“And your name sir?”
“Henry. Nestor Henry.”
The man fled. He was agile for a heavy man. He bumped a woman outside a medicine shop. She had the prettiest eyes. It was still quite early for tea. Emmett decided one more survey looking into those eyes wouldn't hurt at all. “Excuse me, miss,” Emmett stopped her. “Could I trouble you with a question? My sister, she went missing after Titanic sank. I must find her.”
“Oh,” she sympathized. “Bless your heart.”
“Please tell me you've seen her,” Emmett said, handing her Cora's photo.
“No, I'm sorry, sir. I don't know who she is.”
“Perhaps you recognize her close friend? They traveled second class together. Her name is Beatrice-”
“Beatrice Luckett?” the woman questioned.
“You know her?” Emmett said surprised.
“I don't know the lady personally. I heard she died on Titanic. So tragic,” she replied. “A patient at our hospital swears up and down that she is Beatrice Luckett. We played along with her, of course, but when we realized who Beatrice Luckett really was, the idea was outrageous. That poor girl.”
Emmett's mind raced. “Forgive me, what hospital did you say?”
* * *
Ioan washed down the Valerian with whiskey. He reached the door to his room. The ocean breeze numbed his toes. “Mrs. Dillsworth,” he called downstairs. “I specifically instructed these doors would remain locked.”
“Come close them yourself,” Cora said. She stood at the balcony gazing at the vast ocean. The breeze played with her nightgown.
Ioan sat the whiskey on his bedside table and pulled the blanket off his bed. He draped it over her shoulders. “I thought you might want something warmer. I can't stand the bloody cold anymore. You should never have to feel it again.” When she didn't reply, he turned back to his room. “Goodnight then.”
“I shouldn't have said that, you know, about you going down with the ship,” she said quietly. “I didn't mean it at all. No matter how angry I was.”
“I know.”
“I think what I meant to say was I wish you trusted me more. You are my dearest friend. Anyone can see you don't smile like you use to, and I know you best. Something's eating you away. Won't you tell me what's happened to you?”
“I can't harm you, Cora. I'd protect you from anything unpleasant, especially from the dark things that go on in my head. The sun will always shine for you if I can help it.”
“Stop assuming I'm the fragile girl you met in Massachusetts. I saw it too. I watched a ship destroy itself with you on board. I can manage. You don’t have to carry this burden alone. Tell me what's bothering you.”
“I can't,” he said. “It's over, Cora. It's behind us. Why should it remain front and center? We have our whole lives ahead of us. Good, happy, normal lives. That's all you should think about. I want to move on.”
“Really,” Cora studied him. “And can you handle that?”
“Of course I can handle it. I suggested it.”
“And you can make me a promise?”
“Cora-”
“Promises are meant to be kept. Don't commit to tell me you will when you won't.”
“What do you want me to say? I gave you my word.”
“Pinky promise me.”
“What the bloody hell is that?”
Cora wrapped her pinky around his. “You solemnly swear this is behind us and we're moving on. No more talk of Titanic or anything related to Titanic. We will live happy, normal lives, so help you, God. And remember, you can never break a pinky promise. Ever.”
“This is ridiculous,” Ioan rolled his eyes. “Fine, have it your way. I pinky promise. Now I'm going to bed before I'm required to sign my soul to you next. Oh, right, you already have it. Don't stay out in this damn cold too long. Goodnight, miss.” He kissed her lightly and started for his room.
“Goodnight, sir,” she smiled after him.
Ioan broke through the waves and grasped the bobbing deck chair. The lights flickered. An explosion sent the world into complete darkness. He saw the outline of the ship. He couldn't shut out the torment of those around him. The veins in his hands constricted and blood pulled away. He'd been here before. He convinced himself not to panic and do it right this time. The indecisive lifeboat appeared again. This time he would commandeer it and save as many passengers as it could hold. The lifeboat made no effort to return. Ioan looked back at the passengers fighting for their lives. “Turn the boat!” he shouted.
