The Cast Net

by Mille West

    Despite the passage of time since my husband’s death, Grey was able to locate the gravesite with little difficulty. A marker of heavy stones rested at his head along with a large rose bush that encompassed the fence line near the grave. The widow, whom he had attempted to defend, described it to me in her letter after Michael’s death. We will bury his remains at the cemetery at Crescent Hall. I am thankful he has returned to me. Nex mos singulus nos pro tantum a brevis dum.

  The last line, which was written in Latin, was familiar to her, but she put the book down and went inside to watch a weather bulletin. A hurricane watch had been issued from St. Augustine, Florida, to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The nervousness that had enveloped her earlier in the day had returned and she breathed deeply to control her anxiety.

  Before five in the morning, Mills was up and dressed to meet Charles at the stables. He was already loading the horses into the trailer and Marian and Elizabeth were in the back seat of his truck. Cooper’s dog was in the front seat to ride beside Charles.

  “Mills, please come with us. Cooper isn’t certain when he’s going to get home, and we don’t want you out here by yourself,” Marian said.

  “I’m going to help Reverend Smalls today, and I want to wait for Cooper. Please drive safely, and I’ll see you all in Aiken.”

  “Be careful, child.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Mills waved to them as they drove away, and nervous energy made her fidgety. She returned to her cottage and listened to the news. The hurricane watch had been upgraded to a warning for an area from Fernandina Beach, Florida, to Cape Lookout, North Carolina. Her phone rang and Cooper was on the line. “I take it you chose not to leave with Charles.”

  “I’m not going to leave until you do.”

  “We’ve finally gotten the Rosa Parks under way. I borrowed the parts we needed from my friends at the US Naval Base, but it took me hours to get in touch with the base commander. They were very helpful once I spoke with Admiral Wade. I’m going to be in Charleston all day, shutting down Heath Brothers, and several of the men and I are going to secure Ian’s home and my townhouse, plus a few others. I’ll be home as soon as I can.” He paused for a moment and said, “How are you doing?”

  “I’m nervous.”

  “Remember? Take deep breaths when you feel anxious.”

  All day long, Mills worked with volunteers to board up houses and help residents to hurricane shelters. She found by staying busy she could control her nervousness. The volunteers went into some areas of the Edisto region where, to her dismay, people were living in what she considered almost third-world conditions. Even though a hurricane warning had been issued for the coastal regions of South Carolina, some residents weren’t aware of the approaching storm. By afternoon, sheriff’s deputies were going door to door with the volunteers, encouraging people to leave. Mills heard one deputy tell a resident who refused to vacate his home that he should write his name and social security number with indelible ink on his arm, so that his body could be identified after the hurricane.

  By late afternoon, Mills was exhausted and she drove home. There had been an increase in wind speed during the course of the day, and the sky was darkening with cloud cover. She returned to the barn to call for Cleo, but the cat did not respond.

  Mills walked to the riverfront and gazed at the pristine condition of the natural surroundings. The Miss Elise was still on her boatlift and she assumed that Cooper would secure the boat when he returned home. As she watched the flow of the tea-hued Edisto, she wondered what would happen to this unspoiled area over the next few days. She felt weak by the thought of the destruction that might lie ahead.

  At almost two in the morning, Cooper came through her door, disrobed, and got into the bed beside her. She kissed him and hugged him tightly.

  “I can’t remember ever being so tired. I’m thinking of moving the Miss Elise to a secure dry dock in Charleston. I’m afraid we could get the worst of the storm here.” He was quiet for a moment, and then said, “I’m proud of you for helping people in the community prepare for the hurricane. I love you.”

  Cooper had only a few hours of sleep before they rose with the alarm clock before sunrise. Mills made a quick breakfast of fruits and bread, and over coffee, she noticed how tired Cooper looked. He had stubble on his face. He rubbed his chin and said, “I promise I’ll shave when we get to Aiken. I’m going to sleep for at least a day.” He took a sip of coffee. “Jeff is coming out here this morning. He’s removing real estate signs from listings his company has out this way. They can become projectiles in high wind, and I think he wants to see me about some business.”

  “What kind of business?”

  “He needs another cash influx on some investments. I told him to look for us in Alston Station if we’re not here.” Cooper picked up Ellen Camp’s journal, which was sitting on her table. “Have you been reading more of her entries?”

  “Yes, I needed to take my mind off the storm, and I read last night. There is a Latin phrase in her journal where she addresses the return of her husband’s body to Charleston. I think I’ve seen it before.”

  She opened the book to the page and showed the expression to him. “You’ve seen this phrase. It’s part of the inscription on Ellen and Michael’s grave marker at Crescent Hall: Nex mos singulus nos pro tantum a brevis dum . . . death will separate us for only a short while.”

