Surrender the Wind

by RITA GERLACH

  Judith jerked her head upward. “I do not know this man. You may have dreamed you saw him. There was never a man by that name that came to see you.”

  Juleah stared back at Judith unconvinced and with a look that caused her to lose her beguiling expression.

  “I do not believe you.”

  “Here's a letter from your gentleman. It was left to give to you when you were feeling better. I suppose this is the right time.”

  Juleah hurried around the table, snatched it from the woman's hand, and tore it open. Her heart thumped to see Seth's handwriting. Words of love and affection penned out on the page could only be his, for he said things only the two of them knew. It was a brief missive, but he told her he had dreams of building their lives together back in Virginia, of raising horses, and having children together. It was dated the day he left for London.

  She dropped her hand and tears fell from her eyes. With a heavy sigh, she pushed them aside, and folded the letter.

  Judith put her arm around Juleah. “There, now all shall be well.”

  “He would not send me on without him.”

  “He said it was urgent, he had business to attend to, that he needed to get you away from a dangerous man.”

  “Darden,” Juleah whispered.

  “Maybe so.”

  Juleah's heart lurched within. “What am I to do when we reach land, Judith Dirk?”

  “We’ll travel by coach to Virginia. Now won’t that be fine for you to get his house in order before he arrives?”

  Juleah stood still and silent. She shrugged out of Judith Dirk's arm and stepped away. She hurried out, back to the cabin. She shut the door and threw herself across the cot. Even if Seth had sent her on this journey, he had not explained it enough and to be without him was unbearable.

  The Raven gave a sharp pitch, and she grabbed the side of the cot. The light in the cabin faded to gray, as the sky filled with heavy, windswept clouds. With a sinking heart she listened to the timbers moan. She closed her eyes and kept them shut.

  You are not alone. You are not forsaken. When she heard the words spoken into her heart, she drifted toward sleep, comforted, as if angels soothed her brow.

  34

  It was exactly as Pen said. Seth reached the crossroad, where an iron gibbet stood. Suspended by a chain hung an iron cage. Shrouded in a moonlit darkness, it swung and squeaked in the wind. The full moon hovered above it, high, golden, and brilliant as a watchman's torch. Through its light, Seth stared at the decomposing body of a highwayman. Whomever he had been, an awful end was his reward for robbery.

  They hanged him, coated his body in tar and placed it in the body-shaped cage made especially for him. Seth could tell the corpse had been there several months and knew it would remain in public view for at least a year, until there was nothing left to see. Then his bones would be scattered. It was a fearful thing for a man, to think he’d have no proper resting place, that his spirit would wander the moors in a purgatory of agony for ages to come.

  So it was believed among the common folk of that land. But as for Seth, the man was no longer there. He’d gone on to stand before a merciful God, finally released from the troubles of an earthly life. But what had pushed the man to rob others? Was it a hungry brood of children, or an ailing wife? Whatever it was, compassion filled Seth and he uttered a prayer while staring at the lifeless, tattered remains of a face.

  The hollow eye sockets stared back in horror, and the mouth gaped in a frozen scream of penance. The highwayman's clothes, shredded and torn, stained and rotten along with flesh, rippled in the breeze. Birds had feasted, and even now in the dark under grim moonlight, a crow landed on the post, pecked and plunged its beak through the iron slates until it pulled out a strand of bloodless, gray flesh.

  What Seth's eyes beheld caused a wave of sickness to rush through his belly. Jupiter flared his nostrils and reared at the sight. Seth calmed him with a pat of his hand, and with a gentle nudge of his knees he moved on.

  Seth passed under the gibbet and remembered he was now considered a lawbreaker. If he could not solve the mysteries that surrounded his life, he wondered if he would meet a similar fate if captured.

  He lifted his eyes to the stars and murmured, “Have mercy upon me, O God.”

  Exhaustion overwhelmed him, and a mile later he dismounted and drew Jupiter to the side of the road. There he found a shallow stream. From it he splashed water over his face and neck, and then drank. He remounted and galloped along the high road surrounded by endless fields and woodlands.

