Vivian handed the man the satchel that she had carried. “Here’s the film.”
He took it from her and said something that I couldn’t hear.
“But you were supposed to bring me money,” she said. “I need it tonight.”
The man mumbled something back to her, but I couldn’t hear it.
“Don’t you double-cross me.” Her voice became agitated and took on that shrill quality that rankled. The man shrugged as he stepped away from her. She reached out to grab him, but he was too quick.
“Stupid dame,” he said as he pushed her, knocking her off balance. He fled into the cover of darkness behind the community center. She stumbled and almost fell, but at the last minute she righted herself. Vivian took a moment to regain her composure, after which she walked right past me. She slipped into the bushes and out of sight.
I could only guess what had just transpired. I had no idea where Vivian was headed now.
I had stepped out from my hiding place behind the garbage cans, ready to follow Vivian back through the bushes and take the trail back to Bennett House when three men came around the side of the building. They stumbled as they walked and sang bawdy songs in their loud drunken voices. They passed a bottle of booze, each tipping his head back as he drank.
“Excuse me.” I attempted to pass but one of the men grabbed my arm.
“Where do you think you’re going, sweetheart?” He pulled me near him, his grip vice-like on my arm. His friends moved closer, encircling me, blocking my passage.
I tried to pull away. The more I fought, the deeper his fingers dug into my flesh. He jerked my wrist so hard an electrical jolt of pain ran up my arm and into my shoulder. My heart started to pound. No one knew I was here. No one would come to my rescue. I was on my own.
I couldn’t overcome these men. They circled around me, leering, their eyes glassy from booze, their faces hardened and mean.
I screamed as loud as I could, “Fire!”
“What the--”
When I screamed, the man loosened his grip just enough for me to break free. I took off running, not looking back to see whether or not they followed. My heart pounded hard and fast, ready to explode, but still I ran. If I could make it to the front of the building where other people milled about, smoking cigarettes and stepping outside as the band took their break, someone would help me.
I would find a policeman, anyone, who could see me home. I was just about to turn the corner, when I ran right into Zeke’s arms.
I hit him with such velocity, we almost went flying, but Zeke, by some miracle, managed to stay on his feet and keep me standing up as well. His arms went around me. The last of my composure slipped away and, in the safety of his arms, I crumpled and wept the loud racking sobs guaranteed to make my nose run and swell into a red bulb. I was not a pretty woman after a spate of tears.
I didn’t know how long Zeke held me. He didn’t let go until I stopped crying and calmed my breathing.
“Come on, let’s get you home.” He kept his arm around me, encircling me with the heat of his body as we walked toward the car.
We didn’t speak much during the ride home, but Zeke held my hand, maintaining the connection between us, and not letting go until we pulled up to the front door of Bennett House. The house was quiet and still from the outside, but inside firelight from the library welcomed us. He helped me with my coat. After he hung it on one of the hooks by the front door, he took my hand and led me into the library. I sat on the couch while Zeke got a blanket and draped it around my shoulders.
Anca came in carrying a tray with mugs of cocoa, along with a plate of cookies and ham sandwiches.
“What were you doing tonight, out there in a dark alley all by yourself? You know better than that. I’ve met naïve women before, but really, Sarah, you--”
“I found microfilm in her room.”
“You what? When?”
“Yesterday, I caught her in my father’s desk, snooping, and discovered later that my passport and birth certificate were missing. When she got in the bath, I searched her room. I wanted my papers back.”
“What did you do with the film?” he asked.
“Put it back. I knew she’d miss it, and I knew that you were aware of it, so I thought that it was best to just leave it.”
“Thank God,” Zeke said.
“You’re glad I put the film back?”
“I’ve been switching her film since I started working for your father.”
“So all this time--”
“She’s been passing along inaccurate information,” Zeke said. “And I have reason to believe the people that she has been passing the film to know that I’ve been switching it. That’s why she’s anxious to leave town. If Vivian is no longer of value to these people, they won’t hesitate to get her out of the way.”
“Where is she now? She’s not here, is she?”
“No,” Zeke said. “I came home. Anca was awake. I went upstairs to make sure you were locked in your room, but the door was open and you were gone. Vivian was also gone, so I assumed the worst and came looking for you. It was just dumb luck that I happened to walk around that corner when I did.”
“You saved me once again.”
“What were you doing out there by yourself?”
“Following Vivian,” I said. “She wants to leave here and she needs money.”
“I need you to tell me exactly what you saw tonight. Can you describe the person Vivian met? Did you hear anything they said?” Zeke proceeded to ask questions about the minute details of Vivian’s encounter with the man in the alley. His questions were designed to jog my memory. When I told him about the incongruous shoes, Zeke smiled, as if pleased with my attention to detail. He sat next to me, quiet, his brow furrowed in concentration.
“I’m not going to leave you alone anymore. It’s no longer safe.”
I didn’t argue with him.
“I need to say something to you. When I said that I couldn’t get involved--well, I think that is a decision that you should be involved in. My future is uncertain. I have obligations which may require me to leave you alone for long periods of time. Not many women would want to live like that. I can’t make any real commitments, ask you to marry me, until I finish some things that I cannot explain to you. I don’t feel right asking you to wait.”
