She was not being entirely truthful, but could not give him what he asked. Charles' first instinct was to go after their son, give the girl into the care of the Mission and devil take the hindmost. Abigail expected no less.
Senior went to his office regardless of the lack of sleep. Abigail took advantage of his absence to take care of the matter of Anya's relatives. Hoping this requested meeting was simply to inform Charles Junior of their decision, she made ready to leave. With shaking hands, she slipped on her gloves while preparing to take a cab. Driving her small surrey was not an option. She was too upset and city traffic was too brisk for inattention.
After instructing the driver to please wait, Abigail knocked on the door to the Devins home.
Camille Bressoff answered. "Come in Mrs. Keetering. We were expecting Charles."
Closing the door behind Abigail, Camille led her into the garden where Leontine waited.
On seeing Abigail and not Charles, Leontine rose. "Mrs. Keetering, where is Charles?"
Abigail's hands were trembling and she reached out for the back of a chair to steady herself.
Camille noticed her condition and pulled out a chair for the older woman. "Please sit. What on earth? Charles is well, I hope?"
Abigail sat in the chair and slowly shook her head. "Please tell me why you wished to see Charles. He is well as far as I know, but..."
Leontine and Camille exchanged glances. Leontine took a seat in the chair next to Abigail. "Have you seen the valise Charles brought home?" Leontine asked his mother.
Abigail placed her gloves, palms together in her lap and stared at them. "I have seen it." She folded the gloves together and unfolded them again.
Camille, seated on Abigail's other side, reached out and took the older woman's hands in hers. "Did you look inside?" She questioned softly.
"No." Abigail shook her head. "He would not let it out of his sight until he had delivered it to you, her family."
"Would you mind looking inside? We have some questions it is likely only Charles can answer. I believe you will understand why if you look."
Leontine was watching Abigail closely, but the older woman did not notice.
"Mrs. Keetering." Camille reached under the wrought iron table to lift the bag onto the table. Snapping the latch open, Camille spread the top open and tilted it slightly so Mrs. Keetering might look inside. "What do you see here?"
Abigail looked inside the small case then up at the two women before responding. "Some papers and blood stains on the papers. A hand print perhaps on the smaller paper."
Leontine nodded. "We do not believe it is sufficient blood to bring one to the conclusion that Anya is dead. We feel this cannot be all that led Charles and the legation to determine she was dead. What additional evidence led to their conclusion? None of us understand the situation. It does not make sense."
Abigail felt her head swim. If Charles is wrong! If Anya is truly alive what on earth have we done? Abigail leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "He is gone. Charles is gone."
Camille was reluctant to press the older woman, but Leontine was not. "Where has he gone? Mrs. Keetering, what has happened?"
"Might I have a drink please?" Abigail needed time to recover.
"Will lemonade be acceptable?" Camille reached for the pitcher and one of the glasses, which sat on the table.
"Please." Abigail took several sips as she considered what information to give the other two women.
"Ladies, have you been keeping up on the Mission's activities on behalf of the Chinese girls being brought into this country for illegal and immoral purposes?"
Leontine and Camille nodded.
"Charles has become very involved in the project. So much so that he came to be at risk. He is presently in hiding from one of the tongs, we are not sure which one. It is doubtful he can return to San Francisco again."
Abigail decided that for the moment, perhaps forever, it would be best to leave Ying Hau out of the conversation.
"Oh dear!" Leontine recovered first. "That is not what we were hoping to hear. This means we will have no answers unless..."
Camille finished the sentence. "Unless you can contact him?"
Abigail took another drink of the lemonade. "Unfortunately, I have no way of reaching Charles. Frankly, I did not wish to have any avenue of communication, as it could give him away. This is quite serious. His life is absolutely in danger."
The other two women sat back to allow her information to sink in. Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"I would imagine this situation is quite difficult for you and Mr. Keetering." Camille reached out to take Abigail's hands again.
