Shadow of a Life

by Tifani Clark

  *****

  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 an
d 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?

  “Sophia, you will be turning eighteen in a couple of days and it’s time you started a household of your own. Your mother will be accompanying me on the Mist Seeker the next time I leave and we aren’t about to leave you here alone. We have made an arrangement with Michael Mason. You will be marrying him before we leave.”

  Sophia felt as if she had been punched in the stomach as all the air in her lungs left her body at once.

  “Father . . . no. You can’t do this to me. I’m not a possession you can just sell. Mr. Mason is so much older than me and I don’t care for him at all. Please don’t make me do this.” She looked to Nick for help.

  He sat in stunned silence and shook his head slightly as if he didn’t know what to do. Elsa frowned, but wouldn’t make eye contact with Sophia.

  “Stop acting like a child, Sophia. The deal has already been made. You will marry Mr. Mason and you will do it next week. It’s time for you to be someone else’s problem.”

  Sophia ran from the room and out the back door of the house. She kept running even as her hair came unpinned and fell down around her shoulders, tangling in the wind. She didn’t stop until she reached the shore and there was nowhere else she could run. She threw herself to the ground and sobbed. It felt like all she did was cry. There couldn’t possibly be any tears left inside her.

  She didn’t know how long she lay on the pebble covered beach, but it must have been a long time because the water began to lap at her as the tide rose. She sensed a new presence and sat up to see Nick kneeling beside her.

  “Oh, Nick. What am I supposed to do? I am so scared of Michael Mason.” She was almost hysterical.

  “Shhh . . . love. Your father has set your wedding day for two days after your birthday. We’ll just have to leave before then.”

  “I don’t know if we can pull it off, Nick. When we talked about leaving before, I thought Father would secretly be happy that I was gone, but if I break a contract he made he will be angry and will hunt for us.”

  “We’ll just have to disguise ourselves, give ourselves new names, and lose ourselves in the city as soon as we can. If he catches up with us, we always have a secret weapon.”

  “What secret weapon?”

  “We could threaten to expose his illegal activities if he doesn’t leave us alone. It’ll work. I’m sure of it. Besides, you’ll be eighteen, Sophia. It’s not like I’m stealing a child. You just have to pretend as if you are unhappily going along with your wedding to this Mason fellow until we leave. You will even be able to pack your bags without anyone being suspicious. I’ll go to town this week and secure railroad passage for us under different names. We can do this, Sophia.”

  The two made plans to rendezvous on the morning of Sophia’s eighteenth birthday. Nick had purchased two tickets to New York leaving town on October 31, 1888. If they met at the Goodwin well when Sophia went to fetch water that morning, they would have just enough time to get to town and board the train. By the time Jeremiah and Elsa realized she wasn’t coming back to the house and went looking for the couple, the train would be gone. Their tickets were under the names of Neil and Samantha Jackson, newlyweds traveling up the coast. Once they got to New York they would look for work and rent a small apartment under the same names. In theory, it would be almost impossible to track them down.

  The last few days before her birthday were some of the longest days of Sophia’s life. She expected their plan to be uncovered at any moment and jumped every time either of her parents approached or spoke to her. The day before her birthday she went with her parents to discuss the upcoming nuptials with the Mason family. The affair was to be a small one—just the families of the bride and bridegroom and a nearby preacher. The vows would take place at the Mason farm. While they were there, Sophia received a tour of what was to be her new home and farm.

  Michael’s home was not far from his parent’s large two-story farmhouse. His home was smaller, but still beautiful compared to the house she currently lived in with Jeremiah and Elsa. It would have been a dream come true if it weren’t for the man she was supposed to live there with. While they visited he barely spoke to her, but he incessantly leered at her and she constantly pulled at the shawl draped around her shoulders, trying to cover every feminine feature she had.

  The night before her birthday she met Nick in the barn for a brief moment. He reassured her that everything would be fine and he would meet her at the well with Mabel hitched to his two-seater buggy. They would follow a trail through the woods that met up with the road just past the Mason farm. All was well.

  “I love you, Sophia. I can’t wait until we get to New York so we can be married.”

  “I love you, too, Nick. Tonight is the last night I will ever have to be unhappy.”

  He looked through the barn door to make sure no one was coming and then quickly kissed her. Her whole body turned to mush and when he tried to pull away she leaned into him more, not wanting the kiss to end. He gently squeezed her shoulders and pulled her away.

  “I will see you in the morning, love, I promise,” he said as he slipped through the door and returned to the house. She watched his retreating figure and wondered again how a girl like her had become so lucky.