Max moved into a small cottage about a mile down the road from Mary Margaret and Emily. He walked past every day and often stopped in for a visit. Emily settled in with the resiliency of a child. “I miss my piano Max, but Lady Douglas was here yesterday and she said I could come and play her piano, whenever I wanted. Mommy said I must be polite and wait a few days. Why do grownups always want to be so polite? Why does Mommy call Lady Douglas, Jesse, but I have to call her Lady Douglas?” Max laughed at her as she rambled on. “It is much more fun to do things when I want to.” Max laughed and pulled her dark ringlet. She giggled. He gave her a piece of rock candy and the two played games for an hour before he left.
He walked down to the corner pub and ordered a pint of ale. As he sat enjoying the camaraderie of the pub, a commotion broke the silence. Over in the corner, Max noticed one of the patrons was drunk and becoming a nuisance and as was often the case, one of the young lads challenged him to a fight. Max didn’t know what it was about, but ducked when a stool flew past his head. He took up a post with several other men on the side of the pub opposite the fight. Several men cheered and shouted as the punches flew.
“What’s that about?” Max asked one of the men.
“Don’t know, but the young feller just told the older chap to come outside. Said he was going to beat him within an inch of his life. I think the other bloke insulted his girlfriend.” Max shrugged and took a long swallow of ale. He looked over and suddenly recognized the intoxicated man. It was Andy, the farm hand that had been fired for theft, years before.
Andy shouted at the challenger. “You don’t know who you are dealing with pal. I’ve killed better men than you.” Max leaned closer. What had he said? He killed someone?
The younger man shouted back. “Who did you kill, old man? I’m not afraid of you.” Lips loosened by liquor, Andy shouted, “I killed the blooming Lord, I did.” Several men in the pub heard him. Max stared at Andy in shocked silence.
The younger man grabbed Andy and pulled him to the floor. That’s when the ruckus started as several men joined in. Max shouted for someone to get the police. The man threw Andy against the bar. Glasses smashed to the floor and the innkeeper, who had had enough, sent someone for the police. The two fought it out until the constable arrived. At the sight of the police, the smaller squabbles quickly stopped and men began to fade into the background. Only Andy and the young challenger remained.
Max took the constable aside and told him what Andy said. Several others confirmed that they had heard him. The constable grabbed Andy and picked him off the floor. He was barely conscious but the second man was still standing. “You come with me, too.” He dragged Andy out of the pub, with the second man following. Max was right behind him, following the paddy wagon to the jail.
“I heard him and he said he killed Lord Birmingham. You had better call the judge tonight because there is an innocent, young woman serving life for that murder.” The constable looked at Max indifferently.
“Wait till morning. We will see what he has to say then.” Max wanted to punch him, anger was boiling up inside of him.
“Get the police chief in here. I demand that man be questioned now.” The constable went back to the chief’s office. He returned without him.
“Gone home and I suggest you do the same, before I throw you in a cell.” Frustrated, Max left reluctantly, but he ran all the way to the cottage.
“Mary Margaret, let me in! It’s Max.” She came to the door looking sleepy. He had forgotten how late it was. “I need to come in. I’ve just come from the pub and I have news.”
She let him in and made him some tea. When she heard his story she could not believe it.
“Andy killed Charles? But how? Why would he tell anyone?”
“He was drunk. The liquor loosened his lips and he spit it out before he realized. He might deny it in the morning, but we have four other witnesses besides me. She is going to be free, Mary Margaret! Elana is going to be free!” Max was so happy that he grabbed her and spun her around. Emily walked into the room rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Can I play too, Max?” They both laughed.
Mary Margaret went to the solicitors. She might be out of the manor, but she was still Lady Birmingham and she had some money put aside. She told them Max’ story and asked one of them to go to the police station. She wanted her sister out of jail, no matter what the cost.
Mr. Hanson, the original solicitor on Elana’s case, agreed to see what could be done.
In the jail, Elana remained ignorant of what had happened. No one told Elana, not wanting to get her hopes up. She lay in her cell at night shivering. Winter was the worst time in prison. Her fingers ached night after night. The cells were damp and cold. She huddled under her one thin blanket in the fetal position trying to stay warm. She would think of Daniel on a hot tropical island with the hot sun on his face. Even the warm thoughts failed to keep her warm. Her whole body shivered violently.
Andy’s court date was set and Mary Margaret insisted that Max take her to the courthouse in spite of the cold, snowy weather. “I want to see that monster get what’s coming to him. He killed Charles and walked free while my sister paid the price.” They traveled through the settling snow and arrived at the courthouse early.
