Beloved Counterfeit (27 page)

Another calming breath, and she took Carol’s free hand. “You’re welcome to take the treat with you, but you and I have somewhere to go, and it won’t wait.”

“Where?” she asked as she swiped at the side of her mouth with the back of her hand.

Again Ruby steadied herself and offered Carol a smile. “I thought perhaps you would tell me.”

Carol’s face fell, and she looked away. She said nothing, her silence speaking volumes.

Ruby released her grip and caught the treat before it fell to the floor. Carefully she returned it to the plate then snatched up the toweling and dipped it into the basin to clean the girl’s sticky hand.

Carol remained silent.

“Look at me, sweetheart,” Ruby said as she set the toweling aside. “I know.”

Blue eyes swam with instant tears. “Tess told you, didn’t she?” Carol stamped her foot. “I knew I couldn’t trust her.”

Ruby gathered Carol into her arms and rested her chin atop her head. Coming to Fairweather Key seemed God’s way of allowing them a fresh start at a decent life. If Tommy had returned and Carol was somehow helping him to stay on the island, how soon until the past was no longer behind them?

“Carol, you know I love you, don’t you?” When she nodded, Ruby continued. “And you believe what the Bible says about telling the truth.” Another nod. Ruby held her at arm’s length. “Then don’t you think it’s time I heard the story from you?”

“But Tess already—”

“From you,” Ruby repeated. “The truth.”

“I didn’t mean to find him. I know I’m not supposed to go down to the beach alone, but Maggie wouldn’t come with me and I knew Tess would tell.” Carol paused and blinked back tears that fell anyway. “I saw a ship that looked like Papa’s, and I thought he might be coming back for me.”

Ruby’s pulse jumped. “Carol, I’m disappointed in you.”

The comment seemed to light once again the flame of rebellion in her eyes. “You are not my mother.”

Five words that could change everything.

Chapter 32

“You’re right, Carol. I didn’t give birth to you, but my sister did, and I’ll not let anyone take you from me,” Ruby said, her back straight. “That includes Tommy Hawkins.”

Carol gasped. “So he
is
alive.”

Carol’s reaction gave definite proof that whomever Tess referred to, it was not Tommy. For this alone, Ruby could be grateful.

“I said no such thing.” Ruby opened the door and ushered Carol out onto the back porch, then latched the door behind her. “You saw the ship go down just as I did. Don’t you think if he were alive he’d be back by now?”

Even as she said the words, Ruby’s stomach roiled.

They crossed the lawn to the back gate, where one of Micah’s militiamen sat whittling in the shade. As he caught sight of them, the fellow scrambled to his feet. “I’ve a favor to ask,” Ruby said. “Jim, isn’t it?” When he nodded, she continued. “Carol and I are going for a walk. I wonder if you might keep watch over Maggie and Tess while we’re away.” He looked about to protest when she shook her head. “We’ll be fine, but I do worry about the girls. Micah loves them so, you know.”

Jim thought only a moment before nodding. “I’ll let Spack know. He’s likely up at the front of the place.”

“Thank you, Jim,” she said as she laced her fingers with Carol’s and swept past.

“Why do we need those soldiers watching us all the time?” Carol slid Ruby a glance as she wiped away the last of her tears. “They’re watching for my papa, aren’t they?”

“Sweetheart,” Ruby said slowly, “first tell me where we’re going, and then we can discuss other things.”

Carol hesitated only a moment. “I’ll take you there. It’s easier than telling you.”

With a nod, Ruby fell in beside the youngster. “So,” she said when they’d left the rather public sidewalk for the lane that led toward Emilie’s home and, beyond, to the beach. “You asked why we must have the militiamen keeping watch. It’s a precaution Micah wishes to take while he is acting as commander and judge.”

Carol looked up, and for a moment Ruby felt like she was staring down at Opal again. “But why?”

Ruby sighed. “Micah doesn’t want someone who might be upset with him to come and try to hurt us.”

They stopped at Emilie’s gate, and Carol’s eyes went wide. “Would they do that?”

“Likely not,” Ruby said as gently as she could. “Our island is quite safe, and there’s rarely anything to concern ourselves with. However,” she added as casually as she could, “though I want to believe your papa’s no longer alive, I wager there is the very slight possibility there are men who might want to find us all the same.”

