The Sea Hawk (33 page)

The two women sat in silence for the next several minutes, looking at one another until a knock sounded at the office door. The door cracked open and Robert pushed it open and walked to Simone's desk. "Thank you, Robert," Simone said as she took a small package wrapped in brown, waxed wrapping paper and tied with twine.

"May I see the journal?" Julia asked quietly as Simone carefully unwrapped it.

"Of course," Simone said, rising and carrying it to Julia, who took it gently and ran her fingertips over the worn black cover. Simone waited as Julia went through the pages, scanning each one and periodically smiling as she read.

Tears filled Julia's eyes when she saw the numerous sketches within the pages.
When had Simone drawn them?
she wondered.
Perhaps that's what she was doing when I caught her looking at me.
Julia smiled as she finished the last page and carefully closed the journal, holding it against her chest. Finally looking into Simone's questioning eyes, she spoke softly. "You could be her twin. You look and sound exactly as she did, except with slightly less accent. You have the same mannerisms, same build and height. You're identical to her in virtually every way.

"When I first met her she had an octoroon lover named Esperanza Batista, whose son looked remarkably like Robert. Esperanza was killed in New Orleans in late December of 1814, but I don't know what happened to her son, Joaquin." Pausing to take a shaky breath, Julia stroked the cover of the journal before she went on. "She wrote in this journal every night before going to bed, recording everything to pass the time. Her ship was named
Le Faucon de Mer
and she was not a pirate." She stopped as her voice cracked. Regaining control, she lifted her chin defiantly and said, "She was a privateer and it would be an insult to call her anything else. She was the gentlest, most honorable woman I've ever known."

"And you loved her?" Simone asked, her voice soft.

"More than my own life," Julia answered as a tear escaped and traveled down her cheek. "I was with her in New Orleans in the winter of 1814. I gave her that statue as a Christmas present moments before we were parted. I was later told she was killed in the battle against the British, but refused to leave the city until I saw her body. Of course, as we now know, she was not killed. We left New Orleans a week later sailing back to her home on Martinique."

"And you were lost during that final voyage?"

"During a storm I was swept overboard. When I awakened I was here once again. I thought it was only a hallucination by a dying woman, even though it seemed so real. Sometimes now in my sleep I still see her and feel her touch."

"And the ship you excavated is
Le Faucon de Mer
?"

"It is, but I've found no proof she existed that wouldn't make me look like a lunatic within the scientific community. I had no idea she brought her ship here. We were planning to live together on Martinique. She knew I was from the Savannah area and I suppose it's possible she came here for some reason I can't imagine."

"Perhaps to be closer to you by living where you lived," Simone offered.

"I can only suggest that she sailed to Martinique, transported her horses here and then scuttled her ship before coming ashore, using the old lighthouse on Tybee Island to guide her." Julia leaned her head back on the chair and closed her eyes, letting memories flood through her mind. "Maybe I
am
crazy, but she was real to me."

"She thought she would see you again, in the future," Simone said in a barely audible voice.

"What did you say?"

"Did you tell her you were from the future?"

"I...I tried to, but I don't think she really believed me."

"She believed you," Simone's voice whispered in Julia's ear, sending a shiver down her spine. She opened her eyes and looked into the same eyes that still haunted her. "Come with me, Julia." Taking Simone's hand, Julia stood and followed her. The night air carried a chill as Simone took a lantern and walked behind the main house and up a small rise. When they reached a large fenced area, Simone held the gate for Julia and led the way until they stopped in front of a weathered headstone. Holding the lantern close to the stone, Julia read the inscription.

Simone Moreau 1782-1847 Je vous attendrai, ma bien-aimée.

"She left instructions in her will to have this carved onto her tombstone," Simone said. "Her brother saw that it was done and apparently never questioned it. I assume he knew of the relationship between you and Simone."

"Yes. Anton knew."

Looking at the inscription, Simone read, "I shall wait for you, my beloved." The sound of her voice sent chills through Julia's body. Stepping back and turning to face her, Simone said, "She waited for you as long as she could. She waited a lifetime."

