Henry ran his hand over the wood, as if petting one of the wild horses that roamed near the Currituck lighthouse to the north, then easily climbed up on the ocean-worn beams and walked along the narrow edge. He moved to the bow and paused, like the captain on the ship might have, and scanned the calm waters of the Atlantic. “The Liberty T. Mitchell set sail on a calm day. There was just the right amount of wind to fill her sails, and the old-timers didn’t sense any storms on the horizon. The voyage from Charleston, South Carolina, to New York was expected to go quickly and smoothly.”

Ruth looked at Talley, who stared at Henry as if he were about to shout boo at her. She nudged the older girl with her elbow and whispered, “It’ll be fun. You’ll see.”

Talley shook her head. “I don’t know.”

As Mama came up behind Ruth and Talley, Henry walked around the deck and then faced the crowd. “But if you were to ask the captain about the upcoming voyage, he would’ve told you he was worried. He felt like the entire journey was doomed. And no matter how calm the skies, he couldn’t shake the fear that his ship was cursed.”

Henry grinned, but this time all traces of humor darkened into something more secretive, malevolent even. “Why was it cursed, you ask?”

His gaze scanned the crowd, which was rumbling with nervous laughter.

“The single female passenger on the Liberty T. Mitchell was Francesca Wentworth, and she was the greatest beauty in Charleston. Her father was Charles Wentworth, a local judge who had a plantation that was believed to be one of the most productive in the region. Every eligible man in the city courted Francesca.”

He rubbed his hands together, looking toward the sky and then back at the crowd. “But the truth was the judge had a secret. He had a gambling problem, and he was in deep debt. He was facing certain ruin until an industrialist from New York, Jerrod Rathbone, offered to settle his debts in exchange for Francesca’s hand in marriage.” He shook his head. “Francesca didn’t want to marry, but what choice did she have? So the couple were wed in a lavish ceremony and honeymooned in Charleston. No one saw the couple for six weeks, and when they reappeared, Francesca was noticeably thinner and paler. She was supposed to leave with her husband on the next voyage, but her mother, believing Francesca was pregnant, begged Jerrod to let her remain until the baby was born. He agreed.”

Ruth leaned close to Talley. “The bad guys in Henry’s stories are always rich.”

“Why?”

Ruth shrugged. “He has no use for them, I guess.”