Uncharted Waters (Ravenwood Mysteries #6)

by Sabrina Flynn

  Riot checked the back of the picture. Beatrix, 1872. Three years before Ravenwood came to America. Riot turned to the other item in the box: a gold ring on a chain.

  Day 0

  Freedom

  Saturday, September 29 1900

  Isobel stared at her watch as seconds ticked by. Five minutes. Another rotation. A click, and the long hand edged closer to the number twelve.

  Why did time move so slowly when observed?

  She felt a child again, trapped in a classroom. Her parents had abandoned the notion of formal schooling after she climbed out a window during class, to follow a hawk. Lotario had followed too, of course. But no amount of discipline, reasoning, or time in a corner wearing a dunce hat ever deterred Isobel Amsel. She simply walked off, or dug in her heels and kept poking at the disciplinaries to see how far she could drive them. As it turned out, she could drive an adult fairly far.

  Ten, nine, eight, Isobel held her breath. Seven, six, five, four, three, what would freedom feel like after a year? Two, one, the long hand clicked to the right, covering the short hand. Midnight.

  The seconds ticked on, and Isobel stared at her watch. The world kept spinning.

  She sat in an empty room, alone. And wept. A silent shuddering release. It was finally over. Kingston. Her cruel brother Curtis and his conspiracies. The trial. It was over. She was finally free to live her life—to run away, to strike out across the world and leave this mess. If she wanted to.

  Isobel scraped a palm across her eyes, and blinked at the darkness. Then at her watch. Fifteen minutes of freedom and she had wasted it on a maudlin display of emotion. Insufferable.

  Isobel stood up, slapped a hat on her head, slung a coat over her arm, and snatched up her suitcase to march into the adjoining room.

  Jin slept in a cot, the scars that crisscrossed her face stark in the moonlight. And yet, Jin slept so peacefully. Bright Waters had been therapeutic for the child. Isobel shook the girl’s shoulder. Jin shot out of the blanket, rolled to the side, and came up in a crouch, nostrils flaring.

  “I love how quickly you get out of bed,” Isobel said, impressed. “Come on, get dressed.”

  “What is the matter?” Jin asked, searching the room for threat.

  Isobel let her watch dangle on its chain. “I’m free. It’s time to go.”

  Jin blew an annoyed breath past her lips. “It is night. Atticus is coming this afternoon.”

  It was true. That was the plan, at any rate. Another case had taken him away these past weeks, but he and Sarah were set to arrive this afternoon and travel back with them the next day.

  “I do not want to spend another day here,” Isobel said.

  Jin cursed under her breath. “We might miss Atticus and Sarah.”

  Isobel had already thought of that. “Not if we catch the first train.”

  “What if he catches the first train?”

  “I want to surprise him,” Isobel returned.

  “What if he was going to surprise you?” Jin shouted the question. “Let me go back to sleep!”

  Isobel took a steadying breath, closed her eyes, and exhaled. When she opened her eyes, Jin was still glaring up at her defiantly. She doubted another calming breath would fix the girl’s scowl.

  “You may remain here if you like. I’m free. You’re free. We can do whatever the hell we like. And I’m leaving.” Isobel felt elated.

  Resigned, Jin yanked on her clothes: loose shirt, trousers, and an oversized cap that she tucked her braids under. Isobel tossed the girl’s meager belongings into a rucksack, and slung it over a shoulder.

  Jin trudged sleepily in her wake as they exited the cottage. “Are we going to walk the whole way?” Jin asked.

  Crickets and frogs made the night alive, and the moon lit their feet. “You’ve been a ball of energy these past three months, and now you want to laze around in bed snoring?”

  “I do not snore. You do.”

  “Just imagine how glorious it will be when you won’t have to listen to me snore anymore. So stop dragging your feet.”

  This only made Jin walk slower. The girl looked at her feet, shuffling them along the dirt. “You will be too busy for me now.”

  “Nonsense.” But Jin was likely right. As a girl, Isobel had hated lying adults, and here she was dispensing false assurances.