  “Why do you think she wrote it in Latin?”

  “Perhaps intimate vows they shared?”

  They were quiet as she finished cleaning up from breakfast. “I hope everything will be like we left it when we get back home after the storm.”

  “I do too.”

  They went to Cooper’s house so he could change clothes, and after he showered and dressed, he joined Mills in his kitchen. Charles arrived at the house and as soon as he saw Cooper, he said, “Son, I think you are due some rest.”

  “You’re right, but it will have to wait until we get to Aiken. There are still a few matters left to be handled.”

  The three of them drove to Alston Station and parked at the market. Mr. Dawkins was outside, boarding up his store. “Well, it looks like this could be a bad one, and I swear, it appears to be heading straight for the Edisto area. Cooper, have you got your place secure?”

  “Just about—Jeff is going to be looking for me. We’re going to board up Williston’s clinic and help anyone else who could use a hand. We’ll start with you.”

  “Thanks. That would be helpful. I have a few windows in the back left to board up.”

  As Charles and Cooper made quick work of boarding the rear windows, Mr. Dawkins asked, “Where are you all going to ride out the storm?”

  “We’re going to drive to Aiken. What about you?”

  “I’m going to my daughter’s house in Columbia. You know, I read in the paper this morning that the mayor of Charleston is discouraging hurricane parties on The Battery.” He started to laugh. “Could you imagine anyone being foolish enough to throw a party in 140-mile-per-hour winds?”

  Williston came out of her clinic and yelled, “I’ve just had a phone call from Miss India. She says the volunteers forgot to secure her house.”

 
“Call her back and tell her we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  When they arrived at Miss Tate’s home, she was sitting inside her parlor and she thanked the group for coming to her rescue. “I should have allowed Reverend Smalls to board up my house when he was here. I’m afraid I’ve been a bother to everyone, and I’m worried about my niece. She should have been here by now.”

  “Traffic could be heavy because of the evacuation. If she hasn’t come to get you by the time we leave for Aiken, you can go with us.”

  “That’s a considerate offer, Cooper. Come inside, I think it will be easier to close the shutters.”

  Miss Tate led them through her home, which was richly decorated with antiques and oriental rugs. The shutters were easily closed on the downstairs, but on the second story at the rear of the house, Cooper and Charles had to go on the metal roof. The work was treacherous, as rain was making the surface slick, and Charles almost lost his footing. Cooper grabbed his arm and prevented him from falling from the roof.

  Charles took a deep breath and said, “That was a close call. Thank you, Cooper.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  As they finished their work, Miss Tate’s niece pulled into the driveway. She was flustered and she said, “Traffic congestion is terrible; I was stuck for two hours trying to travel five miles.”

  Cooper and Charles helped secure the house and loaded Miss Tate’s bags into the trunk of her niece’s Cadillac.

  “I would like to properly thank you three, but it will have to wait until I get back. Take care of yourselves. And Cooper? Get some rest, young man.”

  When they returned to Alston Station, the town was almost deserted with most of the buildings boarded up. There were two cars in front of Williston’s clinic, and when they went inside, she was conferring with a patient.

  She stepped into the waiting room and said, “Cooper, the plywood for my windows is around back. Thank you.”

  The three of them began work and a familiar voice said, “Do you need another hand?”

  Cooper turned and looked at his cousin, “Yes, Jeff—you can hold this sheet of plywood for me.”

  “Are you going for the rugged look, Cooper?”

  “No, I’ve just been too busy to worry about shaving.”

  “I know what you mean about busy.”

  As they finished boarding up the windows, they noticed a truck was rapidly approaching the clinic. They recognized the driver as being a local farmer, Charlie Humphries. He had a woman and three children with him, and he called out, “Is Dr. Will here? These folks have been in a bad accident, and they need help right away.”

  Charles opened the truck door and helped the children from their seats. The woman held a small boy who had a severe laceration at his scalp. His eyes were closed, and Charles lifted the child in his arms and carried him inside.

  The woman gasped with pain when Cooper assisted her into the clinic.

  Williston examined the boy. “I’m going to dress his wound, but I need to get this young man to a hospital. What happened to them, Charlie?”

  “The limb of a live oak came down on top of her car, and she ran off the road into the telephone exchange box before hitting the tree.”

  “Is the downed tree limb blocking our way out of town?” Charles asked.

  “No, you can get around it.”

  Charles volunteered to drive the family and Williston to Charleston, and Cooper told him to take the Suburban.

