Uneasy Spirits: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery

by M. Louisa Locke

  They both looked over to where Annie and Mrs. Hewitt were getting the two old ladies settled in the chairs next to the fireplace. Biddy, the Framptons’ servant, brought them a plate of cakes and some punch. Just then Dandy ran into the kitchen, yipping excitedly, followed by Jamie, who had come to drag his mother outside to see him try his hand at snap the apple. Nate became aware that the fiddling had stopped and there was much clapping and laughing coming from the back yard.

  “Master Jamie, you put the leash back on Dandy before he trips up someone,” said Mrs. O’Rourke. “That’s right, and hand the leash over to your ma if you’re going to try for the apple. I’ll be out in a second to watch.”

  Mrs. O’Rourke glanced around the kitchen to make sure everything was under control, and then, with a small frown, she turned to Nate and said, “I worry if Dandy is underfoot that someone won’t see him, he’s so small. But I couldn’t tell Jamie to leave him up in his room, with him being the hero and all for saving our Annie.”

  Annie appeared at this moment at his side and said, “Good, you got the cakes. Let me take the cups. We need to go out and watch Jamie. You come too, Beatrice.” She grabbed the two cups and was on her way out, shooing Mrs. O’Rourke in front of her, before Nate had a chance to ask what Mrs. O’Rourke had meant about Dandy saving Annie.

  Nate paused at the door, stunned at what he saw. Annie’s aunt and uncle had the good fortune to buy the property on O’Farrell in the 1850s, before the city lots had been sub-divided, so they hadn’t been forced to build one of the narrow row houses that dominated most of the city. Not only did this mean there was actually a tiny bit of space between the house and its neighbors, but also the back yard was comparatively spacious, and every inch had been transformed for this party.

  Snaggle-toothed jack-o’-lanterns leered down from the tops of both side fences, and two torches placed at the end of the lot added to the light that spilled out of all the back windows. The large garden plot at the back of the lot, stripped and readied for winter, now hosted a traditional All Hallow’s Eve bonfire; carefully tended by several older men, who, Annie whispered, were Kathleen’s uncles. The laundry lines were down, and the right side of the paved yard had been turned into an improvised dance floor, with chairs and stools and crates pushed to the edges for seating.

  On the left was the apricot tree and a dangling rope was tied around a lower limb, ending in a stick with apples stuck on both ends. A young man, probably Kathleen’s brother Aiden, was in the tree madly swinging the rope and twirling it to the frustration of a younger boy and the general laughter of the watching crowd.

  “The boy trying for the apple is Kathleen’s youngest brother, Ian,” said Annie. “She is determined that he stay in school, not be apprenticed like her other two brothers. She says he’s the smartest of them all and he should be given the chance to get a profession. She gives most of her wages to the uncle who took him in when her father died, so that he won’t send him out to work. She’s hoping that Ian and Jamie will take a shine to each other, thinks Jamie would be a good influence on him.”

  Nate smiled, thinking about the friendship he had developed with Tim Newsome, and the scrapes they got into, and he wondered who would influence whom. Ian finally got his apple, to great cheers, and came over to slap Jamie on the back and push him into the circle for his try. Looked like Kathleen might get her wish.

  While they sipped their punch and ate their snacks, Nate and Annie stood with Barbara Hewitt and watched the younger children try for their apples. Mrs. O’Rourke disappeared into the kitchen at some point and then came out with a large cake on a platter, which occasioned a shout and much pushing of young ladies to the fore. Kathleen, Biddy, Biddy’s cousin Tilly, and about six other girls of varying ages, whom Nate didn’t recognize but assumed were some of Beatrice’s nieces, stood in line, each getting a slice of the cake.

  Annie leaned over to Nate and said, “It’s barmbrack cake. Beatrice has baked a ring in it, and tradition has it that the girl who gets the slice with the ring will marry within the year. Oh, my, look at Patrick, he seems to be taking a great interest in who’s going to get the prize!”

  “Saints preserve me, I’ve got it!” shouted Biddy, waving the ring in the air. “Nearly swallowed it, don’t you know. I hate to think what that would have foretold!”

