Windswept (14 page)

The soup in Nora’s spoon dribbled back to the bowl. Feigning indifference was becoming more difficult. What did Theo know about Jacob? Certainly not that he’d kissed her!

“By all means tell me, Theo,” Thurston prompted. “If you have information about Proctor it’s your duty.”

“I saw him this morning as I was taking my exercise along the island’s southern shoreline.”

“And?”

“First you should know he didn’t see me. I didn’t see him right away, either. I spotted a chestnut horse by the water. Proctor, as it turns out, was down among the coral formations that make up the jetty. Are you familiar with the spot, Judge?”

“Yes, I know it. It’s quite rugged at that point. Large masses of jagged coral jut into the ocean. Dangerous for a man to walk upon as I understand.”

“Extremely sir. Nevertheless, Proctor was completely hidden in that outcropping. After a few minutes he appeared at the top of the jetty, climbed back down to his horse and rode off.”

Thurston leaned forward, his food momentarily forgotten. “What do you make of it, Theo?”

“I didn’t know what to think, so I pursued the only course of action I could. I waited until he was out of sight, and then I, too, went down into the rocks.”

Nora’s mother gasped with alarm. “Why Theo, why would you take such a chance with your arm still in the sling?”

“Thank you for your concern, madam, but I felt I was on the verge of unearthing some important information. I couldn’t let my own affliction keep me from discovering it.”

Nora couldn’t help it. She rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Theo had her parents in the palm of his hand.

“And what did you find?” her father asked.

He looked first at Nora to insure she was listening. Then he leaned toward the judge and said, “I found a lantern, sir. One of those large ones usually reserved for ships so they can be seen for quite some distance.”

Thurston’s eyes shone with interest. “A lantern you say? Do you interpret that the same way I do, Theo?”

Nora knew what Theo was suggesting, and if he were right, then it was a damning piece of evidence against Jacob. She held her breath while he explained his theory.

“I imagine so, Judge. You said the
Morning Dove
was led astray by false lights on shore. A lantern the size of the one I saw in the jetty would be plenty large enough to attract a ship from several miles out.”

“And it was well hidden in the rocks?”

Theo nodded. “It’s my opinion that only someone who knew it was there would have come upon it. Or, like myself, someone who was investigating suspicious activity. It I hadn’t followed in Proctor’s footsteps, I’d have never found that lantern.”

Thurston visibly brightened at hearing news that corroborated his theory. “Good work, Theo! Tomorrow I’ll have someone watching that spot every day. If Proctor goes back there, we’ll catch him in the act of rigging his phony lights.”

Nora shot a quick glance at her cousin. Fanny shook her head so that no one but Nora saw her, as if to say,
Not now, cherie. We’ll deal with this later.
And of course Fanny was right. It wouldn’t do for Nora to defend the captain in front of her family when the evidence clearly was not in his favor.

But what did it mean? If what Theo saw and related to her father was the truth, and Nora had no reason to believe it wasn’t, then why did Jacob have knowledge of a lantern hidden in the cave-like jetty? A tremor snaked its way down her spine. Was it possible that she had allowed herself to become infatuated with a man who was responsible for the deaths on the
Morning Dove?
How could her instincts have been so wrong?

Suddenly Nora had to know. It wasn’t enough to listen to Theo’s account of Jacob Proctor’s treachery. She had to see for herself that the lantern existed.

She rose from the table. “Mama, I’m going out for a while. Would you like to join me?”

“In the heat of the day? Of course not, and you shouldn’t either.”

Naturally Sidonia declined the invitation, just as Nora knew she would.

“Go upstairs and nap, Eleanor. It’s what civilized people do here in the afternoons.”

“I don’t feel like napping, Mama. I feel like going out.”

“Then take Fanny with you. I don’t want you gadding about alone.”

