A Hero for Christmas

Buttoning on a heavy pelisse and wrapping a scarf around her neck, while taking care not to knock off her wool bonnet, she then grabbed a pair of thick gloves from her dressing table. She smiled when she opened the door and saw a small pail waiting by her door. Ogden had remembered that she liked to search the beach after a powerful storm.

Catherine swung the wooden bucket by its handle as she walked down the stairs. She half-expected the puppy to bound up the stairs as he did each time she came down. Glancing into the large parlor, she saw the huge black-and-white pup lying in front of the hearth. He looked up, wagged his tail a couple of times and then went back to sleep. That was a relief because she did not want the pup along today.

She heard the rattle of harnesses and wheels, and smiled again, knowing the carriage she had requested to be ready this morning would be waiting for her. If only the plans for the wedding and the Christmas Eve ball would go as smoothly...

No! She was going to have positive thoughts today. If she found what she sought on the shore, then that would be one task she could cross off her list.

Foggin was waiting by the door and opened it for her when she approached. She urged him to shut it quickly, because he already looked half-frozen.

The closed carriage was waiting in front of her, and she rushed toward it. Before she reached it, she heard her name called. She looked over her shoulder to see Mr. Bradby coming around the corner of the house. He was bundled up as much as she was, and she recognized him because of his height and his red hair which peeked around a scarf that was the brightest orange she had ever seen.

“I did not expect to see you outside on this blustery day,” he said when he was close enough, so he did not have to shout.

She was startled to have him address her. Since Cousin Edmund’s return, Mr. Bradby had spoken less than a dozen words to her. She had caught a glimpse of him turning in the opposite direction when their paths through Meriweather Hall were about to intersect. He and her cousin had not dined with the Meriweather women for the past evenings, offering polite excuses. When she came down for breakfast, if Mr. Bradby was at the table, he hurried to finish and left after saying a cheery “Good morning.” She had tried to guess what she had done to vex him, but nothing came to mind.

“Where are you bound?” she asked in lieu of a direct response.

He drew down his scarf so his face was visible. He gave her a smile that seemed to make the wind a smidgen less biting. “Just out to get some fresh air. I thought I might walk along the shore.”

“Vera Fenwick and I are going to the beach. I want to pick up some mermaid tears.”

“What?” His smile was replaced by puzzlement.

“That is what we call broken pieces of glass that wash up on the shore. The edges have been smoothed, so it reflects the light in a pretty way.” She caught her bonnet before the wind could pluck it off her head and quickly retied it under her chin. “The best time to find them is the first low tide after a storm. That is in about an hour or so. Would you like to join Vera and me?”

“It sounds like fun. However, I don’t want to encroach upon your outing.”

“Nonsense! The more eyes the better.” Maybe if she persuaded him to spend time with her, then she could ferret out why he had been avoiding her. “I have been collecting mermaid tears since Sophia and Charles announced their betrothal, but I need many more pieces to decorate the wedding breakfast tables.”

He grinned. “Like I said, that sounds like fun. I will help you search for your mermaid tears.” He glanced at the carriage. “Is Meriweather going somewhere again today?”

“I am using the carriage because the best place to find the glass is on the beach at the bottom of the village. We seldom find any pieces beneath the cliffs here. The currents wash all jetsam toward the village.”

A gust of wind silenced whatever Mr. Bradby might have answered. Instead, he reached a long arm past her to open the carriage door. He held out his other hand to assist her in.

She thanked him with a smile and placed her hand on his. Some sensation that had no name but was undeniably pleasurable shimmered up her arm, starting at the very spot her palm sat atop his. As he handed her up onto the first step, he edged closer. All his usual good humor vanished.

She should withdraw her hand from his, but she could not make her arm move. She could only stare into his eyes that were level with her own. For the first time, she noticed the navy ringing the pale blue. She had never seen eyes like his. And she had never before felt like she stood on the very edge of the cliff and could tumble over at any moment.

With that thought, Catherine jerked her hand away so quickly she almost fell off the carriage step. He looked at her in astonishment, but, gathering what was left of her composure, she climbed in and sat on the black velvet seat. She stared at her clasped fingers on her lap.

