Authors: Genevieve Graham
FORTY
-
SIX
No one at the desk
said much when Danny arrived at the jailhouse. He signed in and an officer accompanied him down a long cement hallway. His peg was loud; its familiar
clop
clop clop
echoed off the walls. But for the first time, Danny wasn't ashamed of the sound. For the first time he realized the chunk of wood at the bottom of his leg wasn't anything to hide. Sure, it was ugly and uncomfortable. Sure, he would have done just about anything to get his original leg back. But what he had, well, it was like a medal of honour. He had gone over there and given all he had, and they'd given him this kind of a life in return.
Pierre Antoine? Well, he had a beautiful house and a lot of money. And now he was ruined. He had a criminal record and a reputation that would stay with him for as long as Danny's peg leg stayed with him. There were consequences to everything a man did, and for the first time Danny was satisfied with his.
Antoine sat alone in the back of a cell, elbows on his knees, face to the floor. He looked up when he heard Danny's steps, his expression dark with loathing. His face didn't look much better than Danny's did, blooming into layered bruises of black and purple, which Danny'd put there before the goons had grabbed him.
That made Danny smile. The man bruised just like any other mortal. Antoine shook his head slowly, scowling up at Danny through thick black brows. Danny stopped at the bars and stuck his hands in his pockets. He gave the Frenchman the smile of a saint.
“I gotta say, you don't look too comfortable in there, Mr. Antoine.”
Pierre's eyes narrowed. His voice was a growl. “What are you doing here?”
“Just came to visit. Like I did last time, before we were so rudely interrupted.” Danny touched his cheek gingerly. “By the way, that bald man of yours has a mean uppercut. You can tell him that from me.” He shrugged. “I know some guys with better ones, though.”
“I'm sure you do. Should be you in here, you son of a bitch. You probably know most of the scum in this place personally.”
Danny leaned back and perused the cells in his view. He nodded at a couple of the familiar men behind bars.
“Actually, I do,” he said, grinning back at Pierre. “And if you'd like a little advice, well, you might wanna treat them a little nicer than you treated me. They aren't as well-mannered as I am.” He winked. “And not so patient with sucker punches.”
Antoine sneered. “So what? Who the hell asked for your advice? You think I care why you're here? What is it you want? You come here to gloat?”
Danny looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, then rocked a bit between his foot and his peg. “Uh, yeah. I guess I did. See, because I got the girl. She chose me, despite everything you've got. You can't ever have her again. And I got the kids and the home and the life I always wanted. And you, well, you got this.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Wow. I wish I could say I felt bad for you, Mr. Antoine, but I sure don't.”
“Yeah? Well, that's just fine. You've said what you wanted to say.”
“Oh, I'm sure there's more.”
Pierre spat to the side. “Get outta here, Baker. Run along now, fisherman. Oh, that's right. You can't run like other men can. The thing is, you'll never run, you pathetic, crippled
boy
. You're a sorry excuse for a man is what you are. So you can say all you want, but you'll never, never be the man I am.”
Danny tightened his jaw and met the man's eyes with his own fury. “And I thank God every day that I won't. You are a stupid little man, Antoine. And very, very small. I hope you never get out of here. But if you do, I've got a message for you.”
“Yeah?”
He lowered his voice to the dangerous tone he kept hidden behind the wall in his heart. The dark voice rumbling in the trenches, cold, forbidding, and lethal. “Stay away from me and my family. And stay away from the orphanage.”
“Or what? You gonna kill me?” Antoine's eyes were jet black in the swollen lids. “Listen up, Baker. Listen good. When I get outta here, I'm gonna mess you up something bad. And then I'm gonna mess up Audrey. I'm gonna come after your entire bloody family. I'll make your lives hell. You're gonna regret you ever met me.”
Danny grabbed the bars of the cell and pressed his face against the cold metal. The contact thrilled through the cuts and bruises, feeding Danny's energy. He grinned at Antoine, who had risen to the bait and now stood only a few inches away. He could smell the ripe stink of the man's breath and fought the urge to spit at him.
“Doesn't surprise me you should feel that way. After all, you're the one on the other side of the bars. You got nothing left but threats. But you know, talking about regrets, you might wish you'd never threatened me like that.”
“Oh yeah? Why's that? I'm not scared of a half man.”
Danny chuckled, then leaned back again. “Hey, Franco!” he yelled down the corridor.