Nora looked to her cousin, and received the anticipated nod of assent. “I’ll go, Nora. I’m lightheaded already, so a little sun shouldn’t have any effect.” She grinned mischievously at Sidonia. “Isn’t that what you always say, Sid?”

Nora’s mother waved the comment away with a flip of her hand. “Such silly talk, Fanny, really!”

The two women left the house through the service kitchen and went through the back gate to the street. Then they turned toward the southern shoreline. Fanny took Nora’s arm and spoke in a whisper as if she were truly a co-conspirator on a mission of espionage. “We’re off on a quest,
oui, cherie
?”

“Absolutely, Fanny. Hopefully to prove a man’s innocence before my family and Theo find him guilty.”

Chapter Nine

Nora stood at the edge of the water and stared at the jetty. How had Theo managed to do it? How had he avoided all that water and climbed over those rocks with his injured arm and a fastidious nature which should have made the task extremely distasteful? And yet, when he’d related his story at lunch he hadn’t mentioned so much as a split seam in his trousers or a damp shoe sole.

A formidable wave crashed several feet from shore and sent Nora scrambling back to keep her shoes dry. She cast a withering look at Fanny. “Well, I suppose if Theo could do this, so can I.”

Fanny shook her head, sending red spirals of hair dancing around her face. “Theo didn’t do this, at least not under these conditions. There’s no possible way.” She nibbled the tip of her finger while surveying their surroundings. “I think this has something to do with the tide. At the harbor I hear sailors talk about loosening the mooring lines or tightening them, depending on the time of day. And I heard one of the Obalu children say he left something by the water’s edge and when he went back to get it hours later, it was gone.”

Of course. That explained the ease with which Theo was able to cross the jetty. “Fanny, you’re a genius. Theo was here this morning when the tide was out. He probably just walked around the jetty on dry sand until the last possible moment and then climbed the last few feet to the end of the rocks.”

Nora estimated that nearly half the jetty was underwater now, making their exploration much more difficult than Theo’s had been. She looked at her cream-colored leather shoes, the ones she’d just purchased in Richmond before they’d left home. She considered the damage salt water would do to her gown. The hemline was already stiffening from just the sea spray. “I suppose the sensible thing to do is forget the whole idea,” she said.

Fanny shrugged. “
Oui
, I suppose so. But that’s not what we’re going to do, is it,
cherie
?”

Nora bit her lower lip to trap a giggle. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Fanny?”

Green eyes twinkled with their usual mischief. “
Mon Dieu
, Nora. Poor Sid would suffer from the vapors if she even
suspected
that you and I would have the same thought – about anything. But, alas, if you’re thinking of the best, and only, way to save your garments from the ravages of salt water, then I’m afraid we are.”

Nora scanned the shoreline as far as she could see in both directions. “There’s no one around, Fanny. And it is such a warm day.”

Both women plopped down in the sand and took off their shoes. Then they removed their gowns and stepped around a mound of fine muslin and silk. Wearing just her camisole and bloomers, Nora reveled in the feel of the sun on her skin, the soft crunch of sand and crushed limestone on the soles of her feet. She twirled to the beat of a melody in her head. “Doesn’t it feel heavenly?”

Fanny stretched her arms out, turned her face into the breeze and sighed with the contentment of pure freedom. “It makes you wonder why we put up with all those silly clothes in the first place.” Indicating her undergarments with a quick glance down her plump-in-the-right-places body, she said, “The pieces we have on now are all we really need. All the important things are covered.”

Nora laughed, took her hand and they waded into the surf toward the jetty. Nora squealed when the water reached her knees and soaked the ruffles of her pantalettes. “It’s much colder than I thought it would be,” she said.

“I know,
cherie
, but it is February. Think how the weather is in Richmond this time of year, and it makes the ocean feel much warmer.”

With gasps and shivers and protestations masked with laughter, the ladies waded into water that reached their chests and waves that cascaded over their shoulders. With her toe, Nora tested the depth beyond her current position. “It gets deeper here,” she said. “We’ll have to climb up on the jetty now. I can’t swim, remember?”

