All the Sweet Tomorrows (61 page)

Skye turned, and the sight greeting her eyes caused her to gasp with horror and pity. She swallowed hard, forcing the bile back down her throat. Above her on the wall, Claire O’Flaherty, also known in her lifetime as Claro and Nilak, writhed weakly and helplessly, one of the vicious hooks securely jabbed through her midsection, another through a shoulder.

“Never again will her evil trouble you, Skye, my daughter. She has met her just end, and you are at last free of her wickedness,” Osman’s voice said quietly. “She will die shortly, and her body will rot there upon the hooks, scavenged by the carrion birds and whipped by the elements until it is no more. A fitting finish for a consummate villainess. Turn away now, Skye, my daughter. It is over.”

“It is a picture I will remember always, Osman,” Skye said feelingly, and she was unable to stop the tears that spilled down her pale cheeks.

“You will forget,” he answered her with certainty. “I did not show you such a sight to distress you, but rather to assure you of your adversary’s end. She will never harm you or yours again, Skye, and I wanted you to be certain of that fact,” He reached out and touched one crystalline tear with a fingertip. “What a magnificent soul is housed in that beautiful body of yours, my daughter! It touches me beyond all that you can weep for so cruel an enemy. She would not have wept for you.”

“Perhaps not, Osman, but her last hours have certainly made up for the evil she created. It saddens me even now that we were so assuredly fated to be enemies.”

He shrugged fatalistically. “It was Allah’s will, Skye, my daughter. One should never question God.”

The palanquin suddenly stopped, and was set down carefully. Osman parted the draperies and stepped out, turning to assist Skye from the vehicle. They were directly before the gangway of her ship. Without a word she walked swiftly aboard, the astrologer following behind. Within the safety of the master cabin she pulled her veil aside. Eyes shining with unshed tears, she caught his hands and raised them up to kiss them fervently.

“Thank you, my dear friend,” she said in a voice filled with emotion. “Thank you for everything. Just over the horizon my dearest husband awaits me, and I should not have gotten him back had it not been for you, Osman, and your family. We are ever in your debt! My children and I will remember you in our prayers each night as long as we live, for you have returned to us the thing most precious to us, a husband and a father.”

Osman hugged her paternally, half in affection, half in concern. It was better that she not see his face at this moment. “Remember, Skye, my daughter, that all that happens is Allah’s will, and with regard to each of us, our chosen destiny. Will you try not to rail against your fate, whatever it may be? Will you trust in the Creator to care for you no matter what? Though sometimes the storm seems dark, and without end, the light will eventually overcome it. That much I can promise you.”

She drew away and smiled up at him. It was the first relaxed and genuine smile he had seen on her face in a very long time. “I am learning, Osman. Slowly, I will grant you, but I am learning. I will try to accept, and to trust, no matter what. For now, however, I see nothing but happiness ahead for me. Niall and I will return to Ireland, and I think I shall never roam again.”

Osman smiled back at her. “Be happy, Skye, my daughter. Allah only knows that no one deserves it more than you do.”

“Will we meet again, Osman?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Perhaps,” he answered, and then raising his hand in a gesture of farewell, Osman the astrologer turned and without another word left the ship.

Finally the gangway was pulled aboard, and the O’Malley sailors loosened the lines that bound them to the dock, tossing them back to the quai. As the ship began to move Skye closed the cabin door and slowly began to remove her clothing. Thoughtfully she gazed at each piece of the silken gauze garments, smoothing them carefully as the memories crowded in on her. Then with a sigh and a shake of her head she folded the clothes resolutely and began to draw on her own things, the split-legged skirt, the silk shirt, her hose, her boots, her belt with its Celtic buckle of bright enamel. For a long moment she felt very odd in such garments, for she had grown used to her silken draperies. With a laugh she began to brush her hair, then braided it firmly into one single plait. A quick glimpse in the cabin’s pier glass told her that Skye O’Malley had returned, and with a grin she whirled away from it, opened the door, and walked out upon the deck.

“Welcome back, m’lady,” Bran Kelly said.

“Thank you, Bran. How is Daisy?”

“Well, and our first bairn, a lad, also.”

“Bran! Congratulations! I see I shall have to train another girl to be my tiring woman now, but I don’t mind as long as you and Daisy are happy.”

