"It may be better for us to stay together. Sophronia may not welcome an uninvited guest," Mercy said.
"I would rather coax her back and as a woman you might be more persuasive than I am," Nathaniel said though he was not sure. It had seemed a brilliant and even romantic notion to board a ship and cross the ocean to take his wife back but the idea that she might resist him was starting to plague him. He tried to push the thought out of his mind. They had to locate her first. They had made inquiries at the harbor near their home and people did seem to remember a woman of Sophronia's description boarding a boat for America. That had been encouraging however he had not thought about how large America was. If she had not returned to her mother's home he was not sure how she could be located.
Nathaniel led Mercy past lines of crates and barrels and into an open space that likely held shops and stalls later in the day but now was eerily silent and cast in shadow. Mercy's grip on his hand tightened as one of those shadows slunk out before them.
It took a moment in the dim light for Nathaniel to realize that the shadow before him was a very large and very dark man.
He could barely see the man's lips move in the shadows.
"Excuse me sir but have you misplaced a particularly precious valuable?" The shadowy man's voice was deep but not menacing. Still, Nathaniel could smell the fear emanating off of Mercy as she moved against him and squeezed his hand until he had the sensation of needles pricking it.
"As a matter of fact I have," Nathaniel said. He likely would not have replied to the man at all except that he had the scent of a were-creature. He was not a werewolf but he was also no ordinary man.
"And what is the nature of the valuable you are searching for?"
Nathaniel hesitated. This man would not have accosted him unless he had some information about Sophronia. Still, he could be either friend or foe.
"My wife is missing," Nathaniel said.
"Who is this young woman clinging to you?"
"She is my sister," Nathaniel said.
"Curious," the shadowy man said. Nathaniel guessed he meant that Mercy did not exude the were-creature smell that the shadow likely was getting from him.
"My name is Mercy," she squeaked.
"And the name of your brother?"
"Nathaniel Wolstenholme."
The shadow seemed to shrink an inch. Nathaniel guessed he had been standing especially straight to increase the intimidation of his appearance. In these dark times Nathaniel could not really blame him.
"I can help you but I would not speak here in the open. There is a safe house nearby. Will you follow me there?"
"After you give me your name," Nathaniel said.
"Adam," the shadow said.
Nathaniel nodded. He had little choice but to follow the man where he led. He would face any trial to find Sophronia and if this man could give him even the most insignificant clue to his wife's whereabouts then he had to cooperate.
Adam moved with stealth for a man of his size. Nathaniel was hard pressed to keep up with him while guiding Mercy.
The scent of were-creature emanated from the building that Adam led them to. It was a dilapidated house in a clearly impoverished area. Mercy resisted for a moment and Nathaniel had to reach his arm behind her back and pull her forward. They crossed the threshold of the house and went from darkness into a dimly lit single room building that might have been a home or perhaps a store front at one time. The light was not from gas lamps but from candles.
Three men and two women sat cross legged on skins laid on the rotting wood planks that made up the floor. One of the men dipped water from a barrel and offered him the cup.
Nathaniel gracefully declined.
"I am sorry I was unable to be more direct. Your wife is in our care and we wanted to make sure that we did not reveal her location to anyone who might mean her harm. Not with her current condition," Adam said.
"Is she hurt?" Nathaniel asked. He could feel his heart speed up. If someone had hurt her he swore that he would have their life.
"She is safe and well. My sister suspects that your wife has a were-child within her. If she and the pup were to fall into the wrong hands it would be quite unfortunate," Adam said.
"If you can smell the were on me you should guess that I would never harm any were-child whether it belonged to me or another," Nathaniel said.
"And yet a werewolf who, if your wife is to be believed, is your own sister-in-law is living with a man who trades the pelts of were-animals," Adam said.
"No! She must be a hostage," Mercy cried.
"When we first learned of her location we also believed that and we began a mission intended to lend her aid. The information returned by our scouts indicates that she is there of her own will and that she is privy to, if not involved in, the activities of Seidel."
"Seidel?"
"We are still gathering information. Seidel sends ruffians out to acquire the pelts. They come to his home for inspection and then are discreetly shipped out to a seller we have not yet been able to locate."
"John Jacob Astor," Nathaniel said grimly.
"The real estate mogul?" The questioner was the man who had offered him water.
"We have only speculation but we questioned the sea captain who brought us here and he heard that Astor might have pretended to get out of the fur trade and into real estate to throw everyone off his trail," Nathaniel said.
"That is an interesting theory. I will take it to my sister and see what she wishes us to do," Adam said.
"Please, will you take me to my wife first?" Nathaniel asked. Hearing that Sophronia was carrying his baby had made his desperation to see her even more intense.
"She is with my sister. As soon as dawn arrives I will take you to her," Adam promised.
For Nathaniel, dawn could not come soon enough.
Sophronia rolled to her other side as she tried to find a comfortable position. She missed her bed. She missed home. More desperately, she missed Keturah and Nathaniel.
