The Hungry Heart Fulfilled (The Hunger of the Heart Series Book 3) Page 13

  Emer managed to eventually get herself reasonably comfortable in the hard wooden bed, and though a tiny chink in the wall of the airless cabin belowdecks, she could see the ship moving past the docks, on its way to Ireland.

  Emer’s terror for the safety of her child remained, but a new sense of the injustice of all Frederick Randall had done to her burned bright.

  Adrian and the others would find her, of that she was sure. And if she prayed hard enough, her son would be spared.

  Dalton would find his son. Emer wasn’t sure when or how, but the important thing was not to give up hope.

  Her head throbbing, Emer lay down flat on the bunk. She decided then and there that there was nothing she could do to alter the fact that her son was gone for the moment. She was trapped on this ship, bound for Ireland, sentenced to Australia if she couldn't find a way out of this predicament in the next few weeks.

  She would just have to make the best of her circumstances until she got to Cork, and plot and plan what to do next.

  Locked in the cabin, without even a view from a porthole to divert her attention, Emer determined that she would not give way to despair. She was trapped for the moment, true, but she could at least try to regain her strength, and, if possible, re-learn how to walk.

  As the Britannia headed for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Emer began to practice pushing herself up and down off the bed as many times as she could, building up her arm muscles.

  When she could do no more, she started massaging her own legs the way Adrian had taught her.

  She had come through the Famine, the journey of the Pegasus, and Grosse Ile. She had survived the dangerous fire at the orphanage, and even childbirth.

  Emer resolved that she would survive this voyage, and even the one to Australia if need be.

  She swore silently in her heart then, by all she held sacred, that she would survive to see her son and Dalton again, come what may. And she vowed that Frederick Randall would pay dearly for all he had done to harm her and her family.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Adrian, coming home late that evening to an empty house, wondered idly where everyone was. He knew that most of the servants had taken their day off as usual, but the housekeeper always left him a cold supper when they were going to be away, and at any rate she had been given strict instructions not to leave Emer alone.

  Sissy, Emer’s faithful maid, was nowhere to be found either. Adrian was just about to go upstairs to check on Emer and the baby when there was a loud hammering at the door. Adrian went back down to the hall to open it himself.

  “Joe, what on earth is the matter?” Adrian gasped, when the young man pushed passed him, and asked, “Where’s Emer? What’s happened?”

  “I’ve only just got home from a village about twenty miles away from here. I was just going up to check on Emer and the baby. Why, what do you think is wrong?” Adrian asked worriedly.

  “It’s Sissy. She’s in a terrible state, raving about Emer and the baby being gone, and how it’s all her fault. What do you think it could mean?”

  Adrian shook his head as they mounted the stairs together.

  “I don’t know. Emer was meant to be going for her rest cure down to Georgia tomorrow, but she couldn’t have left on her own, now could she?”

  “What about the servants? Could they have helped her leave?”

  “They're all meant to be taking their day off except the housekeeper. She doesn't seem to be here, though, so I suppose it's possible,” Adrian said.

  He pushed open the door to Emer’s room, and then glanced into the empty nursery with a sinking heart.

  Finding the rooms pitch black, and both Emer and William gone, the men proceeded to search the rooms more thoroughly.

  Once the oil lamps were lit, Joe observed, “There's a letter here from Emer to Dalton saying goodbye. And the baby’s usual things that Emer keeps beside her are gone.”

  Adrian frowned, and read Emer’s letter quickly. “Yes, but none of her bags are gone, though her cloak is missing. Most of what she planned to take is still here."

  "Are you sure?"

  Adrian pulled open another drawer, then nodded. "I helped her organize things myself."

  “But why would she sneak off like this and leave most of her things behind?” Joe puzzled.

  Adrian sighed. “Emer’s very independent, and as it says in the letter, she didn’t want to feel like a burden to anyone, but it still doesn’t make much sense. All the arrangements, tickets and everything, were made for tomorrow. To go today on a point of principle would have caused nothing but inconvenience, and a great deal of unnecessary expense. And that's even leaving aside the fact that she hasn’t taken any of her personal effects with her, let along what she needs for William,” Adrian argued.

  Joe froze then and pointed. “Look, Adrian, the pillowcases are gone.”

  “It looks like Emer left in a hurry, then. She must have just stuffed a few things into them, and vanished. But she couldn’t just walk out of her on her own two feet! My housekeeper might be with her, but why all the hurry and secrecy? You said Sissy was very upset. What exactly did she say?”

  “Sissy had run all the way from her to the ferry. She had just enough money to get across, and was exhausted and beside herself with what seemed to be fear. Myrtle had to give her something to calm her down. She should be fit to talk to us as soon as she wakes,” Joe replied.

