The Lightkeeper's Bride (33 page)

“I know you’re here somewhere, Katie. I can smell your cologne water.” His boot came up and he brushed his foot across the vegetation four feet away. “Come out now and I’ll make sure you don’t suffer. It will be fast, I promise. I wish you’d said yes. I care about you, I really do. This saddens me that it has to end this way.”

His footsteps slowed and he turned toward where she hid. He was coming straight for her. He would find her. She refused to be run to the ground like a quaking rabbit. Her muscles coiled to rise from her hiding place, but before she could move, she heard a shot then the sound of two shots in rapid succession. Bart whirled and ran back toward the camp.

Nearly sobbing with relief, Katie rose from her hiding place. Maybe Will wasn’t dead after all. He needed her help. She grabbed up a stick nearly as thick as her wrist and ran for the clearing herself.

The shots echoed in Will’s ears but the bullets had missed him, praise God. He crouched in the darkness. The fetid air of the mine shaft made him want to cough but he suppressed the urge. His adversary would find him if he did. He strained to hear where Chesterton might be crouching, waiting to shoot at him again.

A stone rolled to his right. Then a sliding, scraping sound. It was now or never. Will rose from a crouch and launched himself at the sound. His body collided with another one and he realized he was at Chesterton’s back. He reached out and grabbed at the man’s right arm. His fingers grazed the gun and it fired again. The flash left spots dancing in his vision in the darkness, but he managed to wrest it from the man’s hand.

He stuck the barrel against Chesterton. “Don’t move.”

The man stilled. “You won’t shoot me.”

“In a heartbeat,” Will promised even though he wasn’t sure he could really do it. He climbed off Chesterton but kept a hand on his arm and the gun in his neck. “Move.”

The way up was past fallen timbers and loose boulders. They’d fallen a good twenty feet, and Will’s body stiffened in a hundred places. The men shuffled toward the dim glow, and fresh air began to replace the fetid stench of the mine as they climbed. The last vestiges of twilight illuminated the tunnel as they neared the shaft’s opening. “Not a word or I shoot,” he whispered to Chesterton. He shoved him up the final few feet until his head was out of the shaft.

Whack!
Chesterton slumped to the side of the shaft and Will shot through the opening and tackled the figure waiting at the top. It was Masters. The two men wrestled until Will got the older man pinned beneath him. He jammed the pistol under Masters’ chin. “One more move and I’ll pull the trigger.”

He heard something behind him and turned to see Katie with a thick stick in her hands. She’d hit Bart over the head as he was about to bring a rock down on Will’s head. He leaped to his feet and dragged Masters up.

“Where’s Chesterton?” Katie asked, her voice breathless as she joined him.

“Masters beaned him. He probably thought it was me, coming out. Good job on Bart.” He couldn’t keep the satisfaction from his voice.

Katie grabbed a rope and brought it to Will.

“We can make a deal,” Masters said as Will bound his wrists behind him. “We’ll cut you in for a portion of the profits. The gold we took from the ship will get this mine up and going again. It’s a sure thing. We’ll all be millionaires.”

“You’re like a snake,” Will said. “You’d bite me the minute my back was turned.” He took out his pocketknife and cut part of the loose rope off. There should be enough to tie up Bart too.

“No, no, I wouldn’t,” Masters said quickly. “We can make this work.”

“You can make it work in jail.” Will shoved him toward Bart’s inert form. “Here,” he told Katie, handing her the remaining rope. “See if you can truss him up.”

She tied the unconscious man’s arms behind him. “He’s out cold,” she said. “I don’t think we can get him to the boat.”

“We’ll send the constable back for him. Chesterton too.”

“I hate to leave him here. What if there are bears or other wild animals?”

“They’d spit him out the minute they tasted him.” He shoved Masters toward the path to the bay.

Will had so much he wanted to say to Katie but not while he had an audience. They reached the beach, climbed into the dinghy, and headed out. “You were so brave, Katie,” Will said. “I am proud of you.”

“Save the hearts and flowers for later,” Masters said, his voice thick with disgust. “This isn’t over yet.”

“I think we shall have no trouble proving our case,” Katie said. “Where is the gold you pirated? If you give that back, maybe it will go easier on you.”

