Wicked Proposition (32 page)

Who would have thought Tieghan would have grown
so protective of the same woman he had vilified back in London? The
other men knew better than to tease the giant now for assisting
with the girl because of the dangerous gleam in his eyes as he
walked her about. He spoke to her often in whispers and Nicholas
often wondered what he was saying to the girl.

“She caught a ball,” he told Tieghan as if to
alleviate the man’s concern and bit back a chuckle. The giant’s
face wreathed into a beauteous smile that would melt most women’s
hearts.

“That is good,” he said simply and went below to
join Mrs. Bingham.

Nicholas could only marvel at Tieghan’s changed
demeanor. The giant had harbored a clear distrust of Catherine and
women in general, and unless he was drinking, avoided them
altogether. He clearly felt safe with the insensible woman and
confidant in coming out of his shell. He spoke harshly to any who
mocked the girl when they brought her up on deck.

Nicholas was estimating they had almost two
weeks before they reached St. Bart’s. He dearly prayed Catherine
showed some sign of recovery before then. It pained him to leave
her with strangers at the sanitarium.

###

Mrs. Bingham was massaging the girl’s legs as
she spoke of her home in England. She described the lush rolling
acreage in such detail a lone tear fell unchecked down her
cheek.

She reached up to wipe it and the girl’s hand
was already there. Mrs. Bingham froze and stared into the green
eyes that looked back at her with a noticeable sheen of moisture
within them as well.

She was startled as a finger moved slightly and
wiped at the tear, before her hand fell into her lap. Mrs. Bingham
met the suddenly alert green eyes and became animated, her grey
eyes noticing the sudden twitches as the girl’s face struggled to
form an expression.

Her lips moved and an indistinguishable sound
escaped her lips. It was a victorious Mrs. Bingham who rushed above
decks to inform the captain of her charges progress.

“She is alert. I was talking of my home and felt
a bit homesick, and her hand came up and she touched my face,” Mrs.
Bingham said excitedly. “She has made a noise Captain! A noise! Is
it not marvelous? This is just splendid, I tell you!”

Nicholas chuckled as the woman continued to
mutter in awe and returned to her work of bringing Catherine back
to normal. The noises she formed increased, grunts and growls and
mewling sounds that did not encourage Tieghan, but made Mrs.
Bingham increase her efforts. She was encouraged by the growing
awareness in the green eyes that looked up at her trustingly.

Catherine was able to feed herself now and it
was often a slow, frustrating progress. Mrs. Bingham was heartened
by the way the girl’s eyes now followed figures and sounds.

She was able to shuffle along the deck with help
from Mrs. Bingham and Tieghan. The giant was delighted when she
said her first word. She had been watching a seagull diving into
the water to capture a fish. She suddenly pointed and a crooked
smile curved her lips.

“Bird!”

“Aye, it is a bird,” Tieghan said gently and
laughed as she continued to point and repeat the word.

The crew appeared impressed and activity paused
to watch her face come alive as well, saying the word over and over
again.

Nicholas smiled as well. It was merely a word,
but it was something at least. He was encouraged as she began to
sound clearer in the days that followed. He made his way down the
narrow hallway on his way above to the deck and listened to Mrs.
Bingham coach her on speaking.

He smiled as he listened. It was amazing what
affect her little milestones were having on his crew. They were
often cheering and clapping as she pointed to an object and said
the word with assistance from Mrs. Bingham.

She showed little recognition when she looked at
him and he wondered how much she remembered before the shooting.
Mrs. Bingham claimed her memory would be sorely afflicted and
warned him to avoid mentioning anything of her past to her until
she was ready.

She walked with the use of a cane now and
shuffled about unassisted by Tieghan and Mrs. Bingham. He knew
should a wave hit the ship and toss her down she would never hit
the planks with Tieghan nearby to catch her. Nicholas glowered as
he noted how the giant looked down at her adoringly.

It was obvious Tieghan had fallen a little bit
in love with her himself these past weeks. He was surprised by the
tightening in his chest. He was bloody jealous of Tieghan? He shook
his head and scoffed at that.