"More than you can imagine. Mr. Keetering is...was not in favor of Charles participating in the rescue efforts. As Charles is our only son ...if he is not able to return to San Francisco....his father's plans for him taking over the practice... everything is over."
"We do see the trouble this has caused you. We do not wish to add to your problems." Leontine absently patted Abigail's shoulder.
"If you are able to contact him. Please let us know. We are well able to be very discreet. It would help us immensely if we could just have a little time with Charles."
Abigail carefully placed the glass on the table. "I will keep it in mind. At this point I have no way of reaching him and no idea when, if ever, I shall."
"That is quite sufficient for the moment. Sorry this has all taken such a nasty turn." Camille rose from her chair. "It appears to me you have quite enough to deal with at the moment. We will not keep you. Shall we arrange for a cab?"
Abigail rose and pulled on her gloves. "No. I asked the driver to wait. I really do not feel well. I think I shall go home and take a rest. I do thank you, ladies, for your patience. As you both were prepared to meet with Charles without either of the gentlemen present, I see you were trying to put Charles at ease. I appreciate concern. Good day."
Camille saw Abigail to the door and returned to sit heavily in the chair Abigail had vacated. "Oh my goodness! What a mess this is! Now we have no way of discussing this with Charles either. Dear God! I hope I can keep Dmitri from going to Russia to ferret out the truth on his own." Camille was near tears.
Leontine passed her a handkerchief. "He certainly cannot do so. What with the other children to consider, how could he even think of it?"
Camille patted her eyes before leaning back in the chair. "Oh, he can think of it and has been doing so already. I know the man. Sitting back and letting someone else take charge is not in his nature. Worse, is the fact that at this point, no one is doing anything to find her."
Camille wadded the handkerchief into a tight ball. "Whatever are we going to do?"
The four of them sat in Leontine's garden. Camille and Leontine had related their conversation with Mrs. Keetering to Samuel and Dmitri.
Camille was terrified. Dmitri was utterly silent. Hands, clenched into fists, he sat silently sat in a chair. For a very long time, no one spoke. It was Devins who broke the silence.
"So, now both Charles and Anya are missing. I am terribly sorry to hear he is in trouble with the Chinese. Those fellows do not care who they hurt." Samuel rose from the chair.
"Come on Dmitri. Let's take a walk. I cannot just sit here."
Camille watched Dmitri stand up and nod to Samuel. Still, he was silent. Camille watched both men leave. She had no idea what she could say to Dmitri to give him any comfort.
Samuel shut the door behind them. "Dmitri, let's go to the top of the hill."
The city and the harbor lay before them. It had been a steep climb. Samuel leaned on his cane. Dmitri appeared lost in thought but Samuel knew better. He could sense the tension bottled up, waiting to explode. Dmitri used his cane to knock the heads from some weeds in their path.
Samuel felt it was time to say something. "You cannot do it, man. Camille and the children need you here. It would be different if it were any other country, but it is not."
Dmitri muttered som
ething Samuel did not catch, as he continued to slash at weeds. A large rock on the side of the path went flying as the Count's cane smashed into it.
"I know what he was doing. Charles, I understand exactly what he was doing." Another rock followed the first. Samuel was glad to see Dmitri was able to at least speak.
"So what do you think was going on with Keetering?" Devins asked.
"The boy was trying to help the Chinese girls to make up for what he did not do for Anya." No longer content with knocking rocks out of their path, Dmitri stooped down and picked up a rather large one, which he flung far to one side.
"That is reasonable assumption. It is too bad he got involved as deeply as he did." Samuel watched another rock go sailing. Good. He thought.
"Damn him to hell! If he had just listened to reason in the beginning. None," Another rock went sailing into the underbrush. "of this would have happened!"
A large boulder stood at the side of the trail. Dmitri strode over to it. Samuel followed and stood behind the taller man.
"I am caught in a vise!" Dmitri slashed at the boulder with the cane. The wood cracked. A piece of the wood went flying as Dmitri struck the boulder again. "Impotent! I can do nothing! It is killing me!"
