had done for her. She traced her finger along the messy lines, describing how the boys had fared, and Danny could see how proud of them she was. Just like a mom should be.
When she was done, Mick jumped right in with his intended conversation.
“So, Audrey. Let’s hear about Antoine.”
She frowned and set the two pictures to the side. “What?”
“The man behind the money. He’s somewhat of a mystery to us newspapermen—loud and slippery, but still a mystery.”
“Slippery?”
“Sure, sure. He’s sneaky.”
She thought about that, then she gave Mick a hard stare. “He isn’t sneaky.”
“Sure. Sure, he is.” Mick chuckled. “He’d take his grandmother’s last penny, and she wouldn’t even know it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, interestingly enough, I’ve been doing some investigating of the man lately. He’s hardly a saint, as I’ve said before, and there’s some real quiet things happening that shouldn’t be happening. His name’s all over those things. Did he ever talk money with you?”
“No. I guess he didn’t think I would understand.” She shrugged. “And he was right.”
Mick peppered her with questions, then dove back into his office, where he kept newspapers stacked against his typewriter. He emerged with his hands full of paper, a pencil tucked behind one ear.
“Can you remember any of the men’s names?” he asked, swinging into a chair and plopping his supplies on the table. “The men he talked with?”
Audrey frowned, then shrugged. “Ralph Whelan was often there. And Harry Shelton. Fred and Joseph Warrington sometimes came, but they never spoke. They just sat in the corner of the room.” She turned to Danny and grinned. “They’re twins. I’d never seen grown-up twins before. It was very interesting.”
Mick kept busy writing names as she spoke, scribbling words beside each one. He apparently knew these fellows. Or knew of them, anyway. When he’d finished writing, he looked up and stared silently at her for a moment, making Danny wonder if he’d finally run out of questions. Of course not. He was only thinking up more. But Audrey stopped him before he could say anything.
�
��Will you say awful things about Pierre in your story, Mick? I don’t know how comfortable I am with that. He was kind to me.”
Danny sighed and dropped his forehead into his hand. “He was so kind to you that he lied and told you your husband was dead. He was such a good man that he let me believe you were dead too. He was such a terrific guy that he got another man’s wife pregnant and wanted her to get rid of the baby.” He lifted his gaze to hers. Her face was bright red. “Why did he take care of you? Not because he’s a good man. No. Johnny saw it a long time ago, and I didn’t listen. He said I never should have let Antoine be alone with you. Antoine saw you as a pretty little decoration, and one that perfectly matched his social circles.”
She took a deep breath. “I used him too. I’m no angel, Danny. I needed to build a new life, and he offered a good one. He isn’t fully to blame.”
“Maybe not,” Mick interrupted, stubbing out his cigarette. “But this guy always knows what he’s doing. He’s sneakier than you’d think, Audrey. Don’t give him too much credit. I haven’t told anyone about this yet, but I’m working on a really big story. Really big. If I can get all the evidence I need, I can prove he’s stolen thousands of dollars from innocent people.”
“Really?” She sounded shocked.
He nodded. “Yep. The man’s making his fortune on the backs of orphans and homeless. Not a nice man.”
Audrey sank into the state Danny had seen so many times, disappearing inside herself to think things over. When she got like this, Danny knew it might last a while. She liked to think everything through very thoroughly. Danny wasn’t in the mood for thinking, but he had to ask.
“How do you know about all that, Mick?”
“All I can tell you right now is that you have to trust me, and you both have to keep this to yourselves for now. I’ll fill you all in as soon as I can.”
Danny nodded, then turned to his wife. “Come to bed, Audrey.”
Her eyes, slightly unfocused from her meditation, lifted, and she smiled. “All right.”
Mick cleared his throat. “I’ll just get back to work then. Hey, Audrey?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks. This is going to be a heck of a story.”
She gave him a weak smile, then took Danny’s hand.
At dinner that night, Audrey was subdued. She pushed her leftover stew around the bowl with her spoon, staying mostly out of the conversation, seeming distracted. Danny tried to give her room but was dying to know what was eating her up.
“I had a visitor,” she said when he asked. “Catherine. You remember her? She came to the orphanage, and she didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see me there.” Audrey set down her spoon and rubbed her hands together as if they were cold. “She talks a lot, Catherine does. She said she and her husband had supper with Pierre last night, and he was very angry.” She swallowed, looking nervous. “Pierre does not like to lose.”
“So?”
“She told me we should be careful. That was all she said.”
“Sounds fair, coming from Antoine,” Mick said.
“Yeah, well, he should be careful too,” Danny said.
Mick chuckled. “Sounds fair, coming from Danny.”
FORTY-THREE
Thursday night, Danny and Audrey stayed up for hours, talking about Eugene, Harry, and Norman. She seemed just as excited as he, and she had visited the orphanage a few more times that week, just to get to know them better. She’d brought along some scones she’d baked and even bought them some new shirts and trousers. As they lay in bed that night, Danny kept gripping her hands, telling her not to get too excited. If the answer was no, they’d both be terribly disappointed. But he was having an awfully difficult time listening to himself.
If the answer was yes, he was going to sit down and write his mother a long-overdue letter. If the adoption went through, he and Audrey would head home immediately to start building their new home. He’d been saving up what he could, and now that he’d had so much practice, he figured he might be able to make some money in construction back home. Maybe the boat market would pick up again. Maybe something would come up. Somehow they’d make it work. They had to. And when the new house was all done, the boys would come out. He hadn’t told them what he’d been doing, because he didn’t want to disappoint them. Not until he had the answer he wanted to give them. Not until, he hoped, today.
