The Deepest Waters, A Novel (24 page)

It all happened so quickly.

Laura first noticed Micah’s face. Instantly it changed from elation to terror. He was looking at her. No, beyond her.

Joel, off to the side, turned toward Micah’s gaze. His expression also changed, a look of confusion.

Thumping footsteps behind her. Running, coming closer.

“Hold on, now,” Joel yelled.

Laura turned toward the footsteps, saw a dark shape rushing toward her from the shadows. A man’s shape, his arm raised. A flash of metal in his hand. He was attacking her. He’d be on her in a moment. She lifted her hands to protect her face.

“What?” said Allison, turning. She screamed.

“Daddy,” Eli yelled.

Laura closed her eyes, awaiting the blow. A prayer began to form in her head.

Loud footsteps now rushed in front of her, past her. A loud sound near her, behind her. Shouts and groans. Men colliding, falling to the street. She opened her eyes.

“No, Missuh Maul.” Micah wrestled with someone on the street. They rolled over and back.

“You’re a dead man!” the attacker shouted.

“Stop!” Allison said. “Make them stop.”

One of the men cried out in pain. Another shape rushed past her and jumped into the fray. It was Eli.

Eli grabbed Maul, lifted him in one motion, spun him around, and punched him square on the jaw. He fell to the street, tripping over Micah’s feet. Eli jumped on him, pounding him with his fist over and over. “You’re the dead man,” he shouted through clenched teeth.

The knife fell from Maul’s hand.

“Stop, Eli, you’ll kill him,” said Joel, hurrying toward the two men.

Eli didn’t stop.

“Son . . .” Micah said weakly, rolling to his side. “Eli, stop.” He reached out and grabbed his son’s arm.

Eli stopped. He was panting like a racehorse.

Laura couldn’t stop trembling. Maul was trying to kill her.

Joel touched Eli on the shoulder. “Come on, son. You’ve knocked him cold. He’s not going anywhere.” He looked at Micah. “You’re bleeding.”

“Daddy,” Eli said. He got off Maul and crawled to his father, cradling his head in his lap. “He cut you. Where are you hurt?”

“Got me in the shoulder, I think.” He moved a little and winced in pain.

“He’s bleeding a lot,” said Eli. “I need something to stop it.”

“Do something, Joel,” said Allison.

Joel walked up to her and bent over.

“What are you doing?”

He ripped a part of her dress below the knees then walked over to Laura. “You need to take Eli’s place. Hold this to Micah’s wound.”

Laura took the cloth and turned toward Micah. She stared at Maul lying unconscious on the ground. “What if he wakes?”

“That’s why I need you to take care of Micah. Eli, you need to watch him. You obviously know what to do if he comes to.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Foster.”

Allison looked at Joel. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to get help. A policeman usually patrols our neighborhood this time of night, sometimes two. I’m going to find him, have him take this scoundrel off our hands.”

Laura bent down and exchanged places with Eli. “I’m going to press this on the wound, Micah. It may hurt.”

“Press hard, ma’am. Need to, or it won’t stop bleedin’.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said, pressing down.

He groaned. “It’s all right, you doin’ just fine.”

She looked up at Eli, standing now with his foot resting on Maul’s chest. Then down at Micah’s face. “Micah . . . you saved my life.”

He smiled, then grimaced in pain. “Yes’m. Guess I did.”

“He was going to kill me.”

“I ’spect he was.”

“But why?”

“Saw the hate in his eyes on the ship, twice. The time you helped me after the whuppin’ and when he stole all that gold. Cap’n threw him off the ship this morning. Guess he blamed you for all his trouble.”

Laura sighed. She was still shaking.

“Don’t you worry, Mrs. Foster,” Eli said. “He won’t try to hurt you again.”

Joel was already gone. Allison walked closer. “Can I do anything?”

Eli bent over and picked up the knife. “Pray this man doesn’t wake up,” he said. “He does, and I’ll kill him.”

The
Angeline
had docked. John was on land. The absence of motion, an indescribably wonderful sensation.

Word spread quickly through Norfolk that another rescue ship bearing survivors of the
Vandervere
had arrived. A crowd had instantly gathered, rejoicing and cheering. Once on shore, John and the other men understood that the shipwreck story had run in all the newspapers. And every story said they had all perished.

The survivors were told the National Hotel in Norfolk had offered them rooms at no charge. Several restaurant owners and merchants offered food and new clothes. The mayor said that tomorrow they could begin the journey north to New York. A passenger train made a regular stop in Norfolk around 10:00 a.m.