They reached the sailboat and Masters leaned back and shook his head. “I’m not getting on that boat.”

“You’d rather drown?” Will asked. He grabbed the man and yanked him forward.

“You aren’t like Bart, Mr. Jesperson. You have too much integrity to kill an unarmed man. Just let me go. I’ll disappear and you’ll never hear from me again.”

“I can’t do that. I think you know it too,” Will said.

“I’ll not bring disgrace upon my family,” Masters said, his voice tinged with desperation.

Before Will could react to the intent in the man’s voice, Masters dived over the side of the dinghy and disappeared in the dark water.

Will leaned over the side of the boat. “Masters!” The man would never be able to swim in the dark, rough seas bobbing the boat. A storm was moving in and the waves would only get worse. “Do you see him?” he said to Katie, above him in the sailboat.

“No, not a sign of him!” She rushed to the other side. “Not over here, either!”

Will climbed into the sailboat and walked the perimeter. When he returned to her side, he said, “He’s gone. Just like that.”

T
HIRTY-FIVE

S
TANDING BESIDE
W
ILL
in the bow of the boat with the sea breeze in her face, Katie could forget the terror of the night before. Jennie played with blocks on the deck as the boat rode the crest of the waves toward the bay. She squealed with delight every time a block was knocked over. Lady Carrington sat in a deck chair knitting while Nubbins pounced on her ball of yarn.

“Still no sign of the gold,” Will said. “Constable Brown says Bart isn’t talking.”

“What about Masters?”

“They recovered his body.”

Even though he hadn’t lived to see it, the news was splashed all over this morning’s paper. “So much for sparing his family the pain.”

The mynah squawked on his perch. “I still think the bird is giving us a clue,” Katie said. “We’re going to find the gold today.”

His smile lingered on her face. “I hope you’re right.”

Would his smile always make her heart sing? Since they’d come back from the bay, he hadn’t spoken of his love. Maybe her parents had discouraged him too much. Or maybe he’d realized he didn’t love her after all. She’d been too shy to bring up the subject. He raised her hand to his lips. Katie’s heart caught in her throat.

“We need to talk. Very soon, Katie,” he said.

She nodded then looked toward the black rock formation thrusting its head from the sea. Wedding Cake Rock. Waves foamed and receded on its sides. Gulls swooped and dove after the crabs clinging to its rocks. It appeared so inhospitable, she wondered if she’d brought them out on a wild goose chase. “I’m not sure where we can anchor.”

Will peered over the side. “Looks shallow here. I’ll drop anchor.” He threw the anchor over the side. The boat slowed then rocked on the waves. He lowered the dinghy.

Lady Carrington put down her knitting and rose. “I shall get lunch out while you’re gone so we can eat when you get back. I can feed the baby to keep her busy.”

“It shouldn’t take long,” Katie said.

Will tossed the shovel and a lantern into the dinghy. He helped her onto the boat and clambered down to join her. She sat in the bow as he rowed them toward the forbidding rock. The boat scraped bottom and he leaped into the water and dragged the dinghy ashore on a flat spot of rock. Katie scrambled out and stood looking at the sea-lashed landscape while he retrieved his tools.

“Well, Miss Detective, where do you suggest we look first?” Will’s smile lit his eyes.

Katie shielded her eyes from the sun that pierced beneath the brim of her bonnet. “That’s what we call the wedding cake,” she said, pointing to the rock that appeared to be a three-tiered cake. “Let’s go there and see if we can figure out what the bird is saying.” Will’s warm clasp kept her from stumbling over the slick rocks. They picked their way through the loose boulders and slick deposits of seaweed to the base of the rock.

“This appears to be the only place where the wedding cake is accessible,” she said. “The other avenues are straight up.” She no longer cared about her finder’s fee but the joy of solving the case and returning the stolen property.

“Paco always says, ‘Step away from the cake,’ and ‘six feet down,’”

Will said. He thrust the shovel into the shallow, rocky soil. “I doubt we can even dig in this stuff.”

Katie stared at the various boulders and ledges. She’d hoped to find a cave or something similar that would house the gold. The space would need to be large enough to hold stacks and stacks. She stepped forward and scrambled a few feet up onto the side of the lopsided wedding cake. When she looked back toward Will she saw it. A jutting rock prevented spying the opening from below. “Will, a cave,” she called. It was to her right and down three feet.