It was a big day, so Danny had asked the foreman for time off. He and Audrey were up early, preparing and laughing like children. When they were ready to head to Social Services, Audrey wore a pretty pastel blue dress with matching hat, and Danny wore his cleanest shirt and pants. Audrey helped him with his tie, which he tucked under a black vest and jacket. Mick gave him the once-over, then vanished into his room, returning seconds later with his newsman’s fedora, minus its usual “Press” card tucked into the front. Danny patted the hat on, offered Audrey his arm, and they stepped out into the street.
The summer sun lit the city and warmed the air. Sweat snaked down the back of Danny’s neck, but he wasn’t sure if it came from heat or anxiety. The heavy black door outside Social Services seemed somehow larger today, more imposing, but it also seemed like a symbol. Like he and Audrey were opening the door on a bold new life. He turned the knob and ushered Audrey ahead of him, removing Mick’s hat as he went. Bells hanging over the door chimed cheerily in welcome.
“Good morning, Mrs. Munroe,” Danny said.
The woman was in her accustomed chair behind the desk but was bent over, picking something up off the ground. At the sound of his voice she sat up quickly. “Oh! Mr. Baker. Good morning to you too. And to you, Mrs. Baker.”
On the opposite side of Mrs. Munroe’s desk were two chairs. Danny pulled one out and gallantly ushered Audrey into it, then took the other one, smiling broadly.
“Well, ma’am,” he said, “it’s Friday, and we’re back, just like you told us to be. How did everything work out with the paperwork? Anything more for us to sign?”
Mrs. Munroe started to say something, then bit her lower lip. She frowned strangely at him, then turned toward the files and pulled his from the stack marked Completed. The bold lettering jumped right off the page and stamped itself onto Danny’s heart. This was the most exciting thing he’d ever done.
Just as she had before, Mrs. Munroe slowly slid the papers from their envelope and spread them in front of her, but this time she didn’t even look at them.
“Denied,” she stated flatly.
“What?” Danny and Audrey cried together.
“Yes. You see? It’s stamped in red right here.” She pointed at the obvious word, and Danny felt all the blood drain out of his face. Audrey, in contrast, went bright pink. Mrs. Munroe frowned at Danny as if he were a recalcitrant schoolboy. “Seems you are not what you say you are, Mr. Baker. Not quite the upstanding citizen you claim to be.”
Danny’s blood pounded in his ears. “What?” he cried, leaning forward to read the page. “What does it say?”
She pulled one sheet closer and adjusted her spectacles until her eyes looked huge behind the lenses. “There is quite a list here, provided by a prominent member of Halifax society. Let’s see.”
Danny felt sick. He only knew one prominent member of Halifax society.
“Says you have a disreputable character. You have an unpredictable temper, a drinking problem, and”—she shot him a furious glance—“you have been known to strike a woman.”
“No,” Audrey whispered, sounding horrified. Her face went from pink to white as a sheet.
“Obviously, Mr. Baker, we cannot allow you to adopt our children. That would be a crime.” She waited, lips pursed together, but Danny said nothing.
He seethed. Antoine. It could only be Antoine. He rose slowly and replaced his hat. Audrey stood silently beside him, like a shadow.
“Good day, Mrs. Munroe,” he said, and t
hey left the building.
Despite his wooden leg, Danny set a pace that had Audrey practically running beside him. She had ceased apologizing after the third or fourth time, when he’d growled at her to stop. Now she stuck grimly to his side, begging pardon as they pushed past people at the side of the road. Danny barged through the newspaper office door and stopped at a front desk.
“I’m here to see Mick,” he said to the woman there.
“Mick?” she replied sweetly. “Mick? I’m sorry, but which Mick?”
“There’s more than one? Well, I’m looking for Mick—” He stopped, realizing he didn’t actually know Mick’s name since he’d changed it. “I’m looking for one-eyed Mick,” he said.
“Certainly, sir. One moment, please.” She stood and opened a door behind her, filling the quiet room with clacking typewriters and the voices of men, then vanished inside and took the noise with her.
Having reached his destination, Danny’s heart began to slow again. Reason started to trickle back into his brain. Audrey stood beside him, staring straight ahead, looking absolutely miserable. He noticed the lace on her little hat was trembling.
“Aw, Audrey. It’s okay. None of this is your fault.”
“But it is.”
“Well, if it is, then it’s mine too. Don’t be unhappy. We’ll get this thing fixed up, and we’ll be teaching those boys to fish in no time.”
Her eyes didn’t believe him, but she smiled nonetheless, and he was grateful for the attempt. He didn’t believe himself either.
Mick stepped through the door, striding purposefully around the desk toward them. “Well, if it ain’t my two favourite roommates,” he said, grinning. He stopped and frowned. “As the bartender said to the horses, what’s with the long faces?”
“We need your help, Mick.”
Audrey chipped in. “I’ll give you whatever you need to get Antoine.”
Mick’s brow shot up. “Oh? What’s the word then? What’s the old man done?”
“Blocked the adoption,” Danny said flatly.
“Blocked the adoption? On what grounds?”
Tides of Honour Page 32