In a small room off the main hallway, Max and Mary Margaret observed a woman in a thick-bordered cap, with her arms muffled in a large red shawl. It was a few moments before they realized that it was Hazel. She was busy whispering some instructions to the thin man opposite her. Andy was dressed in gray prison garb and his thinning hair was combed flatly on his head. He listened attentively to his mother, but neither hope, regret, nor affection was expressed on either side. Max and Mary Margaret were mesmerized as they watched through the partially open door. They strained to hear what Hazel was saying, but could only observe. The mother whispered her instructions, and the man received them with his pinched-up features twisted into an expression of deceitful cunning. It was perhaps some scheme for Andy’s defense that she was disclosing, and a sullen smile came over her face for an instant, as if she was pleased: not so much at the probability of her son’s innocence, as at the chance of his ’getting off’. The conversation was soon concluded, and with the same careless indifference with which they had watched each other, the mother turned towards the outer hallway and left him alone. They were an evil pair. Max and Mary Margaret moved on toward the courtroom unseen, both feeling as if they had just witnessed the devil and his advisor deciding Elana’s fate. Mary Margaret pulled her shawl tightly around her shoulders as a cold shiver ran down her spine. Max opened the large wooden door and soon they were seated in the small courtroom.
Hours went by with solicitors arguing back and forth and witnesses for the defense, one after the other, giving glowing references for the defendant. Mary Margaret was beginning to feel ill as she listened to their lies. Who paid them this time, I wonder? She wanted to scream Elana’s innocence to the heavens, but remained silent. She sat quietly waiting for her husband’s murderer to be sentenced. Hazel sat behind her son in a show of solidarity.
Finally, the court was adjourned until later in the week. Mary Margaret stared at Max in disgust. Max knew that the wait would be very trying for Mary Margaret as he ushered her from the building.
“Why is it taking so long?” she asked as they rode back to the cottage. “I want my sister home with me.”
“I understand Mary Margaret, but we have to be patient. No one wants to see Elana out of that horrible place more than I do. Andy will be convicted and then we can get Elana out.”
“But I can’t even tell her that she might be free. I don’t want to create any false hope until we are sure she will be released. This is torture, Max.”
At the end of the week, Mary Margaret sat in the courtroom with Max. Hazel was there, and observing her, Mary Margaret was surprised at how the woman had aged. Max held Mary Margaret’s hand when the sentence was read. Andy was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. A gasp escaped Mary Margaret’s lips. Hazel shrieked in shock, immediately grabbing the solicitor’s coat. He turned toward her with a defeated look on his face.
When she left the courtroom, Mary Margaret was filled with strange emotions. She thought that she would find closure, but it didn’t happen. Charles was still dead and James was still missing; nothing had changed except her sister would finally be free. In a way, she was disappointed with the lack of satisfaction she got from the trial.
She visited Elana and found it very difficult to stay silent. The solicitor had given strict instructions not to say anything to Elana and she was going to do whatever she had to. She wanted Elana out of this horrible place, at any cost. They chatted about the jail, Elana’s work and the manor sitting empty. Mary Margaret had to try very hard not to say anything to her sister about her being released, but she managed to restrain herself. Time seemed to stand still as they waited for the solicitor to make the final arrangements. Mary Margaret was upset when she learned the Governor of the prison was insisting on a fee to release Elana. The solicitor explained that it was common practice for prison Governors to be paid before releasing prisoners.
Now she had to figure out where the money would come from. Max assured her that he would help her raise the money and sold two of his best mares immediately. Mary Margaret was very grateful. “We will repay you, Max. You have been a Godsend to both of us.” Between the two of them they managed to raise the money needed, but the process was very slow.
Max visited when the next visiting day came, and he too had difficulty not telling Elana about her pending release.
“That was torture, Mary Margaret. The poor woman is telling me about the horrible job she has, her hands are all calloused and swollen and I couldn’t tell her it would be just a few more weeks and she would be free.” Max had trouble with deceit, but in this case it was for the best. If Elana had her hopes raised and then something happened and she was not released, it would kill her.
It took most of the money that Mary Margaret had left and three more months, but Mr. Hanson visited the cottage and informed Mary Margaret that Elana’s case had received the final order, and she could be released from prison. “Dear God in heaven, thank you.” Mary Margaret fell to the floor and thanked God.
“I will go to the prison tomorrow. You can meet us there and bring your sister home.” Mary Margaret thanked Mr. Hanson and went to tell Max. He was overjoyed.
Elana was in her cell when the guard came to get her. “The prison Governor wants to see you.” Elana was frightened. Had she done something wrong? She had managed to get through the past five years without a trip to the crank or the treadmill. She followed the guard hesitantly.
Stepping into the tiny office, she noted the warden was sitting at his desk with several papers in his hand. She waited silently, every part of her body trembling with fear.