“You want to believe it, but you don’t know for sure, do you?”

The sea breeze lifted a strand of hair and tossed it across her cheek as Ruby looked past the girl to Emilie’s empty home. “Carol, why are we here?” she asked as she tucked the strand behind her ear. “You know Emilie and Caleb are gone.”

Carol looked to the right and then to the left. Slowly she reached for the latch and opened it, then stepped inside the yard.

“I know,” she said. “That’s why I brought him here.”

“Him?” Ruby picked up her pace to catch Carol, who had already turned the corner and headed for the back of the house. On the clothesline, Ruby saw a set of linens from the boardinghouse hanging askance. Upon closer inspection, it appeared they’d been tossed over the line. Beside them was one of Emilie’s aprons. At least it appeared to be, though the color was an odd shade of. . .

Ruby touched the still-damp fabric. Only one thing stained linen this color.

Blood.

“Oh, dear Lord, protect my girl.” Ruby looked around and found Carol had disappeared. “Carol,” she called as she raced for the house and what she now noticed was an open back door. “Carol, where are you?”

She stepped inside and instantly spied a mess that Emilie and Caleb couldn’t possibly have left behind. A lunch pail with the initials
W. C.
carved into it had been upended onto the sideboard, and a variety of foods had tumbled forth. The water basin was missing, and broken pieces of a plate littered the floor.

“Mama?” Carol called from the parlor.

“Coming, honey.”
 

Ruby stepped over the mess and raced toward Carol, who stood in the center of an empty but obviously recently occupied room. She gathered the child to her as she surveyed the parlor.

While Emilie kept her home neat as a pin, the disarray in the kitchen extended to this room as well. A shelf that once held Emilie’s collection of novels had been emptied of its contents, and in their places sat a stock of food.

“He’s gone.” Carol’s whisper drew her attention, but only for a moment.

“This room is a mess.” Ruby turned to look over her shoulder. “And who is he?”

Carol seemed reluctant to answer.

“Carol,” she said slowly. “Why was there blood? Did someone get hurt when the plate broke?”

The girl’s lower lip quivered. “Miss Emilie’s gonna be mad at me about that.”

“Honey,” Ruby said carefully, “it’s more important that you show me where you were cut.” She held out Carol’s hands and found no sign of injury. “I don’t see anything here.” Then it dawned on her. “It wasn’t you, was it?”

She shook her head. “No, Mama, I only brought him something to eat. William left it in the kitchen.”

“William?” Her heart sank. “Was William hurt badly?”

“No, he’s fine.”

Ruby paused. Indeed, if the boy were injured seriously, that would have been the topic of Tess’s conversation rather than Carol’s secret. With no obvious connection to Tommy here, she had to assume Carol had thrown that tidbit in to confuse Tess.

Ruby leaned against the wall and let her shoulders sag. The churning in her belly had returned, and Carol was making less sense the more she spoke. Even so, the picture had become quite clear: The usually well-behaved William Carter and her own Carol had decided to take advantage of Emilie’s absence to get into mischief.

All that remained was to determine the extent of it.

“Tess said you had a secret house and something about your papa.” She sighed and swallowed back the bile climbing into her throat. “I’m not feeling well, so perhaps that’s why I’m so confused. I see a broken plate and evidence of blood that’s been cleaned up.” She shrugged. “And all I can think is that I’m extremely disappointed in you and William.”

“Disappointed?” Carol’s surprise almost seemed believable.

“Yes. You’ve treated Miss Emilie’s home like your personal playhouse and then lied about the reason, Carol, and I’m very upset about it. Now I want you to go straight home.” She paused as a wave of nausea passed. “Later you and I will pay a visit to the Carters to straighten up this situation. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama,” she said, “but why aren’t you coming with me? Are you going to wait and see if he returns?”

“Enough, Carol. There’s no one.” She looked around and sighed. “And when I’m done, I’ll start thinking about your punishment.”

“Punishment? But I—”

“No arguments.” Ruby stepped over a pile of books and made her way back into the kitchen. “Now run and find William.”

“But if he comes back and finds you here, he might—”

“Enough, Carol. Go and do as I said.” Ruby held her breath until Carol skittered out the door; then she gradually allowed herself to exhale as she closed her eyes.

When she heard the front gate shut, Ruby opened her eyes and sagged against the door frame.
 