Wagons were provided to drive them to the hotel. When they arrived, John had just one thing on his mind: to get back to Laura, or at least send her word that he was alive and well. As the men stood in line to register, John noticed amidst the crowd in the lobby one of the Norfolk men who’d spoken out earlier, a clothier John remembered, wearing a derby hat.

“Excuse me, Robert. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to talk to someone.” John found the man talking to another well-dressed older man sitting in a high-backed chair. When they saw John, they stopped and turned. “Sorry to bother you,” John said.

“No bother at all,” the man said. “Anything we can do for you men.”

“Thank you. Would you know if the telegraph office is still open at this hour?”

“I’m sorry, my good man. It is not.”

John sighed. He had imagined as much. There had to be something he could do. “Are there any trains heading north tonight?”

“I’m afraid not. The first passenger train stops here tomorrow, 10:00 a.m. I believe.”

“I know about that. Any other trains? A freight train perhaps?”

“Come to think of it, there is one. I use it at my store sometimes.” He looked at his timepiece. “Comes in about forty minutes, as a matter of fact. And it rides right up the eastern seaboard, through New York City . . . if I understand what you’re aiming at.”

“You do,” said John. “How far is the station from here?”

The man smiled. “Much too far to walk. But I’ll take you there in my carriage.”

“Thank you. I have to get to New York as soon as possible.”

“Happy to oblige, young man. But we need to leave now if we’re to make it on time.”

“Can I say good-bye to a friend?”

“By all means.”

John hurried back to the line and found Robert.

“I heard you,” said Robert. “I guess this is it, then.” Tears welled up in his eyes.

John held out his hand, and Robert pulled him into an embrace. “I’ll never forget you, John.”

“Nor I you, Robert. You sure you won’t come with me?”

“I’m too tired to travel anymore tonight, and I don’t want to feel anything moving beneath me, if only for a while. Here,” he said, handing John a slip of paper, a small advertisement from the hotel. “I borrowed a pen and wrote my address there in the margin. If you and your wife can spare a few days while you’re still on the East Coast, I’d love for you to visit me in Boston, so my wife and children can meet the man who saved my life.”

“I would love to. I’m sure we could arrange that.” He looked up the line and saw the ambassador just now interacting with the clerk at the front desk. “I wish I had time to tell him good-bye properly,” John said. “Please do it for me.”

“I will.”

“If you can get the ambassador’s address, perhaps I could get it from you in Boston and write him.”

“I know he’d like that.”

They embraced again, and John hurried to join the man in the derby hat, standing by the door.

“Let’s get Micah into the carriage,” Joel said, redirecting everyone’s focus to a more pressing matter. “He needs to see a doctor.”

Two burly policemen had just dragged off Ayden Maul, tied and bound, into a police wagon. First, Joel had given them the details of the attack. Laura had explained who he was and what he had done on the ship. Maul had only partially regained consciousness. Laura was glad. She didn’t want to ever hear his voice again.

She did her best to keep the cloth pressed to Micah’s wounds until Eli and Joel slid him through the carriage door. Then she hopped in beside him and continued her aid until everyone was in and the carriage pulled away. He seemed much weaker, but his smile never dimmed.

For a few moments, no one said a word. Allison cried softly into her brother’s shoulder. Laura felt numb inside, almost unable to absorb what just happened.

Someone had tried to kill her.

The momentum of the terror continued to pulse through her body. Thoughts and images continued without permission. This day had been filled with more highs and lows than a soul was meant to endure. She wished she could hide in Joel’s other shoulder and release all this tension in a proper flood of tears.

But Micah needed her to stay in the moment.

She looked down at his face. His eyes were closed, but he was still breathing. Let him rest, she thought. Every day his life was harder than this day had been for her. She thought a moment about the highs and lows this day held for him.

She’d ridden a fine carriage away from the ship; he had just walked for miles. She had bathed in a luxurious hotel and bought new clothes; he’d worn the same clothes from when they’d first met. A rich and refined family had invited her to stay in their mansion tonight. Micah had been sent away from that mansion, back to the damp, dark quarters of a musty ship. A ruthless man had just tried to kill her. Micah had stopped that man, with no regard for his own safety.

