Windswept (5 page)

“Suit yourself.” He pushed away from the fence. “I’ll say good day to you, then, until we meet again.”

“Yes, well, good day.”

He started to cross the street, but stopped half way and turned back to her. “And Nora, one more thing. I realize you are new to the community, but I caution you to be a bit more prudent where money is concerned.”

“What do you mean?”

A corner of his mouth quirked up toward laughing eyes. “Goat rental is only seventy-five cents. Felix Obalu is an enterprising young man. It’s a trait which I admire, but I don’t want to see him take advantage of you.”

Before she could argue that she could take care of herself, or some other equally foolish thing, he touched his fingers to his forehead in a parting gesture and disappeared around the corner of Duval Street. It should have been Felix’s deceptively innocent grin etched on her mind, but Captain Proctor’s easy smile wouldn’t go away. She should have been thinking about the next time she saw Felix, but instead she recalled Proctor’s words. “…until we meet again.”

Nora stared at her reflection in the mirror next to the front door, angled her hat a bit off center, and tied a wide satin ribbon just to the left of her chin. She thought it added a bit more flair to arrange it that way. The brim of the new straw bonnet nearly spanned the width of her shoulders and would certainly keep the sun off her face. When she’d spotted it in the milliner’s shop on Duval Street the day before, she knew it was what Captain Proctor had meant when he’d said “a proper hat for our climate.” Fanny had bought a similar one, and now the only problem they would have is being careful not to walk so closely they would bump brims.

The smile that had been on Nora’s face faded when she caught a glimpse of her mother behind her, one of her “boys” as usual tucked in her elbow. Apparently Nora wasn’t going to get away this morning without a lecture after all.

“Really Eleanor, I don’t see why you have your mind set on venturing out among this riff raff for the second day in a row.”

“Please, Mama, we went all through this last night. A girl can only do needlework so long without going out of her mind. The unpacking’s all done, Father is going to court this morning. And besides, you have no reason to assume that everyone here is riff raff.”

“I walked through the center of town myself when we arrived three days ago, remember? I believe nearly everyone in this town is like that horrible Willy person, and that rude Mr. Teague. Once you’re two blocks from this house, why, there’s nothing but shacks and taverns and chandleries and…” she wrinkled her delicate nose. “…fishy smelling places.”

“And a ready-made dress shop and a chemist. And a market and a butcher, and…”

Sidonia waved her free hand to dismiss Nora’s travelogue. “Never mind all that. It’s seedy, I tell you, and no respectable girl…” She stopped talking when Fanny came into the room.

“What’s this about a respectable girl, Sid?” Fanny asked with a wink at Nora.

Taking advantage of Fanny’s sudden appearance, Nora planted a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “That’s exactly why I’m taking Fanny!”

“That’s right, Sid,” Fanny chimed in. “No one has ever accused me of being respectable, so it’s all right, you see. Nora will seem a saint next to her shameful relation. I’ll take care of her.” She put a hand on each side of Hubert’s face and kissed him square on his muzzle. “
Au revoir
, beast!”

They went out the door and down the sidewalk with Sidonia’s warning trailing behind them. “That’s it, tease all you want, but don’t bring home fleas, and keep your hands on your reticules.”

“And our bloomers tied tight!” Fanny called over her shoulder.

Nora didn’t risk looking at her mother’s face. She’d seen the stern expression of disapproval often enough. “You really do goad her unmercifully,” she said to her cousin.

Fanny grinned with mischief. “You’re welcome,
cherie
. I just wish it would do some good.”

Nora administered a playful jab to her cousin’s arm. “Let’s take Whitehead today,” she said when they reached the street. “I haven’t been that way.”

They had progressed three blocks to an area of cottages and small businesses when they noticed a crowd gathered at the next corner. “I wonder what’s going on?” Nora asked. “It’s barely eight o’clock.”

“There’s one sure way to find out.”

