Dawn on a Distant Shore (55 page)

The little one glared
at Nathaniel. "You haven't seen the end o' us."

"Come calling
anytime," said Nathaniel lightly.

"Enough!"
Pickering marched to the door. "The rest of you men get back to your
duties!"

"Women and
bairns?" echoed Burns thoughtfully as he watched the crowd leak reluctantly
away. He raised a brow in Pickering's direction. "I take it ye have mair
passengers on board than Mr. Bonner, Captain."

"That depends on
what you mean by passengers," Nathaniel said, staring hard at Moncrieff.

"Mr. Bonner
travels with his family," said Pickering, as if Nathaniel hadn't spoken.

"Then I'll need
tae inspect his baggage."

The captain blew out
his cheeks and sucked them in again. "Is that really necessary, sir? I can
assure you, sir, they carry nothing of interest to the Crown."

Burns picked up his
hat from the table and smiled politely. "I'll have tae make that determination
for masel', Captain."

Moncrieff cleared his
throat. "May I have a word wi' you first, Mr. Bonner?"

Nathaniel's first
instinct was to walk away, but Moncrieff had struck a tone that surprised him,
hesitant and deferential. No doubt it was more trickery, but Nathaniel was
curious enough to step onto the quarterdeck with him.

Elizabeth managed to
calm the babies by setting them to nurse, although she herself was far from settled.
She only had to look at Curiosity or Hannah and she would begin to laugh again.
It was that kind of laughter that defies all logic and reason, doubling back on
itself until the stomach ached with the effort to breathe normally.

Hannah's face was
flushed too as she bent over Sally, murmuring to the puffin in the same voice
Elizabeth had last heard from Falling-Day as she tended an injured dog. She ran
fingers along wings and leg, flexing joints and looking for wounds. Elizabeth
would have sworn that the bird gave Hannah an indignant look as she set it on
the floor.

"She lost a few
feathers, but there's nothing else wrong that I can see," Hannah announced.

"Joshua had his
horn," said Curiosity with a satisfied grin. "And we had our Sally.
Lord, but she made a fine batterin' ram."

She put an arm around
Hannah and hugged her. "You looked mighty fierce yourself, missy. You put
the fear of God into that little man. If I live to be a hundred I won't forget
the look on his face when you poked him with that candle."

There was something of
Curiosity's old tone in her voice, a hopefulness that had been missing for these
last long weeks. Elizabeth did not comment on it, did not even look too hard at
her, for fear that these good spirits might flee as quickly as they had come.
Certainly she did not dare scold Hannah. The impulse to defend Curiosity could
not be faulted, but she had thrust Daniel at Elizabeth and rushed to take on
two armed soldiers with little concern for danger. It had been frightening, and
now she could not stop laughing when she remembered it.

Hannah was still
agitated and worried about the puffin. "Perhaps the Hakim should have a
look at her."

Elizabeth shook her
head. "There's no telling what's happening on deck. It would be better to
wait for your father."

Curiosity straightened.
"I hear him now. And he ain't alone."

At Elizabeth's breast,
Daniel's suckling had slowed down to the gentle rhythm that meant he would soon
follow Lily's example and fall into a sound sleep. She pulled her shawl over
both of them for modesty's sake, corrected her posture and composed her face, ready
for more redcoats or even for Angus Moncrieff.

Hannah came to stand
behind her, but Curiosity held her ground. Sally disappeared into the shadows under
the table, as if she sensed more trouble just ahead.

The man who came in
with Nathaniel was neither sailor nor soldier, but a stranger to all of them.
What struck Elizabeth about him first was the contrast of the way he bore
himself--very much the gentleman--and his hands, work roughened and thick fingered,
the hands of a laborer or farmer. His dark eyes moved through the room from
person to person, pausing at Curiosity and coming to rest on Hannah. He seemed
delighted with what he found, his expression so open and intelligent that Elizabeth
felt some of her apprehension flowing away to be replaced by curiosity.

