The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons Read Online Free Page A

out and took hold of the shutters, which moved easily under her gentle touch, mocking my uncle’s efforts. This infuriated him further.
    â€œI don’t remember asking for your help, missy,” he said. He turned back toward the barrister. “Now, let’s get on with it!”
    â€œAs I said,” Barrister Hardy continued, in a chilly tone of voice, “until Miss Prudence can be found, Mr. Simmons, you and your wife will serve as guardians. However, when Miss Prudence is located, guardianship will revert back to her, and your responsibilities here will be complete.”
    â€œAnd if she isn’t found?” asked Uncle Victor.
    â€œThen you remain guardians for the next six years, until Lucy turns eighteen. And Miss Clancy, do you agree to stay on as stipulated in Captain Simmons’s last will and testament?”
    Addie grabbed my hand. “Yes, of course, Barrister. I wouldn’t think a leavin’.”
    Uncle Victor silenced her with a wave of his hand.
    â€œAnother question—I must ask, however awkward,” he began. His tone of voice was suddenly very different—syrupy, artificially sweet. He glanced my way and back at the barrister.
    â€œAnd what if, let’s say, something should happen to Miss Lucy before her eighteenth birthday? I mean, after all, tragedies do occur, as we have recently witnessed.” He looked around for encouragement. Aunt Margaret stared at her feet, blinking nervously.
    â€œIt is only responsible to ask,” he continued, glancing from one to the other of us.
    The question hung there like a bad omen. AuntMargaret stared at her shoes. Addie took a deep breath, bit her bottom lip, and seemed unable to move. My heart pounded, and for an instant I wished that the sea had taken me along with Mother and Father.
    Barrister Hardy paused, removed his glasses, and rubbed his eyes.
    â€œIn the case of Miss Lucy’s untimely death, the house and estate would revert to the legal guardian.”
    Uncle Victor smiled, a thin-lipped smile that had little warmth in it.
    â€œThank you, Barrister,” he said. “One has to consider all of the possibilities, however unlikely.”
    I spoke up. “But, Barrister, why couldn’t there be a different guardian—Miss Addie, even?”
    Barrister Hardy tipped his head toward me and spoke gently. “I imagine Miss Addie would make a fine guardian. But this house that your father built is a continuation of the Simmonses’ seafaring legacy. As I recall, he referred to it as his ‘ship on shore.’” He glanced at Father’s leather-bound ship’s logs on the desk, the nautical treasures that lined the shelves and walls. “I know his intent was to keep the house, and everything in it—especially you , my dear—in the family’s loving care.”
    I started to protest, but the barrister silencedme with a firm, but sad, smile.
    â€œThe law upholds this last will and testament. No one could have anticipated the tragic circumstances we find ourselves in this day.”
    Uncle Victor looked triumphant.
    And then and there, I knew that I was no longer going to be safe—and not only in the sense of being well loved and cared for. I shuddered to think beyond that, refused to consider what my uncle might have in store for me.
    At that very moment, as if to lock away any further thoughts in that regard, the shutters made one more defiant slam against the window.
    And, in answer, Father’s ship’s bell out front clanged its warning again—a sound as hollow and lonely as the feelings that had taken over my spirit in the days since the accident.
    But the bell’s warning was not lost on me. Despite my sadness, it awoke in me a level of resolve I had never before experienced—a determination that left a steely taste in my mouth, an energy and electricity in my soul that had been absent for some time.
    It’s not that I had any real