“Elana Madison Dryfess?” The warden looked up over the top of his spectacles.
“Yes, Sir.” She stood hands together in front of him, her head down. She was shaking.
“You have been pardoned. You will be released tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. Be ready to go.” That was it. He dismissed her. She didn’t move. He repeated impatiently, “You may go.” She was trying to understand what he had said. She was being released?
“Did you hear me, woman? You are being released! Now go back to your cell and pack your personal belongings.” Elana turned, sucked in her breath and walked in disbelief, back to her cell for the last time. She could not believe it was true. The entire thing was surreal. That night she lay in her hammock and thought of Daniel far away in some foreign land. I am going to be free Daniel, at long last. I am going to be free. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew she was ready to leave.
The next morning, Mr. Hanson came to escort her from the building. They stood in her cell as he explained what had taken place over the past few months. Elana was angry at first that no one had told her, but Mr. Hanson assured her it was under his strict orders that they remained silent. Elana knew that it must have taken every penny her sister had left and she was very grateful to Mary Margaret. He opened the door and she stepped out into the corridor clutching her bag of worldly possessions to her chest. It felt strange. Walking out of the prison, one door at a time, she tried to believe it was really happening. She was free, after five long years. She was dressed in the clothes that she wore when she arrived years earlier, but they hung loosely on her now thinner frame. As Mr. Hanson opened the final door to the outside, she turned back. She had spent five years of her life in this horrible place. She never wanted to see it again. Never again will I take my freedom for granted.
Straightening her back, she walked out into the world, feeling free at last. Elana looked at the blue sky and laughed out loud. She squinted her eyes, staring at the sun. Even after she looked away from the sun, the warmth pulled her in and embraced her. She felt comforted, as if the sun were a huge blanket. She had missed the hours in the sun for so long.
Mary Margaret and Max were waiting for her in the carriage. Climbing in, she smiled at them. All the way back to the cottage, she held her sister tightly and cried. She cried for her freedom. She cried for her mother who was gone and she cried for all the years she had lost. Max was upset to see the two women crying, but he was very thankful that Elana was free.
Back in the cottage, she looked around thinking how long it had been since she was home. She and Daniel had spent their last few days here together. Now she just wanted him home with her. He was on his second two-year commission and could not come home until it was over. She wrote him a letter telling him she was free and mailed it to the port. Letters were delivered to ships by other ships traveling to similar destinations. Sometimes it took months for them to arrive.
Elana was so grateful to be out of prison. She stood in her herb garden. It was overgrown and wild. Winter was coming and a cold wind blew across the moors. As anxious as she was, she would have to wait until spring to start working in the garden. I shall spend the time getting acquainted with my niece and my sister. She hugged herself tightly, and wait for my husband to return from the sea.
The Destiny pulled into the Liverpool harbor three months later, in the dead of winter. A cold January wind blew across the dock. Daniel had Elana’s letter in his bag and he ran down the gangplank trembling with excitement. He was only in port for one week, but he was going to finally see his wife. She was free from prison and that was all that mattered. He wished he didn’t have to leave her so soon, but he could not leave the ship until his current commission was up, the following year.
She waited for him at the train station. Bundled against the cold in a fur-lined cape that belonged to Mary Margaret and a stout pair of boots, she could hardly wait to see him again. When he stepped off the train, she ran into his arms. She kissed his face, his neck, and his face again. She couldn’t get enough of him. His arms closed around her tightly. He was afraid of crushing her, but he could not hold her close enough. Caught up in the excitement, it was the most wonderful moment of their life together. She was free and he was in her arms again, even for a short time. They relished the feeling of togetherness for as long as they could before separating and walking to the waiting horse and cart.
Max was thrilled to see Daniel again and they spent many happy hours talking about the farm and the sea. Max let the couple have his cottage for the week and he slept in the outbuilding at Mary Margaret’s.
It was a happy week for Elana and Daniel getting to know each other again. One thing Daniel noticed was that Elana was nervous in crowds. She appeared timid and anxious around other people. Loud noises bothered her and she was much better in the quiet, sanctity of the cottage with just the two of them. He knew it was a result of her long incarceration, but it broke his heart to see the vivacious, outgoing woman he had married, now so timid and shy.
Elana found Daniel to be more muscular, his skin was tanned and he was more mature and worldly than she remembered him. It was very appealing. He told her of his many adventures with great detail and excitement. She felt safe in his arms.
He asked her about prison and how she felt to be free. Elana avoided talking about the time she spent in that horrible place, but she did tell him how she had been released, all thanks to Max.
