The Dreamer (24 page)

It was just possible. He could be breathing this very moment, and be thinking about me. He would come for me as long as he was breathing.

So I must keep breathing, too.

The duke reached out and lightly touched my hand.

I resisted the urge to recoil, to pull away in disgust. Instead I hesitated, just long enough, and then closed my fingers around his.

“Go back to the islands,” I whispered. “It’s the furthest west island … at low tide. One will appear from under the water.”

He closed his eyes in dramatic relief, and then he opened them and smiled. He clutched my hand close and said, “
Merci
.”

I almost spit in his face. But I didn’t. Though I would not be fooled again. I asked to be alone, and then I forced myself to sit up and began to eat my dinner.

*** *** ***

Time went by slowly. It was difficult to move and focus, as though I were in a heavy fog. But I did what I had to do because I was strong and it had to be done.

The duke approached me. I was standing on deck and looking out to the ocean, my thoughts far away and very predictable. I always thought of the same thing when I was alone.

I turned and smiled at him. His thin hand touched my own, and I didn’t draw away.

“
Petite
, you seem tense.”

“I’m nervous, I guess. Considering what happened last time,” I added pointedly.

His beautiful blue eyes were full of sorrow. “I told you, I was only thinking of your safety. One never knows what kind of savage is found on an unknown island. And I couldn’t very well just leave you alone on a pirate ship,
n’est pas
? I had you locked away to protect you. When I found that we had lost you, you don’t know what I suffered. I thought it had been simply another group of wicked pirates. That’s why we pursued you. I wanted you safe again. So I used the missing treasure to motivate Looper and his men. When I found Tucker on that ship … forgive me. I realized too late my mistake.”

“There was so much death,” I whispered.

“These men, they are pirates,
petite
. I know it’s difficult for people like you and me to understand, but this is the life they choose to lead. They are accustomed to violence and death. In fact, they prefer it. I don’t mean to sound callous. I regret the loss of life as much as you,
bien sur
. But when it comes down to it, the pirates would not have it another way.”

“Are you sure?”

“
Oui
,” he answered, and he squeezed my hand. He smiled at me, and I returned a diffident smile.

When he turned away to look out over the ocean, my smile disappeared, my eyes turning hard.

“We will be there soon,” he continued, “and this time shall be different. We now know the island is uninhabited. It’s very small, in fact. Hardly a single acre. And you will not need to be confined again,
d’accord
?”

“What a relief. I’d been so nervous before.”

The duke turned to me and stepped close, and I could feel his breath on my cheek. “
Chérie,
” he whispered.

I moved away from him. “John,” I called, seeing him emerge across the deck. “This way.”

Finley came towards us. He bore the bruises of rough treatment upon immediate arrival onto the ship. But under the circumstances, they couldn’t very well mistreat him any longer. “Come and stand with me,” I invited.

He looked at me in some surprise at my eagerness to be with him. “Did you want me, Miss Madera?” he asked.

“Have you ever seen an Egyptian Death Mask, John? They’re beautiful. Solid gold, beaten and burnished. They can weigh twenty pounds or more. Often there is colored glass or fine jewels inlaid along with the gold. There is certain to be one in the treasure, along with goddess statues, Selket or Isis. Personally, my favorite pieces are the jewelry. There is a Pectoral of Kheper Scarab that was once found in a tomb that is …,” I shook my head, “breathtaking.”

John nodded in interest, and the duke’s eyes never left my face. He seemed thoughtful and somewhat surprised.

“How can you know all this,
petite
?”

“I told you. I’ve had an exceptional education.”

A look entered his eyes, as though he suddenly recalled something that disconcerted him. Abruptly he excused himself and withdrew, leaving Finley and me alone.

“Now, how does the Pector, um, the jewelry piece look?” he asked, leaning on the rail after the duke was gone.

I watched Dubois walk away, and I could feel the pretense of happy anticipation leave my face as he disappeared, replaced with distaste and indifference. I turned out to the ocean and ignored the question.

“Rachel?” John asked.

“What is it?” I asked crossly.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked earnestly. “Can I get you anything?”

“Would you stop asking me that? Honestly, John, did you think I would be in your company if I could help it?”

He stiffened, and his old, wrinkled face registered pain.

“Oh John.” I sighed impatiently.

“No, I understand,” he answered, rubbing his palm down his trouser leg in that old habit of his. He looked out at the water.

Those words, which are often said in order to incite guilt in the listener, were totally natural coming from him.

“You don’t seem as frightened as I thought you’d be,” I finally said, “stuck on this ship with me. I would have thought you’d be trembling in fear.”

He turned to me. “But Norcross said we would be released. He explained everything ….”

I was still watching the horizon. The captain was right. It went on and on until there was nothing left.

I didn’t bother disabusing the poor idiot’s gullible trust. I knew there was only one thing that would save us now and nothing else. And I prayed he came before the treasure was found and my usefulness disappeared.

