His mother crossed the room in a swish of skirts and stood beside him. “You say those days are behind you, yet you refuse to sail your ships except for the trip to Charleston and back. I never understood that.”
He clenched his jaw as the memories continued to assail him. “I did things that I’m not proud of. We took lives for the sake of food and ammunition.”
“It was war, son. During such dire times, men are often forced to do things beyond what they feel capable of doing.”
“That doesn’t change the fact of what I did. Sacrificing my love of sailing on the open sea is my penance to God.”
“Lucas, Lucas. You know God has forgiven you. When you became a believer, you repented of your sins, and the blood of Christ washed you clean. You’re a new creation. The past has been made pure, and you no longer need to be chained to it.”
“I know, Mother, and I believe what you say. But I made an oath to God, and I’ll not break it.”
She sighed. “I fear one day you will be required to—and then what?”
Lucas shrugged. “I hope that day never comes.” He turned to face her. “In the meantime, I’m sending a rider to Ben Ellison’s to see if he can come and bring his tracking dogs. I’m off to the Madisons’ to recruit Richard’s assistance. I mean to catch the thief this day.”
“Do invite Caroline to come and stay with us if Richard agrees to help you.”
He nodded. “That’s a brilliant idea, Mother. Heath—uh … Miss Hawthorne and she seemed to get along well in Charleston.”
She eyed him with the precision of a hawk high up in the sky watching a poor mouse; then she glanced across the garden to where Heather and Jamie sat. She’d noticed his faux pas, no doubt, and where his gaze had been focused.
He cleared his throat. “I must be off. I want this thief caught before dark. Please see to it that Miss Hawthorne and Jamie stay within sight of the house today.”
Without waiting for a response, he strode past his desk, snatched up the letter to Ben Ellison, and stormed from the room. He’d encouraged Heather to keep their budding relationship a secret, but he was afraid he’d just let the cat out of the bag.
eleven
Tired of reading several chapters aloud, Heather closed the book. “What did you think about Robinson Crusoe making friends with Friday?”
Jamie sat on the corner of a blanket shredding a leaf that he’d plucked from a nearby shrub. “I’m glad he didn’t have to be alone no more.”
“‘Tis anymore, Jamie, not no more.” She smiled. “I am also happy he found a friend.” If things went well between her and Lucas, perhaps she wouldn’t have to live alone, either. She’d lain awake much of the night, reliving their walk and Lucas’s surprising revelation. That he could care for her was almost beyond hope. Had their attraction to each other blossomed because of their common love for Jamie?
Yawning, she noticed Jamie had risen and was creeping toward a bush covered in a blanket of fat white flowers. This garden was an Eden. She couldn’t look at the brilliant, flower-covered bushes or breathe in their sweet scent enough. Mrs. Reed had told her that soon the flowers would fade and fall off, and the plants wouldn’t bloom again until next spring.
Where would she be then?
A bird suddenly darted out of the bush and flew past Jamie’s head. He jumped then glanced at her, grinning. The brown bird with red highlights glided over to a vivid purple shrub and alighted.
“Jamie, if you’ll be quiet and watch, there’s a fine possibility that you’ll see that bird’s mate. It will be a bright red.”
He lifted his gaze and looked up into the huge tree above them then scanned the garden. The female chirped, and Heather smiled. It almost sounded as if the bird was rapidly repeating, “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”
Jamie hunkered down and tiptoed toward the female. Heather knew she should scold him for scaring the birds, but the warmth of the day and her lack of sleep made her listless. She understood why many southerners took a rest midday.
She yawned and closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the birdcall and Jamie’s soft giggling. If she and Lucas were to marry, Jamie would one day be a big brother to their children. He would like that and be a good one….
Heather felt the sudden sensation of falling into a dark cavern and jerked awake. It took a moment for her to realize she’d been dozing. Stretching, she yawned and looked around. She was outside—not in her bed? Oh yes, she’d been reading to Jamie.
She bolted upright. Where was Jamie? How long had she slept?
Peering up at the sun, she realized that she must have dozed for close to an hour. Panic shot through her like a musket ball. Had Jamie gone inside? Had he wandered off?