She wondered if her daughter would even remember her once she returned home. It would break her heart if her own child did not know her. Keturah was far too young to understand why she had thought she had to leave but that did not mean that the child would not know she was gone. She would never leave her baby again. Nor would she ever desert the child that was inside of her now.
Once Una had told her she was carrying another werechild she began to see the signs. The illness on the boat that she had taken for seasickness persisted. Beyond that she felt as if she could sense the child. Unlike Keturah, who she had not felt a sense of love or bonding to until she held her in her arms, Sophronia already felt closeness to the child within her and a deep maternal love. She wanted to believe it was because she had never been a mother before Keturah and so did not know the way that mother's love felt. Now, she had already loved a child and her heart knew how to love the babe even though it was too small to feel moving inside her.
Of course, it was also easier to love this child because she loved his father and understood the nature of the child she carried.
Deep in her heart she knew the child growing within her was a son. As she rolled to her side she put her palm flat against her belly and she could almost sense him there inside her. She wanted nothing more than to protect him.
The sound of hoof beats made her raise her head. Una and the other women who slumbered nearby also must have heard the noise.
She watched them sniff the air and wished that she had their extraordinary senses. Then, Una pulled back the furs that she was using as blankets and stood up.
"Adam has brought your people," Una said.
Sophronia's heart pounded in her chest as she struggled to rise from the floor. Could it really be true that Nathaniel was here?
Nathaniel had been surprised by Adam's horse. He had been surprised at the distance the werebears traveled from their home. He was surprised by the poverty of the werebears and the primitive living conditions they did not seem to m
ind living in.
Most surprising of all though was seeing Sophronia emerge from one of the ramshackle huts dressed in skins and looking more savage than aristocrat.
He slid off the horse clumsily and rushed forward to take her in his arms. Adam had been right that her scent was different though he might not have realized that the change in her scent was caused by his baby within her.
"I am so very sorry," Sophronia said. He felt her body trembling in his arms and he pulled her back to see that she had tears flowing down her cheeks.
"No. I can only imagine what a shock I gave you. I should never have left when you were in such a state," Nathaniel said.
"Is Keturah well?"
"Our daughter is in Alice's expert care. Claire is supervising the nursery. Nothing will go amiss that she cannot handle. Adam told me that you located Vivian. I sent the news to Claire. I am sure she will be most grateful to you."
"Not if what Adam suspects is true," Sophronia said.
"The pack leaders will deal with any transgressions she may have committed. Claire will just want her brought home safe," Nathaniel said.
Mercy appeared at his side a moment later and he released Sophronia so that Mercy could engulf her in her arms.
"I did not expect to see you as well," Sophronia said.
"Father wanted Nathaniel to wait until after the next full moon to search for you but he refused. I went with Nathaniel to make sure he was safe while he was in his wolf form. I am glad I did come. There has been much to see and learn," Mercy said.
"What happens now? Will we be returning to Wolstenholme?" Sophronia asked.
"You and Mercy will go. I sent word to my father about what has happened. I believe that he and several other pack leaders will come here to investigate the allegations against Vivian and to put an end to this fur banditry. I will wait for them to arrive and join them in seeking justice," Nathaniel said.
"If you are to remain here then want to stay here as well," Sophronia said.
"I will feel better if I know you are safe at Wolstenholme," Nathaniel protested. He wanted her and his unborn child within the walls of the Wolstenholme estate and far away from Astor, Seidel, and the murdering scoundrels who worked for him.
"You cannot possibly mean to send us away," Mercy said. The look on Sophronia's face showed Mercy's thoughts mirrored her own.
"Would you not feel safer escorting us back yourself?" Sophronia asked.
"It will take time for father and his companions to arrive," Nathaniel said.
"You are welcome to stay here until your people come," a woman he had not yet met said. She was also wearing animal skins. She carried herself like an aristocrat and he immediately sensed that she was the alpha of the clan. He glanced around for her male counterpart but did not see one. He turned to Adam, unsure what to do or say next.
"If Una says you may stay then you have the protection of our clan," Adam said.
"We have a hut that can be emptied for you and your wife to stay in while you are with us. Your sister can share my abode if she likes. It would perhaps be wise for you to get to know us and us to know you if we plan to be allies against the fur traders. You are not alone in being hunted. We have lost half a dozen members of our clan. I wish to retrieve their furs, if possible, and return the furs to the resting place of their bodies. It is difficult for a spirit to be at peace when the body is not together," Una said.
"What of the other werebear packs? Will they join with you?"