"Ah," he
said. "Now I take your meaning, Mr. Bonner. I'll see tae it that those men
are reprimanded for their behavior, insolent puppies that they are."

Nathaniel's gaze
settled on Hannah. In Kahnyen'kehâka he said, "You all right,
Squirrel?"

She nodded.

"Curiosity?"

"Nothing ailin'
me," she said, sniffing the air. "But I see you been up to
mischief."

"There was a
problem with some kegs," Nathaniel said.

He crossed the room to
put a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. The smell of liquor rose about him in such
a strong wave that tears came to her eyes, but she blinked them away.

"This here's the
excise officer. Come to see what riches we're smuggling into Scotland."

Elizabeth pulled both
babies closer to her underneath the shawl. "I fear you will be sore disappointed,
Mr. ..."

The exciseman made a
sweeping bow, his dark hair falling forward. "Robert Burns. At your
service, madam." He paused, throwing a sideways glance toward Curiosity.

"This lady is
Mrs. Freeman," Elizabeth said pointedly. It was as close as she could come
to stating openly that Curiosity should not be mistaken for a servant, or a
slave. "And my stepdaughter, Miss Bonner."

If Mr. Burns was
surprised by these introductions, there was nothing of it in his expression.

"Mrs.
Freeman," he murmured, but his gaze fixed on Hannah. He studied her as he
might study a piece of the moon, or a Chinese vase--with great interest, and no
maliciousness at all. "Miss Bonner. My great honor."

Elizabeth thought of
speaking to him sharply for staring, but she knew too that Hannah would
encounter this kind of interest wherever she went in Scotland. Perhaps it was
best to let her deal with it herself.

Hannah looked him up
and down and said, "Is an exciseman a kind of pirate?"

Mr. Burns had a deep
laugh. Even Curiosity smiled at the sound of it.

"Daughter--"
said Nathaniel.

"Ach, dinna scold
the lass for her honesty, Mr. Bonner. Those who wad prefer no' tae pay the king
for the privilege o' drinkin' tea call us pirates, and worse. There's no' a day
passes that someone doesna wish me awa' tae the devil."

"Oh," said
Hannah, disappointed. "A tax collector."

"In a manner o'
speakin'," conceded Mr. Burns.

"We got no tea
here," said Curiosity impatiently. "No brandy or tobacco, neither. Just
children, as you can see for yourself. Nothing to interest you."

"I'll take your
word on that, madam. But if I might ask ..." He addressed Nathaniel directly.
"What brings ye tae Scotland, sir? Are ye perhaps visitin' kin in the
area?"

Elizabeth felt
Nathaniel stiffen. He said, "We have no family here."

The dark eyes blinked
in surprise. "Pardon my presumption, sir. I've offended ye and I'm verra
sorry for it."

Elizabeth might have
spoken, but Nathaniel's grip on her shoulder tightened. He said, "Just
what's your interest in us?"

He flushed, but he
spoke with dignity. "It's no' often we see visitors from America in our
wee corner o' Scotland, ye ken. I'll bother ye no mair. Guid day tae ye, and
Godspeed on your journey."

His hand was on the
door when Nathaniel stopped him. "A question before you go."

"Sir?"

"Have you heard
any word of a schooner called the
Jackdaw
, flying American colors?"

He turned to face
them. "The captain asked me the verra same question, no' an hour
ago."

Curiosity made a deep
sound in her throat that said exactly what she thought of Pickering and his questions.

"And?"

Mr. Burns said,
"I should be gey surprised if the
Jackdaw
sailed intae these waters."

"And why is
that?" asked Elizabeth.

"Why, smugglers
dinna usually come up and introduce themsel' tae the representatives o' the
Crown," he said with a small smile. "Should Mac Stoker hae business
in the firth, he'll find a wee cove tae hide the schooner and make his way by
night."

"So he might be
here?" Hannah spoke up, her interest in the exciseman revived.