A deep voice called back, “Yo, Danny! Dat you?”
“Sure is,” Danny replied, still grinning. “Who's down there with you?”
“Well, let me see,” Franco said. Danny could picture the big man counting off on his massive fingers. “There's Jimbo, Maddy MacDonald, Chains, Bruce . . . they's all here. Oh, and Red, too, I think. You here, Red?”
“I'm here, Franco. Nice to hear your voice, Danny my lad,” came the response.
Red was a huge Irishman. He loomed over everyone at the docks and was built like a bull. His nickname naturally originated from the colour of his stiff brush cut but also applied to the deep shade of red that seeped up his face when he was the least bit roused. Danny'd never seen a man with tougher knuckles than Red. The image of those fists introducing themselves to Antoine made him smile inside.
“Good to hear yours too, Red. You comin' out to play sometime soon?”
“Oh, sure I will. Just catchin' up on some sleep is all. Three square meals a day here. A fella can't complain.”
“What are you in here for this time, Franco?” Danny watched Antoine's face. He already knew the answer to his question, and he had a pretty good idea of how the answer would affect Antoine's confidence.
He imagined the big Italian's careless shrug. “Somethin' to do with dat altercation at the rail yards th'other night. Slight disagreement is all.” Scattered chuckles bounced off the walls. “Why you here, Danny? You need somethin'?”
“Oh no, Franco. Thanks. I'm just here visiting. Hey, did you
boys meet the latest jailbird? My old friend Pierre Antoine? Seems he stole stuff from the orphanage. Let the kids starve. Some kinda hero, huh?”
Pop pop
âthe trademark sound of Mad MacDonald cracking his knuckles. “I heard of that guy in the paper this mornin'. Tell you what, lad. I'd sure like to meet that new friend of yours face to face. He's some kind o' celebrity.”
Danny looked down the corridor. “He has some big plans for me and my family, apparently. Did you hear what he said?”
“Every word,” came Red's voice.
“No' a real polite lad, is he?” asked MacDonald. “Threatenin' our friend an' all.”
“Don't worry,” Franco's voice rumbled. “We'll look after Mr. Antoine for you, Danny.”
Danny turned back toward Pierre, who had turned a sickly white under the bruises. “Am I gonna kill you?” he asked. “Nah. I won't have to. The tides have turned. Enjoy your stay, Mr. Antoine.” He stepped from the bars and tipped an imaginary hat toward his friends down the hall. “See ya round, fellas. Take care of yourselves.”
FORTY
-
SEVEN
Danny did as he'd promised,
returning to the orphanage to collect Audrey and the boys, but he did so only after he'd stopped in at Mick's house and packed all the couple's belongings. That way they could just leave the city once and for all. He borrowed a wagon and carried all their things to the docks, then arranged for passage. Danny didn't have a boat in Halifax, and he hadn't set this up in advance so his father could bring one down for them, so Danny paid a man to sail them, and all their meagre possessions, up to East Jeddore.
When he arrived at the orphanage, Audrey was watching, concern wrinkling her brow. Her expression cleared when she saw him, and as soon as he was close enough, she wrapped her arms around his neck and stretched up for a gentle kiss.
“Is everything all right now?” she asked.
Danny nodded. “Yup. Everything's fine.”
“What about Pierre?” she asked carefully.
“You don't need to worry about him ever again.” She frowned, but he only shook his head. “It's all taken care of. End of story, Audrey.”
He knew she wanted more information, but it was his. He
didn't want to argue, didn't want to answer questions. He'd done what he'd had to do. He could move on now.
“Hey, boys,” he said, turning toward them. “Who wants to go on a boat?”
Mick came to the dock to bid them farewell. He accepted all the invitations they issued, promising to visit when he could. “The boss'll be sure to offer me a few days' holiday after this story blows over. But I'll be plenty busy until then.”
“Hey, Mick,” Danny said, holding out a hand. “Thanks for everything.”
Mick nodded, gripping Danny's hand and giving it a shake. “Watch yourself up there, eh? Don't get lost in the stink of fish. But if you do, I'll probably still have room for you here.” He cast a dubious eye over the little boys running in shrieking circles around the bags. “Whenever you want.”
“Thank you, Mick,” Audrey said, hugging him. “For everything.” From over her shoulder, Danny watched his buddy's eye close, his hands press against her back.