  One of the older lads, who had been anxiously watching the girls eat their cake, came over to Biddy and whispered in her ear. When she laughed, he pulled her over to the dance floor, where couples were congregating as the fiddler began a tune. Nate asked Annie and Mrs. Hewitt if they wanted to take a seat around the edge of the dancers, but Mrs. Hewitt said she needed to check on Jamie, and Annie looked up at him and said she would rather join the dancers. Nate readily agreed, mentally thanking Tim’s wife Lydia for the lessons in Irish country dancing he’d gotten at her family parties. What followed was a lively interlude where he got to swing Annie repeatedly in his arms.

  Laughing, Annie finally pulled him from the floor, saying, “Nate, that’s all I can do, let’s leave it to the youngsters.”

  “I guess you are right, there goes the youngest one at the party.” Nate followed her, making sure to keep his arm tight around her waist, as he pointed to Mrs. O’Rourke, who had just been cajoled by one of her brothers-in-law to join the dancing. Soon the pavement was crowded with the older generation who were now showing the younger how a true Irish jig was performed.

  Dandy, who had somehow gotten away from Jamie, came trotting up and sat beside them, staring at the dancers as if entranced. Annie picked him up, which reminded Nate of what Mrs. O’Rourke had said earlier about Dandy being a hero. He was just going to ask her about this when she turned and said, “I’m going to take Dandy into the kitchen and see if Mrs. Hewitt is there. I want to check on Miss Minnie and Miss Millie, and I will get us more punch. I’ll be right back.”

  Nate stood and watched her weave her way through to the kitchen, stopping and chatting with everyone as she went. He couldn’t help but think how useful she would be if he ended up with a political career since making people feel at ease had never been a social skill he had developed. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t mention the prospective meeting with Hart or his aid and his hope he might get a job in the state attorney general’s office, in case it fell through. Thankfully he hadn’t gotten any summons tonight, and he assumed his meeting would be sometime tomorrow.

  “Mr. Dawson, I am so glad to get a chance to see you,” said Mrs. Esther Stein, who had just come up beside him. “Annie told me I could find you out here. She is supervising the kitchen while Mrs. O’Rourke is having her fling. There are several giggling girls in there, peeling apples and professing to see the initials of their intendeds in the parings, and I was afraid that my presence was putting a damper on their high spirits.”

  “Mrs. Stein, how good to see you. Are you well? And your husband, he didn’t want to join in the festivities?” Nate always felt a bit ill at ease with Mrs. Stein, very much as he would probably feel talking with a prospective in-law. He knew if the Steins objected to his courtship of Annie, it would be hard going. Mrs. O’Rourke and Kathleen seemed very much in his corner, but Esther Stein, he wasn’t so sure of.

  “Herman likes to put his feet up after a big meal. We were trying out the new restaurant that has opened up on Kearney. I must say this party is a good idea; gives the young people something positive to do. The number of young boys and some girls we saw running around the streets tonight on our way home was distressing. Too easy for good fun to turn into bad judgment, with some broken windows and broken heads as a result.”

  Nate murmured his agreement, again thinking ruefully of his own boyhood pranks with Tim, and his uncle coming to the rescue, not something he cared to share with Mrs. Stein. Instead he asked her if he could bring her a chair, and she in turn suggested that they take a seat on two chairs that were located near the bonfire since the air was getting chilly.

  When they were both seated, Mrs.
Stein turned to him and, in a very serious voice, said, “I am glad to have this chance to talk to you, alone. I was hoping to enlist your help in convincing Annie that she must stop these investigations into the Framptons. She could have been killed Tuesday night, and nothing you can say will convince me it was an accident. I think she has gotten too close to something dangerous, just as she did last summer, and I fear for her safety.”

  Nate’s head swam, and for a moment he wondered if there hadn’t been a bit more than a touch of rum in the punch. “Mrs. Stein, whatever are you talking about? What happened to Annie on Tuesday night? This is the first time I’ve seen her since Sunday, and she didn’t mention any accident. Wait. Mrs. O’Rourke said something I didn’t understand about Dandy saving Annie, save her from what?”