"Aa things are
possible wi' the likes o' Mac Stoker," said Mr. Burns. "He's a wily
one. As ye seem tae ken yersel'." Elizabeth watched him swallow down a
question he would have liked to ask.

Nathaniel said,
"Any idea where we might get word of him?"

The exciseman ran a
hand over his chin. "Ye might weel inquire at Mump's Hall, on the Dumfries
Road."

"That's a tavern,
I take it?"

"Aye. A favorite
o' smugglers and freebooters. No' a place tae be after dark, if ye take my
meanin', sir."

"I do," said
Nathaniel. "And I'm indebted to you."

Once more he paused at
the door. "If ye'll allow me a single suggestion?"

Nathaniel nodded.

"Should ye gae
lookin' for Mac Stoker, wear a hat."

"You mean for me
to hide my face," Nathaniel said.

"Aye," said
the exciseman. "It wad be in your best interest."

"What's wrong
with your face that he wants you to hide it?" Hannah demanded as soon as
they were alone again.

Nathaniel pulled the
wet shirt away from his skin as he answered her. "Moncrieff has been
claiming all along that there's a strong resemblance to Carryck. I guess that's
one thing he wasn't lying about."

"He locked us in
here so the exciseman wouldn't see your face?" Curiosity shook her head.
"I don' know about that man. Is he plain stupid, or just jittery?"

"Both," said
Nathaniel. "And stubborn, too."

"What does it
matter if you look like that old earl?" Hannah grumbled. "Whose
business is it?"

Elizabeth shifted the
sleeping babies so that she could lift them. "I would guess that Mr. Moncrieff
is worried that the Campbells will take an interest, once word gets out. Is
that not so?"

Nathaniel grunted.
"That's the way he tells it, Boots. It seems that half of the dragoons
quartered in Dumfries are Campbells, and the other half are related to them by
marriage. Moncrieff pulled me aside up on deck to warn me about keeping my head
low."

Curiosity waved a hand
before her face. "While you're keeping your head low you'd best go change.
I ain't never smelled anything like you, not even when Axel Metzler gets his
still goin'."

"I'm on my
way," Nathaniel said.

Elizabeth followed him
into the side cabin, where she put the sleeping twins in the middle of the bed
while Nathaniel stripped the wet shirt over his head and peeled his breeches
off.

"Christ, what I
wouldn't give for a bath. She's right, I stink."

Elizabeth wrinkled her
nose. "If you are looking to me for a denial, I'm afraid I must disappoint
you."

He did not laugh; he
barely seemed to hear her. Standing at the window he had turned his attention
to the traffic on the water, and he studied it closely while he wiped his chest
with a piece of toweling. The light moved on him, claiming the broad plane of
his shoulder and the line of backbone, sliding over the small of his back and down
his thigh. He was completely at ease in his nakedness, without
self-consciousness or vanity and so beautiful that her breath caught and she
wondered if the next would ever come.

His face was hidden
from her, and she was glad of it, feeling more naked than he in this moment,
and inexplicably happy. Elizabeth touched each of the children in turn, to feel
the rise and fall of their breathing.
In small proportions we just beauty see.

"I can hear you
thinking, Boots," he said finally.

"I don't doubt
it. Your ears are entirely too sharp."

He stilled suddenly.

"What is
it?"

"The Hakim,"
he said. "On a barge, headed for shore."

"The Hakim?"
Elizabeth echoed. "But where would he be going?"

Nathaniel grunted.
"That's the question, all right."

"Perhaps he has
friends to visit in the area," Elizabeth said, more to herself than to
him.

"Or maybe Carryck
sent for him," said Nathaniel. "Maybe he has need of a surgeon."
He pulled his only clean shirt over his head and reached for his breeches.
"I suppose we'll find out soon enough."

Elizabeth drew in a
wavering breath and let it out again.

He came to sit beside
her, and slipped his arms around her waist. "You're loath to leave the
ship."