But as she gazed at the look on his face, she realized . . . Micah was happy. He would end this night refusing to dwell on his many reasons for sorrow and despair. He would not care that as he strolled these stately streets, he was invisible to the wealthy inhabitants of the city. He cared only that God had allowed one man to notice him. And this one young man’s gaze mattered more to him than if a dozen kings had invited him to a feast.

Lord, thank you for this kindness to my friend
.

And for the first moment in this most harrowing of days, Laura knew true contentment and peace.

“It’s just up ahead,” Joel said. A few moments later, the carriage pulled over and stopped. Eli opened the door. Micah opened his eyes. “I’ll take him,” Joel said.

“Be careful,” said Allison.

They carried Micah outside. Allison opened the iron gate. Laura stepped out and down onto the sidewalk. She noticed at once the beautiful curved stairway just beyond the gate that led to the front door. She looked up at this huge home and could immediately see that, even aided by the lamplight alone, it was far more impressive than the finest homes she’d admired atop Rincon Hill back home.

This was John’s home
.

Here he grew up as a child. Here he’d become a man. From here he had fled just a few years ago, so that they could meet and fall in love and—

The front door opened.

“Beryl, can you get Mother?” Joel was grunting as he and Eli reached the top step.

“I’m right here,” a woman’s voice said from within.

John’s mother.

“Mother, it was so awful,” said Allison on the steps behind the men. “We were attacked in the night. This poor man, he’s Eli’s father. It was like a miracle. They haven’t seen each other in years. He saved Laura’s life, but he was stabbed.”

“Calm yourself, Allison,” Joel said.

“Oh my goodness,” their mother said as she backed out of the doorway. “This man was just here, not thirty minutes ago.”

“I’ll explain everything in a moment, Mother. We need to get him to the sofa.”

“Beryl, quick,” she said, “go get some linens and put them over the sofa.”

“Yes, madam.”

“And go get Sally. Ask her to heat some water, then warm some towels.”

“Right away, madam.”

Everyone moved from the doorway, through a massive foyer, into the biggest living room Laura had ever seen. She stood behind the group, glad the attention had shifted, if only for a few more moments. As they set Micah down on the sofa, Joel gave his mother a calmer, more lucid rendition of the attack. Micah listened to the entire story, but Laura noticed how distracted he was. She realized how strange this all must be for him. He wasn’t accustomed to ever being the center of attention, let alone by a rich white family in the living room of their mansion.

Laura looked at Mrs. Foster. She was not how she’d imagined her at all. For some reason she’d pictured her as a short, heavy woman with severe dark eyes and even darker hair. But she was a very attractive woman for her age, slim and refined. An older version of Allison, though her hair was a mix of blonde and gray. Her eyes became more intense with each new aspect of Joel’s tale. At the end of the story, Joel explained how Micah had saved Laura’s life. Mrs. Foster yelled out her name, startling everyone.

She turned and looked at Laura. “My dear, we’ve forgotten all about you.” Tears instantly filled her eyes and fell down her face. She rushed over and embraced Laura. As Laura returned the hug, they both cried. She heard Mrs. Foster mumble through her tears, “John loved you so much.”

After a few moments, she pulled back and looked right into Laura’s eyes. “Laura, please accept my apology for not being there to welcome you this morning.” She stopped, shook her head once. “No, more than that. Being proper is all I know how to be, I’m afraid. What I mean is . . . forgive me for being the kind of mother to John that he’d have to wonder in his last moments if I would ever accept you at all.”

Just the mere mention of his name, spoken aloud, and Laura fell into his mother’s arms, sobbing. She felt his mother holding her tight, patting her back gently. After a few moments, she heard John’s mother say, “Joel. You better send Eli to get Dr. Ames. His father needs more help than we can give him here.”

“Agreed.”

Laura pulled herself together, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped her eyes. She saw Eli standing in the foyer at attention. Joel looked at him, signaling him to get the doctor. Eli nodded. He was just about to leave when Micah yelled out, “Lord have mercy!” startling everyone.

Everyone looked at him. Had his heart given way?

Sally had just come in from a side doorway, carrying a stack of white linens. She jumped when Micah yelled. She took one look at him lying on the sofa. The linens fell to the floor. She fell on top of them, fainting right there on the spot.

“That my Sally?” Micah cried.

“Told you I had another surprise for you, Daddy,” said Eli from the foyer.

“Sally,” Allison yelled, and ran to her.

Laura looked at Micah, who was sitting up now, his eyes wide and bright.

“Sally’s my sister,” Eli announced to everyone. “She’s Daddy’s girl.”