They joined the crowd, though their late arrival kept them at the very back. All the onlookers craned their necks to see over a tall fence. From Nora’s position, it was impossible to see anything on the other side. She estimated the fence to be at least ten feet tall, and only the top of a building was visible. It was constructed of an odd type of stone, light colored and pitted. Remembering facts she’d gleaned from her reading, she assumed it was limestone, one of the few masonry materials available in Key West.

They’d only been waiting a minute when a chant rose from the throng. It was only a two syllable sound, yet indecipherable to Nora. As she strained to hear, a hand settled on her elbow.

“Do my eyes deceive me,” came a familiar low voice, “or has Miss Nora Seabrook come to bear witness this morning?”

She whirled around to stare into eyes the color of the peppery clouds trailed across the early morning sky. She backed away a step to keep the brim of her hat from hitting Jacob Proctor in his perfectly square chin. He was close enough for her to catch a distinctly male scent, a combination of leather and sawdust. Perhaps it was a warehouse smell, earthy and natural, and most pleasant.

It was a moment before she realized her mouth was open and no words were coming out. The captain continued to hold her arm while the space separating them grew narrower as the crowd pressed against them.

“Why, Captain Proctor, what a delightful surprise.” Fanny sidled up beside her, and Nora breathed a sigh of relief. She was grateful to her cousin for breaking her own inept silence. Why was it, she wondered, that words flowed effortlessly from her pen when she wrote in her journal, but stuck like dry pastry in her throat when she tried to speak them?

“I don’t think we were properly introduced the other day,” Fanny said. “I’m Fanny Cosette. There is, of course, no need to tell me your name since it has been permanently affixed in my mind after your heroic rescue of my dear cousin.”

Jacob Proctor nodded. “My pleasure, Miss Cosette…”

“Fanny, please, Captain. I don’t think formalities are necessary in these quaint surroundings, do you?”

Oh, how Nora envied her cousin! Fanny actually encouraged familiarity with the captain, while Nora had only blushed at his boldness in using her first name.

“So tell me,” Proctor said, “why have you ladies come this morning? It’s not often we see females of such genteel dispositions at these gatherings.”

For the first time, Nora studied the faces of the people around her. It was true. There were few females present, and those that were, looked to be more at home in a barroom than a sitting room. Meanwhile their chant had grown to a crescendo.

“Why, my cousin and I wouldn’t miss an event of such importance,” Fanny said. “Would we Nora?”

Finding her tongue at last, Nora said, “No, we wouldn’t dare miss it.”

The captain rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Imagine Miss Seabrook wanting to see a hanging.”

His pronouncement cut straight through her pitiful pretense, and she gulped back a squawk of surprise. “A h..hanging?”

Proctor flashed her a knowing grin. “Well, of course you knew that. Chauncy Stubbs is being hanged this morning. That’s him -- just climbed the gallows.”

So that’s what the crowd had been shouting.
Chauncy, Chauncy.
She recognized it now. Giving in to morbid curiosity she’d never realized she possessed, Nora struggled forward against the crowd to get a better view, and felt a pair of strong hands on her waist. She was lifted a few inches off the ground and was able to see the top of a wooden structure and a man’s head and shoulders. When a black hood was placed over his face, and a noose was lowered from scaffolding to his head, she sensed the first bitter taste of that morning’s breakfast in her throat.

“Captain, please, I’ve seen enough.”

He set her on the ground but maintained his hold around her waist. She was thankful for his solid support since the earth beneath her feet seemed to have become quicksand. “Why…why are they hanging him?” she asked.

“Oh, he deserves it,” Proctor said. “He stabbed a poor man for robbing his crab traps. Cut him up until there was no more left than fish bait.”

“How deliciously wicked,” Fanny said.

“Claimed he’d do it again, too. A remorseless criminal is Chauncy Stubbs. There was nothing to be done but let him swing.”

