The Ghosts of Aquinnah by Julie Flanders Read Free Book Online

when she’d arrived “up island.”
    She drove to the Chilmark Free Public Library and ran through the steady rain into the charming weather-stained wood building. She walked quickly to the reference department, and within a short time she had all the information available on The City of Columbus and the people involved in the wreck.
    Hannah sat down at a table and ignored the incredulity that rang through her rational mind. How had a 19 th century Vineyard resident managed to turn up on a webcam at 21 st century Aquinnah? Hannah knew it was impossible, but she didn’t care. She knew now that Stella Winslow had been wandering the cliffs for a reason. And Hannah needed to find out what that reason was.
    She spread the documents in front of her on the table and found herself immersed in the Martha’s Vineyard of 1884. Stella Winslow’s Martha’s Vineyard. As Hannah read through the materials surrounding her, she began to piece together a life.

 
     
     
     
     
    1884
     
     
     
     
    C hristopher woke to the sound of his heart furiously beating in his chest. He felt an overwhelming sense of panic mixed with a crippling pain in his arm. Where was he and what had happened to him?
    He blinked and glanced around at his surroundings. He saw a woman staring out the window of the room where he was lying in bed. Her back was to him, and her long auburn hair hung loosely down her back. Suddenly, he remembered. She and her husband had helped him after the wreck. The man was a doctor…
    “ Hello?” Christopher whispered, his throat as dry and parched as dead leaves. He made a painful attempt to swallow and managed to cough instead. “Hello?” he croaked.
    Stella jumped and turned around. “You’re awake,” she said, her face brightened by a smile as she came towards the bed. She wore a heavy blue cloak around her shoulders.
    Christopher nodded, afraid to speak more and start coughing again. The pain he felt with each cough was more than he could handle.
    “ Are you cold?” Stella asked. “Thirsty?”
    “ Thirsty,” Christopher gasped. “Please.”
    Stella picked up a pitcher of water and a mug from the bedside table and poured Christopher a drink. She sat down next to him on the bed and held the mug up to his lips. “Can you raise your head to drink?” she asked.
    Christopher nodded and lifted his head a few inches from his pillow. The slight movement sent a fresh wave of pain down his arm. He gasped and let his head fall back down.
    “ I’ll help you,” Stella said.
    She leaned over Christopher and gingerly raised his head with her left arm. Supporting his weight, she brought the mug in her right hand back to his lips.
    Christopher took several sips, wincing as the water went down his parched throat. He took a larger drink, grateful for the increased ease in swallowing as he drank more water. He took a last sip before motioning for Stella to take the mug away. As she moved her arm out from behind him, he let his head return to the pillow.
    Stella put a cool hand onto his forehead. “You don’t feel hot anymore,” she said. “I think your fever broke.”
    Christopher tried to shift on the bed, and immediately groaned. “My arm,” he said. “God almighty what happened to it?”
    “ You broke it before you were rescued,” Stella said. “Let me give you some laudanum for the pain. You’re due more.”
    “ What happened to me?”
    “ You don’t remember anything?”
    Christopher watched as Stella measured out a dose of laudanum and brought it to his lips. He swallowed gratefully, desperate for relief from the pain.
    “ The shipwreck,” he said. “I know I was in a shipwreck. But my arm…”
    Christopher had a sudden flash of memory. A searing pain as he slammed into the rescue boat. Sailors pulling him into the boat and rowing towards the shore..
    “ I hit my arm on the boat,” he said.
    “ The bone cracked,” Stella said. “It’s a bad break, but my husband set it for you. You’ll be good as