The Beaches and Brides ROMANCE COLLECTION: 5 Historical Romances Buoyed by the Sea

by Cathy Marie Hake, Lynn A. Coleman, Mary Davis, Susan Page Davis

  “The Resolute,“ she said.

  “Yes.” It shouldn’t surprise him that she remembered. “Please believe me, I would much rather spend the time in your parlor discussing your Thursday schedule or any other topic to your liking, but Jacob is right; if we don’t act quickly, we’ll lose this chance. In fact, we’ve already delayed action several weeks on this matter, and the Resolute may already be sold to someone else.”

  “Of course you must go,” she said.

  He nodded. “Thank you for understanding. I shall leave at high tide in the morning, and I expect to be gone several days, perhaps a week.”

  Her eyes seemed to lose a little of their glow, and he knew he had let her down. But she shook her head and smiled up at him. “Then we shall have to meet when you return. I’ll pray you have a safe journey.”

  “Thank you.” He hesitated, then looked at the boy again. “Er …”

  “Oh, the provisions. You see, a couple of years ago, I began a service of sorts that occupies me on Thursdays.”

  “A service?”

  “Yes. In the past, your father always allowed me to buy a few staples at wholesale each week or anytime a ship came in.”

  Edward was puzzled by this, but by now he knew that, Deborah being Deborah, she probably had a good reason.

  She laughed. “I see that I shall have to tell you my secret in full. Just, please, don’t spread it about, will you? It threatens their dignity.”

  “Whose?”

  “The sailors’ wives. Or widows, I should say.”

  “You are taking food to sailors’ widows?”

  “A little food and a great deal of conversation and company. That’s what I do best.”

  “And my mother is one of your ladies?”

  Her merry grin at that warmed him to his toes.

  “No, your mother is in a special class by herself. She often helps me in my cause by donating clothing and foodstuffs. But you see, by obtaining food, clothing, and other goods at wholesale prices from the city’s traders, I am able to help several families…. Well, to be plain, I help them survive.”

  Edward drew a deep breath. Deborah would undertake a cause like that. She saw a need in the seaside city, and instead of petitioning the community’s leaders to meet it, she endeavored to help those she could.

  “How many families?”

  “I’ve given small aid to about a dozen so far.”

  “And the boy is part of this?” he asked.

  Deborah flashed her smile toward Thomas. “He is the son of a brave man who died at sea.”

  “I’ll soon be old enough to sail myself, sir,” Thomas said. “But my mother wants me at home for now.”

  Edward could understand that. If the husband was lost, the wife would be slow to let her children take up the sailor’s life.

  “Each week he helps me carry the goods I buy to his mother’s house, where I distribute them,” Deborah said.

  Edward nodded. He was seeing a new side of Deborah, and his impression of her sweet compassion combined with her energy and practical good sense only grew more defined.

  “I’m glad my father promoted your efforts.”

  “Thank you. Your uncle let me continue to come here after Mr. Hunter died. I hope you don’t mind. I probably should have asked you.”

  “No, that’s fine. In fact …” He glanced toward where he had left Jacob, but his cousin was gone, no doubt into the office to set up the delivery and fees for transporting Engle’s lumber. “In fact, I’d like to give you a load of provisions for these families. Just tell me what is needed, and I’ll have a wagonload delivered.”

  Deborah opened her mouth, swallowed, then found her voice. “Thank you, that’s very generous. But you can hardly do that every week, or you would lose money. What I usually do is go around and solicit private donations from my friends and some of the business owners in town. If you are willing to let me continue buying at wholesale, that is enough.”

  “But surely you have ladies who need more than tea and”—he peered into Thomas’s basket—“and sugar. Let me this once give you a wagon full.”

  “Well …” She tilted her head toward her shoulder, considering.

  Edward’s heart leaped, and he longed to throw his arms around her. In that moment, he knew that life without Deborah would be boring and flat. In her world, there would never be a day without some joy, or at least the satisfaction of a worthy effort completed. That was a life he wanted to share.

  “Perhaps a few things,” she agreed. “Mrs. Lewis has a baby and could use some soft flannel. I hadn’t looked at the yard goods yet.”