  Williston got inside the vehicle, and Charles handed her the boy, whom she cradled in her arms. “One of you put my medical bag in the truck. And Cooper? Will you bring my suitcase?”

  “Yes, ma’am, and we’ll make sure you’re closed up tight.”

  “I’m going to take him to Roper Hospital. Why don’t you meet us there? I don’t want us to get separated.”

  “Yes, ma’am, we’ll be there as soon as possible.”

  Charles pulled the Suburban away from the clinic and as he did, the rumblings of heavy thunder echoed through the community. Mills looked toward a nearby marsh, and she saw a white funnel cloud across the waterway. Dear Jesus! She could hardly get her words out. “Oh my, that’s a water spout.” The funnel cloud was moving away from Alston Station in a northwest direction, and after a few moments in the river, it dissipated, withdrawing into the base of a thundercloud.

  Mills took a deep breath, and Cooper put his arm around her. “It’s gone. We’ll go by the house and then travel to Charleston to join Williston.”

  Jeff looked at Cooper and said, “The latest report from the National Hurricane Center puts this hurricane making landfall between Beaufort and Charleston. That means it could come ashore right about here. I hate to tell you this, Cooper, but it’s also increasing forward velocity and picking up strength.”

  “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”

  “Sorry.”

  After they finished securing the clinic, they drove to Cooper’s property in Jeff’s Yukon. The men went inside his house, and Mills went to her cottage to put on dry clothes and get her suitcase. As she walked away from her home, she looked back, and as if speaking to an old friend, she said, “I hope you’re here when I return.”

  When she went inside Cooper’s home, he was writing Jeff a check in his study.

  “Thank you, Cooper,” Jeff said.

  They had both changed into dry polo shirts and Cooper said, “Jeff is going to drive the Miss Elise to the dry dock at Yate’s Marina. I’m not sure my boathouse can withstand 150-mile-per-hour winds.”

  “Joe Yates says he has the most secure storage facility in the Charleston area. I’ve stored my Hunter sailboat at his dry dock. I guess we’ll find out if his claim is true.”

  “Where is the Theodosia?”

  “My partners volunteered to move the boat, but I haven’t been able to verify that they did.”

  Cooper stood up from his desk and said, “Jeff, I think it will take you a little over an hour to get to Bates Marina and we’ll pick you up as soon as we can.”

  They finished securing the house, and as they started toward the river, they noticed a car coming down the drive in the pouring rain. “It must be the police making a round,” Mills said.

  Cooper looked at the car as it came closer. “It’s Lieutenant Barnes, and he has someone with him. Whatever he’s got to say, I’m sure it can wait.”

  He stopped the vehicle near them and yelled above the rain, “Good day, Cooper. I’ve been trying to phone you, but judging from the accident I saw up the road, I can understand why there’s trouble on the line. This is Deputy Phil Parks. He’s recently been assigned to my unit.”

  Cooper nodded to the deputy and said, “Lieutenant, can’t this wait until after the storm passes?”

  “No, it can’t, and I’m glad to find you and your cousin together. Can we go inside the barn? We can get the rain out of our faces.”

  The inside of the barn was dark and damp, and it smelled of oil and gasoline. Jeff turned on the lights, and the group gathered near the Lieutenant.

  Barnes began to speak, raising his voice to be heard ove
r the rain pounding on the roof. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for months. I just couldn’t understand how a beautiful, sophisticated woman like Elise Heath could disappear without a trace. She drives to Charleston to shop and just never returns. No one sees her. No one knows anything about her.”

  “What’s this about, Lieutenant?”

  “It turns out that those missing person’s posters finally did some good, but not as we would have liked. I recently had a visit from a couple of fishermen who come to this area every year to fish for tarpon. When they’re not fishing, they’re exploring the area. They said they’d like to retire here.” He walked to a railing and leaned against it. “Cooper, I believe you said your wife disappeared on August 26th of last year.”

  Cooper’s face darkened as he listened to the detective.

  “The two fishermen are certain that they saw your wife at Harry’s Country Store outside Summerville that morning. They’re sure of the date because they had a successful fishing excursion the day before.”

  He looked sternly at Cooper and Jeff before continuing, “Both men said they remembered her because she was so beautiful—driving a red Mercedes; their description matches your wife’s car. They said she was gracious to them when they asked her for directions. Imagine their shock when they saw her photo on a missing person’s poster while they were here for their annual fishing trip.”

  “Lieutenant, what happened to Elise?” Cooper asked.

  “The two men said that there was a man with her.” Barnes looked intently into Cooper’s eyes. “I was certain they would identify you, so I showed them your photograph first. They studied the photo, but said the man who was with her had lighter hair.”