13. Thirteen
Daniel followed Camilla onto the front porch, even though she hadn’t agreed to his company, and searched for a lamp to dispel the thickening twilight while she took the dog to the grass. Maybe someday that fancy new Mississippi Power and Light Company would stretch their lines out here to Natchez.
The night air carried earthy scents and heavy humidity, tinged with an acidic aroma somewhat like cigarettes. The wind shifted, and the unusual smell dissipated, replaced by sweet azaleas, which had overgrown their beds.
He located a long match in a box by the door and lit the wick on a chimney lamp. He held it up for Camilla, but she’d already disappeared down the stairs and into the yard. Lula had her nose to the ground, sniffing. Camilla’s shoulders hunched as she watched the dog in the dim light.
He joined them on the patch of overgrown grass between the porch and the cliff’s edge. “My sister means well. I apologize for her behavior.”
Her gaze found his, something unreadable in her dark eyes. “She didn’t do anything wrong. I should have known bringing Lula might cause trouble. She’s…”
Lula’s hackles rose, and she rumbled with a growl. Deep and throaty and more menacing than he’d expected from such a small creature. Lula pressed her snout to the ground, sniffing frantically.
“Wonder what she found?” He thrust the light higher as the dog snuffled in a straight line down the front of the house.
“Whatever it is, she doesn’t like it.” Camilla shadowed Lula along one side of the porch and back in the other direction. Then the dog followed an invisible trail up the front steps and to one of the windows, her growling increasing.
Daniel’s stomach knotted. They’d had a few issues with stray dogs. Maybe one had been searching for food. But with his father’s disappearance, the dangers of the treasure, and now the hint of something smoky in the air… Had someone been lurking around the house? He strained to see deeper into the encroaching darkness, but no human forms manifested beyond his circle of light.
Lula thrust her snout in the air. Her bark almost instantly turned to a howl. Nose still tilted heavenward, she took off down the steps and into the yard.
Camilla yelped and dashed after her, yelling for the dog.
The bluffs loomed straight ahead.
He lengthened his stride and reached for Camilla’s arm. “Stop! The cliff.”
Guessing his intention to grab her, she pivoted away from him and made a sharp turn. Lula continued to bay like a hunting dog, short legs churning down the narrow walk between the row of houses and the ravine.
“Lula! Halt!” Camilla’s command went unheeded as they continued to chase the dog in the dark, dangerously close to the sheer drop-off to his right. If she took a wrong step…
He dashed past her and gained ground on the dog. Lula looked back at Camilla behind him, let out another bay as though they were doing the right thing in following her, and sprinted faster.
Blasted dog.
She slowed to sniff the air, and he grabbed for her. But she tucked her tail and shot off again. He stumbled, nearly losing the lantern.
He regained his feet as Camilla neared.
“Tallulah! Bad dog!”
Lula’s howling stopped and she slowed. Daniel’s light encircled the canine’s rigid form. She held one paw aloft, and her nose twitched in the direction they’d been going. Camilla stomped up to her. The dog whined and faced the direction she’d been running but didn’t take off again. Camilla scooped her from the ground and held her close against her heaving chest.
“I’m sorry,” Camilla puffed out. “I don’t know what got into her.”
Daniel lofted the lantern to examine boot prints in the soft dirt. He had no skill in such things, but one large set of prints appeared to have walked toward the house and, judging by the distance between the prints facing the other direction, ran away from it.
The hairs along his arms rose.
He put a hand on Camilla’s arm and turned her toward home. “Let’s get back to the house. Next time, we might need to put Lula on a lead rope.”
Camilla cradled the trembling dog. “She doesn’t usually do that. She must have gotten wind of a coyote or a stray cat that tickled her nostrils and got her in a tizzy.”
He didn’t mention the boot prints that couldn’t have belonged to anyone in his house. Likely, it was nothing worth fretting over. Probably a neighbor.
He hoped.
“Lula was only doing her job.” He rubbed between the dog’s pointy ears as they walked. “She was protecting her mistress.”
Caution rose in Camilla’s tone. “Protecting me from what?”
So much for not alarming her. He mentally smacked his forehead. “I can’t be sure, but with the way she was sniffing the porch, I’m not sure it was a coyote’s scent she caught.”
Even in the murky light, he had no trouble reading the dip in her eyebrows. “You think someone was sneaking about?”
“I didn’t say that. We’ve had a few stray dogs around. Could have been a cat.”
