“Come with me,” he said, hopping down from the bar and heading for the door. The man sweeping the floor ignored us completely.
In silence, we walked at a leisurely pace through the streets of Southampton until we reached Watts Park and the stone Cenotaph honoring servicemen killed in the Great War. An overcast and windless sky gave the park a feeling of quiet grace and peace. A familiar figure stood with his back to us, reading the long list of names chiseled into the stone. He turned and smiled, but it was a weak smile and his eyes were sad. It was Willie Croft.
“Hello, boys,” he said, even though he was Giza and the youngest among us.
Each of us said hello, then I asked, “Did you know many of those folks, Willie?”
“No, Z, didn’t know a one. Brave lads, though, every one of them.”
“Has something happened, Willie?” Sailor asked bluntly.
Willie started to answer, then turned and glanced at Mowsel. “Mowsel, why don’t you tell them while I bring round the limousine.”
Willie walked away in his unusual, almost stumbling gait. Mowsel waited until he was out of sight before looking at Sailor. “It took me three weeks to locate you this time, old one. No doubt due to an unexpected misfortune, I assume, but that story must come later.” He paused a moment. “I am sorry to say Daphne Croft is dead, as well as Tillman Fadle. Willie did not want to bury either of them without us present. It was a desire Daphne had put in her will and also expressed to me years ago. I gave her my solemn word it would be so.”
Sailor let out a long sigh and said, “Yes, yes, I agree entirely. We all owe them both a great deal.”
“More than that,” Mowsel replied.
Sailor looked Mowsel squarely in the eye. I could tell they were each recalling events and situations they had experienced at Caitlin’s Ruby, not only during Daphne’s lifetime, but in all the lives of the Bramleys and Fadles going back four centuries to Caitlin herself.
“Again,” Sailor said, “I agree. We must be there.”
“I never did get to know the lady,” Ray said quietly.
“What happened?” I asked.
Mowsel looked up at the low gray cloud cover above us, then toward the west and a small sliver of blue sky on the horizon. “Apparently, about a month ago, sometime in the early morning, Daphne sat down to write a letter, a letter she never finished. While in the act of writing, she suffered a stroke. She remained alive, but unable to move or speak. All day she lay there. You are asking yourself, where was Tillman Fadle, no? The great irony is he had been in the garage since dawn, breaking down the engine of the limousine for repair. Finally, sometime around dusk, Tillman discovered her lying on the kitchen floor. He dragged her to the garage in order to drive her into Falmouth, but of course the limousine was unavailable. In desperation he used Carolina’s black coupe. This vehicle he had never driven and it was missing a headlight. On a curve only two miles from Caitlin’s Ruby, he lost control. I doubt he ever saw the rock wall approaching. They were both killed instantly. Daphne was found still inside the coupe and Tillman had been thrown over the wall. I was in London at the time. Once I was informed of the accident, I wired Owen immediately. He broke the news to Willie in St. Louis and Willie arrived in Cornwall ten days later. Since then we have been waiting for you.” He stopped talking and rubbed his face with both hands.
“Are you ill?” Sailor asked.
“No, of course not,” Mowsel said. “Are you mad, you old hound? I am tired…simply tired.” He looked to his left, scanning the street. “Hail Hadrian, there is Willie now. Cornwall awaits us.” He put his arm around Ray’s shoulder and started walking toward the street and the big limousine pulling up to the curb. “Now, Ray, you must tell me what happened in Egypt.”
“Do I have to?” Ray asked with a straight face.
Mowsel smiled, exposing the gap of his missing tooth. Then he slapped Ray on the back and laughed. “Make it up if you so desire, Ray. Fact or fiction, it often makes little difference, no?”
Though we were all weary from travel and disappointment, the long drive to Cornwall and Caitlin’s Ruby was beautiful and relaxing. The car was loud, but solid, with good suspension and Willie drove at an even pace. It often felt more like we were in a large boat rather than a limousine. Willie made certain I rode up front with him. I found out why two hours into our journey.
An old suede jacket lay on the seat between us. Keeping one eye on the road and one hand on the wheel, Willie reached into the jacket and withdrew a letter, which he handed to me. There was no envelope and the writing only covered half the page. It was unfinished and unsigned.
“She was writing to you, Z,” Willie said, giving me a quick glance.
“Do you mean Daphne?”
“Yes. She was writing to you when the stroke took her down.” He paused and nodded once toward the letter. “Those were her last words, Z. I…I think you should read them.”
I looked at the letter and read the date scrawled in the upper left corner, then the salutation underneath. I could hear Daphne’s voice in my head.
My dearest Z,
Where has the time gone? I ask you this because of a lovely dream I had this morning in which my William and I were in China and still working at the mission. Nothing much happened in the dream. William and I were simply out in the garden, planting seeds with at least a dozen children. My goodness, it was a wonderful time, a wonderful dream, and after waking my thoughts passed to you and your beautiful, charming companion, Opari. What you two have is as rare as the mountain air in my dream. And I so enjoyed the days we spent together here at the Ruby. In the few years since, I have been thinking of my William more and more. Never let your thoughts drift far from Opari, Z. Everything else will fade with time, even for you marvelous children. Be grateful and never let the light dim, never let your hearts doubt, never—
There the letter broke off abruptly. In silence, I looked up and stared out the window, watching miles of rich green country pass by. I don’t know how long I did this, but eventually I turned in my seat, folded the letter, and placed it back in the jacket. Willie glanced over at me. “Thanks, Willie,” I said. “Thanks.”
As we neared the winding gravel drive leading down to Caitlin’s Ruby, a light rain began to fall and continued to fall for the following seven days. On the morning of the third day, Daphne was buried alongside her beloved William in a small cemetery behind the Anglican Church where she and William had worshipped for much of their lives. Mowsel, Sailor, Ray, and I hung in the background during the ceremony while Willie accepted condolences from old friends and members of the congregation. He held an umbrella in one hand, but his red hair still matted and clung to his forehead. He was gracious and kind to each person, most of whom he knew well. All were from families with deep roots in the community and surrounding county. He surprised everyone, including me, by announcing he would be staying put at Caitlin’s Ruby. He was moving back from America. Because Willie had been so obsessively in love the last time I was around him, it made me wonder, where was Star in this plan?
On the drive back to Caitlin’s Ruby, I sat up front with Willie. All I had to do was look at him and he realized what I wanted to know.
“I suppose you were wondering about Star and Caine, right?”
“Yes, I was. Has something…changed?”
“No, not exactly. I still love her a great deal, Z. I always will. It just seems to me I should be back here, at least until I find someone I trust to live in and look after the Ruby full-time.”
“I agree, Willie, and you’re right to do it. But that’s not all, is it?”
“No, it isn’t.” He hesitated and glanced over at me, keeping both hands on the wheel. Rain continued to fall and every road was treacherous. “I think she needs to find something, Z, and at the present time, I do not know what that is.”
“Is she depressed? Is she angry, what?”
“Now don’t get me wrong, Z, because I’m not speaking of Opari here, but I think they’ve all gone bonkers— Star, Nova, Geaxi, even Carolina on occasion, maybe the whole damn country. On top of that, it is now impossible to order a pint of ale at the corner bar because of bloody Prohibition!”
I almost laughed out loud, but Willie was being earnest and I checked myself. “Bonkers? How do you mean?”
“I mean bonkers, loony, completely unpredictable and living as if there is no tomorrow. Geaxi is off in Illinois somewhere living as a ‘wing walker’ in a traveling air show. Nova hears ‘voices’ constantly and often wanders from