  Once he reached a hillside thick with knee-deep meadow grass, he reined in atop it and gazed into a valley blanketed with fog. From there, he could see the ancient house of Crown Cove bathed in moonlight, with one window that shimmered with the light of candles from within.

  Seth drew closer. His heart pounded. Perhaps Juleah slept even now in that upper room, beyond that mullioned window facing east. Ivy clambered up the walls, spilled over deep window-sills, and concealed the stones beneath with glimmering green.

  Again, he reined in his horse and paused to catch his breath and to think. A moment later, he slid off the saddle and walked to the front door. Vague ochre light from a lantern beside it fell over his hand as he pushed it in. A flood of light came from a room at the far end of the hallway. A young woman's laughter followed a man's, but it was not Juleah's.

  “You have been a bachelor for too long, Edward,” he heard her say. “You need a woman to guide your house. Where is your mother, by the way?”

  “She has quit England for the south of Spain,” Seth heard Darden reply.

  “Whatever for?”

  “The warmer weather is better for her health.”

  “I hear southern Spain has sun all year round. I imagine it would be ideal for one's health. I wish your dear mama well, Edward. Will she be returning soon?”

  “No. This is a permanent arrangement.”

  Seth's upper lip twitched. How he despised the sound of Darden's voice—so calm, so self-assured.

  With a heavy heart, he moved closer to the doorway, and when he stepped inside the room to make his presence known, Darden leapt from his chair with an oath. The woman seated beside him raised her hand to her throat, where a pearl dangled from a gold chain.

  “You leave your door unbolted?” Seth asked.

  Darden set his teeth. “Braxton.”

  “Is he a highwayman?” the woman asked. “He shan’t have my jewels. You must protect me, Edward.” Seth glanced at her. Excitement and lust glowed in her eyes. She was tall and lean, with a head of lush brown curls. Bright vermilion blotches covered her cheeks, and rice powder dusted her face. A tiny black patch inched near the left corner of her painted mouth. The rich burgundy gown she wore hung low about her bosom and shoulders. He had no doubt of what kind of woman Darden entertained.

  “Are those the clothes of a highwayman, sir?” She laughed at him and scanned his person with her wanton eyes. “They are torn, muddied, and stained, giving you the look of a brigand. I had imagined highwaymen dress more finely and masked.”

  Seth bowed. “I am no highwayman, ma’am.”

  “I do not believe it,” she said. “You will have to get past Captain Darden to take this pearl from my throat.”

  Darden shot her a stern glare. “Be quiet, Fanny!”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Shall you have this man ravish me, Edward?”

  Seth fixed his eyes in reproof on her fine blue ones. “Be assured, I do not seek worldly riches or you.”

  Flushed with insult, Darden stepped forward. His eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted. “How dare you walk into my house unannounced. What is the meaning of this?”

  “I’ve come for my wife,” Seth told him. “Where is she?”

  Darden stared back at Seth a moment and laughed. “Are you mad? She's not here, but buried in the churchyard.”

  The desire to take Darden by the throat and shake the truth out of him surged through Seth, but he held bac
k his hand. “She's alive and was seen with you in your coach after Ten Width was set afire.”

  Darden turned to his guest. “It appears Mr. Braxton has played the fool. It is commonly known Yankees possess a gullible nature.”

  “Fools are blind to the truth,” Seth exclaimed.

  “It was not Juleah anyone saw. The woman in the coach was Miss Lovelace here. I do not have to answer to you, Braxton.” Darden put his hands on the table and glared at Seth with an insolence that was intolerable.

  Miss Lovelace's eyes pooled with sympathy. “It is true that I sit and wait, while he has his ale, Mr. Braxton. The tavern is hardly a place for a woman to take her leisure. I can assure you, your wife is not here, nor has she ever been inside Edward's coach. That is a privilege left to me.”

  For a moment, doubt flooded Seth and his heart sank to the soles of his feet. Determined, he shook it off and turned out the door.

  Darden spread his hands outward. “Search every room and you’ll not find her.”

