The Drowned Woman Read online

  ‘Looking for these?’ Zeke and I stepped out of the bathroom, just as Wade held up the bag of fake emeralds.

  Sophie stood stock still. She was dressed head to toe in black, her face covered with a ski mask.

  ‘Sophie, we know it’s you,’ Wade said. ‘Take off the mask.’ She moved toward the window. Zeke blocked her way.

  ‘We want to help you,’ Zeke said.

  ‘By arresting me? By sending me to jail?’ She tore the mask from her face and crumpled onto the floor.

  ‘You little fool,’ Wade said. ‘Come on, get up. I know how to fix this.’ He stood above her, holding out his hand.

  ‘Fix it? You mean you are not going to send me to jail?’ Her voice broke.

  ‘I am going to save you one time. You get into trouble like this again, and you are on your own.’

  ‘I don’t know why I do it. I’m so ashamed. Joe …’ She took Wade’s hand and let him help her to her feet.

  ‘You’re going to tell Joe everything. Daphne found out about you, didn’t she? She knew you were stealing,’ Wade said. ‘He’s going to be your husband, so you’d best not have any secrets.’ ‘She toyed with me,’ Sophie said. ‘She knew it was me, and somehow she always managed to find the things I had stolen. She would take my stash and put it back.’ Sophie turned to me,

  ‘That day in the woods, Sarah, I knew you were there. I had a feeling you would leave things where you had found them, knowing that Zeke and Joe would need to see them in their hiding place. So I waited in the bushes, and when you hurried away, I took the rucksack and hid it somewhere else.’ She wiped her eyes. ‘God, I’m glad this is over.’ She gave Wade a beseeching look. ‘I’m so exhausted.’

  Wade put a protective arm around the girl and led her out the bedroom. We followed them down to the front door. When they had gone, we locked the door behind them and headed back upstairs, arm in arm.

  ‘Now I know why Sophie looked so stricken when she came into the study and saw her rucksack. Daphne had stolen from her,’ I said.

  ‘She’s lucky Daphne didn’t set her up to take the fall for the murders she committed,’ Zeke said.

  ‘What’s Wade going to do?’ I asked.

  ‘He didn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask.’ He kissed my forehead. ‘Let’s get some sleep.’

  Chapter 19

  We slept until nine-thirty, when Helen knocked on the door before entering with a tray laden with coffee, toast, homemade jam, and scrambled eggs.

  ‘It’s good to have you back, Helen,’ Zeke called to her from the bedroom.

  I tied the belt of my robe as I went to the sitting room.

  ‘Look at the newspaper.’ She handed me the morning edition of the Millport News. The usual war headlines, ‘YANKS IN 2000-MILE RAID ON JAP SHIPPING!’ screamed across the top. Under that, in small letters, ‘MILLPORT CLIMBER RETURNS LOOT.’

  ‘In an unprecedented act, the notorious cat burglar, who has successfully eluded the Millport Police Department for the past eight months, returned all of the stolen items. Imagine the surprise when Detective Bateson went to work this morning and found all the stolen items sitting on his desk.

  ‘When asked if the police will continue to search for the Millport Climber, so the citizens of this town can know the identity of the man who committed these daring acts of thievery, Detective Bateson refused to comment …’

  ‘It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?’ Helen said. ‘I imagine Wade Connor—’

  ‘Best leave the questions unasked, Helen,’ I said.

  I knew that if I continued to read the paper, I would find stories about Daphne and how she continued to elude the police. She had been sighted in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and someone even said that she had stolen a plane and flown away. But I didn’t look for those stories. I didn’t want to read about Daphne. I spent my days – and a fair share of sleepless nights – trying to forget about her.

  After Helen left us, Zeke and I sat at the small table, empty breakfast dishes surrounding us. A smile played on my husband’s lips.

  ‘What is it?’

  He came over and kissed the back of my neck before he pulled his chair close to me and sat down. ‘Are you happy here?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’ll never get used to this heat, but I’ve actually started to grow quite fond of this sleepy little town.’

  ‘So you’re okay with us staying on for a few more months? I really do need to see Simon settled. And there’s a house in town, three bedrooms, lots of shade. I thought we could go and look at it this evening, if you’ve a mind to.’