“But you don’t think so.”
How did she read him so easily? “She’s also unfamiliar with the people around here, so it could be nothing. Probably a neighbor. Or one of Stella’s brothers with some strange scent on his boots.”
Though none of them smoked tobacco that he was aware of. Something to do with Anna’s insistence on the only smoke in her residence coming from cook fires.
“Hmm.” Camilla glanced behind them. “Who else did you tell about your treasure?”
“Only Mabel. Well, and Stella knows. But that’s because she walked in when I discovered the hidden room and my excitement got the better of me.” The muscles in his neck tightened. The humid air pulled slowly into his nostrils, too thick to offer much refreshment.
Camilla hesitated as they neared the first house on the bluff row. “Do you think one of them told someone else? Someone who’s interested in stealing it from you?”
A possibility he’d rather not consider. “I don’t think any of Stella’s family would be a problem.”
“And if the other girls found out?”
He couldn’t blame her tone. He’d been the one with both a secrecy clause and loose lips.
“Daisy doesn’t have any family and mostly keeps to herself. Violet is much more social, but even if she did overhear anything, I don’t think she knows enough about the stories or the clues to share anything significant.”
Her silence said plenty about her trust in those around him.
They ambled down the walk, the lights glowing through the windows of his neighbor’s homes. Mosquitoes buzzed around them, and a frog called for his companions.
The uncomfortable weight in his stomach grew. Had someone in his household betrayed his trust? Were strangers with ill intent sneaking around on their porch?
“Which is which?” Camilla slowed as they turned back to the narrow front yard. “The girls, I mean. They both have flower names, and I forgot which flower belonged to who almost immediately after I was introduced.”
A smile wiped some of the worry from his thoughts. “Violet is the one with the fashionable bob hairstyle. A trend Mabel despises.”
He gestured her ahead of him up the stairs.
“Ah. So that makes the helpful one Daisy. Thank you.”
After putting out the light, he left the lantern by the door and made sure to lock it behind him. When they returned to the dining room, only Stella and Lucas remained at the table.
“I’m afraid it’s gotten cold.” Stella nodded to their plates.
He held out the chair for Camilla, which earned him a pleased expression that warmed his chest.
Before she could sit, however, Lucas scurried from his spot and reached for Lula. “Can I take Lula to play?”
Camilla pursed her lips. “I think she’s probably hungry.” She lowered her voice. “Is there something she can eat and maybe a bowl she can use? I don’t mind washing it.”
Stella stood and replaced her chair under the table. “Send her with me. I’ve got a couple of leftover ham hocks in the kitchen I’m sure she’d enjoy and a pie tin none of us will ever tell Miss Mabel she drank from.”
“Thank you.” Camilla handed Lula over to Lucas and gave Stella a grateful smile.
When they’d exited, Daniel waited for her to sit and then helped her scoot the chair closer to the table. Then he grabbed his plate and moved to the seat across from her.
She took a bite of a frog leg, a thoughtful line creasing her forehead. Then she ate two more in reserved silence.
“They are better warm,” he offered by way of apology.
Camilla shrugged. “They fill the belly, and that’s all that matters.”
They ate mostly in silence, commenting only occasionally about mundane topics such as how hot it had been this spring and if there might be rain soon. He appreciated how she didn’t seem to be the type who needed to fill every space with words. And how she didn’t bring up the disturbing subject of being watched. He needed to process that information, and if someone here had loose lips, then he’d need to mind his mouth.
Once she’d cleaned her plate, Daniel rose and took them both. “I’ll drop these in the kitchen and then meet you at the stairs. We’ll go up to the attic together and see what we can find.”
She stood, both hands braced on the table, her movements slow. She met his gaze, then shifted her feet. “It’s getting late. I hadn’t thought through being out this long and walking back to the boat at night.”
He hadn’t either. Though at the time, things like being followed for possibly nefarious reasons hadn’t occurred to him. “I’ll escort you, of course. I wouldn’t expect you to go back on your own.”
From the way her shoulders relaxed, she’d expected that very thing. Odd, given the protective nature of her crew.
“Usually I wouldn’t mind, but Lula’s behavior put me on edge.” She fiddled with the end of her braid. “Perhaps searching through an old attic in the daylight would be more prudent.”
She was right. Even if disappointment at losing her company sooner than expected stung. It had already been an eventful day, and he’d think better after some space and rest. Spending time alone with her at night in a dark attic might not be the best idea anyway.