Help me to know how to handle this, Lord. What would her mama do?

“Don’t be so hard on her, Miss Ruby,” a distinctively male voice said. “She was only trying to help.”

Ruby whirled about to see a man standing at the parlor door. His left arm was bundled up in a sling made from what appeared to be a strip cut from one of Mrs. Campbell’s lace curtains. Around his injured arm, someone had wrapped a length of toweling now soaked through in spots with blood.

Her stare rose to his face, where she noticed a crescent-shaped scar on his left cheek. “I remember you.”

“Drummond, Mrs. O’Shea,” he said, his voice now a hoarse whisper. “Clay Drummond.”

* * *

“Are you sure about this, Dumont?” Micah leaned back in the chair that, until Caleb returned, belonged to him and studied the man sitting across the desk from him. “I fail to understand why Carol would take a pail of food to Emilie’s cottage.”

“I saw it for myself,” was his curt reply.

Remy Dumont was the last man he wanted to trust, though Micah suspected his judgment was colored by the man’s obvious affection for his wife. Caleb had surely thought enough of him to name the man headmaster of the school in Emilie’s absence, so he figured that was enough to balance his own concerns.

Micah paused to consider his next question. “And just how did you come to follow my Carol, again?”

“I became suspicious of her behavior well before that.”

“Suspicious?” Micah reached for Caleb’s writing pen and weighed it in his hand. “How so?”

Dumont’s expression changed, and he seemed ready to bolt from his chair. “Look, perhaps I’ve made a mistake in coming here.”

He made to rise, but Micah gestured for him to sit. “As Ruby’s husband, her daughters are in my care, so I’d appreciate your finishing the story.”

“All right, then. One of the girls took bread out of William Carter’s lunch pail and put it in her own, though at first I wasn’t sure if it was Maggie or Carol. They are nearly impossible to tell apart.”

Micah nodded, though he offered no commiseration. He’d learned that the differences were subtle but obvious once you knew what to look for. Perhaps someday he’d tell Dumont, but not today.

Leaning forward, Micah pressed his palms on the desk. “Go on.”

“I’ve never noticed the twins go anywhere but straight home, and they’re always together. Once they reach the parsonage, the little one joins them and walks the rest of the way.” Another pause. “Often William sees they cross the road safely. He’s a good fellow.”

Dumont’s statement struck a nerve. “It appears you’ve paid close attention,” Micah said carefully. “Do you extend this level of devotion to the other children?”

Viola’s brother had the gall to lean back in his chair and grin. “Perhaps it is because I find their mother a delight. The sight of Ruby never fails to make me smile.”

Micah rose. “I’ve heard enough. You will apologize for the familiar way you’ve spoken about my wife.”

Dumont stood. “Or?”

“Or you will live to regret it.”

He returned the fool’s stare and said nothing further, allowing his expression and fisted hands to speak for him. By degrees, the schoolteacher must have realized his mistake.

“I already do.” Dumont shrugged. “I mean no harm. I realize you’ve come out the better man in all of this. In fact, I’ve a dual purpose in being here today.”

“Oh?”

“Indeed.” Remy Dumont removed a document from his coat pocket and thrust it across the desk toward Micah. “My letter of resignation. How Viola remains in this place is beyond me, but I’ll not endure it any longer. Two weeks is all you’ll get from me.”

Micah rose. “Why wait, Dumont? I’m sure we can find someone to replace you.” He shrugged. “As judge, I’ll call a school holiday until Emilie returns. It’s highly improper, but I’d rather have an extended school vacation and a married woman teaching my girls than the likes of you.”

Chapter 33

Ruby watched the man sway then steady himself against the door frame. “You’re injured,” she said even as her eyes darted about in hopes of finding an easy exit.

Mr. Drummond leaned forward then righted himself. “Can’t talk now,” he said as he pushed past her to stumble through the kitchen and into the hallway. He seemed at a loss as to what to do next.

“You’re bleeding,” she called after him then cursed herself for a fool. Of course the man had surely noticed this.

She should fetch Micah. He would know what to do.

“You raised a good girl,” Drummond said as if mocking her. “She was a help to me. The young fellow, too.”

When he made no move toward her, Ruby let her irritation show. “I am Carol’s mother,” she said. “And may I just say that I’m quite disappointed that you would send children out to steal for you.”