Chapter 35
Sacramento City
July 1854
Flames engulfed the planks on G Street, the roar of thunder echoing across town as buildings collapsed in on themselves, spraying a storm of embers across the stunned crowd. Alden pushed through hundreds of bystanders watching the destruction, trying to make his way up toward Isaac and Miss Labrie.
He didn’t get far. As the volunteer firemen lined up on the streets, one of them asked him to help pull the heavy fire engine with its canvas buckets, leather hooks, and one-hose reel toward the flames. Alden grabbed one of the drag ropes and joined the men.
Another crew fought the fire inside buildings with their axes, blowing their brass trumpets when they needed help. The rest of the volunteers pumped water through the engine’s hose or hauled up buckets of water from the river to douse flames. Shards of glass blew out from the rubble of saloons around them, liquor exploding in a turquoise blaze. The courthouse was consumed in minutes.
As Alden worked alongside the firemen, he prayed that Miss Labrie and Isaac were safe in the cottage, that Stephan and Persila would find their way to freedom without complication, that the volunteers could contain the fire before it consumed this tinderbox of a town.
As the first rays of dawn crept through the haze, Sacramento City was subdued into a fenland of smolder. The Golden Hotel was still standing, thanks to the swollen slats of iron on the windows and front door, but he couldn’t attest to its structure. The wooden buildings on both sides of the hotel were destroyed.
Once the fire was contained, he hurried away from the wharf, following Stephan’s directions to the cottage far from the center of town. No one answered his first knock, but when he called out, Miss Labrie opened it. Her dress was covered with soot, her hair tangled in curls. In her arms, she clutched some sort of box.
He glanced over her shoulder and saw a mound of canvas bags, but he didn’t see anyone in the room. “Is Isaac here?”
“He’s asleep.”
He sighed with relief, grateful they were both safe. “Is he okay?”
She nodded.
“Thank you for taking care of him.”
He’d thought Miss Labrie was lovely the first time he’d seen her at the hotel, but she looked even more beautiful in the faint morning light, covered with the ashes from the fire, than she had looked in her tailored gowns, serving the elite of Sacramento. The fire, it seemed, refined both her strength and beauty.
“Come inside,” she urged. “Quickly.”
When he stepped into the sitting room, she slid the metal bolt behind him, locking the door. And the niggling thought haunted him again. He was almost certain that he’d seen her before, somewhere in years past, but it was as if his memory was veiled by smoke as well, like a dream that had faded away.
She glanced toward the curtain drawn over the window. “Where is Stephan?”
“He’s with Persila.”
“Were you able to rescue her?”
“We were.”
“Thank God.” She collapsed onto the sofa, the wooden box secured in her lap. “I need to see Stephan this morning.”
“I’m afraid he’s already gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
“He and Persila were able to board a paddle wheeler when the fire started.”
She took a deep breath. “Are they traveling to Vancouver Island?”
When he nodded, her shoulders fell. “I’m happy for them, but”—she looked down at the rug—“I wish I could have said good-bye.”
“Stephan asked me to thank you for all that you’ve done. He said he intends to find a boy named Micah up north, and I have a suspicion that he intends to marry Persila too, if she’ll have him.”
“I hope she will. He will treat her with honor and respect.” She smoothed her hands over the box. “I’m confused about one thing, Mr. Payne.”
He sat in the chair across from her. “What is it?”
“Are you or are you not Isaac’s owner?”
He contemplated his words before he spoke. “I’m his guardian.”
“Is he a freed slave?”
He crossed his legs, leaning back against the stiff upholstery. “It’s a bit complicated.”
“I don’t think freedom is complicated at all.”
Miss Labrie was an advocate for slaves, and she was fond of Isaac. Perhaps it was time to tell her the truth.
“Isaac isn’t free according to the law, but I figure that the law here doesn’t need that information.”
“You don’t have his papers?”
He shook his head.
“Nor can he buy his freedom,” she said, seeming to speak more to herself than him.
“He doesn’t owe me anything.”
“A slave hunter could steal him away.”
“No one here knows he’s run away,” Alden said. “As long as people think he’s my slave, he’ll be safe.”
“You and I both need to stay in the shadows, then.”
“Forgive me, Miss Labrie, but it doesn’t seem like you’ve been living in a shadow.”
She gave him a shaky smile—the first time she’d ever smiled at him. “All is not as it seems, Mr. Payne.”
He pointed toward the stack of bags. “Are those from the hotel?”
She nodded. “I need to leave this morning.”
“The Golden is still standing,” he told her. “If the structure is safe, Isaac and I can help you restore it.”
“I’m not going back to the hotel.”
He leaned toward her. “What’s wrong, Isabelle?”
She didn’t correct him when he used her first name, didn’t even seem to notice that he’d said it. “There’s someone in Sacramento trying to harm me.”
He pressed his hands together. “After today’s trial, you probably have many people angry at you.”
“It’s more than that,” she said. “It’s someone from my past.”
He could hear the fear in her voice, and he understood.
She stood back up, clutching the box to her chest. “I’m going to purchase a stagecoach ticket.”
“To where?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You need someone to go with you.”
She shook her head. “There’s no one—”
“Isaac and I were thinking about going to Columbia,” he said.
“To see Judah?”
He nodded. “If he hasn’t moved on.”
“I suppose I could go to Columbia too. For a season.”
“How much, exactly, does a stagecoach ticket cost?” he asked.
When she told him, he wanted to kick himself. Almost all his money was now in Mrs. Webb’s pockets. “I’m afraid Isaac and I will have to stay here after all.”
She eyed him curiously before speaking. “I owe you and Isaac for your work at the hotel.”
“We haven’t made nearly enough to purchase tickets.”
“You can pay me the rest later.”
He didn’t want to take a loan, yet he needed to find Judah. And if someone was trying to harm Isabelle, he could protect her as well.
“I’ll find work in Columbia, whether or not it’s with Judah,” he said. “When does the stagecoach leave?”
“At ten.”
“If the hotel is still standing, I’ll have to retrieve my things.”
There was strength in her smile this time. “Isaac carried your things here.”
He returned her smile. “Perhaps he’s my guardian as well.”