Dawn on a Distant Shore (28 page)

"No."

"But--"

"No. I will not
leave you."

She put a hand on his
arm, pressed hard. "Nathaniel, they could show up here any moment and take
you away!"

"Listen to me,
Elizabeth. It won't do us any good to rush into more trouble. Tomorrow we'll be
gone one way or the other--Moncrieff's got something up his sleeve or he
wouldn't be here."

"I do not like
this delay, Nathaniel. It makes me uneasy."

He ran a hand over her
hair. "It makes us all uneasy. Can you trust me a little longer?"

Her tension deflated
suddenly, and she leaned forward to put her forehead against his shoulder, still
damp with river water. "I'll trust you until my dying day, Nathaniel. But
I cannot help but feel that this is all my fault."

"Stop," he
said firmly, his mouth against her ear. "Stop it now, I won't hear it. You
just hold tight for a little longer, and let us see to business."

She nodded against his
shoulder, suddenly very sleepy. "I miss home."

His arms tightened
around her. "I'll get you there as soon as I can, Boots. Let me go talk to
Moncrieff, eh? And later I'll come see if I can figure some way to distract you
from your homesickness."

"You are
incorrigible." She turned to the door but Nathaniel swung her back to him.

"Nathaniel. Let
me go to Hannah."

"First tell me
what that means, incorrigible."

That look of his would
be the undoing of her, his eyes half-hooded and his wanting so clear; with all
the trouble and worry he could still manage to make her blood rush. Elizabeth
said, "It means you are the most stubborn man ever put on the face of the
earth."

"I'll take that
as a compliment."

"And the dearest,"
Elizabeth amended.

"Tell the truth
and shame the devil," said Nathaniel, and he let her go with a kiss.

The insides of the
Nancy
were a maze that Nathaniel had only just started to figure out after a day, but
after a few tries he managed to find his way down the right hatch and to the
long room where the crew took their meals. There his father and Robbie sat
across from Moncrieff, who was hunched over a plate of beef.

"How is the
lassie?" asked Robbie.

Nathaniel pulled up a
chair. "More scared than hurt. Moncrieff, it's good to see you in one
piece."

"Angus has just
been telling us of his escapades," Hawkeye said, rubbing his eyes.

"Aye, well,
there's no shortage of them. We've had a few of our own," said Nathaniel.
"I reckon I missed the story of what deprived us of your company in Montréal,
so sudden like."

"No mystery
there." Moncrieff put down his tankard with a thump. "The Pembroke
came into port a few days ago with a letter for the Governor from Carryck. The
two are well acquaint', ye see. As soon as he learned that the earl has an interest
in my welfare, the governor ordered my release," said Moncrieff. "And
no' a minute too early."

"He's got a
mighty long reach, your Earl of Carryck," said Nathaniel.

Robbie snorted into
his tankard. "No' lang enough. The laird might ha' put in a word for us
while he was at it."

Moncrieff narrowed one
eye and leaned across the table. "Aye, Rab. And so he would have, but he didna
ken, did he? And it's no' like I left ye there to hang, is it?"

"It was Iona wha
got us out," said Rob.

"But it was I wha
sent Pickering your way."

Rab's jaw worked
thoughtfully. "For that, we're endebted tae ye, Angus."

"So we are,"
agreed Hawkeye.

"Weel,
then." Moncrieff grinned at the Bonners over the edge of his tankard.
"Perhaps ye'll change your minds and sail hame wi' me to Carryck."

Hawkeye laughed.
"You never give up, I'll grant you that, Moncrieff. But your business is
done and so is ours. We'll be going home to Lake in the Clouds as fast as we
can."

"Amen!"
Robbie slapped the table with the flat of his hand. "Speak up, Angus, do
ye ken a ship for us, or no?"

Moncrieff tugged on a
long ear. "I do," he said. "Listen and I'll tell ye."

Nathaniel found
Elizabeth sitting under the transom windows with Squirrel's head bedded in her
lap. His daughter was deeply asleep, looking so much like the infant that she
once had been that Nathaniel stopped in surprise. She smelled of herbs
unfamiliar to him, but bitter and clean. When he touched her face she drew a
hitching breath in her sleep and turned her head away. Nathaniel picked her up
and settled her on the captain's bed, pausing to draw the blanket over her.

"She worries
me," Elizabeth said softly behind him.

"Fever?"
Nathaniel put a hand on his daughter's cheek.

"No,"
Elizabeth said. "It's not that."

"More adventure
than she counted on. High time to get her home." With a sigh Nathaniel sat
down next to Elizabeth and put an arm around her. "Where is
Curiosity?"

"Sleeping. She
worries me, too."

He tugged on the long
plait that hung over Elizabeth's shoulder. "Curiosity is strong," he
said, but got only a reluctant nod in return.

"Should we send
for Pickering's surgeon after all?"

"No,"
Elizabeth said. And then, more thoughtfully, "Not yet."

"Bears could slip
over to the
Isis
and have him here in ten minutes."

"Runs-from-Bears
isn't here. He's gone back across the river to the Indian camps."

"What?"
Hannah stirred and Nathaniel lowered his voice. "Why would he do
that?"

Elizabeth was studying
the shape of her own hands; it was a sign he knew well. "I'm not sure."

"But you've got
an idea, Boots. I can see that without being told."

She met his gaze.
"Hannah asked him to go."

He stared at her hard,
and she only stared back.

"I don't know
what errand she sent him on, Nathaniel, or I would tell you. Will went with him,
that is all I can say."

Nathaniel stood to get
a better view of the river. The sun was almost down, sending a cloak of reds
and yellows over the water. On the other shore cook fires flickered in the
dusk. Runs-from-Bears had gone off without a word. He could feel the shape of
some new trouble, but he could not put a name to it.