  Mrs. Stein then told Nate, in some detail, about Annie’s close call with the beer barrels, Jamie’s claim to have seen a man run away from the cart, and her own conviction that the incident had been deliberate and life threatening.

  “Then, when I learned that she not only attended another private sitting with that odd sounding young girl, Evie May, on Wednesday, but she arranged a meeting with the girl and her mother and some other local Spiritualists on Thursday, I became seriously concerned. Mrs. O’Rourke said you accompanied her to the séance tonight, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she had told you about what happened since I thought you would be too sensible to give into her if she were really in danger. I know it is hard to say no to Annie . . .”

  Nate interrupted her, rising from his chair. “Mrs. Stein, I knew nothing about all of this, nothing at all. I can assure you if I had, I would have . . .” Nate paused, then bowed to Mrs. Stein and said, “If you will please excuse me, I need to talk to Annie this instant. I’m sure you will understand.” He then strode across the yard towards the kitchen.

  Chapter Forty-one

  Friday evening, October 31, 1879

  “Miss Leland, the Greatest fortuneteller, gives correct information on stocks, love. Wishing charms and lucky tokens given; happiness in families remedied; fee $1”

  —San Francisco Chronicle, 1879

  Annie was standing near the kitchen stove talking to Biddy when Nate came in and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the kitchen.

  “Nate, whatever are you doing,” she said, laughing. “I promised Mrs. O’Rourke I would oversee the girls.” When she looked over and saw the grave expression on his face, she said more sharply, “Nate, slow down, what’s happened?”

  By this time, they were now up the short flight of stairs to the front hall. Annie heard the sound of the piano and singing coming from the formal parlor, so she wasn’t surprised when Nate turned and opened the door to the small study directly to their right. This was part of Madam Sibyl’s domain, and, as such, would be off-limits to everyone else in the house, so it was a good choice if Nate had something private to discuss. Annie followed him into the room, feeling more and more disturbed by his behavior. After he had closed the door behind them, she moved up to him and took his arm, asking again what was wrong.

  Much to her surprise, he pushed her away, then simply stood there, looking at her as if he were afraid to open his mouth.

  “Nate,” Annie said, her concern sharpening to fear, “whatever is wrong, just tell me.”

  “What’s wrong is, I just found out you were almost killed on Tuesday, and, odd person that I am, I’m upset. So, Annie, just when were you going to tell me about what happened?” Nate stopped speaking and glared at her.

  Oh, dear, I really should have told him about this earlier, she thought, he has every right to be upset. Feeling her face flush with guilt, she hurried to try and explain, saying, “Oh, Nate, I am sorry. I was afraid someone would mention it before I had a chance to talk to you. I know you must be angry, but there just hasn’t been the time or privacy this evening. I had hoped when the party died down, but never mind, we can talk about it now.” She again reached out to touch his arm.

  Nate took a step back and said, “What about before this evening, for instance, the next day? And don’t tell me it was my fault because I couldn’t come Wednesday night. I bet you were delighted when you got my note since then you could go ahead with your plans for the week, without having to explain why you would continue to put your life in danger. You know, if you had sent word, I would have come round immediately. So don’t tell me there just wasn’t time. You didn’t make the time!”

  Annie, shocked, put up her hands to her cheeks, which now felt like they had been flayed by each angry syllable. Nate turned away as if he couldn’t stand the sight of her. Then she saw his shoulders rise and fall, and he turned back.

  He began to speak again, but his apparent attempt to appear calm soon faltered. He said, “Annie, I’m sorry. I was too harsh. But when Mrs. Stein told me . . . Annie, you have to understand I’ve seen what that sort of accident can do. I . . . I imagined you … your body … damn it, you could have been killed.” Nate stopped, breathing heavily.

  Esther, how could you? You have no idea the potential damage you have caused, Annie thought angrily. She looked away, trying to regain her composure, trying to find the right words to say to make Nate understand she hadn’t meant to upset him so.