“Grab my hand. I'll pull you in,” someone offered. Ioan effortlessly climbed into the boat. He turned to thank the man, but froze. It was Officer Moody. “Don't just stand there, Saier. Pull,” Moody scolded. “What's gotten into you?”
“They never found you, Mr. Moody,” Ioan said quietly. “I'm sorry.”
Moody stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I've been here before. Too many times,” Ioan said.
“There's no need to get worked up, Saier. We'll find you a doctor soon. I warned you when you stepped away from that boat. There's no going back.”
“I never imagined this,” Ioan said, looking back at the ship. “But this time I'll make it right.” He picked up an oar.
“What are you doing?” a crewman protested.
“We're going back.”
“You're barking mad! We'll be pulled right under! I say wait here until a ship arrives. It shouldn't be much longer now.”
“No one's coming to save us! The Carpahtia is more than two hours away at full speed. Even then, we'll still be left in the dark. They won't rescue us until daybreak. Some of you don't have that long.”
“How do you know that?”
“I've lived it. I know how this ends. 1500 passengers, women and children alike, will die tonight if we don't get a move on. I won't let that happen again.”
“He's mad! I say we throw him over. There ain't no room for his kind on this boat.”
“Gentlemen, we're wasting time,” Ioan protested.
“Help! Please send the boat back!” a woman cried. Ioan turned. Cora paddled against the waves.
“We have to go back,” Ioan shouted.
“She's lost,” a crewman remarked. “It's her life or ours.”
“It will be yours if don't turn this boat,” Ioan threatened, turning back to them. He stepped back. They were all frozen in their seats. Ice clung to their clothes and hair, turning their skin white. Their eyes were pale and glossed over. All were fixed on him. He quickly recognized their faces from alleyway posters. They were all dead.
“I can't swim,” Cora cried.
Ioan turned from the death party and reached out to her. “Just a little closer!”
“I'm so tired.”
“Cora, don't you give up! I'm not leaving you here!” One by one, frozen bodies bobbed to the surface around her. “You stay back!” Ioan ordered. “Don't you dare lay a hand on her!”
“It's alright, Ioan. They're here to comfort me,” Cora told him. “I never wanted to die alone.”
“Cora, please, just take my hand.”
“I can't. This is where I always belonged. Like you once belonged.”
“That isn't true,” Ioan cried. “You survived. That's how it's suppose to be. I made sure you got out of here alive. Why did you leave that boat? You were safe.”
“I wanted you to be alright. I don't know who makes the decisions of who deserves the right to live or die. I just knew you had to live. So I took your place.”
“That doesn't make any sense,” Ioan cried. The bodies circled in closer to her. “You stay back!” Ioan shouted furiously. He stripped his coat. The boat rocked dangerously as he balanced himself on the edge.
“Ioan, don't choose to save me again over everyone else. You can live a happy, unaffected life. No more guilt. No more nightmares,” Cora told him. “Turn the boat back toward the ship and save as many as you can.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
> “You'll never learn,” she lamented. “You'll always fail them.”
Ioan gazed around him suddenly realizing how quiet it was. They were all dead. All 1500 of them. He was devastated. He turned back to Cora. She wasn't there. Her lifebelt floated idly on the surface. His stomach turned. “Cora!” There was no stopping him. He dived into the ocean. He would tear it apart to find her. He searched every frozen body floating by. “It's me you wanted! You wanted my life! Not hers! You can't have hers!”
Ioan woke in his room again. He didn't let himself go back to sleep. Cora would be in danger if he did. Every hour he walked by her room to confirm she slept soundly. He scouted the entire house for any unusual business. All was quiet and as it should be. Cora was unmoved by any dark entity in the house. He would make sure of it.
It wasn’t unnatural these days to dream of dead people. They tormented him every time he closed his eyes. Cora was right. He couldn't save them if it meant saving her. He'd always choose her. Who makes the decision of life or death? What sick twisted deity decided his was more valuable than a child’s leaping from a ship? No just God would pick him. No one but his own selfishness. If he hadn’t been so desperate to get to a lifeboat and save himself, he could have found a child in the water and put it in the boat instead. He’d have died honorably with a clear conscience.
