Annabelle caught her breath. Maude normally led the family while her father was the mild, quiet man in the background. Not today, and she prayed her mother would listen.
Nobody said anything for a long moment, and Elaine managed to regain control of her temper.
“For a long time I wished I had died after I became blind,”she said in a ragged voice. “I felt useless, with no purpose and nothing to offer the world. I didn’t know why God had left me alive to be a miserable burden for everyone around me, but I’ve finally figured it out. Yes, Walter is a lot older than me, but he is the rock on which his entire family depends. He is strength and optimism and fortitude. He employs a dozen people in his store. Someday he will be too old to lead the family anymore, but that’s where I will come in. By then I will be able to run the store. I will care for Walter as he ages and needs someone to lean on. I want to be a pillar for that family when Walter is no longer able, and he wants that for me too. I never wanted to be blind, but if it’s the price I must pay to have found Walter Talbot ... then I’m glad it happened.”
Her parents stood in stunned silence, but Annabelle had never been prouder, for Elaine had finally found her purpose.
Annabelle went for a walk with her father after returning from the deli. There had been no more backbiting after Elaine’s outburst, but things were still tense, and Annabelle’s battered spirit needed a reprieve.
“Thank you for reining Mother in,” she said as soon as they were out of earshot of the open window of the apartment.
“Probably should have done it earlier,” Roy replied. “She’s just feeling sore and sorry, knowing that Elaine will never come home.”
Annabelle said nothing as they continued their walk. The last streetcar of the evening rolled toward them, and her father paused to watch it pass, admiration on his face. Ever since arriving in the city, he had been fascinated by the streetcars, the elevators, and the water system. With his farmer’s curiosity and knack for fixing things, he always scrutinized every facet of the moving parts.
“That sure is a mighty fine piece of equipment,” he said ashe admired the streetcar’s brass fittings gleaming beneath the streetlamp. “It’s hard to look at something like that and not dream of all the possibilities.” He continued talking after the streetcar rolled past. “I imagine there’s all sorts of jobs people can do in a city like this. I never had much choice in life. My dad was a farmer in Kansas. My grandfather was a farmer in Ireland. I pretty much always knew what life had in store for me.”
He said it simply and without complaint. Her father never complained. No matter how dire their circumstances, he simply rolled up his sleeves and got the job done.
“I wanted my girls to have choices,” Roy continued. “That’s why I fought hard for you to go to college. Maude thought it was a waste, but I always knew I would do whatever was necessary to make sure the whole wide world was open to my girls.”
A lump grew in her throat. If she lived to be a hundred, she’d never be able to thank her father for the sacrifices he’d made. At times like these, she grew homesick for Kansas. She missed the fields of wheat and their sunflower harvest. After Elaine was married and gone, Annabelle would be even more alone in this big, anonymous city. Once she had seen it as a place bursting with hope, but things hadn’t turned out so well. Would she ever be at peace with the decision she’d made to work for those two horrible generals?
“After Elaine gets married, I think I should come home,” she said.
Her father stopped and turned to gape at her. “I thought you loved it here.”
She did, she just didn’t feel useful anymore. Her parents needed her more than Elaine did. The farm was failing, and maybe what Annabelle had learned here in Washington could be put to good use in turning the farm’s fortunes around. Mr. Bryant would probably even give her some durum wheat to take home with her.
“I’ve learned a lot about wheat that can survive dry conditions,”she said. “It might be the answer. You can’t afford another failed harvest if the drought comes back next year.”
Mention of the drought sparked a shadow of fear in Roy’s gaze. “It’s a risk,” he said. “I don’t know the first thing about this new-fangled wheat.”
“I do. And I can help.”
He glanced away as a series of emotions came over him. Then his face crumpled up, and two fat tears rolled down his face, but he covered his eyes with a large, work-roughened palm to swipe them away. She cringed at the sight. She hadn’t expected this. Things had been bad for years, but she hadn’t expected this.
Just as quickly as Roy had lost his composure, he got it back. “That would be more than fine, Annabelle,” he said on a ragged breath. “More than fine.”
Her adventure in Washington was something she would always remember, but staying here would be selfish. Their farm teetered on the edge of ruin, and through the grace of God, she’d been given insight that might save it.
It was time to go home.
Thirty-Seven
Gray had never seen the harbor illuminated at night, but Captain Haig had arranged for a pair of carbon arc lamps to be set up outside thePelicanwhile a crew of longshoremen were paid double wages to load the ship through the night. The carbon arc lamps lit the dockside with an eerily white glow, making the cranes look like hulking black silhouettes as they loaded cargo.
Gray worked too. At first, he and Otis worked side by side to lug crates of flaxseed down into the hold. Once that was done, they stooped over to roll barrels of tar, turpentine, and pitch. His spine ached and blisters formed on his palms. A longshoreman laughingly called him a lightweight and tossed him a pair of gloves. Gray pulled them on and got back to work. Maybe he was paranoid, but from the moment he’d realized thePelicancould be seized, he’d not had a moment’s rest, and there were still four hours to go before sunrise.
At six o’clock the last hold was secured and locked. The ship still had room for more cargo, but Gray wanted it out of port and into international waters before the government got any ideas. ThePelicanwouldn’t pull into an American port until the case against Luke had been decided.
Gray stood on the pier and watched thePelicansail on the morning tide. It had taken a herculean effort to get it off so quickly, and he was proud of their work. He was also proud that the ship sailed with twelve empty vials for the collection of rice in Madagascar. Otis would collect the rice and hand it over to Annabelle when he returned.
Gray could no longer see thePelicanonce it had traveled a couple of miles, but international waters began at twelve nautical miles from shore. He headed to the nearest telegraph station. Otis had promised to wire him the moment they entered international water.
It felt like there was grit beneath his eyelids as he staggered into the telegraph station. A slack-jawed boy slept behind the counter, and Gray envied him. Every joint ached as he lowered himself into a chair to wait for the message.
It wasn’t long coming. The wire buzzed with an incoming communication, and the boy jerked awake. Gray stood at the counter, wishing he could make sense of the cascade of rattling clicks. The boy scribbled the message on a card.
