The Lightkeeper's Bride

by Colleen Coble

  She backed out of the room and held her finger to her mouth. The constable scowled, then shrugged and said nothing to the man. She motioned to the constable and Addie, and they stepped past the open parlor door and across the hall. The hinges creaked as she pushed another door open and stepped into the kitchen.

  She spied the telephone on the wall. “The scuffle had to have occurred here,” she whispered. Addie nodded. Katie saw only a wood-burning cookstove and a dry sink filled with dirty dishes.

  “Why did you not wish me to confront the man?” the constable asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I wanted to see if Eliza was all right before you questioned him,” she said. “I saw there was no phone in the parlor. She was in this room when I spoke with her last.” She stepped deeper into the room. It was empty. No Eliza, no body. A chair lay on its side though, an ominous witness to the struggle she’d overheard. “Eliza?” she whispered. “Are you here?”

  “I shall check out back then speak with the man in the parlor.” The constable brushed past her to the back door. He opened it and stepped onto the stoop. Katie heard a sound behind her and whirled to see the man standing in the doorway with the baby in his arms. A spreading stain on his shirtsleeve and the stench of urine told her the condition of the diaper resting on his forearm.

  The baby rubbed her dark eyes and whined. “Dada,” she said.

  Katie stared at the man. He had dark eyes. Maybe he was this child’s father. “Who are you?” she demanded.

  He stepped closer. “I came in when you didn’t answer the door.

  Your child needs attention.” He clutched the baby around the waist and held her out to Katie.

  She eyed him with suspicion. He had to know she wasn’t the baby’s mother. “Where’s Eliza?”

  His dark brows winged up. “Aren’t you Eliza Bulmer?”

  She tried to place his accent. Pennsylvania? The East Coast? She guessed his age to be early thirties. He wasn’t the manner of man who normally drew her attention since she preferred blond hair and blue eyes, but she had to admit he was attractive. She was close enough to see the golden flecks in his dark eyes.

  “I’m not Eliza, as you well know.” She nodded to the baby. “She called you daddy.”

  His eyes widened. “I just found her in the parlor. I’ve never seen her before.”

  The baby clutched at him and chattered “dada, dada,” as if to contradict him. He colored and frowned. Urine dripped from the diaper to the linoleum.

  “Oh dear, she’s quite soaked,” Addie said.

  “So is my shirt,” he said.

  Katie backed away from him. The kitchen seemed too small and close with his bulk filling it. “Give me the baby,” she said, holding out her arms.

  He handed over the child. “I was trying to do that, but you didn’t seem to want her.”

  She wrinkled her nose at the strong odor. “Where are her diapers?”

  He shrugged. “How would I know?”

  So he was still going to lie. “I think we should fetch the constable. He’s out back. Eliza seems to be missing.”

  “I agree. It’s odd she left the child alone.”

  “I’ll get him,” Addie said. She stepped out the back door and spoke with the constable. He turned and glanced at the man standing in the kitchen then followed Addie inside.

  Katie stared at the man, who returned the favor. His perusal caused her to shift from one foot to the other. “I shall seek a diaper for her while you explain your presence to the constable,” she said, reaching for the baby then motioning for Addie to follow.

  “I don’t trust that man,” Addie whispered on the way up the steps.

  “Neither do I.” Katie found the baby’s room at the top of the steps on the right. The room smelled of stale urine. The diapers were in a battered dresser. She snatched a square cloth and a fresh gown then found the bathroom. The little girl popped her thumb in her mouth and regarded Katie with solemn dark brown eyes. As far as Katie was concerned, the eyes told the story. That and the “dada” the little girl had babbled. Katie removed the soggy clothes then washed the baby’s red bottom.

  “She really needs a full bath,” she told Addie. Katie placed the fresh diaper under the wiggling baby then struggled with the pins.

  “Here, let me help you,” Addie said. She knelt beside them on the rug and managed to pin the diaper in place. It sagged a bit, but at least the little one was clean and dry once Katie slipped on the pink gown.