  I subscribe to the theory that all women need their own kitchens, and their own homes.

  ‘When can we move in?’ I asked.

  ‘Let’s look at it first, my love,’ Zeke said, ‘just to make sure we like it.’

  * * *

  We set out just as the sun went down, letting the full moon light our path.

  ‘The June full moon is called the strawberry moon,’ Zeke said. ‘It serves as a signal that the fruit is growing ripe and will soon be ready for harvest.’

  ‘Are you a witch?’ I teased.

  ‘Witches are women. Everyone knows that.’ He grabbed my hand, turned it over and kissed my wrist. Shivers ran up my spine. Zeke chuckled.

  ‘Let’s not get distracted,’ I said, breaking away from him.

  The house was on a quiet cul-de-sac, two blocks off Main Street. The owner had left the front door unlocked for us, but the electricity had been turned off so we couldn’t get a good look at it. The floors were of wide planked wood, polished to a shine, and there were lots of windows.

  The fenced-in yard had a raised bed, ready for a small garden. I loved it at first sight.

  ‘So I’ll call Mrs Glensmith and tell her we’ll take it,’ Zeke said.

  We were on our way back home, full of ideas and plans. We would have to buy quite a lot of new furniture, but we didn’t care. We had lost everything. We would rebuild our lives, together. We came to the end of the woods, to the place where the trees gave way to the sloping lawn that led to the house. We stopped for a moment, basking in the moonlight. Zeke pulled me to him, and had just lowered his lips to mine, when I saw a light in our bedroom.

  ‘Look.’ I pointed to our bedroom window, where a light flickered. ‘Someone’s in our room.’

  I broke away from Zeke and sprinted toward the house with all my might, ignoring my burning lungs. I bolted through the front door, up the stairs, and into the darkness. I tried the switch, but the light didn’t work. It took a second for my eyes to adjust. The window, which I had closed before we left, gaped open now, the curtains pushed to the side. Someone had climbed out the window. Daphne?

  ‘What happened?’ Zeke came in behind me. We stood side by side, panting from exertion. Together we leaned out the window and watched, helpless, as Sophie landed on the gravel below and took off in a run down the sloping lawn, toward the trees.

  ‘That was Sophie,’ Zeke said. ‘I can tell by the way she runs.’

  He closed the window and pulled the curtains to. He tried the switch. The light worked this time. On my desk lay the box that held my pearls and the fountain pen that Zeke had given me. A small note, typewritten, sat on top of the box. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘I would say that’s a peace offering,’ Zeke said.

  Chapter 20

  Days went by, and still Daphne managed to outsmart the police. Given the personal nature of the situation, a new FBI agent had been assigned to lead the manhunt. He held a press conference, vowed he would find her, dead or alive, and that was the last we heard from him.

  We settled into a routine. Simon and Zeke worked long hours at the mill. Granna and Helen took care of Toby, and, in turn, took care of us. We started taking the evening meal together, with Mrs Griswold sitting at the table with us. In an effort to keep things simple, Simon and Helen told Toby that his mother had gone on a trip. We all went out of our way to keep Toby away from people who would tell him otherwise.r />
  Despite all that had happened, we settled into a peaceful day-to-day existence.

  One afternoon, I went downstairs for a piece of toast. The heat made me nauseated, and I often woke up feeling woozy, only to feel better after a light breakfast. The phone rang in the hall. I answered it.

  ‘Sarah, do me a favor, please. Get Toby and Granna, and come to the stable. Can you be there in half an hour?’ Simon didn’t wait for me to answer. ‘Excellent. See you then.’ He hung up.

  The three of us were waiting when Simon and Zeke drove up in the car. A truck followed them, pulling a horse trailer.

  ‘What’s in the trailer?’ Granna asked.

  ‘It’s either empty or a small horse,’ Toby said.

  Granna, Helen, and I looked at each other, all of us realizing at the same time what Simon had done. Simon and Zeke got out of the car. Zeke came toward us, smiling, while Simon went to speak to the driver of the truck. Soon the man got out and walked around the back. He opened the trailer door. We all watched as a small pony, black as ink, backed out of the trailer.