“I’ll wait for you,” I whispered.
He pulled me close and kissed me, a stop-the-world kiss that told me everything I needed to know. Then we leaned back, our bodies close as we stared into the fire.
“She’s going to assume my identity. That’s why she took my documents--my passport and birth certificate. She’s looking for the money to leave Bennett Cove. She’s going to travel as Sarah Bennett.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Zeke said.
I believed him.
Chapter 15
Despite the madness of the previous night, I awoke early the next morning, refreshed and rejuvenated. I had been kissed. I was in love. I got out of bed and pulled open the curtains, only to be greeted by fog thick as mud and just as opaque. I didn’t care. With a song in my heart, I dressed with care and dabbed some lipstick on before going downstairs for breakfast.
Anca was in the kitchen, pulling a tray of biscuits out of the oven. I poured myself tea from the pot and added milk. I took the biscuits that had just come out of the oven off the cookie sheet and set them on the cooling rack.
“Where’s Viv--Grace?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound light and uninterested.
“She was gone when I turned her room. I hate to leave you alone with that woman. I knew she was trouble the first time I saw her.” She came to me and grabbed my arm. “You must be very careful when I am gone. Let your young man protect you. She is dangerous.” She made the cross over her chest. “Zeke is getting the car ready to take me to town. He told me to keep an eye on you until he gets back.”
“I’m going to miss you, Anca.”
“He’s in love with you.�
� Anca waited for me to look at her and tell her what had happened between us, but I didn’t. I moved over to the kitchen window and ate my biscuit, holding it over the sink as I did so. “You’ve found out that you were adopted, haven’t you?”
“You knew?”
“I’m sorry to have kept it from you. I gave my word to your grandmother that I would never tell you about your adoption. I’m so very sorry for everything that you have had to go through, Sarah--Jessica’s death, the asylum.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“You’ve seen her, haven’t you?” Anca asked.
“I’ve seen her spirit.”
“You always could see through the veil, even when you were little. Do you remember having tea with Esther Bennett?”
Esther Bennet had been dead for decades, but her reputation lived on. Legend had it that she won fifty acres of our family’s land in a game of cards. When she went to the man’s house to collect the deed, he tried to back out of paying her. The poor man made the mistake of saying that a simpleminded woman could never win a card game. He then was stupid enough to tell her to go home where she belonged and stay in her place. She pulled a gun on him and held it there until he signed the necessary paperwork to transfer the land to her. I didn’t remember having tea with her, I’m sorry to say.
“Your parents weren’t happy, that I can tell you. She told you some interesting things which you repeated to your parents. Of course, they rationalized it, said that you simply overheard them speaking.”
“Why did you never speak to me about this before?”
“Because this ability you have is something that you must learn to accept and deal with on your own.” She picked up a cloth and started wiping the counters. “These things come and go. You may see your real mother’s spirit now, and then you may not ever see it again. It’s best not to make too much of it, better just to let things happen in their own good time. You could be seeing your mother for a special reason. There is no bond greater than that of a mother and child.”
“She must want something from me.”
“Or you might need something from her. Only time will tell.”
We hugged.
“I’m going to miss you,” I said for the hundredth time.
“I will be close. You can visit. Now we work.”
And work we did. Anca made sure I knew where everything was kept, how to lay the trays for morning, the best way to bake the bread, clean the larder, and de-frost the icebox.
She showed me the easiest way to do the laundry, fold the sheets so they wouldn’t wrinkle, and a myriad of other tasks.
Hours later, just as we were finished cleaning up the kitchen, after baking enough bread to last a few days, fingers of sunlight broke through the fog. My arms ached and my hands were blistered. Soon Zeke would be back. Together we would drive Anca to the bus stop in town.
After Anca wiped the kitchen counter for the last time, she hung the dish towel on the hook and stood surveying the room that she had claimed as her own these past years. “Will you get my suitcase for me from the attic?”
“Of course.”
She retreated to her bedroom to start packing.
On my way upstairs, I detoured into my father’s office. The top of the desk had been cleared before his trip. All that remained was a lone piece of paper with the phone number for the Algonquin Hotel that sat on top of the desk. I picked up the phone and asked the operator to put me through to the Algonquin Hotel.
“Is this a necessary long distance call?”
“Yes, it is. I’ll be brief.”
“Thank you for helping keep the phone lines clear for the war effort. Connecting.”
After three or four rings, the clerk at the Algonquin answered. I asked to be connected to my father’s room.
“One moment, please.”
She put me on hold, and it seemed like ages before she came back.
“Mr. Bennett is not here,” she said.
I left a message, asking him to call home. He needed to know what was going on here. I owed him that. I walked over to Zeke’s desk and stood over it for a moment, thinking of him sitting here, reading this book, touching that ink well, and resting his elbow on this blotter.