  “Yes! You shall have a bolt of flannel and one of calico. And some rice and coffee and all the salt fish and molasses you can use. And from now on, when you come to the warehouse to buy for your ladies, you will buy at cost.”

  “At cost?”

  “My cost, not wholesale.”

  “Oh, Edward, you’ll bankrupt yourself.”

  “Nonsense. You won’t put a nick in all this.” He waved his arm, encompassing the whole warehouse and almost hitting a merchant who was passing.

  She hesitated, then nodded. “I shan’t say no. Thank you.”

  He smiled. “That’s fine. Pick out what you want today. And fill the wagon. I mean it. This day’s goods are my gift to you and the families. I’ll have one of the men drive the wagon around to the place where you distribute the lot.”

  “That would be the Crowe residence.” She named a street in the poorest section of town.

  He nodded, keeping his face straight so as not to embarrass the boy, but the thought of Deborah going there appalled him.

  “I’ll send a good man to drive the wagon and help unload when you get there. Will you ride on the wagon seat with him?”

  “Oh no, Thomas and I shall walk.”

  “Do you … walk down there often?”

  “Every week unless Abby goes with me. Then we take a hack.”

  He stood speechless for a moment. The thought of Abby joining this enterprise shocked him, but with persuasion from the earnest Deborah, he supposed even that was possible. His admiration for Deborah and his longing to be with her urged him to make a further overture. He drew a careful breath and reached for her arm, turning her slightly away from the boy.

  “I was wondering,” Edward said.

  “Yes?”

  “When I come back from Portsmouth, may I call on you?”

  “You can visit my family anytime.”

  “No, I mean you, Deborah.”

  She caught her breath and looked away, staring off toward the open door of the warehouse, where clerks were totaling up a buyer’s purchases and accepting payment. “Deborah?”

  “Mm?” Her face was crimson, but she turned toward him and raised her chin until her melting brown eyes looked into his face.

  “If you’ll permit it, I’d like to come next week to call on you. What do you say?”

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Was she wondering what Abigail would say? Or perhaps what her father’s reaction would be?

  She swallowed and tried again. “I would be delighted.”

  Edward smiled. “Then I shall look forward to it during my voyage to Portsmouth. Now, speak for your merchandise, and I’ll arrange for the wagon.”

  She thanked him again and turned away. Edward watched her for a moment as she headed for the bolts of material in search of soft flannel for babies’ diapers. He ought to insist that she stay out of that part of town.

  He almost laughed at himself. She’d been doing this for two years while he had been off digging clams and carving sticks to kill time on Spring Island. And Abigail sometimes went with her! Unbelievable! He still couldn’t picture Abby entering the humble huts of the sailors’ widows. But Deborah … Yes, he could see her doing it.

  Suddenly he wanted to hurry through the rest of this day. He wanted to put the voyage to Portsmouth behind him and come home quickly. Home to Deborah.

  Chapter 12<
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  It’s got to be the tonnage,” Edward said, frowning over the mass of papers he had spread across his desk. “Nothing else makes any sense.”

  “How so?” Jacob asked. He shuffled through the manifests, logs, and sales reports, looking a bit lost.

  “On her last few voyages, the total cargo on the Prosper was a lower volume than capacity.”

  “Really? I didn’t notice that.” Jacob pushed aside one of the ledgers and picked up another sheet of paper.

  “It wasn’t much off, but on her first voyage last year, the cargo totaled up less tonnage than you’d expect. Then, on the second trip, when she docked last fall, there seems to have been a shortage again, unless I’m missing something. Take a look at the manifest. They could easily have loaded more coffee or molasses in the Indies.”

  Jacob sat down and puzzled over the papers Edward had indicated.

  “But this doesn’t prove that anything’s amiss.”

  “Not in itself,” Edward agreed. “But this latest cargo …”

  “Oh, really, Ed.” Jacob looked up at him with troubled eyes. “You helped unload her yourself. They had that ship filled to the gunwales.”