“Wait for me.” Will scrambled up the sliding rocks to join her. “You can’t see it from below,” he said when he saw the slit of the opening. “Wait here.”

“Oh no, I insisted we come out. I wish to see it with my own eyes.” She slid down after him until they stood at the opening to the cave. The only way in was on her hands and knees.

Will lit the lantern and thrust it into the cave. A golden gleam bounced back at them. Stacks of gold lay in front of Katie’s dazzled eyes. “So much gold,” she breathed.

“It would have stayed here forever if you hadn’t been so sure the bird knew about it,” Will said. “Let’s get to town and tell the constable to come retrieve it.”

“We did it, Will,” she said, turning to him. “We found the gold and the ship. Everything.”

He touched his fingertips to her chin and stared into her eyes. “It’s amazing. And it’s largely due to you.”

Katie wished he would kiss her, declare himself, but he just rubbed his thumb along her chin, dropped his hand, and turned back toward the boat. Maybe her indecisiveness had cost her his love.

The buggy rolled through Mercy Falls. The town looked different to Katie now. She’d wanted so desperately to
be
someone, to be a person who was looked up to. Now she knew who she really was. Her worth was not in an earthly husband but in her heavenly one. Even if she never married, she would be who God created her to be. She vowed never to forget that.

Will stopped the buggy in front of the constable’s office. “I’ll be right back. Do you want to come?”

She spied Florence across the street. “There’s something else I need to do first,” she said. When he disappeared into the building, she climbed down from the buggy and stepped across the street to where the older woman stood examining a dress display in the department store window. She paused. They were all dignified, respectable dresses, nothing like what she was wearing. Could her mother be yearning for something . . . different?

Florence turned and saw her. “Well, you certainly fell on your feet,” she said. “I wish I could say the same for myself. I expect the law to arrest me any time. It’s a good thing you didn’t marry that man.”

“God was looking out for me,” Katie agreed.

Florence studied her face. “Something has changed about you. You don’t seem as angry.”

“I wanted to tell you that I forgive you,” Katie said. Her hand went to her mouth when she realized what she’d said and that she actually meant the words.

Florence’s smooth face didn’t change but her eyes did. First there was a slow blink then a gathering of moisture in their blue depths.

Her mouth trembled a little. “That’s very good of you, Katie,” she said, her voice husky. “I did the best I could.”

“I know that now. Things could have been much worse.” Katie reached out and embraced the woman who bore her. “Thank you for that.” The familiar scent of the older woman’s lilac sachet brought a wave of nostalgia.

Florence clutched at her and a sob burst from her throat. “I’m sorry for everything. Sorry I tried to get money out of you. I’ll do just fine on my own. I always have.”

She saw Dora Curry approaching. The woman owned the soda shop and was the biggest gossip in town. Dora’s brows rose when she saw Katie speaking with a woman dressed like Florence, and Katie smiled. “Good afternoon, Dora. I’d like you to meet my real mother, Florence Muller. She is Mama’s sister and has been gone from town a long time.” She felt rather than saw Florence start with surprise.

Dora’s steps faltered a moment but she stopped and extended her hand. “Delighted to meet you, Mrs. Muller. Katie is a wonderful girl. We love her very much.”

Katie saw how much Dora meant her kind words and her throat tightened. She’d been so worried about impressing people that she’d failed to see genuine love and respect when it was right in front of her face. “Thank you, Dora,” she said, her voice choked. “I realize more and more how very blessed I am to have grown up in this town.”

Dora pressed her hand. “I must get back to the shop.” She glanced at Florence again. “You have a very special daughter.”

“I think so too,” Florence said.

Katie saw Will step out of the constable’s office. She waved to him, and he started across the street, dodging a fast-moving horse and wagon. “I want you to meet my young man, M–Mother,” she said. “He’s the handsome one across the street.”

Florence’s eyes brightened at the term. “I’d be most honored.”

Will reached them. His dark eyes went from Katie to Florence. “I do believe this must be your mother, Katie. You look very much like her.”

Katie didn’t even wince. “Yes, Will. Florence, I’d like you to meet Will Jesperson. He found the pirates and the ship.”