“Keep your hands off of her until I get back, One Eye. I don’t want anyone but me going in there. Understand?”
“Aye, Cap. I understand.” The sailor leered in the direction of the cabin.
Claudia’s abductor stalked down the gangplank, climbing back onto the carriage and turning it toward town. Micah and his men shrank back into the shadows as the vehicle passed by them. The boys waved from their perch, then drew themselves back into the dark.
After a few minutes a single horse and rider followed the carriage as it left. Henderson would protect the boys.
“Cain, you and Simon work your way up to the sides of the ship. If I can get her out of there without any problems, then so be it. If not, be prepared to give assistance.”
Micah stood and approached the ship.
“How’s he going to get her out of there, without being seen?” Cain asked Simon as they ducked behind crates, working their way to the pier.
“Didn’t you notice the one that took Miz Turner, Colonel?” Simon asked, waiting for Cain to acknowledge he had. “Micah’s a dead ringer for the man, seeing as how he’s his brother and all.”
“What?”
“Half-brother actually. So my guess is he’ll just walk right past them to get to her.”
“Safest plan I’ve ever heard.” Cain’s sarcasm hung in the air as the two men on the ship parted to flank the gang plank and await any trouble.
Belying the anxiety he felt down to his very soul Micah walked confidently through the settling fog to the gangplank of the gently swaying clipper. His wife was on board this ship, and it was up to him alone to bring her off of it safely. Luckily for him, his brother had spent many years trying to mimic him in every way, especially his speech, walk and mannerisms. Just being himself should get him on board without difficulty.
“Back so quick, Cap’n?” the sailor named One Eye asked as he stepped onto the deck.
“The party wasn’t as interesting as the piece of baggage, One Eye, if you know what I mean.”
“Aye, Cap’n that I do.”
“Good, then see that I’m not disturbed, no matter what.”
“This one going to be as noisy as the last one, Cap’n?” The other sailor joined in from his spot.
“Don’t know. Never can tell by looking.” Micah opened the door to the hall leading to the captain’s quarters, closing it on the two men’s bawdy laughter behind him. There were two doors in front of him. One was opened and appeared to be the bunks of the first and second mates. The second one was closed. Micah twisted the knob, finding it locked.
“Claudia,” he whispered into the doorframe. “Claudia, can you hear me? It’s Micah. The door is locked and I can’t get to you. You have to open it from in there.”
“Micah?” A hazy whisper came from the other side of the door. “Is that really you?”
“Yes, it’s me. We’ve got to get you out of there as quickly and quietly as possible. Can you pick the—” A click come from inside the room. “—lock?”
“I’ve been practicing.” She smiled up at him as he pushed his way into the room, closing the door behind them. He grabbed her by both arms and hauled her up against his chest. His lips claimed hers like a man devouring his first meal in weeks.
“It really is you,” she said against his lips. “He sounded just like you, and looked like you, and talked like you—only he wasn’t you.”
“No, little one, he wasn’t me. It was Stephen.”
“Your brother?”
“Yes.” Micah released her to drape his cape over her gown.
“I thought so, just before he hit me. But why? Why would he want to abduct me? You don’t suppose he knows I’ve been investigating the senator’s murder, do you?”
“No, Claudia, I don’t.” Micah walked her toward the door
“Then why?” She dug her feet into the floor, halting their progress any further.
“We don’t have time for explanations now. I want to get you out of here before anything else happens to you. I’ll answer all of your questions when we get home.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” He kissed her once more. “Now, I want you to pretend you’re still unconscious, so I can carry you out of here the way you came in. Do you think you can do that?”
“I wasn’t unconscious when Stephen carried me in here.”
“Good. Here we go.” Taking one of her arms over his head, he lifted her onto his shoulder. Once in a secure position, her body went completely limp. The added weight caused Micah’s shoulder to slump. It gave him the appearance of carrying dead weight.
He walked back down the hall and onto the deck, then headed straight for the gangplank. He expected to be stopped at least for bedeviling by the crew, but was surprised to reach the gangplank and then the pier without a single comment from the sailors. Kelly awaited their departure atop their own carriage. Micah stopped in front of the door to lower his wife to the ground, when the door opened from inside to reveal Cain already seated.
Once Claudia was seated safely at Micah’s side, and the carriage en route to their home, he visibly relaxed.
“I take it One Eye and his companions became a little curious?”
“Careless is more the word for it,” Cain said with his usual grin “Simon and I decided no witnesses at this point in time was better for our cause. Once I get my horse back from Henderson, I’ll rejoin Simon at the Whaler’s Reef and see what he found on board.”
“You mean Simon is still back there on that ship?” Claudia turned to look out the window.
“He thought Micah might want to know what or who was in that hold.”
“I don’t think she’s there, Cain.” Micah drew Claudia closer as he stared out the window. “Somehow I think I would have known.”
“I know she’s all right, Micah.” Claudia leaned into the strength of her husband.
He inhaled her scent and held her tighter. “At least one of my ladies is safe for tonight, little one.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Claudia sat in her nightdress at her dressing table brushing out her hair when she heard Micah enter the room. He walked over to stand behind her, lightly touching her hair.
