Northern Lights Trilogy (86 page)

Elsa frowned. “Dutton?
Still?
He still manages to roam these waters freely?”

“It is uncanny. He is as slippery as an eel. Each time the military attempts to curtail his efforts, Mason escapes. And he’s bought off most of the local authorities, as well as any captains who sail Hawaiian waters. It’s even rumored that King Kalakaua frequently entertains him here at the palace.” He glanced up, spotting Lady Bancock coming to collect her prize guest. “We must speak again. Later on this evening?”

“Yes,” Elsa said seriously, staring into his gray eyes. He had let his hair grow out a bit and she spotted a glint of gold in his left ear. Karl Martensen was wearing an earring? Obviously, he had much, much to tell her.

Although he was her escort, she saw precious little of Karl as the evening wore on. She was introduced to guest after guest, and soon the dancing began. Although her slippers were elegant and up to the minute in fashion, they were killing her toes.

She was just wishing someone would rescue her when Karl suddenly appeared, took her in his arms, and confidently danced her straight out onto the lanai. Once safely there, they were served drinks and went for a walk on the Bancock grounds. Near the crashing waves, they found a secluded marble bench nestled in a copse of swaying palm fronds. Elsa sat down with a sigh, raising her skirts just enough to release her aching feet from the strapped slippers.

“Captain Ramstad!” Karl said in mock surprise.

“Will you quit calling me that? I’ve heard enough of it tonight. And these shoes are as pleasurable as wearing a crab on each toe.”

“That nice, eh?” Karl said, sitting beside her. She liked his jovial, confident mood.

“What has happened to you, Karl?” she asked in wonder.

“What do you mean?”

“You are different somehow. Happier. Are you in love?” she asked with one eyebrow raised. She did so hope that he would find the right woman someday.

“No, no. Well, yes. I am in love with the sea. I am happy because I am on the right path again. The path that God would have me take. I had no idea how my heart yearned to be on the sea. I guess I was missing it all that time. More than that, I made things right with God.” He turned toward her. “And as best I could, with Peder. After that, with myself.”

Elsa met his intent gaze. “I am so glad, Karl. Peder would be glad too.”

Karl nodded. “He was the one who led me to Christ. Although he was quite angry at me, I don’t think even he would have wanted me to suffer over it for so long.” He smiled suddenly. “Realization of that, and what I was missing in not following my Lord, set me free.” He thumped his chest two times. “I’m a new man, Elsa.”

“I can see that,” she said, finding his smile contagious. She felt a deep camaraderie with him, and was glad he had stayed around to escort her tonight. “So, your ship comes from San Francisco?”

“Yes. And you’ll love this—she’s a steamer with sailing capabilities.”

Elsa laughed, remembering Peder’s long debates with Karl over the use of steam. “Perfect! How does she handle?”

“Fairly well,” Karl said, his head cocked to one side, his eyes again on the sand at his feet. “She’s difficult in rough waters.”

“Oh, Karl, do be careful.”

“Always. At least on this run from San Francisco to Japan, there is no Cape Horn to face.”

“Thankfully.”

Karl sobered. “But as I was telling you earlier, Elsa, there are other dangers to face. Last time I was here, I ran into Mason. I challenged him in a tavern on the wharf. We had to leave under cover of dark, and
hightailed it to Japan. I haven’t seen him yet, but expect him at any moment.”

He turned to better face her, intent on making sure she understood the danger Mason represented. “He’ll hide for months at a time, and just when everyone considers him gone, he appears and attacks. Elsa, you made an enemy of him with your column. Because of you, both British and American naval forces have doubled their efforts to find him. If he finds you first, it will not be well. And he’s looking for you.”

“He told you that?”

“In so many words.”

Elsa shivered. Her stomach tied in knots, thinking of Mason circling her like a shark. And she had her children to think of too. For the first time since setting sail, she had doubts about what she was doing.

“Who is your first mate?”

“Riley,” she said, staring out at the surf.

“Your men carry weapons?”

“Whatever they brought aboard and was approved by Riley.”

“Double them. Here on the island. Do not leave without adequate ammunition. And tell Riley to rig extra sails. From here to the Far East, Mason roams the waves and strikes with little conscience. It is my fear that he will hunt for you.”

She remembered the night Mason and his men attacked Peder’s ship, sending her diving for the water and swimming for her life. Had it not been for Karl, she would have been taken as part of the bounty, and who knew what Mason would have done with her. Elsa was so scared her heart was in her throat. “What have I done?” she whispered, wringing her hands. “I have the children to think of now. Kaatje tried to warn me.”

Karl took her trembling hands in his own large, warm ones. “You are a captain now, Elsa. You must face these dangers with God. Wise as serpents, and harmless as doves, right? You need to show your men
that you are aware of the danger and prepared to face it with valor. It will win their devotion, and their respect.”

She looked at him steadily. “You think I can do this? You really do?”

His mouth was set grimly. “If any woman can, you can, Elsa Ramstad. Take courage in your position. You run one of the finest shipping yards in the world. You have means. I have had little luck speaking with the local authorities. Perhaps they would respond better to you. Use every means you have—money, feminine wiles, the power of the press. Use all of it, Elsa. You have the best chance of anyone to put a stop to this madness with Dutton. Before he finds you.”