"They would if they were able. Since the white man came to this land many of our people have died from disease or been killed by your kinsman. Those who lived have been removed from the land of their ancestors and forced on to reservations. We were only able to avoid relocation to a reservation because of our apparent African heritage. If we had only the blood of our mothers and grandmothers flowing through us we would have been forced onto reservations with our kin. My mother split the clan in two. I took the members whose fathers were free blacks. Everyone else went with my mother to the reservations. It is difficult for my kinsman to leave the reservations to fight these poachers. We are small in number. If we still had the full strength of the tribe behind us we would have already dealt with these matters ourselves. Seidel's hunters are many and we are few. In our bear form they do not stand a chance against us but in our human form I believe an attack from us would do little more than decimate my people and with already declining numbers I could not risk that," Una said.
"I am sorry that has happened to you," Nathaniel said. "Our packs have also been reduced from the recent wars. Many of our women are marrying non-were and so we are having fewer and fewer were-children born into our pack," Nathaniel said.
"It is different from what we do," Una said. "Like you, we have many more women than men. We have done away with traditional couplings and simply shared the men that remain as much as we are able without consanguinity. It is not an easy task. The men of our mother's tribes are werebear but living on reservations. Our father's people are werepanthers if they are were at all. We are a rarity amongst our people."
"What happens if a werepanther and a werebear have a child?" Nathaniel asked.
"None have lived long enough to say," Una said.
It seemed as if her people were in much more dire straights than his own. He wished he had a way to help them but at the moment there was nothing to be done but to stop the poachers who were diminishing their already limited numbers.
Chapter 27
Sophronia could feel the change in the air as days passed in the werebear encampment. Even if no one had told her that the full moon was approaching she might have guessed it from the tension.
She and Mercy helped Una and the other women smoke meats and grind seeds and nuts into fine powder for breads.
"Tomorrow we will pack the supplies we need and then we will make our way to Bear Mountain," Una explained.
"Who guards the mountain during the moon?" Nathaniel asked. She had been attuned to his restlessness for days. Una had tried to put him to use but he had difficulties being still. At the moment he was cutting meat strips as Una had showed him to but every few moments he would put the meat and knife down and walk around them in circles for a few moments before returning to his seat.
"Bear Mountain has a reputation as being dangerous. Very few people bother it and if someone was foolhardy enough to go there during the moon they deserved the consequences. When we started finding skinned werebears we recruited a few people to stand guard at the most likely places where one could scale the mountain. There are only so many ways up and most would leave an intruder unsheltered and easy to see," Una said.
"Have you ever had a werewolf join you at the moon?"
"We have not. Though there was a pack of werepanther who joined us for a time. That was when we were attempting to see if a union between werepanther and werebear resulted in one, the other, or another were-creature child. There were never any concerns. I will not say I guarantee your safety but I have no reason to believe harm will come to you," Una assured him.
"My wife and sister?" Nathaniel asked. Sophronia wished he would relax. His restlessness was making her anxious. She did not know why he could not simply trust Una as she did.
"They will be safe here. There are a few in our number who are not werebear and who will be here to serve as protection should it be needed. Even so, look around you. We appear exactly as what we are. This is an impoverished encampment of the children of blacks who were either freed or runaway slaves. Most people do not even see my mother's people in us. They see only the color of our flesh. We are like hundreds of other encampments. People do not want to see us and so they do not," Una said.
He continued to pace until the sound of hoof beats filled the air. Sophronia watched him hurry in the direction of the horses and she shook her head.
"This is unusual. Even near a full moon," Mercy whispered to her. "It could be that his unrest is caused by being separated from the pack but he was not like this o
n the ship."
"I believe he is anxious about the fate of the other werewolf," Una said. "Adam met with me privately and told me that Nathaniel asked him to attempt to bring the she-wolf back when they returned. He should have made his request to me but I will forgive him for being ignorant of our ways. I told my brother that if the she-wolf seemed to be in danger or being held against her will that they could intervene. Otherwise, it is a problem for the werewolf and not us. I will not risk the lives of my people on a rogue wolf," Una said. Her words were not unkind but they were stern.
"My brother is an idiot," Mercy said.
"He loves Claire. I am sure she would be heartbroken if anything became of her sister," Sophronia said. She did not like Vivian but she did care for Claire. If her own sister was missing she would hope that Nathaniel and even Eldon would help her find her missing sister. Vivian was family.
"I do not believe this is about Claire," Mercy said.
"Is it another werewolf thing I cannot understand?" Sophronia asked. Una had been kind enough to answer the questions she had about the werebear and Sophronia was trying to learn and understand what she could before returning to Wolstenholme. She thought that if Nathaniel had indeed stayed with her that morning and answered her questions she might not have been terrified enough to run away. Knowing only that her husband could become a wolf was terrifying but as she tried to understand the ways of the werebear she found herself fascinated as she might be if she was exploring Antarctica. Hearing the trials they faced made her feel much the way abolitionist speakers had made her feel about slavery and helping escaped slaves. Werebears might be different from her but they were still human and they were more alike than they were different. Werebears might turn into bears under the full moon but they also lived, loved, learned, cried, and bled just as she and her sisters did.
The Werewolf's Pregnant Bride Page 18