  He nodded, mulling it over in his mind. “Yes, but with what? You’ve told me several times you expected several tons of coffee to come in. Stuart brought us only a small supply. We could have sold ten times as much coffee today. But this cargo was heavy on rice and raw cotton, Jake. Products we don’t make much on when we resell them.”

  Jacob pressed his lips together and inhaled, looking down at the papers once more. “Captain Stuart told me he got all he could. Should we have him in tomorrow and question him further about this?”

  Edward frowned and sat on the corner of his desk. “I’m not sure. I’ve read his log, and though there’s nothing obviously wrong there, it seems a bit vague in spots. He said they turned back for repairs at one point, but the time spent on what should have been a minor job doesn’t fit.” He stood up. “Let’s talk to some of the other men.”

  Jacob smiled. “Jamie Sibley. He was on the Egret with us, remember?”

  “Aye.”

  “He was always a good lad. I put him on the sloop last year, but for this current voyage, I made him the Prosper‘s second mate.”

  “Perfect,” said Edward. “He was with you in the Egret‘s yawl.”

  “Yes. I wouldn’t question his loyalty to me or Hunter Shipping.”

  Edward nodded, liking it more and more. “Let’s go.”

  As they walked the quiet streets of the harbor, Edward’s mind surged with questions. They came to the corner of the street where the Sibley family lived, and he paused.

  “Jacob, I hope you’ll forgive me, but I had to start at the top on this. I’ve been looking pretty hard at you and Mr. Daniels the past few weeks.”

  “At me and—oh, Ed.”

  “Yes, well, I had to be sure. At first I wasn’t even certain anything was going on. But I’m sure now. You had nothing to do with it, though.”

  Jacob’s hurt expression pierced him.

  “Can you forgive me for doubting you?”

  “Well, I suppose you had to. I mean, it’s your company and your family. Abby, too. You had to be sure she wasn’t marrying a rapscallion.”

  “Yes. But still … Well, I never really thought you could do something like that to Hunter Shipping. Why would you, after all, when it looked as though you’d end up with the whole business? But there were enough indicators to make me look over all the men in the office.”

  “Father, too, I suppose.” Jacob bowed his head, and Edward wished he could deny it; however, the truth was he’d thought of Uncle Felix, too, and whether there was some way he could have shorted the company when cargoes came into the warehouse.

  “I … decided he wouldn’t do that, and anyway, the discrepancies originate with the bills of lading and manifests, I believe. This thievery has taken place before the ship docks; that’s my belief.”

  Jacob nodded.

  “I’d have taken you into my confidence sooner, but … well, as you say, I had to be certain.” Edward extended his hand. “We’re in this together now, and it feels good to have an ally at my back.”

  Jacob grasped his hand. “I’m here for you. Let’s see what Jamie has to say.”

  The Prosper‘s second mate left his family at dinner and joined them in the yard of the small house.

  “Mr. Hunter. Mr. Price. How can I help you gents?” He eyed them uneasily.

  “We’re sorry to disturb you, Jamie,” Jacob said with a smile. “My cousin and I just had a few questions we’d like to ask about your voyage. Nothing to worry about.”

  “It’s my fault,” Edward said. “As you know, I’ve been away for a while.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jamie replied. “And glad I was to hear you was alive.”

  Edward nodded. “Thank you. Mr. Price has told me how you helped the men of the Egret‘s yawl survive, and I believe he used good judgment in promoting you.”

  Jamie glanced at Jacob, then shuffled his feet, looking down as he pushed a pebble about with his toe. “Thank you, sir. I was glad for the opportunity.”

  “Well, I’m leaving tomorrow on a short trip in the company’s sloop,” Edward said. “Going to Portsmouth. You wouldn’t like to go along, would you? I’ll be looking at another schooner we’re thinking of buying.”

  Jamie’s face lit up. “Oh, yes, sir, I’d be privileged to make that run. And say, if you’s buying another ship, will there be berths on her for a new voyage?”

  “Tired of the Prosper?“ Jacob asked.

  Jamie looked down at his feet again. “She’s a good ship, sir, but … I’d just as soon try something new.”