A
s it turned out, the Skagit Valley’s soil was not ready for planting when Kaatje returned to it in May. She spent the time waiting for the final thaw to arrive, spring-cleaning the house from top to bottom, preparing her home and heart for another year’s work on the farm. Each time she looked at the dusty plow in the barn, and at tired old Nels, she felt weary. How could she again manage to break the earth’s crust and plant more than twenty acres? It was hard, heavy work, but she had little choice.

Or did she? The question came to her as it did on any given day that she allowed her soul to search for God’s lead. He clearly wanted her to go to Alaska. To seek out Soren. To find the opportunities that remained for them there. Kaatje stared out her small, square kitchen window. But surely it would be no easier than this. Yes, farmwork was grueling, but she knew her way with it. What God asked of her was impossible—he wanted her to face the unknown, to take on people, animals, and land she knew little of. And to take her children with her!

I am going mad
, she decided. There was no sane woman in the West who would do what she contemplated. The girls had a solid home life—a home at all for that matter—here in the Skagit Valley. They knew the Bergensers as if they were an extended family. What
could possibly be waiting for them in Alaska but the skeleton of Soren’s broken, unmet dreams? Why, going to Alaska might well be the same as committing murder, setting her children up for utter disaster. The mining camps were not meant for women, let alone children.

Do not ask this of me
, she prayed.
Do not ask it. Take me elsewhere, Father. Anywhere. I cannot do what you ask alone
.

You will not be alone
.

Kaatje frowned and clasped her hands, kneeling.
Even with you at my side, I cannot do this, Jesus. It is too much. It is simply too much. Please, please, take this burden from me
.

She was met only by silence.

“You cannot mean that,” Trent said, pacing before Tora. They had taken a long walk into the woods, and Tora sat on a giant, mossy log, staring back at him.

“I do. I don’t know why. It frightens me. But I must. I must go.”

“Kaatje Janssen doesn’t want you there, Tora. Jessie has only known Kaatje as her mother, all her life. Kaatje has done a fine job raising her. She doesn’t deserve to have you walk back into her life again now.”

Tora winced at his words. “Do you not think I’ve thought of that? This is not an easy path for me. You’ve proposed marriage twice—the thing I’ve always wanted! But God wants me elsewhere. I owe him, Trent. I’ve failed him in so many ways, I owe him this. We can continue to see each other—”

“But not in the way I wish!” Trent said, pacing. He ran his hand through his hair, his eyes desperate, pleading. “We’ve finally found our way back to each other, back home, and now you’re telling me you’re leaving.”

“For a while.”

“For how long? A week? A month? A year?”

“I don’t know. However long it takes.”

Trent sank to the log beside her and placed his face in his hands. “Why? Why do you suppose he wants you to go to her? What do you think will be accomplished? You’ll tear up a young girl’s heart, her understanding of who she is.”

“I won’t tell her without Kaatje’s permission. Trent,” she said, turning toward him and taking his hands in hers. “All my life I’ve planned and schemed, making my own path. This is clearly of God, and it is not easy for me to meekly follow when I’ve always wanted to make my own wide swath. Surely you know enough about me to understand that.”

“Yes,” he said, placing an arm around her shoulders with a sigh. “I suppose it is my own test from God—I finally found the woman I love, and she’s ready to love me the way I love her. And now she wants to go away again. If I trust you, and our God, then I must let you go.”

“Yes.”

“Then I will be near. Just as I have been here. I will set up business wherever you go, Tora.”

Tora smiled through her tears. “I would love to have you close by … But for a time, I need to go alone.”

Trent released her from his embrace. “What? I cannot even be nearby?”

“This is something I need to do on my own.” She stood and brushed off her skirt. “There is nothing I would like better than to have you escort me to Kaatje’s house, to stand by my side in case she slams the door in my face or laughs when I tell her why I’m there. But I have to do this alone, Trent. For me. For God. For Kaatje. And for us.”

Trent stared back into her eyes for a long moment, saying nothing. Then he nodded, almost imperceptibly. He looked older, and weary. Tora’s heart pounded. How long would he wait for her? Would
he tire of her and the path God had laid out for her? Or would he tell her, “Fine, go on your path, but don’t expect me to be here when you return”?

But then Trent opened his arms to her, and she entered them, relishing the sanctity of his embrace and the feel of his chest beneath her cheek. She listened as his heart beat, sound and strong. Thoughts of leaving him again brought more tears. Trent leaned back, wiped the tears from her face and traced one finger along her lower lip. After a moment’s hesitation, he bent to kiss her, long and deep, as he had done years before. But it meant more this time. It was the kiss of love and devotion. Regardless of where God took them. Never had Tora felt closer to a man. Never had she known love could be like this.

Tora stepped away, a bit dazed at the intensity between them. Trent grasped her face between his two large hands, his eyes never leaving hers. “I love you, Tora Anders. I’ll love you until the end of time. You come to me when you’re ready to be married, and we shall do so at once.”

Tora cried harder and nodded. She felt as if her heart were tearing in two, leaving the man she adored to face the unknown. “I love you too, Trent. I love you too.” She had expected the words to sound odd on her lips, but they were so sure, so right, they came out with all the heartfelt emotion she held within her breast. Before she had claimed love for Trent in an attempt to finagle the marriage she sought. Now she knew love for real.

He pulled her into his arms again. “God help me,” he whispered. “God help us all.”