Rather, he saved himself and still done nothing productive with his life. Since Titanic’s ruin, he wasted his time holding old grudges and cowering in his house. He’d shown nothing to justify his right to live. Therefore, the dreams never stopped. He had a debt to pay. Now they turned to Cora. If they wanted to drive him batty, then he deserved it, but no one would touch Cora. He would drag their souls back down the Atlantic to protect her.
Time demanded a decision. Sunrise peered over the beach. He fixed Cora’s shawl around her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I don't have a choice.” He left her in peaceful dreams.
He started downstairs. Mrs. Dillsworth busied herself in the kitchen. “Another bad night?” she asked. “I heard you pacing.”
“I didn't mean to wake you,” Ioan apologized.
“How would you like your eggs, sir?”
“Mrs. Dillsworth, I beg you, get some rest,” Ioan insisted. “It's still early.”
“What did I tell you about American women?” she reminded him. “Bricks, sir. Think bricks. Have some breakfast.”
“How has your morning gone so far?”
“Very well, sir,” she answered. “But I must say, the strangest thing happened to me on my way to the shops.”
“Did the protestors trouble you?” Ioan asked.
“They huddled outside the headquarters today. Something about compensation. They weren't bothered by me,” she said. “However, I ran into a peculiar young man.”
“Oh,” Ioan grinned. “That's a right way to start a story.”
“Oh go on, let me finish now,” she blushed, waving him off. “Anyway, he was looking for people. Missing passengers, he claimed. He had this book which he collected posters, but one photograph struck me funny. She looked a lot like your Miss Harlow.”
“Miss Harlow? Clearly, he's mistaken.”
“He asked me if I knew anything about her whereabouts and that I'd be handsomely rewarded.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I'd never seen the lady. It had to be a mistake. It was very odd indeed.”
“His passenger list is apparently outdated.”
“He seemed quite sure and desperate. He claimed she was his wife.”
“Unquestionably a hoax. People will do anything to take advantage of the situation. Don't tell Miss Harlow.”
“Exactly what shouldn't we tell Miss Harlow?” Cora asked descending the stairs in a long black robe.
“Who's coat is that jacket?” Ioan demanded.
“Yours. What are you going to do about it?” she challenged.
“If you knew how hideous you look in my housecoat,” Ioan remarked.
“You bought the thing,” she said.
“Can I have my coat back, sir?”
“Certainly. Go jump back in the ocean and get my clothes for me, and I'll be happy to give it back,” she said. “Don't look at me that way. You should have listened to me. Did I not say I wanted to go back and get some clothes if I wasn't allowed back on the ship? Didn't I say that?”
“Lawks, we've got to get you your own clothes,” Ioan muttered.
Mrs. Dillsworth grinned. “And that is an excellent way to end a good story,” she winked at him.
“Only in his wildest dreams,” Cora replied.
“You see what I mean, sir. I'm sure you'll be taking bricks more seriously now,” Mrs. Dillsworth muttered.
“What’s that suppose to mean?” Cora asked. “Ioan, wipe that guilty look off your face.”
He cleared his throat. “You must be hungry, sir,” he said to Cora. “Take my chair, Mr. Saier.”
“Thank you, Mr. Saier,” she daintily seated herself. “Won't you sit down and eat as well?”
“I've got some errands to run,” he said.
“Oh, it's just come back to me! Mr. Spruce stopped by for you, sir,” Mrs. Dillsworth said. “He wanted me to tell you that your response has been officially accepted and that he will have the driver here as soon as possible.”
“What response?” Cora questioned.
“The deed to my father's house. It's sold,” Ioan replied.
“Can't it wait until after breakfast?” she asked.
“I'll be back later,” Ioan called from the hall.
Chapter 8
Mr. Luckett silenced the songbirds and sent butterflies fleeing for their lives. His heavy march wrecked the calm morning symphony. He swung his shotgun over his shoulder and the servants ran for cover.