  Isobel stopped, and knelt in front of Jin, looking her in the eye. “You’re right, Jin. Things will be hectic, but you’ll be a part of that hectic life, and I’ll be a part of yours. And Sarah’s, and Riot’s, and Tim’s, and even my parents. Life gets busy when you have family.”

  Isobel pulled the girl into a hug, and Jin held on fiercely. “Thanks for keeping me company,” Isobel whispered.

  “It was not too bad.”

  Isobel held her at arm’s length. “Me or Bright Waters?”

  Jin bared her white teeth in the dark. In reply, Isobel flicked the tip of her cap, and stood, heading towards the main ward.

  The nurses kept the doors locked, but if there was one thing Isobel had had, it was time—time to perfect her lock-picking and time to perfect her pickpocketing. The nurses made for excellent marks. Isobel removed a stolen key from her pocket and inserted it in the lock. She ushered Jin inside the ward, and carefully closed the door.

  Their footsteps echoed softly in the entryway, and from somewhere distant, a patient cried out in the night. That would be Freddie. The soldier had returned from the Philippines, but his mind was still on a distant battlefield. Isobel had helped Julius make some progress with him. She had taken him on long walks, and didn’t push him for conversation or demand anything of the soldier. Enough had already been asked of him.

  Isobel and Jin climbed the stairs, and walked to Julius’s door. Not his consultation room, but his private rooms. She knocked. It felt wrong to leave without saying farewell to the alienist. She certainly never intended to return.

  Jin shifted at her side, gazing down the empty corridor. The child edged closer, and Isobel put an arm around her slight shoulders. The girl no longer flinched or growled when Isobel touched her. The months here had calmed Jin, or maybe Isobel had finally earned her full trust.

  Isobel knocked again. Louder. It boomed down the hallway. A door opened, but not the one Isobel wanted. The head nurse poked her head into the hallway, and a light flicked on. “Miss Amsel!”

  Isobel cleared her throat. It was Miss Floyd, the hair puller.

  “What on earth are you doing?” Miss Floyd demanded. She marched towards them, in nightcap and robe.

  “I’m knocking on a door,” Isobel explained.

  “Get back to your rooms. How did you get in here?”

  Isobel held up her watch on its chain. “I’m no longer confined here. I don’t have to listen to you anymore.”

  Miss Floyd made an exasperated noise. “As if you ever did! Can’t you just leave quietly?”

  “We intend to. As soon as I say goodbye to Dr. Bright.”

  The woman’s face lit with joy. “How delightful you’re leaving. But I’m afraid Dr. Bright went away on business. He won’t be back for three days.”

  Isobel felt a sinking in the pit of her stomach. “He didn’t tell me.”

  “You’re a patient, Miss Amsel.” And then she brightened once again. “Were.”

  “Can you see to my trunks?”

  “Of course. Goodbye. Do give your brother my warmest regards. I do hope he is doing well.” Miss Floyd walked back to her rooms and shut the door.

  Isobel stared at the emptiness, feeling an unexpected disappointment. But then what had she expected? A midnight celebration?

  “Nurse Floyd seems very happy,” Jin noted.

  Isobel nodded, absently picking up her suitcase. “We definitely left an impression on her.” They walked through the empty hallways and into the night. Isobel spotted Gus, the night guard, sleeping by a fountain. She gestured Jin to stay back, and crept forward. The man continued snoring as she dropped her stolen key into his breast pocket. Ther
e. That was done.

  As he coughed and muttered, Isobel hurried back to Jin, and the two slipped away into the sleepy night, and down a long, lonely road.

  “Are we walking all the way to the train?” Jin whispered.

  “It’s only a few miles or so.”

  “The first train does not leave until six-thirty.”

  Isobel smiled. “I know.”

  “It is dark out.”

  “It’s practically bright. Look at the stars, Jin. Smell the earth.”

  “And listen to the coyotes. The nurses say there is a roaming pack of starving coyotes that eat people who leave the asylum.”

  “Nonsense. I’ve only heard one coyote tonight.”