  “I heard something,” Addie said softly. “I think the men are outside.”

  Katie nodded and moved to the door. When she unlocked it and stepped back into the hall, she found the stranger leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. She caught a glimpse of the constable’s back as he disappeared into a room down the hall.

  “The constable is searching the house,” he told her.

  She handed the baby to him. “Here’s your daughter,” she said.

  His arms went around the child when she thrust her against his chest. “I told you she’s not mine.”

  “And I don’t believe you. Where is Eliza?”

  “I just got here. I checked the other rooms but there’s no one here.”

  Katie brushed past him and peered into the other two rooms.

  They were empty as he said. She found the constable in the third one.

  “Nothing?” she asked.

  Brown shook his head. “Her belongings all seem to be here. I know Eliza. She was trying to break out of the barmaid profession so her daughter wouldn’t be ashamed of her when she grew up. She’d been hired as a maid. But she’d never leave Jennie alone.” He followed Katie to the hall where Addie stood with the man.

  The baby whined and struggled to reach for Katie but she tried to ignore the plaintive sounds. “I think I could use a cup of tea. I’m sure the baby must be hungry.”

  The man’s dark eyes looked her over. “Look, Miss . . .”

  “Russell,” she said. “Katie Russell. This is my friend, Addie North.

  You’re new in town.” He nodded. Since he wasn’t offering any information, Katie glanced at the constable. The baby’s wails intensified, so she finally took her. The little girl plunked her head on Katie’s shoulder.

  The dark-eyed man hesitated but didn’t drop his gaze. “I’m Will Jesperson. I’m the new lightkeeper.”

  “It’s been unmanned for two months,” Brown told Katie. “It’s about time we got a new keeper. I met Mr. Jesperson earlier. Which doesn’t explain why you’re here now, Mr. Jesperson.”

  The lightkeeper glanced away. “My brother asked me to call on Miss Bulmer.”

  “And you came in without an invitation?” Brown asked.

  “I heard the baby crying.”

  Katie studied his neat vest and smart hat, tucked under his arm. Most lightkeepers she’d seen dressed more casually. His hair was a mass of closely cropped curls.

  He glanced at Katie. “You mentioned tea. Perhaps we could all use a cup.”

  She led the way down the steps to the entry then back to the kitchen. The constable continued to ask the man questions, but she couldn’t hear well enough to determine the words. Addie stepped past her and pumped water into a pan and put it on the stove. Mr. Jesperson glanced around the room then righted the toppled chair. He knew more than he was saying about Eliza’s disappearance—she could see it in how he averted his eyes. She jiggled the restless baby in her arms and watched Addie wash some cups.

  “I’ll make some toast for the baby. I would imagine she’s hungry,” Addie said.

  “I’ll help you,” Katie said. She passed the baby back to Mr. Jesperson and began to search through the cupboards. Addie had the tea and cut-up toast for the baby ready when the kettle whistled. When Katie carried the steaming cups of tea to the table, she found the tot situated on his knee.

  The baby reached for the toast and stuffed a piece in her mouth.

  The tea sloshed into the saucer when Katie plu
nked it in front of Will. “She’s much too comfortable with you for you to be a stranger to her.”

  “I just laid eyes on her for the first time today.”

  “I agree with Katie,” Brown said. “I would like to hear more of why your brother asked you to call on Eliza.”

  He dropped his gaze. “She’s, ah, a friend of my brother’s. He wanted me to meet her.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Katie said before Brown could answer. The constable frowned and shook his head.

  “What are you doing here?” Jesperson asked.

  She pulled out a chair and sank onto it. “Looking for Eliza.” Addie sipped her tea beside her and watched with wide eyes.

  “There is something more going on here. Exactly what do you suspect me of?”

  “We find you with a baby you claim never to have seen and the mother is nowhere to be found. Anyone would be suspicious.”

  “You never answered me,” he said, staring at Katie. “Why are you here? Are you a friend of Miss Bulmer’s?”