The final pieces of the cane shattered. Dmitri was left holding only the handle as he stood there breathing heavily.
"Better?" Samuel asked quietly.
Dmitri leaned against the boulder. "I suppose. For the moment."
His voice was flat, Samuel knew Dmitri had spoken the truth when he said it was killing him.
"Dmitri, I cannot say what I would do if I were in your position. You are going to have to let go of this. I know of no other way to say it, you have to let go of her for the good of yourself and all those around you. I understand it is taking its toll on you. That is understandable. What if she had died? What then?"
"That is the problem. I do not know. I cannot point to a grave! I have no peace."
"Look Dmitri." Samuel moved closer to the other man and put a hand on his shoulder
"I do understand. I lost my only brother. He went down in the Pacific somewhere, or maybe it was rounding the Horn. I have no idea, he just never came home. No body, no grave, no ship, nothing. If you let this take over, it will eat you alive. You must give it up. Concentrate your efforts on making a good life for you and your family."
Dmitri glanced up at the older man. He had not known of Samuel's loss. The loss of a loved one in such a manner was devastating. It left wounds which never really healed, a man just went on.
"Do you know Samuel, I never ever thought you and I could be this close."
Samuel chuckled. "I certainly never did, either. But, I think both of us have changed. Neither of us are the same men we were when we first met. Life does place one in the oddest situations. Are you feeling up to walking back now?"
"I am, friend, thanks to you. It is as if there is no end to it any more. I nearly snapped." Dmitri pushed away from the boulder as he tossed the cane head into the bushes. The two men walked along in silence.
Camille got the call early in the morning, a few days after the meeting with Mrs. Keetering. Samuel told her Leontine was in labor. He had notified the doctor and the midwife. Camille quickly left the house.
Dmi and Lexie were left in Dmitri's and Ilyia's care. Dmitri planned to go over to the house in order to wait with Samuel as soon as the children were fed and dressed. As this was Samuel's first experience with childbirth, Dmitri knew he would be anxious. It did not help that Leontine was older and having their first child.
The two small children were fed with Dmitri overseeing breakfast. Ilyia drew a bath for Dmi while Dmitri kept Lexie busy. She sat on his lap, as he read the morning paper. Dmitri glanced at items here and there not paying particular attention to much of anything.
He kept his small daughter occupied by helping her find letters of the alphabet in the headlines. As he was paging through the papers, he did happen upon a small article regarding the rescue of Chinese girls from the slave trade.
He read with interest that certain gangs, apparently the reporter was reluctant to refer to them as tongs, were making a great deal of money from the unfortunate women they brought in. Since it was so highly illegal, Dmitri wondered how they were able to manage getting the women into California.
Once Ilyia had Dmi bathed and dressed, Dmitri took his coffee and Dmi outside. There he tossed the ball for Dmi to catch, as Ilyia bathed Lexie. Giving Ilyia some money to take the children to the market for treats when they were dressed, he left the house to go see Samuel.
The expectant father was pacing in the parlor. Samuel had been dismissed from the bedroom by the midwife. As Dmitri had anticipated, the man was quite nervous.
"Good morning Samuel."
Turning at the sound of Dmitri's voice, Samuel continued pacing before the windows. "I am not sure how good a morning it is. That woman chased me out!"
Dmitri nodded. "These things can take quite a while. But we really should stay where you can be reached quickly. I am going up to speak with Camille for a moment. Find a coat, Samuel, it is a bit cool this morning."
Leaving Samuel in the parlor, Dmitri went upstairs. Tapping lightly on the bedroom door, he waited for a response.
Camille came to the door. "Dmitri. Can you try to calm him down?'
He noted she did not appear upset or flustered. Things were probably progressing normally. "How is Leontine?"
"A bit better now that Samuel is not here. He was not helping." Camille stepped into the hallway, partially closing the door behind her. "If you can get him to relax it would help.
"We will be at the house. I sent the children and Ilyia out for a trip to the market. Let us know if anything happens sooner than expected. I will bring him home then." Dmitri bent to give Camille a kiss.
