by Mute80
Trying to change the subject, Sophia said, “Did you just get back?”
“Yes, ma’am. We left the Mist Seeker docked in the shipyard north of here with Gus and Paul to watch her. Your father and I hired a wagon to bring us down here this morning and we just got in. You weren’t in the kitchen with your mother and I reckon I knew exactly where you would be.”
“The last telegram Father sent said that he didn’t know when you would be back for sure, but that it might be spring before you were here. It’s really good to see you.” She was so happy she wanted to twirl around like a little girl.
“We ended up not being able to take the cargo we had hoped to run down into the Gulf of Mexico, but I’m fine with that.” He smiled down at her.
She smiled back and they continued in happy silence until they reached the back door to her parent’s home. As they entered the kitchen, they could hear Sophia’s parents talking in hushed tones. The pair had papers spread across the kitchen table and upon seeing Sophia and Nick, they quickly swept them up and her father tucked them into a pouch at his side.
“Sophia, my dear, how I’ve missed you.” He gave her an awkward hug.
Sophia wondered why he felt the need to continue putting on a show for Nick. In all of her memory she could not remember him ever having hugged her before, but for some reason he felt the need to prove to Nick that they were a normal, happy family.
“Father, it’s nice to see you. I hope your journey was a good one.”
“It was just as a journey should be. In the time we were gone we were able to run three loads of lumber down the coast and we have a contract for another load of cargo that we will take two weeks from now.”
Sophia’s heart fell. She’d known that Nick would have to leave again, but two weeks was such a short time for them to stay.
“How long will you be gone this time, Father?”
“I’m not sure, but this could be the beginning of a regular run for us. Maybe I’ll have to start bringing your mother along with me so she doesn’t get lonely.” He winked at his wife.
“What kind of cargo will you be ferrying, Father?”
Jeremiah looked at Elsa who quickly pretended she wasn’t listening to the conversation. “We will be taking goods down to Florida. They’re building rail lines so fast in that state they can hardly keep in supplies.”
The next week and a half flew by and Sophia found herself stuck in a horrible mood. She wanted to be happy during the little time Nick was around, but the thought of him leaving again made her sick. She didn’t know how women, like her mother, could bear to be married to seamen who were regularly leaving. The pain of constant goodbyes must be devastating. Besides that, since they’d been back, something seemed to be bothering Nick and he didn’t talk as much as he used to.
A few mornings before the Mist Seeker was due to sail again, Sophia found herself alone in the barn with Nick who was visiting his horse, Mabel.
“Did you think about me at all when you were gone?” she boldly asked.
Nick sighed. “Only every day. You were right, I didn’t get seasick and I did enjoy being on the water, but I couldn’t stand not seeing you every morning and evening like I did all last summer.”
Sophia smiled.
“Sophia, do you think you would ever consider . . . down the road . . . maybe . . . perhaps . . . marrying me?”
Sophia’s heart stopped. When it finally started beating again she managed to whisper, “Yes. I can’t imagine anything that would make me happier.”
“I am saving every penny that I’m getting from your father, but I’m afraid it will still be a long time before I have enough to get us a place of our own. Are you willing to wait for me, even if it is something we do far in the future?”
“I can wait as long as it takes.” But I don’t want to wait another day.
Nick reached down and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. He slowly lowered his head as if to kiss her again, and she felt herself leaning toward him on trembling legs, her heart beating faster with every inch of space that disappeared between them.
“What is going on in here?” Jeremiah boomed as he entered the barn behind the young couple.
Nick quickly dropped Sophia’s hand and continued running a comb through Mabel’s shiny black mane. Jeremiah’s face quickly registered surprise, realization, and then anger.
“Father, I—” Sophia tried to talk, but she was cut off when Jeremiah grabbed her and shoved her angrily towards the barn door.
“I should have known this would happen. Get in the house, Sophia.” He turned to Nick with raging eyes. “Don’t ever let me catch you near my daughter again. Do you hear me, boy?”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir. It will never happen again.”
“You’re not good enough for her, boy, so keep your filthy hands off her.”
Sophia didn’t hear anything else as she ran for the house where she threw herself across her bed and sobbed.
Elsa came into the room and sat on the bed next to her, resting a hand on her back. “What happened?”
Sophia was too upset to respond, but she found she didn’t need to. Jeremiah burst through the door at that moment, yelling about his tramp of a daughter who flirted with the hired help.
“Father. He’s a good man. He treats me right and he’s a hard worker. What more could you want from a son-in-law?” Sophia cried.
“Son-in-law? Are you out of your mind? The most important thing you should consider when choosing a husband is how much money he has and whether or not he will be able to support you. That boy out there in the barn is never going to be able to support himself—or anyone else for that matter.”
She clutched at her stomach, willing away the need to vomit. It made her sick to think of the future her father wanted for her. He wanted her to marry into money so that he could try to get his hands on it.