“Jamie! Where are you, lad?” She stood and scanned the gardens but didn’t see him. “Jamie?”
Her heart throbbing, she picked up the book and quilt and rushed back into the house. Surely he was eating a treat in the kitchen or with his father or grandmother. Please be there.
Scolding herself for being so lax, she entered the house and deposited the book and blanket on a bench just inside the back door. She burst into the kitchen.
Mable’s startled gaze lifted from her task of slicing a hunk of meat. “Land sakes, you done frightened a dozen years offa me.”
“Have you seen Jamie?” Heather franticly searched the kitchen.
“No, miss. Not since breakfast. Did you lose him?”
“I’m sure he must be upstairs. I’ll check there.” How could she tell the woman that she had indeed lost him? How could she bear it if anything happened to him?
She hurried up the steps then quickly looked in each room, and all but collided with Mrs. Reed as she exited the library, book in hand.
“Oh my dear, what’s the big rush?” Mrs. Reed smiled, blue eyes shining.
Heather looked past her, hoping against hope that Jamie was with his grandmother. Tears burned her eyes when she didn’t locate him.
Mrs. Reed’s smiled faded. “What is it?”
Heather grimaced and broke her gaze. “I was reading to Jamie—and drifted asleep. He was in the garden, watching some birds.” She gasped a sob. “Now I can’t find him.”
Mrs. Reed pulled her into her arms and patted her back. “Now, now, he can’t have gone far. We’ll gather up the servants and find him quickly.” She set her book on a hall table, guided Heather into the parlor, and tugged on a bell pull.
“I feel dreadful.” Heather collapsed onto a chair. “Mr. Reed will never trust me with his son again.”
“Don’t fret so, my dear. I raised two boys and know how they can go wandering off.”
Two boys? Lucas had never mentioned a brother. Had he died in childhood? Could he have wandered off like Jamie and never come back? Unshed tears stung her eyes. “Oh, I should never have fallen asleep. I had some things on my mind and didn’t rest well last night.”
Mrs. Reed stared at her with a knowing look. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Had Lucas told his mother about them after requesting her silence?
“Do you suppose Jamie could be with his father?” Heather asked.
Mrs. Reed shook her head. “No, Lucas rode over to the Madisons’ a short while ago. I suspect he’ll be back soon with them in tow. Let’s see if we can’t locate Jamie before they return.”
Mrs. Overton hurried into the room, the jingling keys on her chatelaine heralding her arrival. “You rang for me, ma’am?”
“Aye, Jamie has gone missing, and we need to find him quickly. Please assemble as many servants as you can to join us in the search.”
Mrs. Overton nodded and sped from the room.
“Now, I will thoroughly search the house, and why don’t you look farther outside?” She patted Heather’s hand. “We will find the boy. The good Lord wouldn’t send him this far to us and let something happen to him.”
“I wish I had your faith.”
“You can, dear. All you must do is repent of your sins and believe that Jesus is t
he Son of God and that He died for you. Trusting God during difficult times can be quite reassuring.”
Heather nodded, wondering if that was why Mrs. Reed seemed so calm in the face of such a calamity. She rose, anxious to continue her search. “I’ll check the outbuildings, garden, and”—she swallowed hard—“down by the pond and the river.”
“You know how much Jamie loves the horses. Why don’t you start with the barn? Then I can have the servants search around the water.” Her smiled wobbled, revealing that she wasn’t quite as composed as she portrayed.
“Aye, Mrs. Reed.”
“Won’t you please call me Amelia?”
Heather offered a weak smile and a brief nod and hurried from the room. Why hadn’t she thought of the barn? Jamie frequently asked his father to take him to see the horses or to go for a ride. She all but jogged the distance to the stable. When she stepped inside, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer lighting. She lifted a hand to her nose, blocking the odor of horses and hay. Dust motes drifted lazily on the sunlight shining in the open doors and windows. A horse whickered at her, but there was no sign of Jamie.