“I doubt Daisy will let you, m’lady, but time enough to argue with her when we get home,” Bran chuckled.

“How soon until we reach Lord Burke’s ship, Bran?”

“A few hours if this breeze will hold, m’lady. No more, I promise.”

Skye walked to the bow of the ship and stood there quietly, her face into the wind, never once looking back at the city. Yes, Algiers had seemed a different place this time, quite unlike the city she remembered adoring so in her days as Khalid el Bey’s wife. Then it had seemed a magical, colorful, wonderful place filled with love. This time she had seen its harshness and its cruelty. The memory of Claire O’Flaherty twisting in agony would live with her for a long, long time. Skye breathed deeply of the soft and warm sea air to clear her head of the memories. Looking back was not the answer. She wanted to look forward now. Just over the horizon was her husband, and she could hardly wait to reach him. Indeed, had she believed that she could swim faster than her ship could sail, she would have gone over the side and into the sea.

Niall! Niall!
She cried to him with her heart.

“Skye! Skye!” Niall Burke twisted frantically upon the bed of the master cabin. “Robbie? Robbie, are you there?”

“I’m here, lad.” Robbie placed a calming hand on Niall Burke’s feverish forehead, and his face puckered with worry.

“Where is Skye, Robbie? Where is my wife?” Niall begged plaintively.

“She’s coming, laddie,” Robbie soothed the ill man. “She’s on her way this very minute.”

“I’m thirsty, Robbie. So thirsty.” Niall moved restlessly once more.

“Here, laddie.” Robert Small held a goblet of wine to Lord Burke’s lips. “Drink this.”

Niall gulped at the goblet eagerly, but seconds later he was vomiting the liquid back into a basin. “Where are my jellies, Robbie? The comfits help when I feel poorly.”

“They’re gone, m’lord. You ate the last of them several days ago. If you only knew what was in them we might make you some.”

“I don’t know, Robbie. I’ve told you I don’t know! Old Rabi made them for me, and Hamal gave me a box just before I escaped; but I have no idea what was in them.” Niall’s voice was
reproachful and irritable at the same time. Then suddenly he slipped into a light slumber.

Robbie sighed. It was clear to him that Lord Burke had been poisoned with some potion. Why else would he be in such a state? Perhaps when Skye came aboard her presence would encourage her husband to make a swift and full recovery. Robert Small got up and moved to the cabin door. “Keep an eye on his lordship,” he commanded the ship’s boy. “If you need me I’ll be topside waiting for Lady Burke.”

“Aye, sir!” came the obedient reply.

Robbie stamped out on deck, glad to be free of the stifling cabin. With relief he drew in great lungfuls of clean sea air. “Any sign of her?” he asked MacGuire as he came abreast of the old captain.

“Crow’s nest spotted a sail out of Algiers harbor making for us just a minute or two ago. It’s just visible now on the horizon. How’s his lordship?”

“Not good. I think he’s dying, Sean, and I don’t know what in hell is killing him!”

“Fash, man! Niall Burke’s stronger than that. I’ve known him since he was a brash young boy. He can’t be dying!”

“He is, I’m telling you,” Robbie argued worriedly. “He’s constantly thirsty, yet he can’t hold anything either liquid or solid on his stomach, and for two days his bowels have suffered with the bloody flux. What sleep he can manage is disturbed by nightmares of horrendous proportions, his eyes are red, his skin and mouth so dry that both his lips and his elbows are peeling. I’ve never seen anything like it, man!”

“Maybe we should cup him,” MacGuire suggested halfheartedly.

“Cup him? Jesu, man! You’ll kill him for sure! God’s bones, I hope this wind holds! Maybe the sight of her will revive him.”

“If he dies it’ll kill her,” MacGuire said ominously. “To lose him once was bad, but to lose him a second time after what she’s been through …” He crossed himself nervously.

Robert Small stared grimly out to sea. The very same thought had crossed his mind, but he had anticipated a possible bad end to this whole venture, and had come prepared for it. He wasn’t going to let her die, and neither was Adam de Marisco. De Marisco had been frantic when Robbie had returned to England and told him what Skye had done. The island lord had come off his lonely rock ready to mount an expedition to rescue Skye. Now,
Adam de Marisco was waiting patiently in Robbie’s own cabin to give her aid and comfort should she need it.