“You think the captain’s still alive, don’t you John?” I queried, almost in a plea, finally looking at him.

“Of course, Miss Madera. He’s survived worse than that. They were lowering the longboats when I was pulled away.”

“Tell me what he was like as a child,” I begged.

He looked over the ocean with a soft reminiscent smile on his mouth. I could well picture Finley as the only gentle refuge for a boy on Fredrick’s boisterous, efficient ship. “He was very mature. Quiet and thoughtful and almost like an adult. He was only ten when he told me that he would leave the ship as soon as he was old enough, and that I could come with him. He’d always wanted to leave the ship. He longed for shore, for stability and safety.”

I smiled, picturing him as a small boy, already knowing he would have to take Finley under his wing when he grew up.

“He was always reading, taking books as loot as much as anything else.”

“What kind of books?”

“Anything. Everything. He couldn’t wait to go to university. Fredrick finally relented and agreed to pay for his education. Said if anyone could go from a pirate ship to Parliament, it was Mallory. There wasn’t much difference between the two anyway.”

“He wanted to go to Parliament? That’s why he went to university?”

“Yes. He was especially good with people. He often apologized to the passengers of the ships, making sure they had food and water while they were tied up, paying extra attention to the women. He won them over oft times.”

I grew serious, and I fingered my tattered dress. “Why did he leave university?”

“He never told me why. He just returned to the ship a few months later, angry, saying the shore was not for him. He left piracy completely soon after to be an honest mariner. I went with him.”

“Why has he never married?”

John seemed surprised. “Never wanted to, I suppose.”

“Will he ever marry, do you think?”

“I don’t know. Most likely not. Sea life is a hard life, and Mallory is not built for marriage. Said so many a time.”

Chapter Eighteen

Notes: The days drag on. I continuously search for him over the ocean. But he is not there. If he does not come for me, I don’t care what happens!

“Land ho!”

I looked up sharply, and then out to sea to find Mount Vernon Island in the distance. The duke peered through his telescope, and then asked if I would like to see.

I smiled and nodded, then peered through the glass. There it was, the cliff jutting out the south west corner. “Goodness! It’s beautiful.” Before he could take it back, I swung around behind me to scan the horizon, looking, looking, looking. “You can see for miles.”

He laughed and took the telescope and peered through it again.

“How far off the far west island is it?” he queried, eyeing me.

“Oh, no more than two or three hundred yards, I’d say.”

“Why do you keep looking behind us,
petite
?” he asked without his usual smile.

“It’s all so lovely.”

“It looks uninhabited,” John said conversationally, coming up behind us.

“It is,” the duke confirmed without enthusiasm.

“Will we be able to go ashore, Charles?” I asked him eagerly.

He sighed. “Yes. If you insist. I would not dare to frighten you again.”

I said I would like to very much, and then turned to John and begged him to join me. The duke disappeared soon after.

*** *** ***

I waved happily to the duke from shore, John beside me looking around with interest. Our rowboat was safely ashore, and the
Thrasher
slowly moved west to await low tide.

“How long do you think it’ll take them?” John asked, referring to the unearthing of the pharaoh’s treasure.

“It doesn’t matter,” I shrugged indifferently, dropping my hand as soon as the ship was out of sight. “They probably won’t come back for us anyway.”

John looked up sharply.

I turned and began to walk away, the sandy beach making my stride awkward and unsteady. He followed after me. “What do you mean by that?”

“Just that. Once they unbury the gold, we’ll be of no use to them anymore, and they might simply leave us here.”

He stopped in surprise, the wind whipping at his clothing outlining the thinness of his body. “Leave us here. We’d starve!”

“We’d die of thirst first.”

He hurried after me. “But Norcross said — .”

I swung on him. “Oh, would you stop it, John? He’s been playing you since the beginning. And what’s more, I suspect you knew it yourself, too.” I turned and continued on my march. “You just wanted so desperately to believe him that you allowed yourself to be fooled. I’m not very interested, either way.”

He stumbled after me, and I didn’t slow down to allow him to catch up. “Then we might be stranded here? Forever? What will we do?”

“Not if they come back merely to use us brutally. My treatment will be different than yours, though just as unpleasant. More so, I should think. It might console you a little before you die.”

“Miss Madera … what are you saying?” he cried, pulling me to a stop.

I looked down at him, pale and panting, tugging at that stupid, heavy cross, his eyes begging me to comfort him. His silent plea only angered me.

I ground my teeth in fury and rage. I yanked his cross from his neck and shook it at him. “
This
has been your trouble. It’s turned you into a sniveling coward, always tugging at it, dragging it around on your neck like an albatross. There’s nothing out there, do you understand? We’re all on our own. And if there
is
anything so cruel and merciless, you’re better off rebelling against it than trying to appease it.”

“What are you saying?” he cried, horrified. “What has become of you? I do not recognize you like this. You seem like someone else.”