The Emerald Key - By Christopher Dinsdale Page 0,43
to service.”
“And the passengers?” asked Jamie, anxiously.
The administrator removed his glasses and tiredly rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You should brace yourself for some disturbing news, Mr. Galway. It was not a good scene on board the Carpathia when it arrived in the port of Montreal. A quarter of the passengers had died at sea. Some were washed overboard by the storm. Many who did survive the crossing were placed in quarantine while in very poor condition. I’m afraid some of those people have already passed away. But let me check the records. Certainly there must have been a few passengers who were able to walk away from the crossing.”
Jamie had to force himself to breathe as the old man shuffled through the files beside his desk.
“Ryan Galway … that name seems familiar. There was an older man, an uncle, in here a couple of days ago looking for the same last name.”
Jamie shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t have an uncle here in Montreal. In fact, I don’t have any family in Canada, except for my brother.”
“Strange. I could have sworn that was the name he enquired about. Galway, Galway.… Ah, here it is.”
Finding the proper file, he flicked through the papers until his eyes came to rest on two attached sheets. He looked them over several times and then walked the file over to Jamie. He held it out for Jamie to inspect. The first was a death certificate with his brother’s name on it. The second was a letter that Ryan had in his possession from a priest at Limerick Abbey. Jamie felt his blood turn to ice. The old man placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry, son.”
Chapter 12
Colin rubbed his eyes. “But I don’t want to go to sleep. Tell me another story about the baby bear and the moose. The moose is so funny!”
“I think you’ve had enough stories for one night,” said Beth, tucking him in with a burlap sack.
“Will you tell me another story tomorrow?”
Beth kissed him on the forehead. “You bet I will. I will have lots of stories for you after we help Jamie find his brother. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you how Moose met the crafty old — Did you hear that?”
Colin listened. “Hear what?”
“I thought I heard something outside.”
“Is it a bear?”
“No. Bears don’t come into the city. You still have a lot to learn about Canada.”
“What is it then?”
Beth hoped it wasn’t a police officer. “Stay here and don’t make a sound. I’ll go find out.”
She put a finger to her lips and Colin responded by hiding his freckled face under a sack. Beth quietly crawled through the maze of boxes until she reached the secret entrance and peered out into the cool evening air. Something rustled to her right. Moving as slowly as she dared, Beth slid low to the ground and peered around a broken crate from the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Only an arm’s length away was a tall man staring up at the cloudy night sky. The stranger had a cloth sack in one hand. Her shock quickly evaporated when she recognized the familiar dark silhouette. She leapt to her feet.
“Jamie! Oh, it’s you. I thought it might have been an animal, a police officer, or even worse, an orphanage inspector! I told Colin that on my signal we would have to make a run for it, should the need arise. He’s been ever so good, little Colin. He first had a nap and since he woke up, I’ve been telling him stories that I had learned way back in —”
Beth stopped when she realized there was something very wrong. Even in the dark, she could tell that Jamie’s eyes were red, hollow, and lifeless. He turned and she shivered when she realized that he was looking through her instead of at her. Instinctively, she reached out and wrapped her thin arms around him. She had seen that look too many times already in her short life.
“I’m so sorry, Jamie.”
After a moment, she backed up, tears trickling down her cheek.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Sometimes they make mistakes, you know. I’ve seen them do it.”
He shook his head slowly. “They had a personal letter of Ryan’s attached to the death certificate. He was the only one who could have had the letter. It had to have been him.”
“I’m so sorry.” She wiped away a tear with the back of her hand. “What do we do now?”