Windswept (40 page)

Numbly Nora let herself be taken away, for there was nothing left at the harbor for her now. Her happiness, her future, her
life
, was probably already locked behind bars on Whitehead Street. She looked over her shoulder at her cousin who followed close behind the trio. “Fanny…”

Her cousin gave her a smile of encouragement. “It will come out right,
cherie
,” she said.

Seeing concern etched in fine lines on Dillard Hyde’s face, Nora doubted that it would. The image of the courtyard hanging she'd witnessed her first days in Key West loomed large in her mind.

The sun had barely risen above the eastern horizon when Nora tied her bonnet under her chin, picked up the straw basket she’d set by the door and slipped out the back of her house. Reckless strained at his rope, delighted to see her and probably putting all his little goat dreams into finding out what was in the basket.

“Hello, old boy,” Nora said, patting his plump tummy. “I see they’ve been feeding you well while I’ve been gone.”

Reckless looked at her with round coffee eyes, bleated a response and pawed at the basket over her arm. She raised it high and shook a finger at him. “You’ll have none of this, silly goat,” she said. “But I promise you a treat and a romp later.” She told herself she really must keep her word. Reckless couldn’t understand how her world had fallen apart in the last twenty-four hours. He couldn’t know how utterly bereft she was. All he knew was that life was boring when you lived it at the end of a rope.

 Nora had spent half the night trying to decide how she could put hers and Jacob’s miserable situation to rights, and this morning she felt she had more in common with the goat than anyone in her family. Now she truly could imagine how it was to be tethered by a rope with many more limitations than possibilities.

When no clear solutions had come to her, she finally rose at dawn to accomplish the one thing that was foremost on her mind. She would see Jacob. She had to stare into the cool, clear reason of his eyes to know that everything would be all right. And she had to tell him that she didn’t believe a word of the horrible accusations leveled against him.

All the previous evening she’d tried to get her father alone. But between her mother’s incessant attention to her needs, and Theo’s sudden oppressive nearness, she scarcely had a moment to breathe. Finally, once she’d stolen time with her father, she’d tried to tell him that Jacob was not capable of the crimes of which he’d been charged. He certainly hadn’t kidnapped her.

Her father had only mumbled something about how Jacob should have returned her to her home immediately, and the failure to do so was almost as serious a crime as if he’d taken her on board against her will in the first place. The result was the same to Thurston Seabrook. Nora was held captive to the captain’s whims, and a good many people had suffered for his lack of judgment.

He refused to even talk about the so-called evidence uncovered in Jacob’s warehouse. When Nora pressed him to listen to her arguments, he’d lost his patience and told her to go to bed. He said that after her ordeal, she was no doubt exhausted to the point of delirium, and when she was more rational, he’d consider listening to what she had to say.

Nora had never seen her father so close-minded. It was as if he’d already made up his mind about Jacob without even hearing his side of the story.

She said goodbye to Reckless, crept out the gate and headed toward Whitehead Street. Piney Beade wouldn’t be at the jail at this ungodly time. That was why Nora had chosen the early hour for her mission. She feared her father had left instructions with Piney prohibiting her from seeing Jacob. She would have better luck with the night guard.

The streets were quiet. It if weren’t for the peddlers and milkmen beginning their rounds, the only sounds Nora would have heard were the barks and crows and clucks from Key West animals. And of course there was the leaves. The ever present breeze on the island caused banyan leaves to rattle against casements and palm fronds to click like nervous katydids.

When she reached the steps to the jail, Nora drew a deep breath to steady her own frazzled nerves. She simply wouldn’t be denied the chance to see Jacob. She went inside, disturbing the lone guard who reclined in a chair with his boots on the top of a large oak desk. He pushed back his cap and peered sleepily at her as if trying to place her face.

He doesn’t know me, she realized and muttered a quick prayer of thanks.

The guard stood and wiped his palms on his baggy trousers before giving her a quick once-over that started with her modest bonnet and ended at her practical leather shoes. “Now just what would you be doin’ here, miss?” he asked in a thick Irish brogue.