  She took a sip of tea to avoid answering. Her gaze fell on the telephone. “I came to check out the phone. There was a call I tried to make today that came here accidentally. I’m an operator at Central.”

  He sighed and rubbed his temple. “Right now, what I want most is to find out where Miss Bulmer is and give her back this baby.”

  Katie stared at Jesperson. He wasn’t telling her the truth.

  FOUR

  WILL SHIFTED THE baby in his arms and studied the face of the young woman across from him. Though the brim of her wide hat shaded her face, there was no mistaking the suspicion in her eyes and in the face of her companion. The constable, too, though he hid it better than the women. One glance into the child’s eyes had made him wonder if she could be his niece. Philip had admitted to a relationship with the child’s mother. This was the last thing Will needed.

  And what of the young operator’s last name? Russell. Philip had mentioned an Albert Russell. Could there be a connection and that was why she was so interested in finding Miss Bulmer?

  “Have you any notion of where we might find Miss Bulmer?” he asked. “And for what reason she might have left this child alone?”

  Miss Russell picked up her cup of tea then put it back on the table without meeting his gaze. “I don’t know.”

  There was more going on here than Miss Russell admitted.

  Will glanced at the baby, who was playing with his watch chain. “Strangely enough, this child seems content to be cared for by strangers.”

  “Miss Eliza often leaves her in the care of neighbors or friends.” The constable’s voice was heavy with disapproval. He eyed Katie. “Let’s go over what you overheard again.”

  Miss Russell clasped her hands in front of her, glanced at Will as if she was reluctant to share, and then plunged into her story. “I was on the phone with Eliza and heard what sounded like a scuffle. A man came in and they argued. The man’s voice was muffled but something about it was familiar.”

  “Familiar?” the constable asked.

  She shook her head. “I just can’t place it.” She looked up at him.

  “Eliza never came back to the phone.”

  So that was why she’d come. He lifted an eyebrow in her direction.

  To her credit, at least she flushed, aware that she’d been less than forthcoming. But as he studied Miss Russell’s face, he knew she still wasn’t telling them everything.

  Constable Brown glanced at Will. “And you, sir? What did you see when you arrived on the premises?”

  “The door was locked,” Miss Russell said.

  Will’s neck burned. “I, ah, picked the lock.”

  The constable looked him over, and Will heard Miss Russell gasp.

  “I heard the baby crying, and when no one answered, I managed to jiggle the lock. She was soaked and hungry. And very much alone.”

  “Very disquieting,” Brown said, frowning at him and then out the window. “I’ll see if Miss Eliza has gone back to her old haunts.”

  “Old haunts?” Will asked.

  Brown shrugged. “She plied her trade at the taverns, but in the last couple of months she had been working in a respectable job.”

  Will gulped and glanced at the baby, who had fallen asleep with her round cheek against his shoulder. He suspected little Jennie might be his brother’s child, and this new piece of information about Eliza’s morals made him suspect it all the more. “What about this baby?

  What will you do with her?”

  “I would have taken her to the orphanage but it caught fire this afternoon,” Brown said. He sighed and lifted a brow. “It’s been quite a day.”

  Will winced. “Was anyone injured?”

  Brown shook his head. “The volunteer fire department reacted very quickly and everyone escaped injury.”

  “Thank the Lord,” Miss Russell murmured. She glanced at the baby on Will’s shoulder.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do about the child,” the constable said. “The director of the orphanage is out of town, and we are having difficulty placing the children in temporary homes.”

  Those eyes. So like Philip’s. This baby was likely his responsibility. His grip tightened on the child. “I’ll take her,” Will said at the same time as Miss Russell.

  He wished he could recall the words. What was he thinking? Since he was new to town, finding a woman to care for the baby might be difficult.

  Miss Russell batted a strand of hair that had come loose from its pins. “What do you know about caring for a child?” Her tone held a challenge.

  The baby smelled sour again. Miss Russell was right. What did he know? Still, he wasn’t a man to back away from duty. “Not much. But I can learn.”