  Jacob reached out and touched the young man’s shoulder. “Jamie, we’ve been through a lot together, and I know you’ll be honest with me. Is something slippery going on with the Prosper?”

  Jamie exhaled sharply and glanced Edward’s way, then looked back to Jacob. “It started with the coffee.”

  “Coffee?”

  Edward kept quiet and let Jacob continue the interview, since Jamie Sibley obviously felt more comfortable with him.

  “Yes, sir, we took on a prodigious supply in Jamaica. Finest Brazilian coffee, they had. More than half our cargo.”

  Jacob cocked his head to one side. “But, Jamie, when we unloaded yesterday and today …”

  Jamie nodded, his forehead furrowed with wrinkles. “I know, I know. But Captain Stuart …”

  “What?” Jacob asked.

  “Well, sir …”

  They waited a long moment.

  “We went to St. Augustine and off-loaded most of the coffee, sir.”

  “You sold the coffee in Florida?” Jacob shot Edward a glance, but Edward kept still.

  “Y–yes, sir. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I supposed the captain had orders from you. After that, we headed south again, and that’s when I heard him telling Mr. Rankin—”

  “The first mate,” Jacob said to Edward, and Jamie nodded.

  “Yes, sir. I heard him tell Mr. Rankin we’d run back down there quick and fill up with coffee again, and … and none would be the wiser, sir.”

  “Meaning me, I suppose.” Jacob shook his head. “It’s true, then. Ed, I’m not as sharp as you are with figures, and the whole thing slipped past me. He’s selling off part of the cargo and reloading afterward. That’s why it took Stuart so long to get back here this voyage.”

  “Aye,” said Jamie. “But when we got back to Jamaica, they had hardly any coffee left. The captain was in a black mood. We pushed on to Havana, but he couldn’t get any there, either. We couldn’t go all the way to Rio for it, so we took on cotton and rice and whatever else he could get.”

  Edward took a deep breath. “I suppose something similar happened on her two voyages last year?”

  Jamie shrugged. “I wasn’t on board then, sir, but yes, from what the other fellows have told me, I’d think so. They sold off a bit of the mo
st expensive goods at some other port.”

  “And the captain thought they’d all keep quiet?” Jacob asked.

  Jamie hesitated. “Well, sir, he gave out there’d be something extra in it for them, and he told me…. Well, he told me he’d give me something later, but I must keep mum about the extra dealings.” He threw an uneasy glance at Edward. “I’m sorry. I been fretting on it these two days since we docked, thinking I ought to come and tell you gents. You coming here … Well, that tipped it for me. I should have come to you sooner.”

  Jacob clapped his shoulder. “All’s forgiven, Jamie, so long as you understand you’re siding with us now.”

  “We’ll turn this over to the law,” Edward added. “You might be needed to testify.”

  Jamie swallowed hard. “It won’t sit well with the men.”

  “We’ll get you out of here tomorrow on the sloop with Mr. Hunter,” Jacob said. “I’ll go to see the magistrate, and I won’t mention your name unless it’s necessary. When you come back from Portsmouth, you might need to write out a statement or some such.”

  “Somebody’d have to write it for me, sir.”

  Jacob nodded. “Yes, well, don’t you worry, Jamie. When we’re done, Captain Stuart won’t be able to get another ship, and any man who’s been in this with him will face the law as well.”

  “That amounts to the whole crew, sir.” Jamie seemed appalled at what his confession had put in motion.

  Edward said, “We’ll bring the men in and question them, and any who own up and give evidence against the captain will be kept on.”

  Jamie sighed. “Thank you, sir. There’s some as weren’t even smart enough to catch on, and then there’s some who was just scared of the captain and Mr. Rankin.”

  Edward nodded. “We’ll take that into consideration. Now go back to your family and rest easy tonight, Jamie. Be on the wharf at dawn, and we’ll sail for Portsmouth.”

  Edward and Jacob walked silently up the street and out of the harbor district.

  “Can you handle things tomorrow?” Edward asked at last.

  “I believe I can,” Jacob said. “I’ll take Mr. Daniels into my confidence and go around to the magistrate first thing.”