  She again reached out to him, putting her hand on his arm and said, “Of course I understand. I would feel the same way if it had been you who had such a near miss. And, much as I would like to pretend it was an accident, the more I see of the Framptons, the more I can believe that our investigations, and Nate you have to admit you have played a part as well, have stirred something up. I know at first I didn’t really take the threat seriously. The note in my coat pocket seemed so melodramatic, even childish. I could see Arabella, or her lady’s maid, or even Mrs. Nickerson, if she thought I was a threat to her daughter’s future success, writing the notes. Heavens, it could have been Evie May, in the form of one of her ‘protectors,’ like Eddie, who pushed me off the horse car. I can see him thinking it was a lark. But Tuesday’s incident with the barrel . . .”

  Nate broke in, “Pushed you off the horse car? What the devil are you talking about?”

  “Oh, yes,” she said. “I forgot I hadn’t told you. I didn’t really tell anyone, because it seemed so silly at the time. Then Mrs. Stein gave me such a talking to about Sunday’s excursion that I didn’t want to give her any more ammunition.” Annie paused.

  “Exactly what did happen?” Nate said between clenched teeth.

  Annie decided that nothing but full disclosure was going to satisfy him at this point. So, she told him about the downpour on the way back from her meeting with Miss Pinehurst, the crowded horse car, and then the shove as she started to get down at her stop. She finished by saying, “I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, beyond someone trying to make their way off before the car started up. But then I found another note in my pocket, like the first one.”

  “Another note? What did it say?”

  Annie, remembering that she had put the note in the desk in this study, turned, opened up the small desk drawer, and extracted a small piece of paper, handing it to Nate.

  “Stay away or else,” Nate read the words out loud. “And you didn’t think this was serious enough to tell anyone about? Annie, that’s ridiculous!”

  “But you see, Nate, at the time it seemed part and parcel with the first. There is no chance that being pushed from a stationary horse car was going to do anything more serious than what did happen. I fell in a puddle and got wet, for goodness sake. Just the sort of prank I could imagine Eddie doing, for that matter.”

  Nate shook his head and said, “Annie, I don’t understand. You keep mentioning Eddie, who is Eddie?”

  “Eddie is one of Evie May’s . . . Flora Hunt calls them protective spirits . . . anyway, I told you about him showing up at the end of my first private sitting with Evie May, he said he was her brother. Then there is Maybelle, I told you about her, too, and Miss Evelyn, who Kathleen has met, as have I, and Edmund, the young man Kathle
en ran into last week.”

  Nate held up a hand to stop her and said, “You keep talking about all these, whatever you call them, as if they were real. I thought you didn’t believe in spirits and trance mediums.”

  Annie had to smile. She knew how ridiculous she must sound, and confusing, because she was confused. She tried to explain, saying, “When it comes to Evie May, I just don’t know. Is it all simply make-believe by a troubled young girl? Or, are these spirits of real departed people, or some kind of angels sent to protect her, as Flora Hunt believes? I have gone around and around in my head, and I just don’t know what I think. But I do know Arabella is a fraud, Simon is trying to manipulate whatever is happening with Evie May to his own ends, and that those ends are evil. I need to tell you about tonight and what happened at the séance.”

  Nate put up his hand again, and she realized that he hadn’t really been paying attention to her when he said, “No, Annie, what happened tonight is not the point. The point is that after you almost got killed, and, particularly in light of this second note, you shouldn’t have gone to the séance tonight. You should have put a stop to all your activities connected with the Framptons.”

  He paused, looked down at the note, and then he said, “Annie, apart from this note, do you even have any concrete evidence of criminal activity that the police would take seriously?”

  Annie saw this as an opportunity to try and get him to see things from her perspective, so she chose her words very carefully. “The Framptons are most certainly engaged in blackmail, if you consider what we know about what Simon said to Mr. Vetch. In addition, Mrs. Larkson is falling apart, and you can tell that her cousin and Arabella Frampton are working together to put pressure on her to do something. Mr. Hapgood, the poor man, is at the breaking point. Tonight, Evie May, in the form of his mother, practically accused him of being responsible for her death. In fact, even Nurse Herron was threatened by the spirit that addressed her.”