Spinning away and covering her eyes, Julia sobbed for her loss. She felt strong arms wrap around her from behind and sank into their warmth and comfort. "What am I going to do? I don't think I can live without feeling you beside me."

"I shall hold you in my heart always,
mon amour
"a soft French-accented voice whispered on a light breeze and Julia knew instantly who was speaking.

"And I shall hold you in mine, my love" Julia whispered in return. Moving within the circle of the arms holding her, she looked at the beautiful smiling face she loved so much and drew Simone into a breathless kiss to welcome her home again. She felt soft lips respond to hers, deepening the desire inside her, and didn't want to think about the past or the future, only what existed at that moment as she kissed her lover once again across time.

As Simone brought their kiss to a reluctant end, she held Julia close. Her voice filled with emotion as she tried to make sense of what was happening. "I won't try to explain what I have felt from the moment I saw your picture, but I should like to learn more about you and your dreams, if you would allow it."

Smiling up at Simone, Julia said, "I think I would like that. I would like that very much."

Wrapping an arm securely around Julia, Simone took her hand, turned it over and kissed her palm as they turned to walk away from the cemetery.

More Brenda Adcock titles:

Pipeline

What do you do when the mistakes you made in the past come back to slap you in the face with a vengeance? Joanna Carlisle, a fifty-seven year old photojournalist, has only begun to adjust to retirement on her small ranch outside Kerrville, Texas, when she finds herself unwillingly sucked into an investigation of illegal aliens being smuggled into the United States to fill the ranks of cheap labor needed to increase corporate profits.

Joanna is a woman who has always lived life her way and on her own terms, enjoying a career that had given her everything she thought she ever wanted or needed. An unexpected visit by her former lover, Cate Hammond, and the attempted murder of their son, forces Jo to finally face what she had given up. Although she hasn't seen Cate or their son for fifteen years, she finds that the feelings she had for Cate had only been dormant, but had never died. No matter how much she fights her attraction to Cate, Jo cannot help but wonder whether she had made the right decision when she chose career and independence over love.

Jo comes to understand the true meaning of friendship and love only when her investigation endangers not only her life, but also the lives of the people around her.

ISBN 978-1-932300-64-2

Reiko's Garden

Hatred, hell, like, love; hell knows no boundaries.

How much impact can one person have on a life?

When sixty-five-year old Callie Owen returns to her rural childhood home in Eastern Tennessee to attend the funeral of a woman she hasn't seen in twenty years, she's forced to face the fears, heartache, and turbulent events that scarred both her body and her mind. Drawing strength from Jean, her partner of thirty years, and from their two grown children, Callie stays in the valley longer than she had anticipated and relives the years that changed her life forever.

In 1949, Japanese war bride Reiko Sanders came to Frost Valley, Tennessee with her soldier husband and infant son. Callie Owen was an inquisitive ten-yearold whose curiosity about the stranger drove her to disobey her father for just one peek at the woman who had become the subject of so much speculation. Despite Callie's fears, she soon finds that the exotic-looking woman is kind and caring, and the two forge a tentative, but secret friendship.

When Callie and her five brothers and sisters were left orphaned, Reiko provided emotional support to Callie. The bond between them continued to grow stronger until Callie left Frost Valley as a teenager, emotionally and physically scarred, vowing never to return and never to forgive.

It's not until Callie goes "home" that she allows herself to remember how Reiko influenced her life. Once and for all, can she face the terrible events of her past? Or will they come back to destroy all that she loves?

ISBN 978-1-932300-77-2

Redress of Grievances

In the first of a series of psychological thrillers, Harriett Markham is a defense attorney in Austin, Texas, who lost everything eleven years earlier. She had been an associate with a Dallas firm and involved in an affair with a senior partner, Alexis Dunne. Harriett represented a rape/murder client named Jared Wilkes and got the charges dismissed on a technicality. When Wilkes committed a rape and murder after his release, Harriett was devastated. She resigned and moved to Austin, leaving everything behind, including her lover.

