listen to another word,” Becci snapped, bounding angrily off
the stump. She tossed the metal plate next to the fire, spun
away and hurried up the hill. She’d heard all she wanted to
hear about him being from another lifetime. The thought tied
her in knots.
One moment she believed him and the next logic took over.
It was all a pack of lies. It had to be. If she believed him she
was as crazy as he was. Demented. Deranged.
“Miss Berclair, please,” Caleb called after her. She didn’t
turn around, and he sighed heavily.
He had no right to ask her to teach him about things that
would be useless when he returned to Rebecca. And once he
removed the medallion from the dresser and rounded up Jacobs,
they would go back to Raleigh.
They didn’t have a choice. He had to save Rebecca, and
Luke needed him.
Seven
Becci glanced at her aunt as the back door cracked against
the frame. She pounded her fists against her thigh, one for every
number as she counted slowly to ten. Then she repeated the
sequence. Her nerves were shot. Why had Caleb said please
when he asked to learn about the present? She wanted to ignore
the sincerity in his voice, but he’d looked so vulnerable when
he’d asked for her help.
“Becci, dear, you’re going to crack the windows with that
temper of yours. What’s the matter now?” Lilly tugged her
housecoat closer around her and retied the belt before turning
on the stove to heat the milk for their nightly cup of chocolate.
They both enjoyed this one and only extravagance they had
left from better times. It gave them a chance to go over the
day’s events and discuss their financial status.
“Nothing. Everything.” Becci pressed her fingertips to her
temples and closed her eyes. She knew it was childish, but she
said, “That man is stealing my cat, and why did you hire
someone who belongs in a straitjacket?”
“I didn’t hire him. I thought you did. And Pepper’s a stray,
so technically he’s not yours.”
Becci dropped into one of the kitchen chairs and gently
massaged the tight muscles at her nape. “Stop kidding around.
You told me you’d take care of everything, and you did.” She
glanced at Lilly and waited for her affirmation.
“Everything?”
Becci frowned at her aunt.
Lilly shrugged as if she still didn’t know what Becci meant.
“The workers. Caleb,” Becci said in exasperation.
“Oh, my. If you didn’t hire him, and I didn’t hire him...Do
you think Caleb Harrison might have really come from the
past?”
Becci tossed her braid over her shoulder and tipped her
chair onto its back legs. Keeping one toe on the floor, she rocked
back and forth. There had to be a logical answer. “Aunt Lilly,
you told me you took care of the movers,” Becci said patiently.
“If Caleb isn’t one of them, what happened to the ones you did
hire?”
Lilly stirred the special cocoa paste she’d made into the
milk and switched off the burner. “Right after Caleb collapsed,
the dispatcher called to apologize for his men not getting here.
They had a wreck on the way over, but thankfully no one was
injured. He wanted to reschedule. I told them you’d hired
someone else.”
“But I didn’t.” The chair came down with a loud bang, and
Becci lifted her gaze to stare at her aunt. Could he really be the
Caleb Harrison? She told herself he wasn’t, and that her aunt
and he were pulling some kind of hoax, probably hoping it
would stop her from selling the house. But even as she told
herself that, she couldn’t help playing what if. “If he’s for real,
does this mean the stories about the gold are real, too?”
“It’s not gold, it’s….”
“I know, orichalc. Do you think it’s still valuable? If it’s
real, of course.”
“Of course it’s real, Becci.”
“Well, let’s suppose for a moment that it is real. You read
all the journals. Isn’t there a hint about where it might be
hidden?”
Lilly pulled a tissue from the pocket of her housecoat, took
off her glasses and began cleaning them thoughtfully. “Well, I
only scanned the ones written by Eli. They were too technical
for me. Obadiah’s, Saul’s and Rebecca’s were the best.
Christina’s dealt mostly with the constant jealousy she had for
Rebecca. Saul wrote about what to do for time-travelers. That’s
where I learned about the remedy and the orichalc. The
information on Caleb came from Rebecca’s journal. Of course
the information about Rebecca’s death was in Obadiah’s and
Christina’s books.”
Lilly’s voice drifted into a thoughtful murmur as if she
were speaking to herself. “Saul didn’t say anything about how
people got from one era to the next. He should have. That’s an
important fact, don’t you think? Maybe I just missed it. Oh,
well, I guess it will be just as good if you find out instead of
me.”
Becci waited for her aunt to run down. Or come back to
what they’d been discussing. She might not do either if she got
wound up in a subject that excited her.
Lilly glanced toward the bay window and shook her head.