“Then once Lula has finished her supper, I’ll walk you home.” He dipped a slight bow.
Her features relaxed. “Thank you.”
She followed him through the dining room’s rear entrance and down a short hall to a kitchen once detached from the house. Stella’s laughter greeted them.
Lula stood on her hind legs on the brick floor, front paws tucked in by her sides. Daniel paused, unable to contain a chuckle. The dog looked for all the world like a featherless chicken.
Her chest poked out, and she stretched her nose forward, jabbing at the air to see what Lucas held in his palm. Must be something that smelled good.
“Good girl!” Lucas pinched off a small piece of meat and tossed it to Lula.
She caught it midair, then settled on her haunches to chew.
Camilla crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Making you work for your supper, are they, girl?”
Stella waved a kitchen towel in her direction. “Nonsense. That little thing already ate a whole ham hock. Nothing but slick bone left.”
The boy and dog repeated the trick. He hadn’t seen his nephew smile this much in weeks. Perhaps he could talk Mabel into a puppy come Christmas.
“All right.” He rubbed Lucas’s head after a third round. “The captain and Lula need to head on home.”
“Can I go?” Big eyes pleaded, and Lucas’s hopeful expression wiggled into Daniel’s heart.
Which was why the boy had grown so adept at wielding it.
“Not this time in the dark.” He patted the boy’s shoulder to ward off the disappointment. “But they’ll be back tomorrow.”
Camilla shifted. “Are you sure it’s all right for Lula to come back? I can fashion her a rope and harness so she doesn’t run away again.” She snapped her fingers. “And I’ll bring her water bowl too.”
“Lucas would be sorely disappointed if you didn’t bring her.” He ruffled the boy’s hair, which yielded a toothy grin.
“Thanks, Uncle Danny. I knew Mama was wrong when she said you wouldn’t ever let us do anything we want to do.”
What did he mean by that?
Not the time or place to ask.
“And if it wouldn’t be too much trouble…” Camilla’s eyes looked almost as big around as Lucas’s could. “We’d bring more to help, of course, so there’s that. But I understand if you wouldn’t want to have all the extra folks.”
He tried to follow the trail but came up lost.
“I think she wants to bring the men on her boat to eat with us,” Stella supplied.
“Oh yes.” Camilla straightened. “That.”
“Of course.” Daniel rocked back on his heels. “I’m sure we can arrange that for one evening. Assuming all the men on your boat want to leave, each one is more than welcome here.”
Good. He emphasized the words enough for her to catch his meaning.
“Thank you.” A sweet smile warmed her lips. “I will tell them all you said so.”
They said their goodbyes, and at the front door, he paused to light the lantern again and ensure Camilla held Lula securely in her arms.
Lula growled.
This time, cigarette smoke hung in a cloud around the door. His insides tightened. Someone had been lingering on the porch. Did they know about the treasure, or did this have something to do with whatever had gotten his father killed?
It had been nigh on a month since they’d moved into this house and two since his grandfather had passed. Nothing nefarious had happened in that time.
Until he’d discovered the hidden door. And went to find Captain Lockhart, who just happened to be in port. A chill slithered through him.
“Have you noticed any odd occurrences lately?” Daniel tried to keep the question light as they ambled along the bluff for the fourth time this evening.
She rolled her lips before answering. “I’m not sure what you mean. It was uncommon for someone like you to come aboard and start us on this quest. It wasn’t so unusual to deal with Mr. Liles or the way he acted. Either time. We’re used to that sort of thing. The records room…well, that part was a unique experience for me.”
Heat gathered in his chest and pushed its way to his ears. Memories derailed his thoughts—the way she’d felt in his arms, the press of her lips on his, and the sweet scent of her hair. He drew in a long breath.
The light bobbed between them, and he slowed his steps, keeping an eye on their surroundings in case he spotted anything odd. But since Lula snuggled contently in Camilla’s arms, he doubted anyone crept close. The tiny hound turned out to be a great alarm.
He cleared his throat and attempted to redirect his thoughts. “I meant more like strange people hanging around who shouldn’t be.” Additional words he didn’t expect to leave his brain popped out of his mouth. “But good to know you don’t generally kiss men in record rooms.”
“Other than you?”
Wait. Did she mean kissing or strange people hanging around? Was he both?
He paused and lifted the lantern to see her better. This woman had an uncanny way of throwing him off-balance. The twinkle in her eyes said she enjoyed teasing him.