Catherine had gained some weight back and her
cheeks once again glowed with health. Her eyes grew incredibly
expressive which he noted when he joined the pair of ladies to dine
one evening.

She appeared to like Tulley’s fish cakes and
seemed to tap her fork expectantly at him and Mrs. Bingham was
stern, informing her if she wanted another fish cake she must ask
for it.

He noted the stubborn glint reappearing in her
gaze and nodded to himself, satisfied Catherine was finding herself
again.

“Want…more…pleash,” she said haltingly and her
lips curved into a sweet smile.

Nicholas blinked and Mrs. Bingham clapped her
hands and joyously ladled another fish cake onto her tin plate. The
dinner went well and he was careful to keep from staring.

Mrs. Bingham informed him the girl was aware of
her deficiencies, but unable to articulate, and it upset her often.
She cut the fish cake slowly and managed to make it to her mouth
more often, but sometimes the flaky bite fell into her lap or upon
the floor.

He appeared oblivious as he was told to, and she
determinedly cut another piece, this time landing into her mouth.
She chewed slowly and precisely and he gazed approvingly as she
reached for her tankard of wine.

It spilled and she froze, tears in her eyes at
once, but Nicholas merely refilled the tankard and wiped up the
mess with the cloth napkin in his lap. He met Mrs. Bingham’s
grateful stare and nodded as he finished the meal and rose,
thanking both ladies for their company and bowing over both of
their hands. This action must have caused a memory to stir for
Catherine stared at him suddenly, her green eyes wide.

“What is it, my dear?” he asked in a soft urgent
voice, not wanting to push her too quickly.

“Nicholashh,” she said softly, a sound that made
his pulses dance and he dared to hope the light in her eyes meant
she remembered him.

“Yes that is my name,” he said softly and
released her hand quickly, glancing at Mrs. Bingham with a newfound
respect. The woman had wreaked a miracle and he would not allow her
feat to go unrewarded. “You should consider staying at the
sanitarium, Mrs. Bingham. You have done wondrous things with her
these past weeks. You are gifted working with the infirm and the
afflicted I think. She will recover I am sure of it now.”

“I wanted to speak to you privately, Captain,”
she said quietly appearing worried as she cleared the dishes. She
helped Catherine to the window seat where she gave her a pencil and
asked her to work on her letters. He chuckled seeing the defiant
spark in Catherine’s eyes.

“What is it, Mrs. Bingham?” he asked as he
watched Catherine painstakingly make her letters upon the papers
and seemed entranced.

“What are your intentions towards Catherine,
Captain Van Ryker? She is quite beautiful and I am only stating the
obvious, but it is clear you have noticed it, and you are a man. I
fear for her once we reach St. Bart’s.”

“What are you saying, Mrs. Bingham?” he said
coolly and seemed indignant at her implication he would take
advantage of Catherine in her current state. “I have no intentions
of harming the girl.”

“You look at her like a man who wants a woman,
Captain, and as her teacher, it is my right to question your
intentions,” Mrs. Bingham said and cringed from his dark scowl. “I
would ask you to leave her with me when we arrive. She will be
better off with me than aboard your ship. She is like a newborn
babe. I would not see her hurt.”

“No, she remains with me,” he said stubbornly
and his blue eyes met hers unwaveringly. “I have my reasons and you
can be assured of her safety. Tieghan would kill anyone who touched
her! Surely you know we are not a lawless band? I will continue to
teach her as well as the others until she can tell me what it is I
wish to know.”

“What if she does not remember? What then? You
must consider she doesn’t want to remember the pain she suffered in
her past.”

“I did not seek you out to advise my actions
towards the girl, Mrs. Bingham,” he said sternly and she was forced
to retreat as he gazed at the girl and looked back at her. “You
don’t know anything about her past.”

“I don’t care who she was before, Captain!” Mrs.
Bingham said emphatically and her grey eyes met his evenly. “I care
only who she is now. I cannot help but feel a certain
responsibility towards her.”