Why was she thinking such thoughts? Jonathan Bradby wore his Christian faith proudly and spoke of prayer with ease. When she had lamented about wanting everything perfect for Sophia and Charles, Jonathan had advised her to turn her problems over to God as if he did so all the time. She did not want to imagine how he would look at her if she admitted her own faith had faltered. And he was a warrior just as Roland had been. Even though England was now at peace, there were still rumbles of discontent on the Continent. Napoleon had been exiled to Saint Helena, ten thousand miles from Sanctuary Bay, but he had escaped banishment once. If he did again, the war might flair up anew, and any man who answered the call to battle might not come back.

Just as Roland had not.

She must guard her heart as closely as the king’s soldiers watched over Napoleon on that speck of an island in the South Atlantic. Risking it again for a soldier would be stupid. She could enjoy Mr. Bradby’s company and his jokes, but nothing more.

It was a good plan, and it allowed her to smile when he stepped into the carriage. He closed the door and gestured toward the empty space beside her.

“May I?” he asked as the coachee set the carriage in motion.

She nodded. Stick to your plan, she reminded herself.

“First,” she said, “we must stop for Vera, then go to the shore at the foot of the village.”

“Down that steep, steep, steep and twisting, twisting, twisting street?” He gave an emoted groan and stretched his arm along the back of the seat.

“It is not the going down that bothers most folks, though I would never suggest we take a carriage down that steep street. It is the walking back up.”

“Either way is bad. Whoever decided to put a village on the side of a curving cliff must have enjoyed seeing people suffer.”

Catherine laughed at his droll expression. His eyes twinkled when he smiled more broadly. As he continued to joke, she matched him jest for jest. Soon both of them were laughing so hard that Catherine had to wipe tears from the corners of her eyes before the chill wind froze them there.

The journey across the ridge and back toward the church near the top of the sea cliffs went so quickly that Catherine was astonished. Usually she was impatient during the ride that could take an hour or more. With Mr. Bradby entertaining her with witticisms, the time had rushed past.

The carriage slowed to a stop in front of the flint vicarage half-hidden behind the squat stone church. Small windows were set deep into the walls, and the wooden door was in the need of paint. Nothing near the shore could keep paint on for very long, because the salt on the wind scoured it off like pots being scrubbed in the scullery.

Mr. Bradby assisted Catherine out, but did not hold her hand any longer than propriety allowed.

Catherine knocked on the vicarage’s door, then wrapped her arms around herself as a gust of wind sifted through her coat and scarf. Maybe going to the beach today was not such a good idea. She hoped the high cliffs edging the bay would lessen the wind along the shore.

A curtain shifted in the nearby window, and Catherine saw her friend’s face. Moments later, the door opened.

“Come in, come in,” Vera called in her cheerful voice. “Mr. Bradby! I hadn’t heard that you had returned to Sanctuary Bay. Do watch your head.”

Catherine knew the warning was not for her. She was short enough so the low rafters in the vicarage’s ceiling presented no problem for her. Though her tall sister Sophia’s head just cleared them, Mr. Bradby had to duck. Even so, his shoulder bumped a hanging lamp, sending light and shadows ricocheting around the room. Comfortable, well-worn furniture along with stacks and stacks of books and papers were lit, then lost again to the shadows.

He reached out to steady the lamp and apologized. “Sorry.”

“Think nothing of it,” Vera said as she retrieved her coat. “I keep asking my brother to move it, but though his intentions are good, the needs of the parish always demand every moment of his time.”

“Vera,” Catherine said, “I would be glad to send someone to handle small tasks like that for you.”

“I know, but I never think of it until someone hits the lamp.”

“If you would like,” Mr. Bradby said, “I can move it for you. All I need is a hammer, if you have one.”

“I do.” Vera dimpled before she disappeared past a curtain hanging in a doorway. Even before it stopped rippling, she pushed back into the room. “Here you go.”

Mr. Bradby removed his gloves and stuffed them into his greatcoat’s pocket. He took the hammer in one hand as he lifted the lamp off its hook with the other. When he offered the lamp to Catherine, he jerked his fingers back as a spark jumped between them.

“Ouch!” they said at the same time.

He grinned. “Warn me next time before you decide to play flint to my steel, Miss Catherine.”

Warmth climbed her face. She hoped it was from the fire on the nearby hearth and not from a blush. She moved out of the way as Mr. Bradby made quick work of removing the hook that had held the lamp and then hammered it back into the spot over a pair of chairs that Vera pointed to. He held out his hand for the lamp, and Catherine gave it to him, taking care not to let his fingers graze hers again.

He smiled as he hung it, holding his hand under it until he was sure it was secure. “There. Better?”