She stood still, trying to listen in the quiet over the thrumming of her heart. Could he be hiding? If he was and he saw her, she was certain he’d start giggling. When she heard nothing, she called to him, “Jamie, are you here? Please come out.”
After a few moments, she hurried to the far side of the barn. Jamie had thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the servants’ outbuildings when they’d taken a walk down that way one morning. Perhaps he’d gone to watch the candlemaker who had so fascinated him or to play with some of the servants’ younger children that two older women cared for while their parents worked.
Sweat streamed down her spine as she quickened her pace. The servants’ village came into view. She received odd looks from the servants when she peeked into the weaving and sewing houses, the candle- and soap makers’ cabin, and the dye house. Her hands shook, and she battled tears. Where could he have gone?
Two large black men walked toward her. She recognized one of them as the man who often worked in the barn. She picked up her skirt and hurried toward him. “Please, sir, have you seen Jamie?”
The taller man’s dark eyes widened. “That boy, he be missin’?”
“Yes. I can’t find him anywhere.” Tears coursed down her cheeks, but she cared little. Her life was over if anything happened to Jamie.
“I’m Samuel, and this here be Abraham. We’s gonna help you find that boy.”
Heather reached out and grabbed the man’s calloused hands. “Oh, thank you so much.”
“You go gather ever’body and ask if they done seen Master Jamie.” Samuel nodded to Abraham, who took off jogging toward the nearest building. He picked up a mallet and whacked a circle of tin hanging from a cord. A loud bong filled the air, and men and women poured from the buildings, gathering together.
“Why don’t you go back to the big house? We’ll find that boy.”
“Perhaps he went to play with the other children.”
Samuel gently turned her toward the house. “We’ll check there. You go keep Miz Reed comp’ny.”
Heather nodded and wandered back to the house. Her feet felt as if she were wearing lead shoes. Never in the years she’d cared for Jamie had she ever let him out of her sight until coming to Charleston. What if …
All manner of heinous thoughts assaulted her. She lifted her hands to her face and sobbed. “Oh, God, please watch over him. I’ll do anything You want if You’ll let us find Jamie, safe and sound.”
The thud of quickly moving hooves drew near, then stopped. Leather creaked. “Heather, what’s the matter? Why are you crying?”
Her tears flowed faster at the sound of Lucas’s voice, and she couldn’t bear to look at him. “I’ve lost Jamie.”
His arms encircled her. “Shh … tell me what happened.”
She longed to nuzzle against his chest and stay there, but she couldn’t. She didn’t deserve to. What would happen to Lucas if he lost his son when he’d barely gotten to know the lad? “I—I was reading to him—and I fell asleep.”
“I see. Where have you looked for him?”
At the clipped tone of his voice, she stepped out of his arms, and her cheeks warmed when she realized Richard Madison was also present atop his horse. “Your mother is searching the house. I checked the barn and the servants’ work houses. Samuel has gathered the servants, and they are also searching.” Heather’s chin wobbled, but she stayed her tears.
Lucas lifted his tricorne and ran his hand through his black hair. “Has anyone checked near the river or ponds? You know how Jamie likes searching for tadpoles.”
She turned toward the river and noticed a trio of men headed toward the dock. “They’re checking now.”
“How long has he been missing?”
“I don’t know.” Heather winced. “Perhaps an hour.”
“Go stay with Mother. We will find him.”
Lucas mounted, and he and Richard Madison rode at a gallop toward the servants’ quarters. Heather forced her feet to move toward the house. In spite of the warm sun beaming down on her, a cold shiver made her cross her arms. If anything happened to Jamie, Lucas would forever blame her.
Lucas shot one prayer after another toward heaven, but a sense of dread still clung to him like barnacles on a ship’s hull. How could Heather have been so careless? Where would Jamie go if given his freedom to explore without an adult along? What if the thief had found Jamie and done him harm or held him for ransom?
Lucas rode his horse to the barn and tugged Liberty to a stop just outside the doors. “Samuel!”
Richard followed, his eyes filled with compassion. “I’m sorry about this, Lucas. We’ll find him.”
Lucas nodded. When his servant didn’t answer, he spun his horse around and trotted him alongside the creek. Surely Jamie wouldn’t venture near the water after being warned about alligators.