"Maybe I should
go after them."

"He said to tell
you not to worry."

There was a stirring
from the babies' basket. Nathaniel walked to the other side of the room and watched
as the twins woke, Lily quite quickly and Daniel with less urgency. Their
smells were a comfort: the sweetness of their sweat, milky breath, the tang of
wet winding clothes. For as long as he lived they would need his care and
guidance, and he would do his best to give it. He lifted Lily up to tuck her
into the crook of his arm, and she stretched and turned against him. Hannah had
once been a child like this, her wants simple and predictable; she had come to
him when she needed something.

"The best you can
do for Hannah right now is to get us on a boat home."

Surprised, he turned
toward Elizabeth. "And you accuse me of reading your mind."

She lifted one
shoulder, a reluctant smile flickering. "Perhaps it's a talent that can be
learned."

He said, "There's
a packet sailing tomorrow for Boston."

The look of pure joy
and relief on her face was worth whatever the passage would cost.

"You're
pleased." He sat down beside her.

"Oh, yes,"
Elizabeth said, holding out her arms for Lily. "I am very pleased, indeed.
An American ship?"

Nathaniel passed the
baby over as he told her the little he knew of the
Providence
and its captain.

"Good," she
said, producing the first really broad smile he had seen from her in Canada. "Very
good news."

"Boots,"
Nathaniel said, watching her closely. "The
Jackdaw
is hanging
around port, and I'm wondering if you have any idea why that might be."

Her smile was gone as
suddenly as it came. She busied herself with Lily for a moment, and then she looked
up at him, her expression torn between distress and irritation.

"Has he
approached you?"

"Mac Stoker? No.
Will he?"

"I fear so,
yes."

Nathaniel considered
for a moment. "I can't help if you don't tell me what's going on, Boots."

A squawk from Daniel,
which went ignored for the moment while he let Elizabeth stare at him, a tremor
at the corner of her mouth and her eyes narrowed. Color crept up her neck and
cheeks. She said, "Very well, if you must know. Stoker knows about the
Tory gold. At least, he thinks he knows--he has one of the five-guinea pieces."

He didn't know what he
had been expecting, but she had managed to surprise him. "You paid Stoker
with gold coin?"

"I am not an
idiot, Nathaniel." She was struggling for her composure, and not quite
able to meet his eye. "I paid him silver. But as we were coming off the
Jackdaw
one of his men dropped a barrel, there was a lot of confusion ... I was pushed.
I felt nothing at the time, but later I realized that my chain was gone."
She touched her throat as if to convince herself that the long silver chain she
usually wore hidden inside her bodice was really no longer there. She had worn
three things on it: a silver-and-pearl pendant that had once belonged to
Nathaniel's mother, a panther tooth, and a single five-guinea piece.

"You needn't say
anything, I know very well that I should not have gone to see him, even with
Bears. That was bad enough, but to let that gold piece fall into Mac Stoker's
hands--"

In one movement she
was away with Lily clutched to her breast; Nathaniel caught her by the skirt
and pulled her up short. Daniel began to cry in earnest and Lily joined him; Elizabeth
rounded on Nathaniel with a furious look. "Let me go!"

But he pulled
Elizabeth down next to him, trusting that she would put Lily's needs and distress
above her own. Then he retrieved Daniel and held him until Elizabeth could handle
both infants, suffering her thunderous expression without comment.

When the babies were
settled she said, "Aren't you ever going to say anything?"

"You told me not
to."

A twitching at the corner
of her mouth. "I have never known you to be so compliant."

"I'm just biding
my time," Nathaniel said.

"Until I come to
my senses." She was wound so tight that the muscles in her jaw jumped and all
her bones seemed to come up close to the skin.

"Until you get
the better of your hurt pride."

She shuddered then,
her expression turning from anger to grief with such suddenness that for a moment
Nathaniel could see what she might look like as an old woman, with a will as
contentious and sharp as a new blade, her heart as tender and strong as ever.

"Of course my
pride is hurt. It was a damnably stupid thing to do." Her eyes sparked a
warning, daring him to contradict her. Elizabeth rocked the nursing children
tighter against her and narrowed her eyes up at him, waiting.

And she was right, it
had been a mistake. She had not intended it, but she had given Mac Stoker some
power over them. He knew they had at least some of the Tory gold, he knew they
were on the run, and he knew exactly where they were.

"It was bad
luck," he said quietly.

She laughed hoarsely
and then caught herself up suddenly, blinking hard, and turned her face away.
"You are kinder than I deserve."

"Christ, Boots. I
couldn't be any harder on you than you are on yourself."

She drew in a deep breath.
"All day I have been expecting some word from Stoker and wondering how to
handle him."

"He'll be nosing
around soon enough, that's true. But there's nothing he can do if he can't find
us."

Elizabeth's head came
up, her expression much brighter. "Shall we go to the
Providence
straightaway,
then?"

He looked out at the
shape of the
Isis
in the growing dark, the vaguely shimmering face of
the Lass in Green, ivory and gold and ebony. Candlelight glowed from the Great
Cabin, and he could just make out movement there.

"What did you
think of Pickering's surgeon when he came by?"

She creased her brow
at him. "He seemed knowledgeable, and a gentleman. He spoke kindly to
Hannah, and he had a conversation with Curiosity. But he was only here for a
short time, Nathaniel, so I really could not say more. Why is it
relevant?"

"There's more
than Stoker to worry about, Boots."

She waited, one brow
raised.

Nathaniel said,
"Don't it strike you as strange that Somerville's got every redcoat he can
muster looking for us upriver, while things are so quiet around here?"