For the next few days, Sophia did nothing but mope around the house. She barely ate and her usually creamy skin took on a ghostly pallor. Jeremiah and Elsa ignored her and she barely spoke a word. She desperately wanted to talk to Nick alone, but her father assured that their paths never crossed. Either she was outside doing a chore or he was, but never at the same time. Jeremiah made sure Nick was kept busy riding his horse, going for walks, or running errands in town until long after Sophia had gone to bed each night and then he would be allowed into the house for a cold dinner. Sophia never got a chance to talk to him about what happened in the barn. He never got to see her in the new burgundy dress with the delicate lace trim.
The day for Nick and Jeremiah to return to the ship came faster than Sophia could have possibly imagined. The last couple of days had been tense around the house. No one spoke, except Jeremiah and Elsa, who always did so in secretive whispers. The morning of their departure Sophia woke and dressed early, hoping that Nick would somehow find a way to talk to her. Perhaps he would meet her at the well again. She hurried out the door with her buckets that morning, looking around for the one person who could make her heart beat happily, but she never heard from him or saw him. When she got back to her house, her father bade her farewell, mentioning that Nick had gone ahead the night before. And that was it, she was alone again.
CHAPTER 10
Spring and Summer of 1888
Spring had once again found Virginia, but no matter how many wildflowers blossomed and released their scents into the air, Sophia could not bring herself to be happy. Her father would never give his blessing for her to marry Nick. All she could think about was running away, but she could never support herself on the miniscule amount of money she had saved from sewing for people in town. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that their only option was to con the con man. Somehow she would have to convince Nick to run away with her when he once again returned to port.
Elsa was more nervous and jittery during the men’s second absence. She paced the house often and would sometimes stand at the window, staring at the bumpy road running past their home, as
if she were waiting for someone to come. She was so distracted that she didn’t even care when Sophia slacked on her chores.
One evening while Sophia was cutting potatoes for dinner there was a rough knock at the door. The sun was low and shadows danced across the room, making ordinary objects appear different somehow. Sophia’s eyes widened in surprise as she spied Elsa cowering in a shadowy corner with one hand clutching her apron hem and the other covering her mouth, her face betraying the concern she felt. Sophia eyed her mother suspiciously before opening the door.
“Good evening, ma’am,” the gentlemen at the door said.
“Good evening to you, too, sir.”
“I have a telegram for Mrs. Jeremiah Goodwin.”
Sophia raised her eyebrows and glanced in her mother’s direction as she heard the tiniest of whimpers escape the shadowy corner.
“Thank you for bringing it all the way out here, sir. May I interest you in a drink or a bite to eat before you take your leave?”
“Thank you for your kindness, ma’am, but I need to be on my way. Good day.” The gentleman tipped his hat toward Sophia and walked away.
“Give it to me,” Elsa whispered, stepping from her corner.
Sophia obliged and handed over the small envelope.
Elsa held it for a moment before finally tearing into it with trembling hands.
Sophia watched her mother’s odd behavior curiously and saw as the expression on her face changed from fear to relief.
“All is well with the ship. Your father and the crew are faring well and, more importantly, making money.”
And that was the end of the conversation.
*****
Elsa spent much more time with the Mason family on their neighboring land during that summer. Elenora Mason had a bout of bad health and Elsa would visit—taking food and gifts—and pretend to be highly concerned about her well-being. She usually forced Sophia to accompany her on those outings. Sophia was always told to wear her burgundy dress and to dab a little rose water on her neck and wrists before they left. Much to Sophia’s disgust, Elsa made a point of asking about Michael and commented to Mrs. Mason more than once about “what a nice man he was.”
“Hmph,” Michael would grunt, looking Sophia up and down as if she were a piece of meat on his overflowing dinner plate.
She tried not to, but encounters like that were usually accompanied by a shudder and the taste of bile in her mouth. The idea of being with a man more than twice her age still made her sick.
The summer wore on and the days grew hotter and longer. Sophia started spending more time down by the water, letting the ocean waters cool her bare feet. Then, the air once again turned crisp and the leaves began to change. News from the sea was rare and far between. And then finally, after months of delays as outlined in infrequent telegrams, Nick and her father returned. By then it was mid-October and they again planned on staying for only two weeks. They arrived late in the evening when the sun had almost completed its descent from the sky.
“You’re back,” Sophia exclaimed joyfully.
Nick gave a polite nod without looking directly at her. She cried inside. Something was wrong. Something had changed. She could feel it.
Sophia and Elsa quickly made a small meal for the new arrivals and everyone turned in for the night. Just before she laid her head down, Sophia noticed a small piece of paper folded on her pillow. “See you at the well. Sweet dreams,” she silently read to herself. It was a long, sleepless night.
The next morning, Sophia entered the kitchen to find Elsa already there with her father.
“It’s about time you got up. The boy woke a long time ago and went riding. Your mother and I have private matters to discuss. Go fetch the water,” Jeremiah snapped at her.
She arrived at the well a short time later and found herself continuously looking over her shoulder and into the groves of trees, trying to spot those familiar blue eyes. Just as she finished filling the last bucket, he emerged from the trees leading Mabel.