  Seth glanced back over his shoulder. Unconcerned and bored, Darden sat back down and lifted his glass. “I could shoot you for coming into my house the way you did, and the law would say nothing. A man has that right. So, I suggest you leave before I take your life.”

  Miss Lovelace took a gentle but desperate hold of Darden's arm. “Let him go, Edward. Obviously, he has not accepted his wife's death. Let him look, and when he has not found her, he shall be forced to accept the truth that she is dead and gone.”

  Darden set his glass down. “She's right, Braxton. It may be the only way to be rid of you. Since I am a gentleman and we are no longer at war with one another, I’ll concede to her request.”

  Seth stepped forward and faced his enemy. “Ah, but you are wrong. We are at war, you and I.”

  Darden huffed and called for his manservant. “Escort the squire of Ten Width through the house, Habbinger.”

  Habbinger looked confused. “May I ask why, sir?”

  “He's in search of a ghost. Can you handle that?”

  With a nod, Habbinger picked up a candle and led Seth upstairs. Seth called Juleah's name. He stood in the gloom and waited to hear her answer, but no reply came. From room to room, he searched for her. He found two bedchambers lit by candles in sconces. The beds were made, the rooms plain. A decorative tower graced the west wing, and when Seth climbed the winding stairs and pushed open an oaken door, he found a void space. Mice stirred and scurried off upon his sudden presence.

  The cellar proved no different from the rest of the house. Dusty wine bottles sat in racks covered in cobwebs. A few ale casks sat on the dirt floor among a few old pieces of discarded furniture. The air within smelled of age, musty and damp, and cold as a tomb.

  “There's no one here,” said Habbinger.

  Seth did not like the tone of the servant's voice, for it smacked of mockery. “You don’t remember seeing any woman other than the one your master is presently entertaining?”

  “No,” he replied. “Besides, the master is rarely at home. He's been away in London for several weeks with Miss Lovelace. There's been no one here save for myself. If you don’t mind me saying so, the house has been as quiet as a grave.”

  Frowning at his words, Seth turned away and stood in the dark. He felt alone and defeated and wondered what he had done. His belief that Juleah lived slipped away. He had searched Crown Cove from top to bottom and there was no sign of her. Bonnecker's information was mere words and speculation. The old seadog could not identify the woman in the coach.

  Seth's love for Juleah, and the unwillingness to let her go, had caused him to run from the king's law and play the fool in front of his nemesis. For all his efforts, he found a courtesan at Crown Cove, who claimed to be the woman in Darden's coach while he paused at the tavern. Grief rose anew within his heart, pulsed through him like a raging current, and swept away all his hopes.

  “You have my apology,” he said, facing Darden alone in the hall.

  Darden smiled from one corner of his mouth. “Perhaps you should return to that rebellious country of yours and lick your wounds.”

  With his teeth clenched, Seth strode out into the misty night. His heart ached and his soul reached for solace as he rode off at a slow pace. He uttered the words out loud to accept what he wanted to deny.

  “She is gone.”

  35

  Once more, Seth reached the hilltop, then the gruesome gibbet. He rode past it with thunder in his heart, reached the precipice that loomed above the sea, reined in his horse, and stared out at the foamy tide that washed over the moonlit shore. Anguish weighed upon him and dragged him down in the saddle. The tranquil sea was peaceful no longer. Moonlight turned dull and grim, and the moors and cliffs appeared barren. Above him, the stars were no longer bright lights of heaven. They were swallowed by somber blackness dark as a tomb.

  He turned the horse back to the road and paced him. His desire to leave Ten Width and return to Virginia was a certainty. But for the moment he needed a sanctuary, a hiding place, until he could steal away without Latterbuck nipping at his heels.

  He entered his father-in-law's house, went up the stairs toward an unused room. He could not bear to return to Ten Width, to stay in the place he had shared with his wife, where he had held her in his arms and made love to her. Her scent would be on the pillow, the sense of her would permeate every inch of the room.

  Quietly he shut the door behind him. Weary in body and mind, he slumped into the armchair drawn before a cold and blackened hearth and shut his eyes. Juleah was gone, and he was left behind to bear the years without her. How long, Lord? How long?

