The Ghosts of Aquinnah by Julie Flanders Read Free Book Online Page A

new soon.”
    Christopher glanced up at the woman’s eyes, so green they reminded him of a forest. Or of the beautiful countryside of his homeland. Home. Where was he now, he wondered.
    “ Where am I?” he asked.
    “ You’re on Martha’s Vineyard. In the town of Gay Head. Your ship went down right off the shore below the lighthouse.”
    Christopher’s memory started to return to him. “The lighthouse keeper. You said he helped me, right?”
    “ Mr. Mayhew, yes. He and the Gay Headers rescued you and now we’re caring for you in Mr. Mayhew’s house.”
    “ You’re Stella. Your husband is Josiah Winslow.”
    “ Dr. Winslow, yes. And now that you’ve remembered us, perhaps we can learn about you. What’s your name, sir?”
    “ Christopher Casey.”
    His Irish brogue became more pronounced as he said his own name.
    “ You’re an Irishman, Mr. Casey?”
    “ That I am. From Galway. But I came to Boston last year.” Christopher let out a deep breath as he felt the laudanum take effect and the edges of the pain start to slip away.
    “ Where were you heading?”
    “ Pardon?”
    “ On the ship. Where were you heading?”
    “ To Savannah,” Christopher said. Boarding the boat now seemed like a lifetime ago. He realized he had no idea how long ago it had been.
    “ How long have I been here?” he asked.
    “ Two days,” Stella said. “My husband should have returned by now, but the snow’s stopped him no doubt.”
    Stella rose from the bed and walked back to the window, where she lifted up the heavy curtains. Christopher stared out at the snowflakes falling and swirling in the shrieking wind.
    “ The wind sounds terrible,” he said.
    “ It’s breezy,” Stella agreed. “A nor’easter come up the coast.”
    Christopher rested his head back on the pillow. “It sounds so cold. I wanted to go to Savannah to get away from the cold.” He shivered in the bed.
    “ You’re cold now,” Stella said, coming back towards the bed. “You may still have a touch of the fever. You’ve been burning up with it.”
    Christopher remembered the cough that had plagued him before he ever got on the ship. And his failure to listen to Mrs. Pitts’ advice to stay home until he had recovered.
    “ I was ill before I ever got on the boat,” he said. “Feverish and coughing like mad…”
    Stella nodded. “You’re lucky it didn’t turn into the consumption.”
    She walked to the closet and pulled a thick brown blanket from the top shelf. Carrying it back to the bed, she opened the blanket and wrapped it around Christopher. “Get yourself warm, Mr. Casey.”
    Christopher nodded. “That feels good. Thank you.”
    “ Are ya hungry?”
    Christopher hadn’t realized how empty his stomach was. He hadn’t eaten since he’d boarded the boat. His stomach growled as if on cue in response to Stella’s question. “I am, yes.”
    Stella smiled. “I’ll be right back.”
    He watched her leave the room, her long hair swinging from side to side as she closed the heavy wooden door behind her. He turned back towards the window as he heard ice pellets hitting the panes of glass and the wind howling like wolves on the full moon. He wondered what the weather was like in Savannah at that moment.
    Never mind that now, he thought. He should be thinking about all those men he had seen hanging on the rafters of the ship with him. Had any of them survived? He knew Stella’s husband had told him he was their only patient. Surely others must have been rescued. Perhaps they had just been taken to another part of the island.
    He leaned back on his pillow and waited for Stella to return. The room felt too empty without her, and he felt too alone. In spite of the fact that she had only been gone a few minutes, he missed her. He missed her presence.
     
    ****
     
    “ Our patient is awake, Mrs. Mayhew,” Stella said as she entered the kitchen of the lighthouse keeper’s home. “He’s very hungry, the poor thing. I dare say he’s not eaten