A motion drew Lucas’s gaze toward the road leading to the house. A wagon with a saddled horse tied behind it rolled toward him. “Good. Ben Ellison is here.”
When he’d sent someone for Ben, he surely never expected he’d have to use the dogs to find Jamie. “Richard, could you ride up to the house and ask Heather for something Jamie has worn recently? We can use it so Ben’s dogs can catch his scent.”
Richard nodded and rode off, while Lucas trotted Liberty forward to meet Ben. Two brown and white hound dogs jumped up on the back of the wagon’s bench seat and bayed a greeting.
“I’m mighty obliged to you for coming so quickly,” Lucas said.
“Happy to do it.” Ben smiled. His curly gray hair stuck out from under his hat in ringlets. His fuzzy eyebrows and beard were still a dark brown that matched his friendly eyes. Ben was a neighbor who always came if called on. “If you have a thief here, he just might hit my place or my daughter’s next. It’s best we see to this problem before someone gets hurt.”
Lucas clenched his jaw, not quite ready to tell his neighbor about Jamie, but there was nothing to be done about it. He needed Ben’s help. While they waited for Richard to return, Lucas explained about Jamie and how he was missing.
Ben scratched his beard. “That’s a shame that you just found your boy and now he’s gone off somewhere. But my Lolly and Molly will find him.” The dogs whimpered and wagged their tails at the sound of their names. Ben jumped down to the ground then motioned for the dogs to do the same. He untied his horse from the back of the wagon and walked toward Lucas.
Richard galloped back with the shirt Jamie had worn yesterday in his hand. He gave it to Ben. The dogs began baying again, as if sensing the chase that was soon to ensue.
“Where was the boy last seen?” Ben asked.
“In the gardens.” Lucas pointed toward the house.
“That’s where we’ll start.” Ben mounted, and they rode to the area in the garden where Heather said she had been reading to Jamie. Ben slid off his horse then c
alled his dogs and held the shirt for them to sniff. Tails wagged and the dogs yipped, their eyes riveted on their owner. He waved a hand in the air. “Search, Lolly. Search, Molly.”
The dogs ran from tree to shrub to grassy alcove. One of them bayed. The other dog joined in, and both bolted out of the garden toward the barn. They stopped and sniffed around a bush a short distance from the barn then dashed off in the direction of the pond. Ben jumped back on his horse. “They’ve got the scent!”
All three horses jumped the low hedge and galloped after the dogs, which were already nearing the arched bridge. Lucas’s heart throbbed in time with Liberty’s hoofbeats. “Please, Father, keep Jamie safe. Watch over him.”
twelve
Heather paced in front of the parlor window. The men had followed the howling dogs across the creek and into the trees on the far side. What could have compelled Jamie to venture in that direction? Had he gone to the creek in search of tadpoles? Had he chased a bird so far that he’d gotten lost?
“Heather, please come and sit down.” Amelia patted the sofa beside where she sat. “Caroline and I would like to pray together for Jamie.”
“It will give us something more constructive to do than worrying.” Caroline Madison smiled. “And it’s the best way we can help. The Scriptures say, ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’”
Twisting her hands, Heather glanced at the two women. “I prayed earlier—when I was looking for Jamie.” She blinked back the tears burning her eyes. “I told God I’d do anything for Him if He saved Jamie.”
Amelia rose and came to Heather then took her hand. She gently led her to the sofa and pressed down on her shoulders until she sat. Amelia resumed her seat. “God doesn’t bargain for our love and obedience. He loves us freely and longs for us to love Him in return. He will protect Jamie because He loves him far more than we ever could. He loves us so much that He allowed His own precious Son, Jesus, to die for our sins.”
Heather had never heard the Bible message explained in such simple terms before. She listened, wondering again how Amelia could remain so calm in the face of her grandson’s disappearance. Her heart longed for that peace—to know God. To have Someone she could talk to when she was alone. Someone to comfort her in troubling times such as this one. “What do I have to do then to become a child of God?”
Mutiny of the Heart Page 9