“I’ve come to see one of the prisoners.”

The guard rubbed his chin with a ragged thumbnail. “We’ve got nearly a dozen right now,” he told her. “Which one of the sorry lot is lucky enough to have the likes of you for a visitor?”

“Captain Proctor,” she said.

He eyed her basket. “Is that for the prisoner?”

She gripped it protectively with both hands. “Yes.”

“I’m afraid I must have me a look-see,” he said. “It’s rules you know. Gotta make sure you ain’t bringin’ the inmate a file or a knife.”

Nora clung stubbornly to the wicker handle until she realized she would not win this battle. “I’m doing no such thing,” she said, drawing the checkered cloth over the basket handle. “See for yourself.”

The guard stepped up to her and looked into the basket. He moved biscuits and bananas to see underneath them and lifted a chicken leg out of a cloth napkin. Nora cringed inwardly when she noticed the grime imbedded in the creases of the guard’s fingers.

He turned the chicken leg in front of his eyes as if he were admiring a work of art and licked his lips. “Now just who are you to be bringin’ Captain Proctor such a tasty assortment as this?”

Nora truly hadn’t anticipated any trouble, and she hadn’t prepared excuses for appearing at the jail. Her mind raced for an answer, and she suddenly remembered the night Jacob rescued her in Jimmy Teague’s Tavern. “I’m Captain Proctor’s cousin,” she said. “I’m staying at his cottage. He’s been on the sea so long, and now this misfortune, I’ve been worried he hasn’t eaten well. Surely you can’t deny the man one good meal.”

The guard’s lips spread in wide grin. “His cousin, are you now? Not his kissin’ cousin, I hope.”

Nora glared at him. “Certainly not.”

“Well, then, I guess I can let you in to see your relation.”

Relieved, Nora extended the basket expecting the guard to return the chicken leg. He merely laughed and took a big bite out of the fleshiest part. “Your cousin won’t be needin’ this bit. We don’t want our boys to get used to fowl. They ain’t likely to be gettin’ much of it in this place.”

Nora snapped the cloth over the rest of the food. Her stomach had turned a somersault. She certainly wasn’t going to argue with the ill-mannered man, and she didn’t want to offer the chicken leg to Jacob now anyway. “Fine. You’re welcome to it,” she said over the smacking of his lips. “Which way do I go to see Captain Proctor?”

He pointed with a greasy finger. “Through that door. And only for five minutes. This ain’t a social hall.”

Nora raised the latch on a heavy pine door and it creaked open. When she stepped inside a long hallway, the first thing she noticed were deep, gray shadows cloaking the details of her surroundings. The sun had been up for nearly an hour, but here in Key West’s jail, it was still almost as dark as midnight. The reason became clear when her eyes adjusted and she could see into the first cell. It was empty except for a pair of cots and a bucket. A narrow beam of light came through the single small barred window near the ceiling. These men could suffocate from a lack of fresh air and sunlight, she thought, and decided to speak to her father about the conditions.

An unpleasant odor drifted down the aisle, a mixture of sweat and urine, and Nora instinctively covered her nose. She passed the first two cells without disturbing the four snoring occupants inside. At the next cell she wasn’t so fortunate. One man sat hunched on the edge of his cot, rubbing his eyelids. Another stood at the bucket relieving himself. When they heard her pass, both men stared at her with suddenly alert eyes.

“Come back here, little pigeon,” one of them said as Nora hurried down the hallway.

“I’d like to get me a piece of that,” the other hooted.

Nora rushed past two more cells before their occupants could fully awaken and add their own catcalls to those of the other men. And then she saw Jacob. He was alone in his cell. For that at least she was thankful. He sat on the floor, his face buried in his hands. His cot had not been disturbed. When she said his name, he slowly stood up, squinted, and rushed to the bars. His eyes flashed dangerous sparks. “Good God, Nora, have you lost your mind? What are you doing here?”