The rough coral rock punished the soles of their feet, but they managed to reach the top of the jetty. Then, moving like crabs, they approached the very edge where coral jutted out over the sea. The surface of the rocks provided grooves for their fingers, enabling both women to hold on to the jetty while lowering themselves into the water.

Finding a level plateau of more coral, they stood in waist high water and explored the cave-like underside of the jetty. Waves crashed on the rocks on either side of their position, but inside the cave it was calmer. “It’s rather pretty in a primitive way, don’t you think?” Nora said, her voice hollow in accompaniment to the amplified dripping of water.

“Definitely,
cherie
. It’s Key West’s answer to the Blue Grotto.”

“I doubt that, Fanny, but it’s a nice thought.” Nora scanned the interior of their coral cavern, wishing more sunlight penetrated the solid walls. But in moments she spied the glimmer of brass and glass she was searching for, and she grabbed Fanny’s arm. A feeling of utter desolation settled on her shoulders and was released in a long sigh. She had truly hoped to prove Theo wrong. Now it didn’t appear that was going to happen. “Look, there it is - the lantern Theo spoke of.”

Clinging to the interior wall, they edged over the few feet to where the lantern hung from a hook at the highest point in the cave. Theo’s description had been accurate. It was a large marine lamp with heavy glass around three sides. When lit, it would be visible from several miles out to sea, and would certainly represent a beacon of safety to a floundering ship.

Fanny examined the lantern as closely as Nora did. She expressed a similar dismay by putting her fingers to her lips and muttering, “Oh, my.”

At that moment Nora was sorry she’d embarked on this mission to convince herself of Jacob’s innocence. “Fanny, I wanted Theo to be wrong,” she said. “But you know what this looks like.”

Fanny moved around the lantern, studying it closely, and managed a thin smile. “What it looks like,
cherie
, is a lantern hung from a nail in a cavern…nothing more. We mustn’t jump to conclusions.”

There was a brief rekindling of hope, meager but persistent as Nora waded after her cousin. “That’s right,” she said. “We don’t know all the facts.”

Her own words didn’t convince her, however, because the facts, as they were, were disturbingly clear. The lantern had obviously been secreted in this location by someone who did not want it discovered. And while it was hidden from observers on land, it was clearly visible to sea voyagers. And Jacob Proctor had visited this cavern only that morning. Anyone with the ability to reason could only conclude that Theo truly had discovered the false light that attracted the
Morning Dove
, and the man responsible for the treacherous deed.

“Oh, Fanny,” Nora moaned. “I don’t want to believe it, but I must. It was Jacob…”

Her flow of words halted when a pungent odor made her wrinkle her nose in offense. She sniffed her fingers. She had a pretty good idea what substance was mixed in with the water, but she wanted to know if her cousin could identify it as well. Holding her hand out to Fanny, she asked, “What is that smell?”

Fanny sniffed and pulled her face back. “Kerosene.”

“Exactly. The lantern must be leaking.” She began a thorough search for the source of the leak and soon found a rend

in the brass fuel well. Because of the bent, misshapen metal, it looked as if the damage had been deliberately inflicted by a blade about the size of a hatchet. She felt along the jagged tear and then rubbed her forefinger against her thumb. They were slick with oil. She shook the lantern and found that it was nearly empty of fuel.

Hope flickered anew and was fanned to life. “Fanny, do you know what this means? Someone has rendered this lantern useless through an obvious act of vandalism.”

“Yes, I see,
cherie
. Do you think it was Theo?”

“Really, Fanny, do you? Can you imagine our Mr. Hadley porting about an ax in the waistband of his trousers and actually delivering the mortal wound to this lantern? With only one good arm?”

Fanny hooted with laughter. “If our Mr. Hadley carried an ax in his trousers, I fear he would inflict damage on a far more serious instrument than a lantern!”