“Becci, dear, I don’t think Caleb would intentionally steal the
kitten. He seems like such a nice man. Animals sense that sort
of thing. The journals could be wrong, but if he is that Caleb
Harrison, we’ll need to be very careful. Do you think he’ll
harm Pepper?”
Becci sighed. “I don’t think Pepper’s in danger. Nor are
we. Caleb is no killer. I’d bet my life on it.”
That was exactly what she’d done, she realized with a start.
“I certainly hope you’re right,” Lilly said as she slipped
on her glasses and took two mugs out of the cabinet. “We don’t
want a murderer hanging around the manor.” She poured the
cocoa into the mugs and set one on the table beside the journals.
Wrapping her hands around the other, she leaned back against
the counter. “I think I’ll drink my chocolate in my room and
leave you to your reading.”
Becci tapped the stack of books she’d left on the table
when she’d seen the smoke. “If there’s anything about any
precious metals in one of these books, I’ll find it.” She lifted
the mug and, with a slight nod, raised it to her lips. “Thanks
for the chocolate.”
“You’re welcome, dear.”
Becci stood up and gave her aunt a kiss on the cheek. Aunt
Lilly might jump from subject to subject during a single
conversation, and at times her thought processes could confuse
even the most astute listener, but Becci loved her dearly. She’d
always been there for her, especially after her parents’ deaths.
For that she would be eternally grateful.
Becci gathered up the journals and followed Lilly out of
the kitchen. She still didn’t believe there was go
ld—or
orichalc—in the house, but maybe reading the journals would
get her mind off the feelings Caleb evoked in her. Feelings she
shouldn’t be having toward a stranger. After all, she was
engaged.
Becci flipped on the light in the family room. After laying
the books on the end table, she snuggled into one corner of the
overstuffed couch. Once settled, she balanced the mug on her
stomach and closed her eyes.
Steam rose from the cup, bringing the sweet aroma of
chocolate. Nothing erased Caleb’s sexy voice from her memory.
It drifted to her in the misty steam from her cocoa along with
the image of his sun-drenched frame leaning forward, his arms
resting on his jean-clad thighs as he teased her cat. Even the
thought of him made her heart race.
With a sigh, Becci set the mug on the end table. She adjusted
the light and picked up the first book. If Caleb was from the
past, how had he gotten here? And why had he come? Maybe
the answers would be somewhere among these stained,
yellowed pages.
Carefully, Becci ran her hand over the front cover and
slowly flipped open the book.
February 20, 18 5
They buried Eli yesterday. As I knew would happen,
Obadiah and my sister arrived too late to see him one last
time. At least they came swiftly enough to see him laid to rest.
They didn’t stay long. After lunch they hurried to Sanderlin’s
Bluff to catch a barge heading for Memphis. They didn’t want
to miss the steamer that would take them to St. Louis.
Obadiah told Saul to sell the house. He wants no part in
running Berclair Manor. He complained that he needed the
money as soon as possible to pay off his debts. Obadiah claims
that as the oldest son, it is all his.
Saul will abide by his father’s wishes and divide the income
equally. If Obadiah has his way, his fancy attorney will have
us out on the streets within the year.
Obadiah’s hatred for Saul is well known. Although Eli
declared his love for both his sons, he chose Saul and I to
bear the penalty of Obadiah’s greed. How do we rectify your
crime, Obadiah? How? Oh, Eli, how could you do this to us?
Saul said this was your way of showing that you trust our
judgment. How I wish I’d never heard of the Atlantean coin. I
do not blame you, Eli. You were a father to me. You accepted
me as your own, and my heart feels the pain of losing you.
The words blurred. Becci struggled to keep the memories
at bay. Memories that reminded her that Aunt Lilly represented
the bulk of her family. And since Michael didn’t want children,
there would be no heir to the Berclair legacy, a legacy that
covered more than one hundred and seventy years.
Becci ruffled the corner of the book. The diamond solitaire
on her finger caught the light and flashed colored fragments
over the pages. The day Michael showed up at her door
reminded Becci of the day Caleb arrived. She didn’t know why.
Maybe because they were both strangers.
Michael had come by looking for a friend, but he had the
wrong address. Before he walked away, he gave her his business
card and asked if he might call on her socially. They started
dating, and within a month he’d become her financial advisor.
His wizardry had given her hope for a brighter future, although
she’d yet to see any improvement. Michael kept telling her
that these things took time. Just like making a commitment.
They’d only dated six months when he asked her to marry
him. It had taken her a month to accept. Their relationship
wasn’t one of passion. At least not the kind found in the romance
novels she read. Passion like that didn’t really exist.
What about Caleb? An inner voice taunted. You feel his
passion, and you’ve never even kissed him.