The hairs on the back of my neck and my arms stood up, as a draft came through the room. I shivered, overcome by the feeling that I was not alone. I turned and took in my surroundings to assure myself that no one had followed me into the room. I was ready to chastise myself for being paranoid, but the heavy velvet curtain rustled, as if someone were behind it, which was impossible, since the house was still locked up from the night before. I went over to the window and pushed the curtain aside. It was open. I reached over to shut it again, just as Vivian headed across the lawn and onto the trail up the mountain. She was also in disguise, and just as Zeke had said, she had changed her appearance with an expertise that I had to admire. She even managed to change the way she moved. Her face and hair were hidden by a navy scarf and a huge pair of sun glasses. She seemed taller somehow, and I wondered if she wore special shoes to disguise her height.
Where in the world is she going?
Throwing the first coat I could grab over my shoulders, I followed her as she hurried up the steep and twisty path to the cabins on the hill. She navigated the rough terrain like a mountain goat, once again surprising me with her physical prowess. The day was clear and cold, with a good ocean breeze to blow the morning fog away. The trees danced to the music of the wind in their canopy above me, hiding the sound of my breath as I labored to keep up with her and muffling the sound of the loose stones that went rolling down the footpath in my wake.
I stopped in my tracks. I had been so lost in thought that I had traveled a good half mile from the house, which was out of sight now. The only sound was the wind in the trees and the crying of the gulls as they circled above me. I was alone, far away from anyone, on the heels of a cunning, murderous spy. What was I thinking, following this woman? What was I going to do if I caught her in the act, up here, by myself? Hadn’t Zeke asked me not to do anything foolish? Hadn’t Anca promised him that she would keep me out of trouble?
I turned around and headed back to the house, weaving my way down the path, every now and then stopping to take in the view of the Pacific Ocean. I had marveled at this view a million times, yet it was so spectacular that I once again stopped and took in the beauty. There were no boats near the shore today. I could almost pretend that we weren’t at war, that the threat of enemy invasion wasn’t imminent.
I leaned against a giant redwood tree and tilted my face toward the sun. Was Vivian going up the mountain to send a radio signal to her ring of spies? No matter. I was helpless to do anything about it. I pushed away from the tree and was about to continue the hike down the hill toward Bennett House when something whizzed by my ear, brushed against my hair, then thumped against the tree trunk.
A knot formed in my stomach. It started out as fear, but blossomed into rage when I saw the knife embedded in the tree not three inches from where I had just been leaning. Had I not moved, it would have landed in my neck. The knife was wedged up to its hilt in the trunk of the tree that I had leaned on. Vivian was nowhere to be seen, at least not from where I stood.
Grabbing the slick, colorful handle, I wrenched the embedded knife out of the tree and studied it. It was exactly like the one I had found in my father’s desk drawer, like the knife that had killed Gran. Bright stripes of yellow, red, purple, and green decorated the handle. I ran my finger along the shiny steel blade. It sliced through my skin. A tiny trickle of my blood seeped out of the small wound.
I took my handkerchief and wrapped the knife in it then tucked the bundle in my pocket. I applied pressure to the small cut I had made until it stopped bleeding. Then I continued on the path toward safety, moving as quickly as I could without tumbling.
Vivian Mason had just tried to kill me.
Chapter 16
The baking we had done earlier left the kitchen war
m and sweet smelling. It was too early for the morning sun to filter through the windows, so oil lamps were still lit, giving the room an even cozier feeling. The heat stung my wind-burnt cheeks as I came through the door. Anca and Zeke were sitting at the kitchen table. Anca had been crying, tears ran down her cheeks, and she dabbed at them with a handkerchief, the lace around its edges yellowed with age. Her rosary lay on the table before her. Zeke sat close to her. He had one arm around her shoulder and spoke to her in a soft comforting manner. When Anca saw me, she made the sign of the cross over her chest.
“Thank you, God,” she said. She picked up her rosary, her fingers running along the beads with the dexterity of a concert pianist, her lips moving as she prayed, the handkerchief she held waving like a flag of surrender.
“Where have you been?” Zeke asked.
“Why are you crying?” I asked Anca.
“She’s been worried about you,” Zeke said. “Didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t do anything foolish like go off on your own?”
I hadn’t noticed before how Zeke’s face had become gaunt, his complexion pale. He had been pushing himself too hard. “I promised I wouldn’t leave you alone, promised I would keep you safe.” Anca wiped her eyes. “When I came back into the kitchen, you were gone. I didn’t know where you went. I was afraid someone had taken you against your will.”
“I’m sorry I upset you, Anca.”
“You’re fine, so it was nothing. I am a nervous old woman.” She pushed away from the table. “I think I’ll rest for a while.”
“I’ll get your suitcase,” I said.
Anca went down the hall to her room. When Zeke and I were alone, I pulled the knife wrapped in my father’s handkerchief out of my jacket pocket and set it on the table.
“What’s that?” Zeke asked.
“I followed Vivian Mason up the hill toward the cabins.” I looked at Zeke, met his eyes, and held them. “I was halfway there when I remembered what you told me about keeping myself safe, so I turned around and was headed home, proud of myself for not being a fool. I stopped for a second to enjoy the view and was leaning against a tree when she threw that at me.” I nodded toward the white handkerchief, the familiar JB monogram on the corner.
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