Free Gift from the Sea by Anna Schmidt Page B

to drive this spring. Won’t that be something?”
    Maggie hadn’t really been paying attention and hoped that nodding and smiling would suffice. She was still confused by her father’s strange assignment.
    “I want you to meet this afternoon’s steamer,” he had instructed as he finished scribbling a note and then sealed it securely in an envelope. “The person you’re looking for will be wearing a blue scarf and carrying an umbrella. He will be part of the crowds but not necessarily a passenger. When you see him, pass by and say, ‘Peace be with you.’ If he replies with, ‘And with you and all your countrymen,’ give him this envelope.”
    “But who is this man and what’s in the envelope and why all the mystery and—”
    Papa stopped her with a look. “It is business, child.”
    In other words, do not question, Maggie thought as she turned the envelope over in her hands. It was slim and could not possibly contain more than a single slip of paper. It was sealed tight. “And after I hand over the envelope?”
    “Go about your shopping.”
    “What am I supposed to tell Aunt Jeanne?”
    Papa frowned. “Tell her you have an errand for me.”
    “She’ll want to come along.”
    “Then say you want to get something for her—a surprise.”
    Maggie’s eyes widened. Her parents had never asked her to lie; in fact, they had punished her more than once for doing just that in order to get out of school on a beautiful spring day or avoid chores when she’d rather be at the shore. “I am to—deceive Aunt Jeanne?”
    Her father sighed heavily and reached into his coat pocket for his wallet. He handed her several bills. “No, at least not entirely. Here, choose something for her on your way back from the meeting.”
    Maggie accepted the money. “Papa, is this—business—to do with the German?” She cut her eyes toward the window and the cottage beyond.
    Her father smiled and came around his desk to enfold her in a hug. “Oh, my little one, always so curious.” He squeezed her tight and then leaned back so he could see her face. “We are in a time of war, Maggie. Will you do as I ask?”
    Maggie nodded but did not miss the fact that her father had avoided answering her question.
    “I have an errand to run for Papa,” she blurted now as Frederick turned the carriage onto Main Street. He guided the matched team of horses cautiously over the uneven cobblestones, set decades earlier to make it easier to rollthe barrels for storing whale oil to and from the docks. “I won’t be long. Shall I meet you both at the tearoom?”
    Jeanne sighed. “Leave it to your father to see the opportunity to inject a bit of business into a pleasure excursion,” she grumbled. “Very well, let’s get it done.”
    “No!” Maggie protested so vigorously that both Jeanne and Frederick turned to her. “That is, well, it’s true I need to run a quick errand for Papa once the steamer docks, but I had also thought to have a moment to choose a gift for you,” she admitted, her face flaming with the half lie.
    Jeanne squealed with delight and hugged her. “As usual you have solved a little problem of my own—namely, how to distract you so I could purchase you a special something to cheer you up a bit. Perhaps from that shop there?” She pointed in the direction of a ladies’ boutique on the street a block from the steamer dock. She waited for Frederick to come round and help her down from the carriage. “Now hurry along and do your father’s bidding. I want you to have plenty of time for choosing my gift,” she teased as she fumbled under the frilly ruffles of the silk scarf that filled the neckline of her fur coat and highlighted her strawberry-blond curls. She consulted the gold watch she wore on a chain. “Shall we meet at the tearoom in an hour?”
    Relieved that Jeanne had raised no further questions, Maggie stepped down from the carriage, waved goodbye and headed for the dock at a quick pace. The steamer was just