  “And crickets,” Jin said.

  “Are you afraid of crickets?”

  “I do not trust them,” the girl said. She quickened her pace, nearly running to catch up. “Have you taken cocaine?”

  Isobel looked down at the girl. “Why would you think that?”

  “You are very happy. The women at the brothels would sometimes take the white powder. Mei told me to stay away from it.”

  “I concur. And no, I’m not on cocaine.” Though she had tried it. “I’m free!”

  “You weren’t a very good captive.”

  Isobel refused to be drawn into a debate with a ten-year-old child. “You’re free too.”

  “I will have to go to school.”

  “You like school.”

  “When it’s not boring,” Jin said.

  “Aren’t you excited to see your new room?”

  Jin didn’t answer. It was admittance enough that she was, at the very least, intrigued. “I think we should wait for Atticus,” Jin said after a stretch.

  “Noted,” Isobel growled through her teeth. Apparently she was the only person excited over her release.

  They walked in silence down the secluded road. The heat of the previous day rose from the earth while mist worked its sinuous way down hillsides to fill the valley. With every step, Isobel felt lighter. A weight lifted that had become so familiar she had forgotten it was there.

  An hour later, Isobel stood at the entrance to a dark town. The only noise came from a lit saloon, and even that was winding down. A drunk man slurred a greeting, as they walked through town towards the train station. A single lamp lit the closed ticket booth.

  “Now what?” Jin asked.

  Isobel stared at the dark tracks. Thirty-seven miles to Vallejo ferry terminal. Isobel had a quick stride, and she managed about four miles an hour. Too long. But if she ran… Isobel glanced at Jin. Maybe a horse? With what money, came the next thought. She only had enough for the train, ferry, and maybe a meal for the two of them.

  Resigned, Isobel sat on a bench and consulted her watch. Three hours to go. “We’ll wait.”

  Jin blew out a breath, dropped her rucksack, and climbed onto the bench. She curled into a ball, resting her head on Isobel’s thigh. Isobel draped her coat over the girl.

  Three hours. But it would be three hours of freedom. Choice. What a precious thing, to simply be in a place of one’s own choosing. That made the wait more than tolerable.

  Dreams

  At five-thirty in the morning, a short, round man in a bowler walked onto the train platform. Isobel dislodged Jin, whose head fell to the bench with a clunk. Isobel winced, and made a mental note that children slept like bricks, then reassured herself that children were far more durable than they appeared.

  Isobel headed straight for the stationmaster’s office, and drummed her fingers impatiently on the ledge.

  “That’s not going to make the train come any sooner, Miss,” the man called from inside. A latch clicked, and the ticket window opened. The round man now wore a stationmaster’s hat and a clerk’s sleeves.

  Isobel pushed coins at him. “Two tickets to Vallejo.”

  “Been here all night, have you? Running from trouble?”

  “I never run from trouble,” she replied.

  The man stared a moment, digesting her words, and then jumped to action. “I’ll just open the lady’s waiting room for you, Miss… erm?”

  “Amsel.”

  “Have a safe journey, Miss Amsel.” His eyes flickered to the side, to the inside wall of his booth.

  “I was released today,” Isobel explained. “There’s no need to go scampering off to report me to Sheriff Nash.”

  The man started, putting on a look of pure innocence.

  “It’s obvious you have my likeness plastered on your wall with the rest of the ‘wanted’ posters.”

  The man cleared his throat, and left to open the waiting room for her. But Isobel wasn’t about to wait in a stuffy room. She went back to her bench, and sat. Not a minute later, she heard the tapping of a telegraph. Isobel cocked an ear, deciphering the code: Miss Amsel is at the station.

  Hell. Was he notifying reporters? The police? She didn’t relish having an audience, or worse being hassled by police. But what if his message was being sent to one of her many enemies?

  Isobel checked her watch as Jin sat up, blinking at the light. “I suppose some coffee wouldn’t hurt. And biscuits.”

  Jin perked up at that word.

  As they walked towards the cafe, the stationmaster poked his head out the window. “Uhm, Miss Amsel. Where are you going?”