  “I don’t understand it. What could have frightened her? Burglars? They might steal, but they certainly wouldn’t take a crippled woman, an old lady and a baby!” Adrian exclaimed, running his fingers through his sandy brown hair in frustration.

  “I don’t like it. But let’s not jump to any gloomy conclusions. Do your servants have any family? Is there anywhere they might have taken her or the child for a visit?”

  “It sounds most unlikely, but it might be worth a try.”

  “We have to try every idea, no matter how silly it may sound. She and the baby are gone, and we simply must find them,” Joe said urgently.

  “I’ll call in on all the families I know of. If you could go check the train and ferry depots, it would be a great help, Joe.”

  “I’m on my way. I’ll meet you back here in, say, an hour’s time.” Joe hurried off, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst with every step he took.

  Nearly all of Adrian’s servants reappeared that night or in the early hours of the following morning to report for duty, but all were as confused as the good doctor as to what had happened to Emer and the infant. Of the housekeeper, there was absolutely no sign.

  “The housekeeper couldn’t be a criminal or anything could she?” Joe wondered aloud, when all their inquiries concerning the three missing persons drew a blank.

  “Mrs. Everett was a very respectable widow, and to my knowledge, she had no family or friends apart from the other servants. I am certain she was one hundred percent kind-hearted and honest. She would have never harmed Emer or William, nor would she have helped any one else to do so," Adrian said firmly.

  "She did have a bit of a weakness in the heart, though. I shall check all the hospitals. In the meantime, we're going to have to report the matter to the police. We really should have done so before now, but I kept hoping this was all some silly misunderstanding, and that we would surely have found them by now.”

  Three missing persons reports were duly filed by Adrian, but Frederick had cleverly ensured that all of the constables responsible for carrying out Emer’s arrest and transportation had been hastily reassigned to other parts of the province, and thus this avenue of inquiry also drew a blank.

  When Sissy finally composed herself the following day, she tearfully related that she was certain the gentleman who had pestered Emer on Grosse Ile had come to take her away with four policemen.

  All of Emer’s friends stared at each other blankly.

  It was only when the Bishop came to call to ask if there had been any news, that he was able to clarify Sissy’s ravings.

>   “My God, she means Frederick Randall took Emer and the baby. He was the man who pestered her on Grosse Ile.”

  “Dalton’s father, you mean, don’t you, Sissy?” the Bishop asked gently.

  The girl nodded and then continued to blubber, “I should have tried to stop them, only I was afraid.”

  “There was nothing you could have done, Sissy. Calm yourself, and tell us exactly what happened,” Joe urged softly.

  “I was coming back from town with the shopping Mrs. Dillon had asked me to get for her before she left for Georgia the next day. I saw two constables dragging away Mrs. Everett, who looked all grey, and was clutching her chest like this.” Sissy demonstrated for her audience, and continued with her tale.

  “Then two more men were dragging Mrs. Dillon away, and finally that horrible man came out of the doctor’s house with the baby in his arms. I tried to follow him, thinking the baby was in the most danger, but the carriage picked up speed and I lost him.

  "I didn’t know what to do after that, and had no money left for a cab, so I gave up searching for them, and walked all the way out here to warn you,” Sissy snuffled.

  “Which way did Mr. Randall’s carriage go?”

  “Toward the river, I think.”

  “But we’ve been to the police station. Why didn’t the constables tell us they had arrested Emer, and had her in prison?” Adrian wondered.

  “I don’t know, but we're going to find out,” the Bishop said firmly.

  Adrian and the Bishop wheedled, cajoled and tried to bribe the jailers outright, but were still told the same story, that no woman had had been brought in, let alone a crippled one with flaming red hair. Their request to speak to any constables on duty the day before likewise failed.

  “I’m not sure who was on duty. We’ve had some staffing problems, with people working irregular shifts, and old people transferred out, with new recruits coming in. I’m sorry, I really can’t help you,” the desk sergeant declared.

  “What do we do now?” Adrian asked, rubbing his tired eyes as despair set in.

  “Beard the lion in his den. We have to go see Frederick Randall, and find out what he’s done with Emer and the baby,” Bishop Bailleargeon said angrily.

  But when the Bishop and Adrian finally managed to secure an interview with him at his home, Frederick naturally told them he had no idea what they were talking about.

  “I hardly knew the woman, and certainly didn’t approve of her. I wouldn’t allow her or her bastard to sully my house,” Frederick declared arrogantly.

  The Bishop challenged him, “You were seen by witnesses in the company of four police constables, forcibly removing Emer and Mrs. Everett, the doctor’s housekeeper, from Dr. Lovell's house. You yourself were seen carrying the infant. I don’t care how long it takes, but I will find other witnesses to testify to this.”

  “A pack of lies. I was in the office the whole day, dictating letters. Just ask my office manager Reeves. He’ll tell you,” Frederick said smugly. “And now, if you have no further business with me, I’ll thank you to leave.”