  ‘May I go to my dad?’ Toby asked.

  ‘Yes, child,’ Granna said.

  Rachel’s ghost appeared next to Toby just as he took off running. She put a shimmery hand on his shoulder, and he checked himself, stopped running, and slowed to a walk as he neared the trailer. He approached the pony, but detoured to his father, where he put his arms around his leg and started to cry.

  ‘What’s the matter, old man?’ Simon asked, as he swept Toby into his arms.

  ‘I’m so happy, Daddy. Thank you.’ He kissed his father’s cheek before he wriggled free. He looked up at Rachel, who stood near him. No one seemed to notice what he was doing. She nodded and walked with him up to the pony. Rachel put her ghost hand out and the pony nuzzled it. She stepped away and nodded to Toby. While the cowboy held its lead, the child circled the patient animal, his actions a painful mimic of his mother. He ran his hands up and down the pony’s legs and all over its body. For his part, the pony stood still, like a docile lamb. Once Toby was sure the pony was sound, he threw his arms around its neck.

  ‘I’m going to call you Midnight,’ he said.

  ‘I’ve got to get back to work,’ Simon said. ‘But I’ll be home for dinner.’

  ‘Come on, Toby,’ Helen said. She walked toward the boy. ‘We’ll help you get Midnight settled in the stable.’ Toby had Midnight’s lead, and with Helen walking next to him and Rachel’s ghost trailing behind, they headed off to the barn. Rachel looked back over her shoulder at me and winked.

  ‘That woman is a godsend,’ Granna said. ‘I’ll be in the house.’

  ‘I’ll come help with dinner,’ I said to Granna.

  ‘I’ve got to go back with Simon,’ Zeke said.

  ‘I figured. But I’ll see you for dinner?’

  ‘Yes.’ He waited until Granna shut the door and we were alone. ‘My father called today. He wants to sell his share of the mill to Simon. Apparently, he has met a woman in San Francisco. He is going to stay there and marry her.’

  ‘Zeke—’

  ‘No, it’s okay. Funny. I’ve always hated my father. Now I’m just indifferent. I don’t know which is worse.’

  ‘Neither,’ I said. ‘Your father is no concern of ours, at least not now. You never know. Sometime in the future, you might be able to come to an understanding and have some sort of a relationship with him.’

  ‘See you in a couple of hours,’ Zeke said. He kissed my forehead and got in the car with Simon.

  * * *

  Wade Connor made arrangements for our new house to be painted and readied for us to move in on the fifteenth of July. I loved the house even more by the light of day. The house was more of a cottage, really, with white shingled siding and a shale roof. It was tucked into a small street four blocks away from downtown, amid a bunch of old trees that provided ample shade. We had three bedrooms upstairs, a large living room, and an office space that Zeke and I could share. The house’s best feature was the multi-paned windows in each room. I welcomed the flood of sunlight, and, with Helen’s help, was busy making curtains.

  In his neverending and oh-so-annoying efficiency, Wade had called off the FBI agents who had watched over us since we arrived in Millport. He rationalized, and Zeke agreed, that the danger we had suffered here had nothing to do with Hendrik Shrader. We had been in Millport over a month, and the FBI had not received any indication that Hendrik Shrader’s long reach had extended to Zeke’s hometown. Although we were relatively safe here in Millport, I realized now that I would spend my life in a heightened state of diligence, by virtue of my husband’s profession. He had made enemies. I would always lock the doors to my home, and I would always be aware of my surroundings.

  Daphne remained missing. Her story had faded to the back pages of the newspaper, while the front page – at least of the San Francisco papers – reported the news of the thirty-five thousand workers needed to save the July crops, and that the meat shortage was here to stay, with no hope in sight. I felt a pang of guilt at the excess of meat to be had in this part of the state, and wondered how such disparity in food distribution happened in a country such as this.

  Today I was charged with going through the attic and taking whatever I needed for the new house. Granna offered to buy us furniture, but Zeke suggested that I peruse the attic first. It didn’t take me long to choose two bedsteads, a dresser for Zeke, a mirror, and a set of China and silver for everyday use. Some of the dishes had cracks and chips in them, so I went through each one, unwrapping it, and sorting it, the chipped dishes in one pile, and the unchipped in another. I beavered away at this until the room started to spin, and I felt as though I were going to vomit. I stood and moved to the open window, where I sucked in fresh air and waited for the nausea to pass. I went downstairs, grabbed my purse, and headed outside, anxious to get outdoors in the sunshine.