Robert Small watched with a sense of foreboding as Bran Kelly’s ship drew closer and closer to his own.

“Captain Small! Lord Burke is awake and calling for you.” The cabin boy looked anxiously up at him, tugging him back into the present.

“Tell Lord Burke that his wife’s ship is almost upon us, and that I will stay on deck to greet her. We will both be with him as soon as she is aboard.”

“Aye, sir.” The boy hurried back to the master cabin.

Bran Kelly maneuvered his vessel carefully in the rolling sea until the two ships were bobbing next to one another. A plank was put between them, and Skye swiftly crossed the small space, flinging herself into Robbie’s arms. With a relieved groan he hugged her, enjoying the lovely fragrance of damask rose that always surrounded her. “God, Skye lass, thank heaven we have you back safely!”

She was taller than he, but she still managed to press her face into his leather jerkin, inhaling his tobacco scent. “Robbie,” she murmured almost incoherently. “Dearest Robbie!”

For a long moment they stood locked in a close and mutually loving embrace, and then Skye pulled away. “Where is Niall, Robbie? Where is my husband?”

He looked up at her. “Niall is in the master cabin, Skye lass, but he’s not been well for several days now.”

“Not been well?” she repeated.

“I don’t know what it is, lass. He’s had the bloody flux, and he vomits. I’m not a doctor,” he finished helplessly.

She whirled from him, and ran directly across the deck to the owner’s cabin. She burst through the door, stopping short as she saw Niall Burke struggle to rise up from the bed to meet her only to fail and fall weakly back upon the coverlet.
“Niall!”
She was at his side in an instant, her eyes huge in her white face, taking in his appearance and knowing that it was not good. “Niall!” she repeated. He had gotten so gaunt! She had not seen him in a month, and he had gotten so thin, and so wasted. Kneeling, she took his hand in hers.

Niall Burke opened his silvery eyes, and his glance was sad, but filled with love. With trembling hand he reached up to touch her cheek, and then he sighed. “I had forgotten how soft your skin is, Skye, my love,” he said low.

“Oh, Niall,” she whispered, “my dearest, dearest love. It
will be all right now, I promise you. We are on our way home again. In just a few weeks’ time we shall see Ireland again, and the children are waiting.” Skye had no idea that she was crying, the hot tears pouring down her face unchecked. “God’s bones, Niall! The children won’t know either of us. You went away just after Padraic’s birth, and Deirdre was still a babe then. He’ll be three and a half now, and she’s almost five, my darling. High time we got back to our bairns, Niall! High time we gave them more brothers and sisters!”

“I’m dying,” he said.

“Nooooooo!”
She sobbed the word, but even as she did so she felt her heart constrict painfully, as if a hand were squeezing it hard.

“I don’t want to,” he whispered plaintively, “but I am. I don’t know why, but I am.”

She couldn’t breathe. For a moment panic threatened to envelop her, but then her chest heaved and air filled her lungs. “You are very ill, Niall, my love,” she said in a firm voice. A voice that belied her pounding heart; “but it doesn’t mean you are going to die. I won’t let you die! The ship is well provisioned with fresh foods and water, and I shall cook for you myself. Remember you told me how ill you were those years ago when Constanza took care of you? It’s just a recurrence of your old illness. You’ll see,” she finished brightly. “I shall make you well again.”

He sighed sadly. “Skye, I am dying. When Constanza cared for me I was suffering from the effects of a nasty wound, and shock. I don’t know what this is, but I cannot last much longer.” He fell back on the bed again, barely conscious with the effort of trying to make her understand.

“Don’t die, Niall,” she pleaded piteously with him as if he had personal control over the situation. “You can’t die! Not after what I have been through to help free you!
You can’t die!”

His silvery gaze enveloped her again. “I know what you have been through, my love, I know. You are so brave, Skye, my darling. You have the heart of a lion, my love, and the soul of an angel. I shall miss you, but I am grateful that Darragh’s blade did not kill me. I rejoice that Claire’s plot did not prevent us from saying our good-byes. Now I know that there is a God in Heaven, Skye, for he has heard my most fervent prayers. He has granted me a final glimpse of you, my dearest heart.”

She focused on him through the grayish blur of her tears, and saw that he spoke a greater truth than she was willing to recognize.
“Don’t leave me, Niall,” she said quietly. “I cannot bear it if you leave me now.
Not now!”