  “We’re leaving now, but this won’t be the last you’ll hear from us, Mr. Randall,” Adrian hissed, before storming out of the office, with the Bishop following on behind.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Later that evening, as Adrian and the Bishop sipped sherry in the doctor's parlour, the younger of the two men wondered aloud, “What are we going to tell Dalton when he gets back? We have no real proof that it was Frederick, except Sissy’s word.”

  “Sissy’s word is good enough for me. She knows Frederick Randall. She saw him on the night he tried to bribe Emer. But I do take your point. We need more proof. We will put out posters asking if anyone witnessed the abductions. Someone must have seen something from one of the windows above the street, or have been walking past at the time that the women and baby were all taken away.”

  “If they were really police constables, not hired kidnappers, then there must be some other way of finding them. We will just have to talk to everyone around the police stations, courts, and jails in the area. A red-haired crippled woman and an old housekeeper in a grey uniform and white apron are bound to stick in someone’s memory. We just have to find the right person, and hope he or she isn’t too scared to talk.”

  An offer of a reward was put out for information pertaining to either of the two women, and a description of baby William, with a further reward offer, was circulated as well.

  All of Emer’s friends waited anxiously for several days, until they got their first lead in the form of a steamer-captain, who sent a message to Adrian’s house asking if he could be met down on the docks the following morning.

  Once Adrian, Joe, and the Bishop met him, the captain revealed that he had taken the body of the old lady out to Grosse Ile to be buried upon the orders of a gentleman from the magistrate’s court.

  He had been told that the old woman had been a common prisoner who had died in jail, and needed a hasty burial. The description of the man matched that of Frederick Randall, and the dead woman sounded like Mrs. Everett to a tee.

  “I remember her all right, poor soul, because to tell to the truth, she wasn’t quite dead yet. I protested that a doctor ought to be called for the creature, but the man simply doubled his offer of money and marched off.

  "I didn’t know what else to do with the lady, only take it with me. I had to get back to the island. I had my schedule to keep and figured that at least there would be a doctor in one of the tents to have a look at her. I tried to help her, but there was little I could do. She was in a very bad way already.

  "By the time I got to Grosse Ile, she was dead, so I left her on the beach with the other corpses, and kept the money. I hope I’m not going to get into trouble with the law over this, but the man was from the court. He looked official, and I did my best to help to poor woman. I didn’t kill her, I swear.”

  Adrian asked, “This gentleman, what did he look like exactly?”

  “Tallish, though portly around the middle, silver hair, blue eyes just like a wolf’s. Odd, he was, if you ask me. Not quite right in the head,” the steamer captain revealed.

  “Have you ever seen him before or since?” the Bishop queried.

  “Now that you mention it, he’s one of the ship owners around these parts, and the name is like Rand, Randall, that’s it. Has a son who was meant to have got married last month, only he went mad too, by all accounts.” He shook his head and spat to avert evil.

  “You didn’t see him the day before around the docks, did you?” Joe asked, recollecting what Sissy had told them about the direction Frederick’s carriage had taken.

  “Now that you mention it, I seem to remember him being there, only he had a baby with him. Could it be the same man?”

  “That’s right! What was he doing at the docks? What did the do with the baby?” Joe asked excitedly.

  “I saw him talking to some of the Irish immigrants on the launch heading down to Toronto. He must have given the baby to one of them, because when I saw him strolling away in that direction, towards those warehouses, and into town, he wasn’t carrying it anymore,” the steamer captain answered carefully.

  Joe swore roundly, but Adrian breathed a sigh of relief. The news wasn’t good, but it was a start.

  “You’ve been a big help, sir. Can I have your name and address in case I have to contact you again? And if you remember anything else, can you write a letter or call in at my house or the Bishop’s to discuss the matter further?”

  The bearded man nodded, relieved now that he was sure he was not going to get into any trouble after all. “Aye, I’ll do that, surely. I hope you find the baby, and I’m sorry if the old woman was a friend of yours.”

  The three men then strolled down the docks, asking others who worked there if they had seen anything similar on the day that Emer and William had disappeared.

  Two other dock workers concurred with the steamer captain that Mr. Frederick Randall had in fact been
there, and had spoken to an old woman.

  “Gave her five pounds and a baby, and a pillowcase, I think it was,” they both said.

  Each had been questioned separately, one by Joe, the other by Adrian, so Emer's friends were sure the tale had to be true.

  Adrian took down their names and addresses, and gave them his card so they could keep in touch.

  “It's awful to think of what Frederick has done with poor William," Adrian said to his two companions as they rode back to his house in the carriage, "but at least he didn't drown him in the river as we feared."

  "Praise God." The Bishop crossed himself.