“Are you all right?” The concern in his voice made Claudia look up at him. There was matching worry in his eyes.
“My jaw hurts a bit, but other than that, I don’t think I’ve suffered too much at the brute’s hand.”
Micah moved the lamp closer to her face. A purple imprint was visible along her jaw.
“I’ll kill him.” He set the lamp back down and paced the room, his anger a palpable thing. “I swear, this time I’ll kill him.”
“Micah, I’m all right.” Claudia walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him, trying to calm him down. “See, I’m all right. This is nothing as bad as my father used to do to me. Please calm down.”
“Lord, I’m sorry, Claudia.” He crushed her to him. “I promised you no one would ever hurt you again. Yet here you are suffering because of a feud between my brother and myself.”
Just then a hesitant knock came at the door. Henderson stood at the door bearing a towel and bowl of chipped ice.
“I believe you might need this, Claudia.” He set it on the dressing table, his face a mixture of anger and sadness.
“Thank you, Robert.” She gave him a tender smile. More than once in her life he’d provided these items for her.
“Did you discover Stephen’s destination?” Micah asked.
“Yes, sir. It was an estate not too far from the capital and near enough for access to the river.”
“Good. I’ll need the exact address in the morning.”
“The boys are home safe?” Claudia asked, not wanting to think about Micah visiting his brother tomorrow.
“Yes. They’re tucked into bed. Their adventures tonight completely exhausted them. I believe we might all sleep in tomorrow. Good night, then.” Henderson started to bow, a leftover action of his years as the butler, bu
t stopped when he remembered they considered him a partner, not a servant, and strode to the door.
“Good night.” The two answered in unison as he closed the door.
“Let’s get you into bed, too.” Micah ushered her under the covers. Then picking up the tray, he brought it over to sit on the bed beside her. He placed a good amount of the ice into the cloth, gently holding it to her swollen jaw. “This should take some of the swelling out of it, at least.”
Claudia covered his hand with hers. “Micah, tell me about your family. All of it.”
“It’s a sordid affair. Are you sure you want to hear it?”
“Yes, I do. More importantly, I think you need to tell someone. Who better than your wife?”
Micah walked to the dressing table and turned out the kerosene lamp. Claudia held the ice pack on her jaw while she listened to the sounds of his clothes hitting the floor. The bed creaked under his weight as he settled onto the bed beside her. Micah stretched out, drawing her up next to him. He held her head down on his chest, lightly stroking her hair with his hand.
The full tale was known only to one other person—Julia Turner, his cold hearted, self serving stepmother. He hoped Claudia wouldn’t hate him for what she was about to hear. But as his wife, she at least deserved the truth about the man to whom she was married.
“When I was six years old, my mother gave birth to my younger sister Patrice. She was a very beautiful girl with hair like my mother’s, a light wheat-blonde, and the same silver-grey eyes that my mother and I already shared. But not long afterwards my mother became ill and died, leaving my father alone to raise two small children.
“He managed well with the help of our mammy Chloe, and we never wanted for love nor attention. When I was eight and Patrice was two, father went away to Richmond. There, he met Julia. Before anyone knew it they were married and she was instilled in our home as our new stepmother.
“She was quite beautiful and very young, but my father seemed to truly love her, so I tried to accept her. Patrice was so little, she doted on everything Julia said or did. Julia acted the part of the caring mother until she became pregnant with and delivered her first child, Stephen. He looked just like I had at birth except as he grew older he had the same ice blue eyes of his mother. Julia became less enamored of my sister and I. She began complaining about everything Patrice and I did, most of which were lies.”
He squeezed Claudia closer as he paused a moment, then continued. “At first, I attempted to defend Patrice and myself from her treachery, but learned then that my father’s love for her was greater than his love for us. So, when she suggested that I be sent away to military school and Patrice to a school for young ladies, it was almost a relief from the tension we were living under. We were only allowed to return home on holidays and for summer vacations. By the time I was fifteen, I even limited the time to summer, spending my holidays with my friends from the academy.”
He drew in a ragged breath, calming the anger and hurt the tale rekindled inside him. “The summer before the war broke out,” he continued, “I came home permanently, my father foreseeing the trouble yet to come. Again, there was tension from my stepmother, but this time it was her hot blooded pursuit of me. Even at the age of fifteen, I had the body frame of a full-grown man and the desires to go along with it. Heck, I’d already had several experiences with women while I was away at the academy.”
“And I bet they just loved you for it, too.” Claudia chuckled against his chest.
He squeezed her tight, chuckling softly, a little of the tension leaving him at her teasing. “Why yes, they did.”
After a moment, a deep sigh escaped him. “I recognized her sexual advances for what they were—a bored southern belle, who had lost interest in her husband. She’d bore a set of twin girls to my father five years earlier, but my father was showing less interest in the physical relationship of their marriage as he aged. She was on the prowl for someone to take his place.