Mick stepped back. “I'm happy it all worked out. Take care of him, will you? He tends to get himself in situations.”
She sniffed. “I promise I will.”
“Good. Then let's get this boat moving. Ain't gonna be daylight forever.”
The little boys climbed into the sloop and sat close to each other, grinning with anticipation.
Danny turned back to Mick. “Hey, Mick. If you need a story in a week or so, you might wanna check on Mr. Antoine over there in the jailhouse. See how he's getting along with Franco and the others.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I introduced him to them, you might say.”
Mick grinned and shook his head. “You always was full of surprises, my friend. I'll watch out for that and keep you informed on his situation. Thanks for the heads-up.”
“No. Thank you,” Danny repeated. “I mean it. For everything.”
Danny gave the little boys strict instructions about exactly how far they were allowed to lean over the edge of the boat, but he let them touch the water as they floated up and out of Halifax Harbour. Audrey held Norman on her lap and pointed out sights as they went.
The wind picked up as they pulled away from the dock, and the captain nodded at Danny, who let out the jib until it barely luffed, then tightened the sail and tied it off. The captain did the same for the mainsail, then sat at the tiller. The saltwater wind whipped Danny's hair against his face, blowing cool and clean, healing so much more than just his cuts and bruises. He leaned against the mast and closed his eyes. The weight of the past year began to slide off his shoulders and sink into the sea.
For five hours the sloop passed by nothing but water, sky, and trees. Danny knew it all looked the same to the others, but not to him. Every inch of the shoreline was etched into his mind, and he was soothed by its fingers, its constantly changing patterns of green and grey. The explosion had stripped the north end of Halifax of most trees, and the whispering of leaves at the water's edge was like a lullaby to him. Branches had lengthened over time, new birds flitted from tree to tree, but it was the same. It was home.
“We're almost there,” he told them.
Audrey sat between the children, who were now half asleep, silently watching the shore. The creases he'd seen so often crossing her brow were gone, like the waves of the sea when it calms after a storm. She sensed him looking at her and smiled in that young
girl's way, sweet and trusting, wanting to please. But no longer quite so innocent. Not quite, he knew, as naive as she had been. But she was still his girl. Deep down he knew that.
“Here, little man,” he said to Eugene. “Go and sit with your brother so I can talk with your mother.”
Eugene wobbled to his feet, then joined Harry on Audrey's other side. Danny took his place and wrapped his arm around Audrey. He looked into her eyes, searching for regret, searching for something that might take away the magic of this moment, but saw nothing but love.
“We can do this,” she said.
“Yeah,” he replied. “We can. We'll be just fine.” He grinned. “It'll be crowded at first, but we'll get the house built eventually, and life will go on.”
The water lapped at the hull and the captain ordered everyone down so he could come about. They all ducked and watched the big sails swing to the other side. Almost immediately, the wind filled the sails and pushed the boat faster up the shore.
“Danny,” said Audrey. “I have a little surprise for you.”
He grimaced. “Not sure I can handle too many more of your surprises.”
She leaned over and kissed him. “You'll like this one.” She pulled a small purse from her bag and held it out to him. “I wasn't sure when to give it to you, but now seems like a good time. Open it.”
Frowning, he did as she said, then stared at its contents, suddenly dizzy. “What is this? Where did youâ”
“I sold the little necklace Pierre gave me.”
Danny pulled out the money, savouring the feel of it in his fingers. He chuckled. “Nothing âlittle' about that necklace.”
“No, but he didn't want it back.” She shrugged. “I thought we should use it ourselves. I reckoned it was only right. After all, he tore down our house in a way. Now he's helping us build one.”
Danny nodded, recognizing the scurry of his nerves as hope filled his heart. There was enough money here to make a good start on their new home. A very good start. They'd get building right away. He and his dad and his brothers, his wifeâand his sons.
It would be all right. Everything would be all right.
“Look, Danny,” Audrey said. Her eyes were blue as the sky. She was pointing ahead, toward the rooftop of his family's house where it peeked through the trees.
The boys drooped against each other, exhausted. Well, they were about to wake up in a pretty big way. So were Danny's parents. He grinned, imagining how they might react.
When Audrey looked back, he kissed the tip of her nose, and her smile melted his heart. He grinned, knowing he was right. Everything
would
be fine. He kissed her again, then put his lips against her ear.
“Welcome home, Audrey.”