The Moon and the Stars (2 page)

“You must leave right away,” Lilly told her. “You know how bitter and cruel Brace is when he's been drinking.” The woman's eyes took on a faraway look as if she had been jerked into the past. “When he was twelve, he threw my lapdog against the wall and killed it just because he was jealous of the little thing.” Her eyes swam with tears. “He will do much worse to you and Michael if he finds you here when he returns.”

The sudden sound of a shot echoed through the house, making both women jump. For a moment they looked at each other, fearing their worst nightmare had just come true.

“Was that a shot or a clap of lightning?” Lilly
asked, pressing a trembling hand over her heart.

Caroline lifted the skirt of her gown and ran down the hallway, her heart pounding in fear. She flew downstairs and into the sitting room where Michael was supposed to be waiting for her. With an anguished cry, she went down on her knees and gathered Michael in her arms. He was trying to say something, but no sound came from his lips. The red spot on the front of his white shirt was circling wider.

“Run,” he finally said weakly. “Get out of here!”

She gathered him close. “No. I will not leave you!”

He reached up to touch her cheek, and then his eyes seemed to freeze and his hand fell limply to the floor. Her tears fell on his face, and she knew he was dead. She saw the gun lying on the floor, and she wanted to pick it up and use it on Brace.

Lilly appeared beside her, going down on her knees, reaching out to close Michael's eyes, then rocking back and forth.

“What shall we do? Get the doctor?” Caroline asked.

“No one can help Michael now.”

“Where is Brace?”

“I found him passed out drunk in the study. But he'll come out of it before long, and he'll come looking for you. You have to get away! Run for your life!”

Caroline bent and placed a kiss on Michael's still-warm mouth, her heart breaking. “I will go to my father, and he will see that Brace is arrested for this deed.” Tears were trailing down her cheeks, and she didn't bother to wipe them away. “I want to see him hanged for what he's done.”

Lilly grabbed her hand. “You don't understand—he
will kill you and your father both. You must leave town now and go to a place where he can never find you.”

Caroline stood up, took a lap robe from a chair and gently covered her new husband with it. Sadness tore at her like ground glass. Brace had said she would be a widow if she became a bride, and he had been right.

Lilly ran to the desk and rifled through a drawer until she found what she wanted. She pressed money in Caroline's hand. “Go now! Take the buggy Brace left out front. I'll meet you at the church cemetery tonight with clothing and more money. You mustn't stay here any longer.”

Caroline looked down at her wedding gown, which was covered with Michael's blood. For the moment, terror pushed grief aside, and the need for survival took control of her mind.

She fled out the front door and climbed into the buggy, fearing that at any moment Brace would come after her. Putting the whip to the horses, she allowed them to run full out. Deep sobs tore at her throat. “Michael, oh, Michael, what has he done to you?”

It was almost dark when she reached the church where she had been married just that morning. She was grateful that the storm had passed over Charleston with only a light sprinkle. She was also glad that the churchyard was deserted.

She walked down a well-worn path, trying to hold her mind together and keep it from shattering into a million pieces. Many of the graves she passed were of soldiers who had been killed in the war—most of them young men she had known personally.

She came to her mother's grave and fell on her knees.
“I wish you were here to tell me what to do, Mama.”

Later, she would not remember how long she had sat there beside her mother's grave, in the wedding gown splattered with Michael's blood. She could not imagine living in a world without him.

She prayed for his soul and for Brace's death.

As long as Brace was alive, she could never go home.

The one satisfaction she had on this tragic day was the knowledge that Brace would never find the gold bars and the bonds that Michael had hidden in a place his stepbrother would not think to look.

Hearing movement behind her, she jumped to her feet, ready to flee, but it was Lilly who stepped out of the shadows.

“Change quickly, and I'll drive you to the train depot.” She handed Caroline a leather bag. “I've put some money in the bottom and some things I thought you'd need.”

Caroline tore off her bloodstained gown and slipped into a blue print creation while Lilly hooked the back for her.

“It wouldn't be wise for you to contact your father for a while—it would only endanger his life. You know how Brace is.”

“I want him to pay for what he's done to Michael.”

“And so do I. But now is not the time.”

“What will you do?” Caroline asked, feeling fear for the woman who had put her life in danger by helping her escape.

“Don't worry about me. As far as my son is concerned, I am already dead. He doesn't even consider me at all. You're the one I am worried about.”

It was almost midnight when they arrived at the depot.
Lilly guided the buggy around to the side of the building where deliveries were made. “No one will see us here. You can slip in through the side door.”

Caroline was reluctant to get out of the buggy, but she had no choice. “I will write to you.”

“No. Do not. That would not be wise. Don't attempt to communicate with anyone here—not even your father. Brace will have someone watching us all. Do not ever underestimate him—he is very clever.”

“I understand.”

“Change trains several times so it will throw Brace off your trail. And never forget that he will be looking for you.”

Caroline suppressed a sob as Lilly hugged her. “I always liked you, Caroline. I wish that you and Michael could have had a life together. Michael is the son I should have had.”

Caroline pressed her cheek to Lilly's. “Take care of yourself. And be careful. Brace might turn on you when he finds out you helped me.”

“Go now. Run as far and as fast as you can!”

Savannah, Georgia—1869

Rumbling thunder and violent streaks of lightning woke Caroline Duncan from a deep sleep, but her lashes fluttered and closed as she drifted off again, burying her head deeper into the pillow. Even as a child she had loved the sound of thunderstorms. For some reason they always lulled her spirit, perhaps because she was a planter's daughter.

Danger stalked her, and she had trained herself to be a light sleeper, attuned to every noise in the old house. A moment later, her eyes snapped open when she heard a different sound. The front door creaked on its hinges, and there was an unmistakable noise of someone moving about downstairs.