“And I do not?” he said a bit louder and
Catherine looked up and he quickly lowered his voice. “You worry
over much, dear lady. The girl is safe with me, I assure you.”

“You will not tell me how you knew her before
the shooting, will you?” she said softly, disappointment evident in
her face. “There is quite a tale lurking behind those eyes of
hers.”

“It is not my tale to tell, but hers, and much
remains a mystery to me as well,” he said reluctantly. “I seek only
to find answers, nothing more.”

“You may find out more than you wish to know,
Captain.”

Nicholas left and was angry as he made his way
to the hull to inspect it, and analyzed Mrs. Bingham’s words. Why
did he need to know what happened to Catherine so badly after she
left Gabriel? Did it matter? She was here with him now. He felt a
sense of elation knowing that, even if she never remembered him or
their time together.

He reflected it was out of loyalty to his friend
he tried to discover what connection she had to Thornton still.
While she struggled to come back to herself, the threat still
lingered in London. Deep down he feared Mrs. Bingham was right and
he had his own selfish reasons for not allowing Catherine to remain
with her teacher.

He had to quit thinking of her the way she was
before the bullet tore her mind apart. With that, every facet of
who she was or who he thought her to be was gone. She was not the
same woman who stalked into the salon of that brothel one year
before.

That woman had been a practiced temptress. This
one now had a guileless smile, and her childlike manner was
reminiscent of one much younger than her years. She may never get
beyond her current level.

He realized she could remain in her childlike
state forever and he would learn nothing from her. Was she indeed
better off under Mrs. Bingham’s care? He would have to give it much
thought before he left Mrs. Bingham on St. Bart’s.

###

Catherine stared at the lantern and shook her
head as the images of children laughing flashed in her mind. She
saw an older dark-haired man. She held onto these images. The image
of the golden haired man with his knowing dark eyes scared her.

She cried out and covered her face, pushing the
images away but they persisted. She did not understand what they
meant and what the memories of them entailed. She only knew fear
attached to these images and quailed away from them.

The blonde witch in these images was forever
chasing her with her evil malevolent eyes. She pushed these
memories away and concentrated on the children’s laughter instead,
their dear faces etched in her memory, but still unknown to
her.

She worried her lower lip and watched Mrs.
Bingham sleep and smiled. She looked to the woman like she was a
mother, but knew instinctively she was not her mother.

A sudden flash of a regal looking blonde woman
in an emerald green riding habit came to mind and she sighed. These
pictures kept recurring and she selected those from them she wished
to keep, and those that caused her pain she pushed away.

Catherine thought of the dark-haired man who
steered the ship and giggled. He made her feel incredibly safe, as
well as the blond giant named Tieghan who dogged her every step
like a watch dog.

She heard an infant crying and stilled. Her fist
went to her quivering lips and a feeling of desolation nearly
robbed her of breath. The crying had awoken her and she looked
about to find the source before these images intruded. She rose and
staggered to the window to remind her of where she was.

She was on a boat on a beautiful blue-green sea
and the moon made tiny diamonds of light sparkle upon the water.
The sight was so beautiful she was distracted from the crying and
then she felt very tired. Catherine moved in to slide under the
blankets and snuggled close to Mrs. Bingham, who snored softly into
her pillow.

Catherine began to scream when the dreams came
for her, unaware of the strong arms that slid about her and pulled
her out of the bed or the voice that whispered to her
comfortingly.

She stilled and soon she was asleep with those
bands of steel and warmth holding the demons at bay. Mrs. Bingham
covered her mouth in fear as she looked up to see Nicholas standing
over them as Catherine’s night terrors ensued.

The screaming had awoken her and she had tried
to calm the girl but she had grown even wilder and kicked and
screamed until both the Captain and first mate arrived to see what
was amiss.

Watching the captain cradle her charge until she
was once more asleep allayed her fears. She watched as he wrapped a
blanket around her and held her, rocking her back and forth.
Nicholas met her eyes over the girl’s head with silent
understanding.

She lay back down confidant the captain had the
situation in hand and sighed. When he wasn’t trying to act the part
of a blackguard and a pirate, the man actually had potential.