Chapter Twenty-five

Jacob gripped the iron bars. His eyes blazed with fury. Nora put the basket at her feet and placed her hands over his. His fingers convulsed. She thought he might draw back, so she gripped his hands more tightly and met his steely gray eyes straight on.

“Have I lost my mind?” she repeated in a harsh whisper.

“Yes, I’ve lost my mind, and my heart, and every other part of my body that thinks and feels. It happened the night you said you loved me, and now all that I am, body and soul, belongs to you. So, Jacob, why should you be surprised that I would be here, that my place is with you, wherever that might be?”

“But not this place, Nora,” he gritted back at her. “You shouldn’t be here. You don’t belong.”

“And you do? If our situations were reversed, and I were the one behind bars, wouldn’t you come to me?”

He shook his head. “Don’t try to reason with what is unreasonable,” he said harshly. “I don’t expect your loyalty to extend to daily visits to the Key West jail. I don’t want you here.”

Even after all she’d discovered about him on Belle Isle, after all the terrible secrets had been revealed, the wall around Jacob Proctor still existed. It was an emotional barricade, build of the brick and steel of Jacob’s torment, meant to protect him, but now keeping her out. She couldn’t let that wall grow any thicker or taller, not since they’d been through so much to tear it down.

“We have pledged ourselves to each other, Jacob,” she said. “That is something I don’t take lightly. I won’t allow you to push me away just because right now our path isn’t smooth.”

Crude insinuations echoed down the passageway from the other cells. Jacob extricated his hands and raked his fingers through his tousled hair. His panic-stricken gaze darted to the four corners of the tiny cell. “Is that what you want to hear, Nora? Men who aren’t worthy of scraping the mud from your shoes calling you foul names?”

“I don’t care about them…”

“I do. I don’t want you in this place. I don’t want you to see me here. I don’t want
them
to see you.” He wrapped his hands around the bars again and clenched until his knuckles turned white. This time Nora did not reach for him. “I can handle this,” he said. “The charges are preposterous, and I will take care of it. Until then, you must stay away.”

“But it’s my father who has put you here. I can help…”

“You can help by staying away.” He implored her with those same dangerous metallic eyes. “I won’t be able to stand it if I have to worry about you sneaking through the streets before dawn, parading in front of jailed men no better than Chauncy Stubbs.”

The mention of Mr. Stubbs and the hanging made Nora’s stomach lurch as it had the day before. The image of a black hood, the sound of the gallows trap swinging open, the awed roar of the crowd, made her skin tingle with a sudden chill and her head swim just as it had yesterday. “Don’t speak of him,” she said.

Jacob sighed and rested his brow against the bars. His eyes faded to soft charcoal. After a moment he reached through the bars toward her. She stepped close to him and he put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll see Willy today,” he said reassuringly. “My men will get to work on this. I wouldn’t be surprised if the matter were cleared up in a day or so.” His voice was so confident, he seemed more like the man he’d been on the ship the last seven days. “Just please promise me you won’t come back here again. I’ll see you when this is over.”

Tears welled in Nora’s eyes and she wrapped her arms around her chest to keep from shivering. “But I can’t bear to think of you in this place. It’s so dark and cold.”

He smiled at her and moved his hand from her shoulder to her face. He gently stroked her cheek. “My sweet Nora. I’ve been in the pitch darkness of the hold of a floundering ship in the middle of a hurricane. I’ve been tossed by fifteen foot waves while clinging to the mast of the
Dover Cloud
during the bleakest of nights.” He gestured around the four walls of his cell with his free hand. “This room seems like a palace compared to that.”

She managed a weak smile in return, but the effort only caused the tears to overflow down her cheek. He wiped them away with his thumb. In a trembling voice, she said, “It’s just that I love you so…”

“Oh, I love ya’, ya’ slimy sod,” came a whining falsetto from another cell. Two beefy arms stuck out the bars and embraced the air. “Give us a kiss now to see us through our darkest days.” The air filled with a series of sloppy puckers followed by raucous laughter.