“So it was Andy, all the time. That rotten bastard killed Lord Birmingham and walked around free, while you were in that horrible place! It is a good thing he’s locked up because I could kill him with my bare hands!” Daniel was pacing back and forth, growing angrier by the minute.
“Don’t think about it now, Daniel, because we only have a short time together. Come here and hold me, I just want to forget about Andy and prison.” He looked at her and could not resist her open arms. Andy was soon forgotten. Elana and Daniel dissolved into each other like no time had passed and they had been together that way every night. They would never take their love for granted. There were no guarantees in this life.
“Elana, I wish I could stay with you. I don’t want to go back to sea now that you are free.” He held her close in his arms as they lay together on the bed.
“I know, Daniel, but you must fulfill your duty and then we will be together.”
“Elana, you are the reason I went to sea in the first place. You with your wonderful unselfish love, told me to go to sea to fulfill my dreams, even though you were in prison. I will never forget that, my Darling. I am so lucky to have you for my wife.”
“Have you enjoyed the sea, Daniel?” All she wanted was to know he had been happy at sea. That the visits with him had ended for a good reason. She had been right to insist he go to sea, and she was filled with happiness for him.
“Oh yes, very much, it’s such a great adventure.” She watched his eyes light up as he spoke of the ship and his crewmates. He told her of the exotic places he had seen and some of the strange people he had met, and she realized that the sea was his other love, but she didn’t care. She loved him with all her heart and wanted him to be happy. She would wait for him to come home.
“I worry about you, Elana. Will you be all right, here in the cottage?”
“Mary Margaret and Max are close by. I just need some time to get used to other people and the hustle and bustle of life. Things are very different inside those walls, Daniel, very different indeed.” He kissed her lovingly. My poor darling, will you ever recover?
It was a happy and love filled week for Elana and Daniel. They made love with abandon every night. During the day, they went to the cliffs and watched the gulls. They walked and talked and shared their love. Max fitted them with two of the horses he had purchased, and they went riding. They stopped at the top of the hill, where they could survey the entire valley. The snow covered the hills and the trees were capped with white. Daniel dismounted and tied the stallion to a small tree. Elana swung her leg over her horse’s rump, then, fastening the bridle to a clump of gorse, she moved to stand beside Daniel. They stood looking out over the white valley. His arm was around her shoulders and he held her tight. She inhaled the cold, fresh air, “It’s beautiful in winter, isn’t it?”
“Are you warm enough, Elana?” She turned toward him and kissed his lips.
“I am with you and I am free, Daniel. I don’t even feel the cold now. Every minute outside is like heaven to me.” He looked at her trying to understand how she must have suffered and how she could have come away from the experience with so much love and gratitude for life.
The time passed so quickly.
Neither of them wanted it to end, but it was time for him to return to the ship. She traveled to the port with him by train. Together they stood on the dock and neither of them wanted to let go. After a few moments in each other’s arms, they knew they would have to part. She pressed her lips to his, trying to seal the feeling, forever in her heart. Daniel kissed her farewell, and she watched him climb the gangplank. She stood on the dock for more than an hour, until the ship sailed out of the port. It was cold, but she didn’t care. She would not leave until he disappeared, and he waved to her from the deck, until she was out of sight. It was a lonely train ride back to the village, but she was grateful for the time they had together. Elana sat in the back of the compartment, away from the other passengers. She listened to the clickety-clack of the train and thought of Daniel. I thought I would never hold you again and feel your lips on mine, my love. God has blessed us with this week and one day we will be together forever. I am very thankful.
Max and Mary Margaret were happy that Elana and Daniel had been able to be together, even for a short time. The couple had been through so much. Max commented to Mary Margaret, “She is so grateful for every small thing. Most women would be upset that their man was gone to sea, especially now that she is free. But Elana is grateful. She is full of love that one.” Mary Margaret agreed with him.
“Life in prison was horrible and yet she emerged full of love and gratitude. My sister is a very special person. She put Daniel’s happiness before her own. The only happiness she had was one visit a month and yet she talked him into going to sea. That is true love, Max, and now she is free and he is gone. Life is very strange sometimes, very strange indeed.”
“I only wish I had found a woman that would love me like that.” She patted his hand.
“I found a man that loved me like that and Andy killed him,” she commented bitterly. “Do you think we will ever know why he did it?” Mary Margaret was glad he had been given a death sentence but something was not right. Why did he kill Charles? There were so many unanswered questions.
Max shrugged. “The good news is that he got drunk and confessed and now Elana is free. That’s all I care about.”
“Bringing my son home one day is what I care about, Max.”
“You will see him again, Mary Margaret, and don’t forget you have a beautiful, little girl that needs you. Spring is coming and with the spring is a new beginning.”