  He covered his face with his hands. Then the passion of tears poured out of him until he slept. He would accept whatever plans the Almighty had for him and take whatever bend in the road he would be led to tread.

  The next morning, the din of galloping horses jolted him awake. He stood, strode to the window, and peered out. A coach and four rumbled down the drive.

  The horses slowed and were brought to a standstill. A figure stepped down from the driver's perch, and then someone pounded with force upon the front door. Seth picked up his pistol and headed downstairs. The household stirred. Feet pattered over the floor above him.

  A man dressed in a forest-green coat stood outside on the threshold. “Permit me, sir. Is Seth Braxton here? It is of the utmost importance.”

  Seth eyed the stranger with caution. “Who asks?”

  “I’m Sir Charles Kenley's gentleman servant. Sir Charles and Lady Kenley sit within his coach and wish to speak to the squire.”

  Seth glanced at the coat of arms, of rearing steed and stag, mace and sword, upon the coach door. He hurried down the steps and approached the window. Sir Charles moved forward to reveal himself.

  “We have come to warn you. Latterbuck is on his way here.”

  Seth ordered himself to be calm.

  “He thinks I am dead, Sir Charles.”

  “Apparently not, lad. I was told Captain Darden came to see him this morning and informed Constable Dunderhead that you had barged into Crown Cove last night, raving mad, and insisted that you search his house for your late wife.”

  “Indeed it is true. I had to see for myself, Sir Charles. I found nothing for my pains. Why would Latterbuck intrude upon you?”

  “My lady and I were on our way to visit, after your sister had sent us word that the family was abiding at Henry Chase until such time Ten Width was livable again. We wished to come and extend our condolences. We understood the funeral was private.”

  A muscle in Seth's cheek jerked, and he raised his hand out to her ladyship. “It was, sir. It was kind of you to travel so far, so won’t you come inside?”

  Sir Charles shook his head. “You must understand, Seth. Latterbuck stopped us on the road, not more than three miles from here.”

  “Near Ten Width.”

  “Indeed, yes. He said he was headed there first. He dared to demand my lady disembark with me and to search
my coach. The imbecile.”

  Seth shifted on his feet and frowned. “I had guessed word would reach him soon enough that I had been to Crown Cove, but not this soon.”

  He stepped away, with his fists clenched at his side. “I’ll face him. I am no coward. My mind is clearer. I’ll not run this time.”

  At this, Sir Charles stepped firmly from his coach. “Indeed you will not face him, unless you like the feel of hemp about your throat. You must leave at once.”

  Seth's heart galloped so hard that for a moment he could not utter a word. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Michael and Caroline standing in the doorway. Concern shadowed their faces.

  Seth turned back to Sir Charles. “I am not sure where to go, Sir Charles. But go I shall.”

  “I know of a ship headed for America.” With his expression going from worry to relief, Sir Charles pushed open the coach door. “The Reliance is a stout vessel and her captain an honorable man. He’ll see you safe to Virginia, for you can no longer stay in England.”

  Virginia. Home.

  Seth shook his head. “I don’t know what to say, Sir Charles, except to offer my thanks.”

  “Say nothing except your farewells to your family. Let us waste no more time.”

  With haste, Seth kissed his sister's cheek, wet with tears. He looked into her jade eyes, saw understanding, and then embraced her. After clasping Michael's hand, he hurried into the foyer brightened with morning light. He bid farewell to Sir Henry, and when he looked into his eyes, it occurred to him he might never see the old man again.

  “We shall tell the children that you have been called away on an adventure, Seth. Write to us soon,” said Sir Henry. Seth thanked him.

  After he kissed the cheek of his mother-in-law, he pulled on his hat and stepped out.

  “Seth!” Caroline hurried to him and fell into his arms, tearful. “Seth, how I shall miss you! Please … be careful.”

  He handed her back to her husband and climbed inside Sir Charles's chaise. The driver cracked his whip over the heads of the horses and set them at a canter. Louder grew the breath of wind across the moors, the beat of the horses mingling with the turn of coach wheels.