  I made it outside, despite the pounding in my head. Bright stars floated before my eyes. Another rush of nausea, this one more severe than the previous, forced me into the nearest chair. I sat for a moment, bent over with my head between my knees, taking deep breaths. When I sat up, the nausea had passed, but I still wasn’t well enough to walk back to the cottage that Zeke and I now called home. I waited, focusing on the flowers and the bees. Nestled among the shrubbery were statues of griffins and gargoyles – hideous creatures. One of the odious statues leered at me, its eyes bulging, teeth bared. I shuddered.

  The hair on the back of my neck stood up, just as the voice spoke behind me.

  ‘Don’t stand up.’ A man’s voice cut through the quiet afternoon. Cold metal pressed against the back of my head. ‘You move, and I’ll blow your brains out.’

  ‘We’re going in the house, and you’re going to call your husband and tell him to come home.’

  I started to stand up. Firm hands gripped my shoulders and pushed me back down again. ‘You’ll get up when I say you can get up,’ the man said. I eyed my purse. It lay on the table, the gun inside. If only I could get to it.

  ‘Okay. You can stand up. Don’t turn around. Walk slowly into the house.’

  I stood and grabbed my purse, stepping away from the table. I fumbled with the latch, trying to get to my gun. The man was quicker. He took the gun out of my purse, removing the bullets, which he threw into the bushes. I faced him. He was short and hatless. He had dirty brown hair that stuck to his head, either from grease that he applied or from the desperate need of a shower. His eyes traveled over my body, taking my measure from head to toe.

  ‘You’re a pretty little thing,’ he said. ‘You and me might have some fun.’ My stomach roiled.

  He stepped close and reached out his hand, as if to grab me. I flinched. Another figure, equally as filthy, stepped out from behind the Meyer Lemon bush. The figure picked up the statue of the gargoyle and struck my would-be assailant with it. The man crumpled to the ground. A pool of blood grew under his head. I stared at my protector, not quite believing what
I saw.

  ‘Daphne?’

  She looked as though she hadn’t eaten or slept in weeks. Her hair, usually thick and luxurious, hung in strings dark with grease. She wore men’s trousers, along with a button-up shirt that might have been white at one time, but which was now a dingy gray. She swooped down and picked up the man’s gun, which lay near the body. When she had it in hand, she pointed it at me.

  I pushed past her to the shrubs. I vomited hot bile which burned the back of my throat. When I straightened up, Daphne was gone. She came back seconds later, the gun tucked into the waistband of her pants. She carried a glass of water which she set on the table. ‘Come sit,’ she said. She led me over to the chair. The smell of her triggered my gag reflex, and I prayed that I wouldn’t vomit again.

  ‘Drink that,’ she said. ‘Just do it slowly.’

  I picked up the glass and took a few sips of water. The nausea faded away.

  ‘Does Zeke know?’ She watched me as I sipped my water.

  ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘Never mind that,’ she said. ‘I’m tired of running. At least Toby’s happy. He loves that pony.’

  ‘You’ve been watching him?’

  ‘I’ve been under your noses this entire time. It’s Toby.’ A tear rolled down her cheek, clearing a trail through the grime that rested there. ‘I can’t leave my boy. I see Simon and Helen have finally realized their feelings for each other. I trust Helen. She’ll be good to Simon and take care of Toby. Sarah, I need a favor, two favors, actually.’ She laid the gun on the table between us. ‘I need you to tell Sophie how sorry I am. I knew she was the Climber, and I used her horribly. I took her rucksack – on more than one occasion – when I should have gotten her help. Will you tell her I’m sorry?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘And the second favor?’

  ‘Promise that no harm will come to Seadrift. I’ve sent a letter to the lawyer, naming you executor of my estate. I’ve left Seadrift to you. I hope you’ll see fit to let him live in the pasture. Please promise you’ll be kind.’