Elise headed to the cottage while her father instructed the men and took care of unloading the coal. Mina was glad to see her and greeted Elise with some news.
“We’re going to have a baby,” she declared after inviting Elise in for coffee.
“Oh, many congratulations. This is so exciting for you.”
“Yes, our first. I’m so happy, I could shout and cry at the same time. We only just learned for certain yesterday. The doctor said we will be welcoming the baby to our family around February, so you’ll be here—won’t you?”
Elise chuckled. “Yes, I’ll be here. God willing.”
“I’m so glad. Carter is thrilled about the baby but very worried about me being alone during the days while he’s working. He’s taken work at the sawmill, and come winter it will require he go to the logging camps from time to time.”
“I feel certain from things Papa has said that our last trip will be around Christmas, if not sooner. He said it’ll depend on the schedule of things and how bad the weather is.”
Mina poured her a mug of coffee. “I hope this isn’t too strong.”
“It will be fine,” Elise assured her. “So, do you want a boy or a girl?”
“A boy. Carter wants a son. I’m praying it will be so, but I’d love a daughter just as much.”
“I can imagine I’d feel the same way.” Elise put cream in the black liquid and then sampled it. It was strong, but the flavor was good.
“How was your trip?”
Elise shook her head. “We had a storm going out and then several small squalls coming back. The hardest part was our time in Oswego. My sister Caroline wanted me to stay with her.”
“Is she already back from her wedding trip?”
“She never got to go. I thought I’d told you. Apparently, there was some emergency, and her husband canceled. That started some sort of calamity in her marriage.” Elise held back telling her everything. “There are other difficulties I am not at liberty to discuss, but I wanted to ask you to please pray for her. You’ve always been so good to pray when things were difficult.”
The young woman nodded. “I love to pray for people. It seems like such a gift of love.”
“Yes, I agree. What better way to show the depth of our love?” Elise took another sip of coffee. She thought of Nick and the pain he bore from the loss of thePolaris. “Oh, and if you could, pray for a friend of mine as well. He’s struggling to forgive himself for things he misjudged.”
Mina met her gaze. “Of course. You do know, however, that sometimes that’s a really hard thing to do.”
“I do,” Elise replied, knowing Nick blamed himself for the deaths of his crew. “This is definitely one of those times.”
“And you might pray that the authorities find the murderer they’re looking for.”
“A murderer?”
“Yes. There was a murder here some time ago. It was just around the time you left in July. The dates are uncertain. A man was killed and his body hidden in a woodpile. Someone used a knife and robbed him. It was brutal and quite shocking. The police have been searching everywhere for the man responsible.”
“Do they know who did it?”
“No, but someone saw a man slip away from the scene and gave them a description. They said he was big.”
Elise thought immediately of Booker Duran and his bloody shirt. Could he be the man they were looking for?
By the time her father came in, it was late. She wasn’t sure why it had taken him so long to deal with the Customs House and unloading, but he wasn’t in a good mood, so she decided to say nothing about her concerns regarding Booker Duran. She didn’t know with any certainty that it was him.
“I have supper warming on the stove. I think I’ll leave you to yourself and go take a bath. I was just getting ready to do that when you came in.”
“Thank you. That’s fine. I’m quite tired and would prefer just to eat and go to bed.”
Elise gave him a nod. She wanted to ask what was bothering him but knew he’d say nothing.
She slipped into the room they’d set aside as a pantry and space for laundry and bathing. She locked the outside door and made certain to lock the inside one as well, just in case her father forgot or someone came calling. No sense in embarrassing someone, including herself.
