Corvus (Stars and Sails, Book 1)

Twenty-five

There was a knock on the door. Amelia Rose stood up and released the wrinkles from her skirt. She bookmarked the page about celestial navigation in the new encyclopedia she picked up from the general store. It was a fascinating topic and she had been practicing it every time the sun set. She stepped out of the parlor and opened the door. There was a young boy fanning his face with a flat cap.

"May I help you?" Amelia Rose asked.

"Miss, is your pa home?"

"My father?" she asked.

The boy nodded. "It's urgent, Miss."

"He's not, may I take a message?"

The boy put his hat back on. He nodded again. He looked at a piece of paper and began to recite the words, "Runa Hyde was found in her home suffering from..." He stopped at a difficult word. He pointed at it.

"Irrational behavior..." Amelia Rose read.

The boy took back the paper. "She has been hired medical assis...ta...tance, She is unwell and desires to see Ran...dall...Randall Wagner as soon as—"

Amelia Rose shook her head. "My father is out on business for three days and we are not acquainted with anyone named Runa Hyde. You must be mistaken."

"She's your grandmother, ma'am, ain't she?"

"What?" Amelia Rose asked. She reached for the paper. The boy gave it willingly. Runa Hyde's address was written at the bottom.

"Says so right there, ma'am." He pointed to the side of the paper, where it did, in fact, insinuate that this woman was her maternal grandmother.

Amelia Rose ran back into the house and got her encyclopedia and her reticule. She stepped out onto the porch with the boy. His horse was stomping about. "How would you like to make ten octans today?" she asked walking toward the horse.

"Well, miss, if I had ten octans, I'd be rich." He followed her into the sweltering heat.

"Then give me a ride to Town Hall."

The boy was happy to. They meandered along at a trot. Town Hall was only a four-minute ride and when she dismounted, she paid him his ten octans in full. He received them without resistance. Amelia Rose ran off into the stables without alerting Holden. The stable boy was there. Amelia Rose smiled at him and started to fit Aries with his saddle. The boy helped with the reins. She mounted and hooked her leg around the pommel before directing the boy to open the doors. Then she left at a canter.

"Ms. Amelia Rose Wagner!" she heard Holden call. She looked back. He was looking out of a window at the back of town hall. Rather than respond, she hung onto Aries' neck and let him take her to the bluffs near the mine. She had never been up that far, only thought about it. She hardly knew there was a house up there let alone her ailing grandmother.

As she passed the mine, she heard the sound of the ocean. She could smell it and then see it lapping up against the shore. She travelled onto higher ground.

There it was—not a cottage or a house, but a lighthouse built of stone. A great light revolved at the top. It was short, just situated at the top of the highest bluff. Sometimes she would see the light house when she snuck out at night, but she'd never wandered this far into the outskirts unless she was accompanied.

Amelia Rose hitched Aries to a tree and stepped up to the lighthouse. Wildflowers grew at the base of a short staircase. She cautiously walked up to the door. The stairs were covered in sand from the dust storm. A great knot grew in her stomach. She knocked on the door with a big brass door knocker. After a few minutes, the door creaked open. A simple woman stood there. She had black hair that was tied back with a handkerchief. She bowed in greeting.