I had wondered myself about the captain’s ailment. From all appearances, he seemed hearty and hale, yet he kept the doctor close at hand.
“He knows about this,” Marcus said, not backing down. “If Carl dives again, it will kill him. We’ll need to send someone else.”
“That doesn’t concern me now. What I want is to know what the boy saw down there.” He stopped near Marcus’s bed and stared at me. Though I was covered under the blankets, I shivered again. “Tell me what you saw, boy.”
I needed to obey his commands, or I would face the consequences.So I told him everything from the moment I landed on the bottom of the ocean floor until I came up again.
Perhaps it would be enough. I had done the thing for which he’d taken me captive. Maybe he would let me leave the ship now.
But that meant leaving Marcus.
18
AUGUST 5, 1927
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
As I stood in the living room of my parents’ house on Dupont Avenue, I stared out the front window watching for Lewis to arrive. He’d called and said he had information to share with me and had asked if he could take me to Como Park to see the new sunken garden. He wanted to speak freely and didn’t want my parents overhearing. Almost a month had passed since I had heard from him, and I was anxious to know what he had to say about Annie.
But as much as I wanted to find Annie, my mind was on a pirate ship anchored in a hidden cove on the coast of Florida. It had been almost two weeks since I’d found the treasure, and I was still recovering from diving sickness. Dr. Hartville had told me it could take several weeks, so Marcus was true to his word and took care of me. He insisted I sleep in his bed, and he used the less comfortable cot in the corner. When I was awake and he could be with me, we played cards and dice and spoke of our lives before theOcean Curse. When I was alone, I read several of the books from his shelf, devouring the words that had caught his attention. And in the evenings, after he brought me supper, we spent hours discussing them. When I thought about Lewis’s disdain for books, I was more thankful for Marcus.
The salvage team had been working to recover as much treasure as they could, but after twelve days and more gold than I had first imagined, they still hadn’t found the Queen’s Dowry—that special treasure chest of jewels that had been designed for the queen of Spain upon her marriage to Philip V. They’d come to the conclusion that the ship I discovered wasn’t theCapitana, but another of the treasure fleet.
And Captain Zale was getting more and more impatient.
“Caroline?”
I was startled at the sound of my mother’s voice.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
I nodded and smiled. “I’m just waiting for Lewis.”
Her curious look turned into one of concern. “He hasn’t been here in over a month. I hope you didn’t scare him away.”
“It would take a lot to scare Lewis Cager away.” I tried to make my voice sound light, when the truth was, I had missed Lewis. But it was for the best. I had let him know I wanted our relationship to stay platonic, and he had honored that wish.
“Well,” Mother said in her gentle and unobtrusive way, “I like Lewis, and I think he could make you very happy.” She joined me near the window. “I know that you modern women aren’t putting as much emphasis on marrying young and starting families, but perhaps you can give Lewis a chance to prove himself. I suspected he was in love with you when you were teenagers. I used to want to shake him and tell him the way to your heart wasn’t through teasing and provoking. But I’ve seen him become more serious and mature. I was hopeful that something was blossoming between you, but when he didn’t call or stop by for weeks, I knew something must have happened.” Her hopeful eyes sought mine. “But perhaps you’ve mended the rift?”
“Lewis and I are just friends. I told him I didn’t want things to change, so that’s why he stayed away.”
Her face fell with disappointment, but she mustered a smile. “I just want you to be as happy as I’ve been.”
“Have you been happy, Mother?” I asked, searching her face.
“Why, Caroline!” She blinked several times. “What a strange thing to ask me. I couldn’t possibly be happier.”
“But your life with Father—it hasn’t been easy. His job demands so much of you—of us.”
“No life is easy, child. If it was, it wouldn’t be worth having. All the important things in life are hard. Marriage, parenting, building a worthwhile career, friendships, faith. It’s the difficult things that mold us and shape us, challenging us to become better versions of ourselves. If it was easy, we would never strive to become better.” She straightened the lapel of my shirt and said, “Don’t dismiss Lewis just yet. Open your heart to the possibility and see what God might be saying about him.”
The doorbell rang, and I said, almost too quickly, “It sounds like he’s here.”
I glanced in the foyer mirror as I put on the navy-blue cloche cap that matched the neckline and hem of my pleated skirt and shirt. Mother’s conversation only added more guilt and pressure on my shoulders. I had disappointed Lewis. I didn’t want to disappoint her, too.
I grabbed my purse as Mother came up behind me to open the door and greet Lewis.
“Hello, Mrs. Baldwin,” he said.