The gruesome crime recreated itself in Nora’s mind. At the same time the morning sun became unbearably warm. Her knees wobbled like a newborn foal’s, and before she realized what was happening, her toes left the ground. In the next instant, her back was pressed fully against Jacob Proctor’s muscled chest. His hands tightened on her waist, and his words came soft and low in her ear. “What’s the matter, Nora?”

“I…I think I need some air.”

Quickly, Proctor removed her from the scene and escorted her to a bench nearby. After a moment, Nora’s senses began to return to normal. Those senses affected by the tale of Chauncy Stubbs anyway. The ones still swimming from contact with Jacob Proctor, however, made her grateful for the solid structure under her backside. The captain sat next to her. His thigh touched hers.

Fanny fluttered a lacy handkerchief at Nora’s face. “
Cherie
, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine now. Captain, does my father know this is happening?”

“I couldn’t say. It was a circuit judge who issued the sentence, so your father probably wouldn’t have stopped it. It’s island justice, Nora. Everyone here believes in it, just as nearly everyone in the country believes in capital punishment.”

That was true, Nora knew, but she’d never been this close to an execution before. “But the fence,” she said. “Why is the fence there if everyone believes?”

“It was only built a couple of years ago. Before that hangings were in full public view. It was the influx of society people, ladies mostly, who insisted the fence be built. But you know the strangest thing?”

She stared at him, admitting her curiosity about what he would say, though she suspected it would be another unsavory detail.

“After the next hanging, the public outcry was so strong that carpenters were ordered to shave off the first twelve inches of the fence they’d just built, so the people who wanted to could still see, some of it anyway.”

A loud clap splintered the air followed by a hoot of triumph from the crowd. Nora grabbed Proctor’s hand. He held hers tightly. “It reminds us who we are, Nora,” he said, “and what we too easily can become.”

She pulled her hand away and reached for her cousin. “Fanny, I want to go home. I don’t want to walk today after all.”

Lulu finished clearing the soup bowls from the table and left the dining room. Nora decided she’d waited as long as she could before asking the two questions that had been on her mind since coming down for dinner.

Tapping her fork against her mother’s Irish linen tablecloth, she said, “So, Father, did you know a man was hanged this morning in the courtyard of the jail?”

Sidonia’s horrified gaze darted to her husband. “What? A man was hanged just a few blocks from our house?”

Nora winced at her father’s why-did-you-have-to-say-that look and waited for his response.

“Yes, I knew it. The sentence was handed down by the circuit judge, and I saw no reason to overturn it. The man was a scoundrel of the worst sort, and it was my opinion that the community was better off without him.”

Sidonia took a swallow of port and spread her hand across her chest. “Really, Thurston, this just proves my point. The element we find on this island…”

“The ‘element’ as you call it, Sid, exists everywhere, not just here.”

“Perhaps, but so close to our home. Why, that man could have been our neighbor. Our own Eleanor could have seen him or worse yet, been witness to his hanging…”

These last words hung in the tense air surrounding the dining table. Slowly, as suspicion dawned, both parents looked at their daughter. “Eleanor,” Sidonia asked hesitantly, “how did you know about this dreadful occurrence?”

Thurston leaned forward and rested his chin on his fist. “Yes, Nora, I’d be interested in knowing that myself. I understand that public hangings are quite a spectacle in this town. I would hope that you weren’t a participant in this morbid ritual.”

“Oh, no, Father, I didn’t see anything of the hanging.” That part was true, at least. “Fanny and I just heard about it in town.” Under other circumstances, that part wouldn’t have been a lie either, since Nora was certain the hanging was a topic of conversation in all the shops. If she’d gone to town, she
would
have heard about it. “It sounds just awful.”

“
Oui, cherie
,” Fanny said. “Imagine if we had seen the actual gallows and the hood being drawn over the poor man’s head and the noose being tightened around his neck. Or if we’d heard the trap falling and seen his head jerking at a crazy angle…”