The house belonged to the Lowell family, who had engaged Caroline as governess for their daughter, Vanessa. The family had gone to their country house
for the weekend, so whoever was sneaking around downstairs definitely did not belong there.

After six months of living with the Lowells, Caroline had memorized the different noises the house made. The structure was several generations old, but it had been kept in good repair, although some of the floorboards in the hallway were warped and two of the doors downstairs stuck when someone tried to open them. Whoever had come into the house had the heavy tread of a man. She heard him cross the dining room floor and go into the kitchen.

It was certain that the man was not familiar with the layout of the rooms, because he was bumbling through each one, searching them extensively before going on to the next.

Caroline flipped her long hair out of her face and pressed her hand against her heart. She did not know who the intruder was, but she did know that he had come for her. She had been expecting him, or someone just like him, for some time.

Her fear was every bit as stark and terrifying as it had been that awful day when she had fled from Charleston. After she had arrived in Savannah, it had taken her three weeks to venture far enough from her rented room to find a position. She had been desperately in need of money, and she hadn't eaten in two days.

She had been fortunate. Mrs. Lowell had engaged her as her daughter's governess without a recommendation. Even living in the safety of the Lowell house, every day had been a test of her strength. If she closed her eyes, she could still see the vision of her husband dying in her arms.

She quietly moved off the bed, her slight body trembling in fear. This time she would not be taken by surprise as she had been the day Michael died: She had devised a plan of escape in the event that she had to leave in a hurry.

Without pausing to think, she quickly dressed and slipped into her boots, not worrying about hooks and ties. She threw her dark cape over her shoulders and raised the hood to cover her blond hair. Taking a deep, steadying breath, she reached underneath the bed and grabbed the small traveling bag she had packed with the barest necessities.

Her bedroom had two different ways to exit—one which led to the wide hallway and another that led to the gallery that connected with Vanessa's bedroom. Her plan was a simple one: She would wait until the intruder had searched Vanessa's bedroom. Then she would slip into the room and out into the hallway to make her way downstairs while he searched her bedroom.

The night was as black as pitch except for an occasional jagged streak of lightning that illuminated the room. Caroline knew she had one slight advantage over the intruder, since she could find her way about in the dark and he couldn't.

Slowly she opened the door to the gallery and stepped outside, pressing her back against the brick wall, waiting for the intruder to make his way upstairs. Her chances of escaping weren't very good, but she had to try.

A sudden flash of lightning and a roll of thunder shook the house and rattled the windows. Rain peppered heavily against the shingled roof, running off
the eaves and splashing onto the gallery. And then as suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped. She was relieved, because now she would be able to hear the man's movements.

She waited for just the right moment to put her plan in motion.

When Caroline heard the labored footsteps on the stairs, she froze. If her plan was to succeed, she knew her timing had to be perfect.

But what if he came out onto the gallery from Vanessa's room? she thought frantically.

Brace would stop at nothing to get his greedy hands on her. He wanted the gold, and only Caroline knew where it was. But she would die before giving the secret up to him. Of course, that meant that she couldn't touch any of the money either, and that left her with only the meager salary she earned from the Lowells.

Her body shook with fear. He would not let her live—she knew too much about Michael's death. He was clever, and he would never stop hounding her until one or the other of them was dead. The intruder's tread was quieter now as he took more care, but the floorboards still groaned beneath his weight. After he had searched Vanessa's bedroom and gone back into the hall, Caroline quietly slipped into the child's bedroom.

She tiptoed across the floor and stepped into the hallway, when near disaster struck: The heel of her boot caught on the edge of the rug, and she almost lost her balance. Bracing herself against the wall, she managed to remain on her feet.

With her heart pounding in her throat, she slid her body into an alcove, shivering when she heard the intruder
walk back in her direction to investigate the noise. She closed her eyes and prayed as he passed so near that she could see the pockmarks on his swarthy face. She dared not even breathe when he stopped right next to her and looked toward the stairs. She could have fainted with relief when he finally retraced his steps in the direction of her bedroom. As he disappeared inside, she quickly started for the stairs, cautiously stepping over the third step from the top, knowing that it would creak if she put any weight on it.

When she reached the bottom step, she paused long enough to listen. The man was no longer being cautious. In his frustration and anger, he was shoving furniture pieces and breaking glass. She wondered what the Lowell family would think when they returned to find her gone and her bedroom in shambles. Unfortunately, she would never be able to tell them what had happened. Brace would certainly question them, and it was best that they knew nothing of where she'd gone.

She had no destination in mind as she hurried toward the door. She only knew she had to get as far away from Savannah as she possibly could.

Her whole body shook as she opened the back door. Caroline stepped into darkness so deep and black that it swallowed her in obscurity.

She glanced up at the light shining from her bedroom window. The man had lit a lamp and was probably going through her personal items, looking for clues to her whereabouts.

Running out the back gate, she hurried down the street, knowing that if she didn't escape, she would probably never see another sunrise.

When the next streak of lightning split the night sky, she studied her surroundings and felt disoriented; nothing looked familiar in the darkness. Wet, cold, and shivering in the raw wind, she lowered her head, completely despondent. It was difficult to think about anything but the man who would soon turn his search for her outside the house. Taking a moment to gather her thoughts and catch her breath, she leaned against a tree trunk and lowered her head onto her arms.

Caroline was near to collapsing, and she wondered if she had the strength to continue her flight. By now the intruder must have realized that she had escaped, and he would widen his search. With the next streak of lightning she located the familiar landscape of a garden square and realized that she was only a short distance from River Street.