The Lightkeeper's Bride

by Colleen Coble

  Will froze when he realized who the property owner was. He started to shrink back behind the corner of the house when he felt a hard metal object in his back.

  “Hands up,” a hard voice said in his ear. It was a dauntingly familiar voice. Will raised his hands. The fellow shoved him forward. “Move.”

  Masters turned as they approached. His eyes flickered but he said nothing when he saw Will. Will glanced at the driver and saw he was unaffected. Apparently, his boss was paying too much for him to notice Will’s compromised situation.

  “Mr. Jesperson, you’ve caused me untold misery lately,” Masters said. “But your interference has come to an end today.”

  The man behind Will grabbed a rope. Will flexed his wrists as best he could as the man bound his hands behind him and shoved him toward the lorry. “Take him to the mine and shoot him. You can dump his body down a shaft.”

  The driver nodded toward the lane. “Wait a second, boss. Someone’s coming.”

  A horse pulling a buggy came cantering up the drive. The sun was in Will’s face so he couldn’t see who was in it until the conveyance stopped and the occupants stepped out. His gut clenched when he saw Katie’s white face. Bart had hold of her arm and she winced as he marched her toward the group. Will clenched his fists.

  Bart shoved her and she fell to her knees in the dust. Will started to leap forward but the man behind him grabbed his arm and pushed him the other direction. He stumbled and went down on one knee then struggled upright. “Katie, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.” She rose and brushed the dirt from her skirt. “That was unnecessary, Bart,” she said.

  Will had never seen the urbane young man so agitated. His face was flushed and he was breathing hard. Bart clenched and unclenched his fists. Katie started toward Will but Bart grabbed her arm again, the muscles in his jaw flexing.

  “What’s all this?” Masters demanded. “Why is she here?”

  “She turned me down!” Bart said, his voice aggrieved.

  Masters snickered. “You weren’t as charming as you thought. What about the deed?”

  Bart held up a paper. “Right here. But her signature needs to be witnessed. Then I can get it recorded.”

  Masters sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Foster, once again, you’ve brought me into something that you should have handled yourself.”

  Bart faltered. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I only—”

  “You have two witnesses right here,” the businessman interrupted, flinging his hands in agitation. “Just get your foolishness resolved so we can move on. Do you have a pen?”

  Bart felt in his pocket. “No.”

  Will had no idea what they were talking about but his pulse leaped when he heard Katie had refused Bart’s marriage proposal.

  His gaze locked with hers but his elation faded when he saw the despair in her eyes. They were both in mortal danger and his hands were bound behind his back. She was free though. And Katie was a fighter.

  Masters motioned to the driver. “Get a pen from my desk.” The big man nodded and headed for the house.

  That left three against two. If only Will had his hands free. “What deed are we talking about?”

  “Shut up,” Masters said, his voice bored. “If he says anything else, shoot him.”

  If Will could free his hands, he’d disarm this guy in a second. He twisted his wrists. Did they give just a bit? He thought so. The other guy was watching his boss, and Will flexed his arms again. Nothing.

  The driver returned. “Here’s the pen.” He handed it to Bart.

  Bart grabbed Katie’s arm and thrust the pen into it. “Sign.”

  “No.”

  He struck her and she fell to the ground. Will leaped forward, driving his chest into the other man. “Big man,” Will yelled in Bart’s face before the man in overalls could drag him off. “Hitting a woman. Does that make you feel strong? You’re scum!”

  Katie was back on her feet. Her cheek was red but her head was high. She put her hands behind her back.

  “Don’t sign it,” Will said. “It’s the only way for you to stay alive.”

  “A lot you know,” Bart said. “If I have to, I’ll get her signature forged. But I’ll make sure she sees her parents are killed in front of her. She’ll go to her grave knowing what she caused.”

  Tears leaked from Katie’s eyes. “I can’t believe you’d do something so horrible,” she said, her voice low.

  “I will,” he hissed. He grabbed her arm and took a few steps toward the buggy. “Come on. We’ll go fetch them right now. They’re expecting the happy couple anyway.”

  “No,” she said, wrenching her arm from his grasp. “No. I’ll sign it.”

  “Don’t do it, Katie!” Will burst out. “He’ll kill you the minute you’ve signed.”

  She looked at him with regret and resignation in her eyes, then took the pen Bart handed her and signed the document.