“Are you sure this time?” he ordered.
“Beyond a shadow of doubt, sir,” Emmett hurried after him.
“I need absolute certainty. I'll warn you now, Mr. O'Riley. You better be right about this or you'll be sunbathing as well.” Mr. Luckett tilted his head to the squirrel carcasses littering his courtyard.
“You're an excellent shot, sir,” Emmett complimented.
“I never miss.”
“The nurse described her impeccably. Down to the last red hair on her head. The patient insists she is Beatrice Luckett. They found her in the alleyways begging for money to catch a train to you. Of course when she mentioned her name, they admitted her to the hospital. She swears she survived the Titanic sinking but can't remember how she got to New York. No one believes her. Nonetheless the details she gave cannot be faked. On her 13th birthday, before she left for Miss Harker's School For Girls in England, you gave her a flower press journal so she'd always remember home. She also claims you prefer strawberry tea but won't admit it to anyone. And the key to your upstairs safe is her mother's birthday backwards, with the first and second numbers reversed.”
“Dear God! Mr. Hughes, get the car! Where is this hospital?”
“Mr. Luckett, please, there's one last thing you should know,” Emmett stopped him.
“No time for that now. I must rescue Bea from that Hell immediately. Mr. Hughes, don't bother with my coat, man! Just get the car!”
“Mr. Luckett!” a gentleman charged across the courtyard. “A word with you, sir! I insist! Do not follow him to that hospital!”
“Who do you think you are smashing my petunias and telling me what to do?” Mr. Luckett roared.
“I am your lawyer, Mr. Jensen! Your real lawyer.” He glared at Emmett. “I can't let you do this. You've suffered enough. Leave your mind at peace, sir. You must hear me out.”
“You're mad if you think I'm abandoning my child,” Mr. Luckett growled. He showed himself into the car. “Drive, Mr. Hughes!”
Mr. Jensen jumped into the front seat as the car rampaged out the courtyard. He opened the backseat curtain. “Sir, for the sake of your reputation, I beg you reconsider.”
“Mr. Jensen, we
are finished here,” Mr. Luckett said.
“Turn here,” Emmett instructed Mr. Hughes.
“You haven't told him?” Mr. Jensen demanded of Emmett.
“We were unceremoniously interrupted,” Emmett replied.
“For Christ's sake, stop bickering like old broads and spit it out!” Mr. Luckett declared.
“You started this. Tell him. Tell him what situation you got him into,” Mr. Jensen pressed Emmett.
“I started nothing. I'm here to tidy up what you swept under the rug,” Emmett answered.
“What is he getting at, Mr. Jensen?”Mr. Luckett questioned.
“Sir, forgive me,” Emmett told him. “Your highly compensated lawyer failed you. I'm left with the uneasy chore to present you the truth. Your daughter, Bea, has changed since you last saw her.”
“What do you mean changed?”
Mr. Jensen sighed. “We've arrived, sir. Remember me kindly. Your entire livelihood is at stake.”
“Sir,” Mr. Hughes opened the door. Mr. Luckett leapt from his seat and rounded the car. “Mr. Hughes, find me a lawyer with less estrogen,” he grumbled. He froze. His frustration melted to stupor as he gazed at the ghostly building. Old pine and spruce trees darkened the path that led to the structure. No signs or placards identified the place. It was likely to confuse public stigma, but everyone knew why it was there. Mr. Luckett couldn't move. Mr. Hughes joined him with his coat. His face was grave as his master's. “It is a long walk up that hill,” Mr. Hughes commented. “Perhaps we should try this another day.”
Mr. Luckett turned to Mr. Jensen. “You knew about this?”
“I considered the best, sir. I wish you nothing but peace. It is a burden no one should bear. Especially you,” Mr. Jensen replied.
“I will remember you kindly,” Mr. Luckett said, turning back to the path. “You're fired, Mr. Jensen. Please see yourself back to your office.”
“Mr. Luckett, I'm sure he had good intentions,” Emmett defended.
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