Then, as though she hadn’t been unraveling his thoughts, she continued in a professional tone. “There hasn’t been anyone suspicious hanging around.” She flipped her braid over her shoulder. “Why?”
Rocks crunched under the heel of his boots as they reached the main part of Natchez on Top of the Hill. People dressed in evening wear dipped in and out of the streetlamps, many women with paste gems and sparkling fringe catching the light.
“I think someone was on our porch tonight.” He paused as an enclosed carriage veered too closely to the sidewalk. “I’m not sure if they are following you or me.”
She spun around. “We’re being followed?”
“Perhaps not at this moment.” He glanced behind them anyway. The smoky scent had disappeared, and he’d not spotted any more footprints. Lula appeared to be sleeping.
The cigarette person seemed to be gone, though he had little training in spotting the criminal types outside of a courtroom.
He edged as much concern out of his voice as he could. “I can’t know for certain, but I think someone’s been watching us. Which didn’t happen until after I came to you to start the search for the treasure.”
She shot him a side-glance and pressed her lips into a line.
At least she didn’t raise her defenses. He’d stated nothing but fact, though he could see how the statement could be taken as an offense. Would she dismiss him if she thought he implied her crew had been up to no good? Or would she address the situation and analyze the facts presented?
They passed a sleek motorcar containing a well-dressed couple in the open back seat. The driver wore a cap and a bored expression. The woman’s raucous laughter grated as her gloved hands waved a feathered boa above her head.
Daniel let the lantern swing at his side, the light no longer needed along the brighter streets abuzz with people. Must be one of those speakeasy parties going on nearby. He’d heard many of the younger members of the old money families threw them fairly often, but he’d never been invited. Those not born in Natchez were not considered true society members.
Besides, he’d sampled that life and decided it wasn’t for him.
“In the months since I lost Papa,” Camilla spoke again, resuming the conversation he’d let collapse, “I’ve done little more than grieve and work to keep my crew fed. We’ve traveled the river delivering everything from corn to tobacco and once even a shipment of cattle, which I’ll never do again. The crew hates washing Lula’s deck. Imagine what they thought of cleaning up after four hundred cows packed nose to tail from aft to stern.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond. Her tone carried sorrow, determination, and strength when she talked about her father but faded into humor seeming to come naturally to her. He’d never met a woman her equal.
“So as far as your question about any odd occurrences and the underlying question about if me or mine has anything to do with us now being followed…” She stopped at an intersection by a bakery, the windows dark for the evening. “My answer is no. To both. Though to be honest, if anyone’s been tracking us up and down the river, I can’t say I noticed.”
They waited as a carriage pulled by four white horses passed and then continued their trek through the town. Night brought cooler air and an abundance of mosquitoes.
He slapped one of the bloodsuckers from his neck. “It could be nothing. But we should pay close attention all the same. Better to go to the police with a little information than wait until something happens and it’s too late.”
Something he’d learned from more than one case. If people had only been more cautious, they wouldn’t have wound up dead.
He made the turn at the end of the road to take the steep decline to the riverbank.
“I’ll let my crew know.” She eased closer to him. “Do you think we’re in danger? Papa has a pistol in his bedchamber, but I’ve never shot it. He offered to teach me more than once, but I never liked the thing. I know a few ways to disarm a man if I must, but I’m not keen on having to carry a gun.”
“I don’t think it would come to that.” Too bad he didn’t feel as confident as he sounded. Perhaps he should consider carrying a weapon for the both of them.
She quickened her pace as they descended the hill. “I’ll come in the morning after breakfast to look through the attic with you. But then I’ll need to spend the rest of the day trying to procure a delivery. How long until you think you’ll have a destination in mind? I’ll need to know if I’m going upriver or down.”
He should have had more information before securing a boat captain in the first place. She might have to wait to secure cargo. “Soon, I hope.”
Answer enough for the moment. They traversed the rest of the decline in silence. When they reached the Alma May, Solomon stood by the deck rail, arms folded over his chest and eyes skimming the road. He relaxed as Daniel and Camilla neared. The engineer lifted a hand in greeting. How long would he have stood there waiting for Camilla before coming to search?
Knowing she had good people looking out for her made Daniel more comfortable leaving her. He tried to shake the thought away. Camilla Lockhart had been fine before meeting him. Surely she would be so now.
But the strange sensation that danger tagged along on his heels refused to be dismissed.