  Bart grabbed it from her hands. “Get rid of both of them,” he told Masters. “I’ll get this recorded tomorrow.”

  “What about Jennie?” Katie asked. “What will happen to her?”

  Will glanced from her to Bart. “Why would he determine what happens to her?”

  “She’s his daughter,” Katie whispered. “What about Jennie, Bart? Don’t hurt her.”

  Bart shrugged. “Maybe your friend Addie will adopt her. If not, I suspect she’ll end up in an orphanage. Or perhaps I can convince your mother she is Albert’s daughter.” He laughed. “I have no interest in her.”

  THIRTY-FOUR

  THE SEA BREEZE ruffled Katie’s hair and tugged at her bonnet. The sky showcased hues of magenta and indigo as sunset approached. The boat rounded a finger of land and she saw Wedding Cake Rock looming in the distance. Terror replaced her elation from earlier in the day when she thought the rock might be a clue. But now the only thing ahead of them was certain death.

  She sought solace in Will’s gaze. If she had to die, at least they would die together. He smiled but his eyes were dark pools of regret. The sailboat dropped anchor in the bay and Bart lowered the dinghy.

  “You first, my dear,” he said, smiling. He grabbed Katie’s arm and helped her down into the boat. “Now your poor knight.” He practically shoved Will into the boat, and he fell heavily onto the bottom. “Chesterton, get down there and make sure they don’t jump overboard.” The man in overalls nodded and jumped into the boat.

  Katie knelt beside Will. She helped him to a seat as Bart and Masters descended to the dinghy. The men guided the boat past Wedding Cake Rock to the wild shoreline.

  “Try to loosen my ropes,” Will whispered.

  She sat closely beside him and slid one hand around to his wrists. Her fingers tore at the rough rope, but if she’d managed to loosen them at all, she couldn’t tell it.

  “Get away from him,” Bart ordered.

  Katie moved to the center seat. It was only moments until the boat scraped bottom at the shore. The men piled out and Bart helped her into the water. The waves soaked her skirt to her knees as she slogged to land.

  “That way,” Masters said, pointing to a barely perceptible trail through the ferns and weeds.

  Their captors marched them through the vegetation that crowded in on every side. Birds were beginning to find their night perches in the trees and the forest was silent except for the snap of breaking twigs and the tromp of feet. In a clearing up ahead, Katie could just make out the remains of the old gold mine. How long before the men shot them? Surely they would wait until they were close to the shaft that they intended to hide their bodies.

  She prayed to meet death with courage. Now that it faced her, she found the peace she’d been looking for. It had been here all along. All she’d had to do was trust in God and remember that her future wasn’t here in this place but in heaven. She’d looked at this temporary world too much and at eternity too little. Such a revelation, and it came too late to change her actions with other people. T
he control she sought had all been an illusion.

  Fred stepped past them to what appeared to be a cellar door. He heaved it open to reveal a yawning darkness. When he turned back around, his pistol was up and pointed at Will’s chest.

  “No!” she screamed, throwing herself in front of Will. Her movement was mistimed and she barreled into Will. They both went down in a heap as the revolver discharged. She felt the wind of the bullet as it passed.

  “Imbecile!” Masters snapped. “Get them in front of the shaft. I don’t want blood on the ground.”

  He moved toward them but Will erupted in a flurry. He leaped onto Chesterton and both men fell into the shaft. One of the men shouted as they fell and Katie’s throat closed. She scrambled to her feet and ran to the open shaft.

  “Perhaps we can let the mine itself do the job,” Bart said. He moved toward her.

  Katie knew he intended to throw her into the shaft as well. She could do nothing for Will now, so she dodged Bart and ran for the forest. The darkness was falling fast. Perhaps she could escape Bart and Masters then circle back to the boat and get help. She found a thick swath of ferns and dived into them, burrowing into their covering.

  Holding her breath, she listened for footsteps. She was about to think they’d taken another path when she heard the stealthy snap of a twig three feet from where she lay. Barely daring to breathe, she strained to see through the deep shadows. There, was that a boot? Yes. The man moved on past her then came back. It wasn’t until he spoke that she realized it was Bart.

  “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.”

  THIRTY-FIVE

  STANDING BESIDE WILL 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 mornin
g’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.