  “Why would you want to care for a baby?” the constable asked.

  Will let out a sigh. “She might be my niece.”

  The constable squinted and took in Will’s face. “Your niece, you say? And might your brother have something to do with Miss Bulmer’s disappearance?”

  “Of course not! Philip has been in the city.” Will clamped his mouth shut short of revealing his brother had been in town today. Surely Philip had nothing to do with this situation.

  “I don’t think a man is the right person to care for a baby girl,” Miss Russell said. “I doubt you have any idea how to change a diaper.”

  He lifted a brow. “How hard can it be?”

  “Do you know anything at all about what a baby eats? When she’ll need to nap?”

  “Do you?” he shot back. They glared at one another, and he realized she wasn’t backing down. She was a busybody. Will had seen them before. Spinster women who had nothing else to do but interfere in other folks’ business. “Why do you want the baby?”

  Color rushed to her cheeks. “She needs a place to stay until her mother comes back. You’re a stranger to all of us. For all we know, you did away with Eliza then came back for the baby.”

  The constable took a toothpick from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. He fixed Will with a stare. “That so, Mr. Jesperson? I must admit you seem to show up wherever there’s trouble. You saw the problem with the ship earlier, then you show up here.”

  “I have never met Miss Bulmer. I came to see her at the request of my brother.”

  “For what purpose?” Brown asked.

  Will suppressed a sigh. He was going to have to tell them everything. “My brother is a private eye. He has been retained to investigate the piracies that have occurred in the past couple of months. When the owner of the Paradox spoke with him, he said Miss Bulmer had called with information. My brother asked me to speak with her since she might not be inclined to discuss anything with him, given their past relationship.”

  The constable’s lips tightened. “I won’t have him interfering in my investigation. I’m in charge in Mercy Falls.”

  “He isn’t even here. He’s back in the city.”

  “Have him stop by my office when he comes to town,” Brown
said.

  “What about the baby?” Miss Russell asked.

  Brown took another chew on his toothpick. “Sorry, Miss Katie, but he seems to have a claim to Jennie. If he’s a relative, it’s his right to care for her.”

  Her cheeks turned even redder. “But you don’t even know if he’s telling the truth! For all we know, he could be a kidnapper. Or worse!

  We found him here with Eliza gone. Surely that is disquieting, to say the least.”

  “If it will calm your fears, I can prove I’m the lightkeeper.” Will passed the baby over to her then dug his posting duties out of his pocket. He handed the paper to the constable, who skimmed it and handed it back.

  “He’s got all the right credentials, Miss Katie,” Brown said.

  “That still doesn’t prove he’s her uncle!”

  “Look at her, Miss Katie.” The constable gestured to the baby in her arms. “Don’t you see a family resemblance?” He fixed a stare on the lightkeeper. “I’m assigning temporary guardianship to you, and if your brother cares to, he can apply for permanent custody as her father if Eliza doesn’t turn up.”

  Shaking her head, Miss Russell pressed her lips together, then her head came up and she stepped toward the door. “If there’s anything I can do to help with the baby, please do let me know. Just toggle the phone for Central and ask for me.”

  Will watched her and her friend move toward the door with the constable on their heels. He tried to quell the rising panic. She was right. He didn’t have the foggiest notion of how to care for a baby. “Wait,” he said. “If you could help me figure out what to take to the lighthouse for the baby, I’d be grateful.”

  She stared at him a moment and then turned toward the stairs. “Let’s see what we can find, shall we?”

  Will followed Miss Russell’s swaying skirt up the steps and prayed he hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of his life.

  h

  Katie found a small bag in the closet and began to pack some of the tiny gowns she found in a chifforobe. Mr. Jesperson set the baby on the floor and moved to join her. “Let me make it clear I don’t trust you,” she told him. “Not one bit. Who is going to care for her? You’ll have duties to attend to.” When he didn’t answer her but continued to layer the suitcase with clothing, she wanted to throw something.