Samuel was reluctant to leave the house, but did so when Dmitri reassured him Camille would alert them to any changes.
"This will take some time." Dmitri unlocked the front door of his home and ushered Devins in. "Give me your coat and go into the kitchen. I have the morning paper, and I think the coffee is still warm."
Dmitri hung up the coat on the coat tree in the hall before following Samuel into the warmth of the kitchen. He poured each of them a cup of coffee from the pot on the back of the stove before taking a seat.
"They chased me out of my own bedroom!" Devins took a sip of the hot coffee and made a face. "I am not sure my stomach can take coffee this morning."
Dmitri sipped his own coffee as he eyed Devins. The man who usually took pains with his appearance, was looking quite rumpled. "I take it you did not get breakfast this morning?"
Samuel was running his hand repeatedly through his hair. "Well, no. I do not believe I did."
"Do you think you can get a couple of eggs down?" Dmitri rolled the coffee cup back and forth between his palms. "You need to be Leontine's anchor. In your present state, it will be difficult."
"I probably should have eaten something. How on earth have you gotten through this three times, Dmitri? I am worried sick about her. I could go home, I suppose and get cook to make something."
"That is not necessary, I am a fair camp cook. If you can eat scrambled eggs, I can cook them."
Devins laughed. "You continually surprise me Bressoff. I had no inkling cooking was among your talents."
Rising from the table, Dmitri looked over at the stove. "Out in the bush you either cook or starve. I was never ready to go without half way decent food even if I had to cook it. So, shall I make you some eggs?"
"Please. I would be very appreciative."
Devins watched as Dmitri went into the pantry. The tall man took an apron from a hook. Samuel chuckled a bit as he watched the Count slip the apron over his head and tie it around him.
"I must admit this is a first. Count Demitri Bressoff in an apron."
"Careful, Samuel. I might burn the eggs, or even leave some shell in."
With a grin Dmitri went to t
he icebox. He took two eggs and the butter out then lit the gas stove and placed a frying pan on the burner. After turning the heat down to low on the stove, he found a spatula. Nicking a bit of butter from the dish with the spatula, Dmitri tapped it into the pan.
"My goodness! You do know your way around the kitchen." Samuel noted in an awed tone.
In a short time Samuel had a plate of eggs in front of him. "Mummm, great, thanks!" The older man sighed out around a mouthful of food.
Dmitri put the apron back where he had found it and joined Samuel at the table. Sipping at his coffee, he watched the other man eat.
Finished, the older man sat back in the chair and picked up the coffee cup. "I had no idea how hungry I was."
Dmitri nodded. "Now you can go back home and help Leontine get your child into the world."
"How am I to do that?" Samuel questioned.
"Hold her hand, wipe her face." Dmitri smiled as a memory of Camille during Lexie's birth came to him. "Agree with her that you are a monster, for being the cause of all this in the first place."
"That bad?" Samuel looked at him over the rim of the coffee cup.
"Sometimes. Would you like more coffee?" Dmitri asked.
With a slight shake of his head, Samuel put the cup down on the table. "I am fine."
With a smile, Dmitri pulled a cigar from his pocket and he examined it. "I am going to tell you something. If you do what I have done, it will give you a memory which will take you through times when you think you cannot go one inch further."
The Russian clipped the end of the cigar with his teeth. "Once they lay that tiny little life in your hands, your heart is lost. Boy or girl, a part of you is gone forever. When they give the child to your wife to nurse, you can be fairly sure, all is well. Do not go into another room to allow her to sleep in peace. Lie with her, hold her. Watch them sleep and thank God, for his gifts."
Dmitri rose from the table. Taking a few steps away he puffed at the cigar lost in thought for a moment. Then he turned back to Devins. "Samuel, nothing in the whole world means as much to me as being Camille's husband and the father of our children. Nothing! Come on man. Let's get you home where you belong, Leontine needs you."
Daughter of the Raven Page 23