“You came,” she exclaimed.
“Did you doubt me?”
“A little. You didn’t even look at me when you got back last night.”
“I’m sorry. I was afraid once I did I wouldn’t be able to stop staring. I didn’t want to upset your father.”
“Nick, I can’t stand being apart. Please don’t get back on that ship. I don’t care how poor we’ll be. Let’s run away together.” Her voice cracked as she unabashedly pled with him.
Nick hurried to her side and took both her hands in his. “Sophia, I don’t want to go either, but I’m almost more afraid of what will happen if I don’t go.”
“What do you mean?”
He hesitated before continuing. “Sophia, I don’t want to speak poorly of your father, but there is something you need to know. When we were rebuilding the Mist Seeker last summer, your father had us assemble a lot of hidden storage compartments. I asked him about it once and he said that he liked to have places to stow extra supplies. Most of these cubbies are so hidden that you would never know they were there unless you had helped build them yourself. The first time we left Virginia we made a couple of what I believed to be honest runs, but after that your father started dealing with some men that I didn’t trust. I figured it was his boat and he could do what he wanted. When we returned to the ship after our previous two-week stay here, Gus and Paul were having a lot of whispered, secretive conversations with your father. A few days into our trip I randomly opened one of the hidden compartments, expecting it to be empty. Sophia, it was filled with opium.”
Sophia gasped. “Are you serious?”
He nodded.
“I think that’s why your father brought me here with him last time. I’m pretty sure that while we were visiting you, Gus and Paul were loading all the illegal cargo onto the Mist Seeker and this was everyone’s way of keeping me out of the loop. When we got to our destination in Florida, Jeremiah had me spend a couple of days on land with him . . . away from the ship. I’m sure that’s when the opium was emptied because I checked when we were on board again and it was gone. I had a lot of time to ask around and think about it, and I’ve read a lot over the years. I think I figured out what your father is doing. The railroad industry is on fire in Florida right now. Many of the Chinese immigrants who helped build the transcontinental railroad twenty years ago have started helping there. They all want opium. Sophia, I think your father is acting as a middle man, picking it up from someone and delivering it to Florida. I’ve been trying to act normal, but I think your father suspects that I know more than I’m letting on. He said he wants to discuss a business proposition with me before we sail again. I don’t want to be involved with this, but I’m afraid I know too much already.” It all came out in a rush of words and emotions.
“Oh, Nick, I’m so sorry. My father has always been a deceitful man. I don’t think he has an honest bone in his body. The very first day you arrived here all those months ago I wanted to tell you not to get involved with him, but . . . you were so nice to me. I wanted you to stay.”
“It’s not your fault, Sophia. All the warning signs were there—I was just too young and naïve to see them at first. Besides, once I met you I wanted to stay, too.”
“So what do we do now?”
“I don’t know. I’ve wondered about letting him know that I know what he’s been up to, and that I want a cut of the deal since I’m taking risks, too, but then I think of you and I know that you would never agree with that idea.”
“You’re right, I would never be happy about you lowering your standards to his level. Besides, he doesn’t like to feel threatened. If you tried to blackmail him it might make matters worse. You can’t let my father be a bad influence on you, Nick. You have to get out. Now.”
He sighed. “I don’t know what else I’m going to be able to do. I’m not qualified for any high-paying jobs. If I have to work my way up from the bottom, it’s going to be forever until I can take you away from here.”
“Nick, I don’t want you to take care of me. Let’s take care of each other. Let’s go to one of the bigger cities—like New York. We can both get jobs in the factories. We don’t need fancy things and a lot of money as long as we’re together. Please.”
“How could we ever get your parents to agree to that?”
“We could never convince them. We’ll just have to run away together—before you get back on that boat.” Sophia could feel the excitement rising inside her.
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Nick, I have been waiting to leave my entire life.”
He was silent for a while as he mulled things over in his head. “Okay. Let’s do it. Let’s go to New York.”
He picked her up and swung her around, kissing her on the forehead, both cheeks, and finally her lips. When he finally set her down she continued to float.
“You better get back. Your parents are going to think you fell into the well. Love, I can’t carry the water for you today or they would know I was with you. I’m so sorry.”
He was more than she deserved. No one had ever cared for her like Nick did and it touched her heart in a way she couldn’t possibly explain.
Sophia hurried back to her house as fast as she could with her load of water, hoping she hadn’t angered her parents too much for taking so long. Luckily, they were again hunched over the kitchen table in a whispered conversation and didn’t appear to notice or care how long she’d been gone. She spread breakfast on the table for all of them and pretended she didn’t care when Nick walked in a little while later. He avoided making eye contact with her and Jeremiah and Elsa were none the wiser to what had transpired earlier that morning.
When the morning meal had been consumed, Sophia stood and began to clear the table. Jeremiah reached out and pushed on her shoulder, forcing her to sit back in her chair. “Hold on, Sophia. Your mother and I need to talk to you about something.” Had they figured out her secret plans with Nick already?