Despite lingering feelings for Alexis, Harriet becomes involved with a sex-offense investigator, Jessie Rains, a woman struggling with secrets of her own. Harriet thinks she might finally be happy, but then Alexis re-enters her life. She refers a case of multiple homicide allegedly committed by Sharon Taggart, a woman with no motive for the crimes. Harriett is creeped out by the brutal murders, but reluctantly agrees to handle the defense.

As Harriett's team prepares for trial, disturbing information comes to light. Sharon denies any involvement in the crimes, but the evidence against her seems overwhelming. Harriett is plunged into a case rife with twisty psychological motives, questionable sanity, and a client with a complex and disturbing life. Is she guilty or not? And will Harriet's legal defense bring about justice--or another Wilkes case?

**Recipient of a 2008 award from the Golden Crown Literary Society, the premiere organization for the support and nourishment of quality lesbian literature. Redress of Grievances won in the category of Lesbian Mystery.**

ISBN 978-1-932300-86-4

Tunnel Vision

Royce Brodie, a 50-year-old homicide detective in the quiet town of Cedar Springs, a bedroom community 30 miles from Austin, Texas, has spent the last seven years coming to grips with the incident that took the life of her partner and narrowly missed taking her own. The peace and quiet she had been enjoying is shattered by two seemingly unrelated murders in the same week: the first, a John Doe, and the second, a janitor at the local university.

As Brodie and her partner, Curtis Nicholls, begin their investigation, the assignment of a new trainee disrupts Brodie's life. Not only is Maggie Weston Brodie's former lover, but her father had been Brodie's commander at the Austin Police Department and nearly destroyed her career.

As the three detectives try to piece together the scattered evidence to solve the two murders, they become convinced the two murders are related. The discovery of a similar murder committed five years earlier at a small university in upstate New York creates a sense of urgency as they realize they are chasing a serial killer.

The already difficult case becomes even more so when a third victim is found. But the case becomes personal for Brodie when Maggie becomes the killer's next target. Unless Brodie finds a way to save Maggie, she could face losing everything a second time.

ISBN 978-1-935053-19-4

Another Yellow Rose title you might enjoy:

Love's Redemption

by Helen Macpherson

Ten years ago talented Lauren Wheatley was on the verge of golfing greatness. As the world's number one amateur, she stood on the cusp of entry to the women's professional tour. However in a quirk of fate, she imploded in spectacular fashion, during a tournament that would have signaled her immediate entry into the professional ranks. She walked away and never played golf again.

Jo Ashby is a reporter narrating and producing the "Where Are They Now?" series, a program focusing on well-known people who have left fame behind, instead opting for a different direction in life. Her subject for the final program is the enigmatic Lauren Wheatley who, despite Jo's best efforts, evades her attempts at an interview.

Jo travels to the pristine wilderness of Tasmania to confront Lauren. However, instead of confrontation, she is captured by the beauty of the surrounding land and the woman herself. Coupled with this beauty lies a greater story behind the fragile facade of Lauren's life.Can Jo break through the barriers Lauren has shielded herself with, and conquer the riddle that is Lauren Wheatley? Can Jo reconcile her professional requirements, yet face her own demons and, once and for all, put them to rest?

Set against the backdrop of the Tasmanian wilderness,
Love's Redemption
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ISBN 978-1-935053-04-0

About the Author

Originally from the Appalachian region of Eastern Tennessee, Brenda now lives in Central Texas, near Austin. She began writing in junior high school where she wrote an admittedly hokey western serial to entertain her friends. Completing her graduate studies in Eastern European history in 1971, she worked as a graphic artist, a public relations specialist for the military and a display advertising specialist until she finally had to admit that her mother might have been right and earned her teaching certification. For the last twenty-three years she has taught world history and political science. Brenda and her partner, Cheryl, have four grown children, and three grandchildren. Rounding out their home are four cats, Bitsey, Sassy, MayMay, Tudie, along with a dog, Pogo. When she is not writing Brenda creates stained glass and shoots pool at her favorite bar. She may be contacted at [email protected] and welcomes all comments.