“I began working out in the fields with the slaves to learn more about cotton production and to keep out of Julia’s sight. This only served to anger her and put my father on the defensive. He couldn’t understand why his son would prefer to do physical labor with the slaves rather than attend to family business, balls and hunting parties. I couldn’t tell him his wife was making advances to me whenever I was in the house, so I had to allow him to believe I was a rebellious son.”
He took another deep breath. “It wasn’t just Julia that I had to watch out for. Stephen followed my every movement when I was at the big house. He watched and mimicked how I ate, walked, or moved. I even caught him imitating my speech in his mirror. At the age of eight, he was trying to be me. If he wasn’t watching me, Julia was cornering me in my room, or the library, or the garden, rubbing her body and hands all over my muscles. It became so bad, I took up drinking my father’s brandy at night so I could safely lock my door and fall asleep without having visions of her in my dreams.”
Claudia stroked her hand over his chest in a comforting motion. He reached down, grasped her hand, bringing it to his lips. Her tender touch and comfort eased the telling a little, but he knew the full story would horrify her.
“Finally, all this came to a dramatic conclusion. My father held a ball to raise troops to serve in the Georgia militia. He demanded that I attend as his oldest and only eligible son. No excuse would get me out of my duty, so I made my appearance. It was just after South Carolina had fired on Fort Sumter, so spirits ran high on how we’d shown those Northern blue-bellies a thing or two.
“I drank heavily with the other young men who were signing up to serve. The more I drank the more I didn’t care about Julia—or my father. I made a fool of myself with one of the young ladies and my father threw me out of the house. Which was my intention in the first place.”
Claudia gently wrapped her arms around him at the rising anger in his voice.
“I continued drinking out in the stable until most of the guests had departed. Then I somehow made it up to my room. But because I’d consumed so much liquor, I forgot to lock my door. Julia, being the bitch in heat that she was, took full advantage of the situation.
“I could give you numerous excuses, such as the alcohol or my body being so responsive to finding a woman in my bed, but I truthfully have to say that I hoped my father would see her for what she was and make her leave. But before I could prevent anything too serious from happening, she had my pants off me and was riding me hard and heavy. Then she twisted us around, I climaxed just as Stephen opened the door to show my father what was going on.”
“Oh, my Lord,” Claudia whispered.
“To my father, all he saw was his oldest son raping his wife in his own home. That night, I lost a father and a home. I argued that she’d forced her way into my room, but the old man wouldn’t listen. We fought long and hard, actually coming to blows. For a man near fifty, my father was still a powerful man. I left with my horse and gun, the clothes on my back, two broken ribs, and a battered face. Somehow, I managed to make my way to Virginia, where Nathan lived with his family. They took me in until both Nathan and I could join the first Virginia regiment.”
“Oh, Micah.” Claudia hugged him with her free arm, trying to comfort him.
“I spent the next four years killing Yankees,” Micah let the words pour out, no longer capable of keeping the story back. “We were always deep in the woods as scouts and forward spies for General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. With my life and the lives of my men always in jeopardy, I had little time to think about my family and its problems. I also grew up during that time. I realized I’d had as much to do with the events that happened and the one who really suffered was my father. Nathan and I talked long and hard on the subject. I decided that when the war was over I would ask my father’s forgiveness, then travel out west to find my own future with Nathan.
“Only that too, was to be denied to me. After the battle of bloody Shiloh, I received word that my father was killed on
those grounds. I never got the chance to seek his forgiveness. When the war was over, Nathan and I traveled back to Georgia to see how my family was making out under reconstruction.
“What awaited my return shocked me to the core and changed my life forever.”
“Was the plantation completely ruined?”
“No. It was in good condition. Julia had entertained several different Union officers while they burned and pillaged our neighbors’ land. She loved that property, and had done whatever it took to protect it.”
He held Claudia tight for a moment. The tension in him seemed to permeate the very air about them.
“What I found there was a four year old boy, named Henry James Turner, after my grandfather. He was a beautiful young lad—earnest and hard working. His laughter lit up the room whenever Stephen wasn’t around. Stephen tormented the boy to no end.”
“Claudia,” he said, tilting her chin up so he could see her face, “that little boy had the same silver eyes Patrice and I shared. The eyes we shared with our mother.
“Henry was my son.”
The silence hung like a thick cloud in the room.
Micah wondered what form of retribution Claudia’s anger would take for tricking her into marrying him. For wasn’t he a murderer as well as a fornicator and cad? Hadn’t he slaked his lust in the first body offered him regardless of the consequences? Hadn’t he set into motion those events that would lead to the birth of an illegitimate son and the death of his own father? Now her reputation was completely destroyed because she’d married a monster of a man.
He held his breath, waiting for her condemnation.
A single tear fell wet upon his chest. Then a second, followed by another and another.
“Oh, Micah.” Claudia squeezed him tighter. Her tears flowed across him and over him. Healing tears of forgiveness. Not forgiveness for his sins, but for the guilt he’d borne all these years. And suddenly he knew he could forgive himself for acts that he’d played a part in. His tears silently flowed out to mingle with hers. They held each other until the storm passed.
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