Becci dismissed the thought. Caleb had no place in her
life. Michael did. Michael gave her hope, but not for Berclair
Manor or her nursery. She wanted the happiness that had existed
in the past to return to this house. Besides, Caleb was either
nuts or from the past. Neither option bode well for a future.
“Everything I’ve read is so filled with despair, Mary
Rebecca. Yet, you never lost faith, did you? You had happiness
in your life, even if it didn’t last. Were you the last to find true
love?” Becci shut the journal and tossed it on top of the others.
The books shifted, sending one flying off the table.
Becci leaned down to pick it up. Her hand hovered over
the dim, smeared ink date on the cover—May 18 5-June 18 6
Curious, she picked up the book and opened it.
May 10, 18 5,
Even though my last journal still has space, I’m starting
a new one. Saul and I saw someone today. His lips turned up
in a shy smile when he met us. Saul and I knew we’d met a
man that shared our kinship. He arrived this morning and
attended our small prayer meeting at the General Store.
Mr. Harrison stared at the medallion. When he greeted
us, his first act was to examine the necklace. He could touch
it. And his gaze didn’t contain the diffidence others had shown,
but held a reverence the books say is due the amulet. Saul
heard his thoughts. Yes, Caleb Harrison is indeed an Atlantean.
With a trembling hand Becci skimmed the rest of the page.
Rebecca closed with a small paragraph about the weather and
signed it as she had the others with just her initials M.R.B.
Becci turned the page.
May 11, 18 5,
I visited the General Store today and overheard several
of the men discussing Caleb Harrison’s situation. He’s a
carpenter in need of work and lodging. I must inform Saul.
We can offer him both. He can help Saul get the nursery built
before the baby comes.
Becci read down the page. Below this section were several
dates, each containing a brief description of the weather and
comments on her pregnancy. All the passages ended with the
simple phrase. “Nothing new on Mr. Harrison today.” Her
descriptions of the weather were more flowery, and Becci
sensed the anticipation her namesake must have felt about
becoming a mother.
May 17, 18 5,
During the church services today, I caught Mr. Harrison
staring. Each time he nodded and smiled the smile that is
uniquely his. After the service, Brother Robert introduced Mr.
Harrison to the gathering. He informed us that an order of
wood suitable for making furniture should arrive on the next
riverboat. Mr. Harrison is taking special requests for his work.
Saul and Caleb are friends now, and he accepted our offer.
Soon the baby’s nursery will be finished.
May 21, 18 5,
I met with Mr. Harrison today. Saul is sick and wanted me
to ask Caleb if he might move into the lean-to down by the
lake. As we spoke, I told him about the few trinkets missing
from my cupboard. It seems I wasn’t the only one confiding to
him. We’d never had a
problem before. Although he’s the only
stranger in town, it can’t be him. The thefts started at least a
fortnight prior to Caleb’s arrival. The rumors are surfacing
anyway. People are suggesting that he has an accomplice. I
don’t believe them. Caleb is a good man. He suggested each
piece of furniture he makes should have a secret compartment.
He assures me this will be easy to do. I must hide our valuables
and the amulet from the thief. Although I don’t care about
their value, they are my child’s future. I’m not one that believes
in fate, but I know there is a reason for Caleb Harrison’s
arrival. Saul believes he is the new keeper. If he is, he will
soon learn that the medallion Saul wears belongs to him.
Obadiah’s debt will be paid, and we can live our lives as they
were meant to be. I pray for Saul’s rapid recovery. There is so
little time left to raise the room.
Becci smiled and laid the book on top of the stack. How
had the stranger staying in her shed learned enough about Caleb
Harrison to impersonate him? And it had to be an
impersonation. It was impossible that he’d come from the past.
To believe anything else was crazy.
Maybe he’d read the books and was pulling a scam. But
why? Was he casing the house, hoping to find the treasures
Rebecca spoke about?
Becci traced the smudged ink. “I’ll prove you’re lying,
Caleb Harrison, if it takes a month,” Becci promised.
Suddenly the journal she’d been reading fell off the stack
and hit the floor, as if someone had slammed it down. Becci
jerked her hand back, her eyes locked on the book.
“What was that all about?” Lilly set her empty mug on the
end table.
“Huh?” What had caused the journal to fall to the floor?
She hadn’t pushed it. She’d barely rested her fingers against
the stained leather.
Lilly picked up the book, laid it back on top of the stack,
and reached for her cup. “Why did you throw it down?”
“I didn’t. It...slid off the stack.”
Becci tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and shook
her head. She didn’t believe in ghosts or books that moved on
their own. She just hadn’t realized she’d shoved it hard enough
to push it off the stack.
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