  Isobel didn’t answer. She wanted to strangle the man.

  “Why does he care where we go?”

  “I suppose we’ll find out eventually.”

  Jin glanced over her shoulder. “I do not like how he is looking at us. We should go back to the asylum.”

  A knot formed between Isobel’s shoulders. She expected to be seized at any moment. Would her ex-husband send someone after her? Her instincts said yes, but not so soon. It would be far too obvious. Why not kill her in the asylum and make it look like a suicide?

  Isobel itched for a weapon.

  She sat with her back against a wall as they ate, but breakfast passed without incident and the train rolled into the station on time. The early train brought workers, and a few eager tourists. But no reporters. Isobel pulled Jin onto the train and they took their seats. The bell rang, the train chugged forward, and no one bothered them. Isobel began to relax.

  Between her faked death and arrest, she realized she had been on edge for over a year. Was she paranoid? Probably. But was that such a bad thing?

  The train soon lulled her, and she let her mind wander. She was free. She could do anything she pleased. True, she’d be married—to an amazing, dangerous man who was not only her partner but also her best friend. And she had two daughters to look after. Each adrift. But one needed a crew before setting sail. The thought brought another, and she nudged Jin with an elbow.

  “Is there someplace you’d like to travel to?” Isobel asked.

  Jin looked from the window. “We are traveling now.” Jin’s imagination had been murdered along with her parents. The girl was far too literal for a child.

  “I mean somewhere else. London? New York? Hawaii?”

  Jin’s frown deepened. “I don’t know many places.”

  “We’ll have to change that.”

  “I want to sail. Like you.”

  Isobel nodded. “We will do that.” Except… splitting wood and rushing water assailed her. Isobel shivered. The Pagan Lady had been sunk. Right. She made a mental list, practical as always: marry Riot, then repair her boat. There was the small manner of money, however. Riot had told her of his financial situation, and she was worse off than he was. Perhaps she could win a new boat at a gambling table? Surely Riot would teach her how to cheat? Did he cheat at cards? There was so much she didn’t know about him. And so much she looked forward to discovering.

  “I heard a man telling Mei about giant trees.” Jin’s voice pulled Isobel from her plotting. “I want to climb a big tree.”

  Isobel smiled. “Then we’ll visit the big trees.”

  “And I want to learn to swim, and ride horses, and shoot guns. And go to
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.”

  Isobel nodded. But Jin wasn’t done.

  “Then I want to go to London and meet Mr. Sherlock Holmes.” The girl had taken to the stories with enthusiasm. Isobel hadn’t had the heart to tell her that the great detective was fictional. Or that he fell off Reichenbach Falls (no matter what Riot claimed). Jin hadn’t made it to “The Final Problem” yet.

  Isobel gripped Jin’s hand. “I don’t know about the last, but we’ll manage the others.”

  Ambush

  Isobel stopped in her tracks at the end of the sidewalk, closed her eyes, and inhaled a deep breath through nose and mouth, both smelling and tasting the air. The stench of coal pricked her senses, and fish, but underneath, there it was, permeating everything: salt air. It energized her like a drug in her veins. The air was hot and the water glassy. She had missed this. Even the screaming seagulls circling overhead.

  “Nearly there,” Isobel said.

  Jin looked resigned as they walked towards the crowded ferry terminal. It was prime commute time, and the line was long. Isobel stood in the queue, edging forward one person at a time.

  “Two tickets for San Francisco,” Isobel said, pushing coins across the counter. The ticket taker’s eyes darted to the side, and he put on a large smile.

  Isobel suppressed a sigh. “I was released today. Good God man, if I was actually a criminal on the run you’d likely have a gun aimed at your head. Can you be any more obvious?”

  The man turned red. “I’ll take your word on it, Miss Amsel.” He glanced down at Jin. “Terminal two.”

  Isobel took the tickets, and started towards the indicated dock. But no one else was headed that way. A group of commuters were currently boarding terminal one. Why were there two ferries in port?