Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series) (8 page)

“I’m a little more carefree in my thinking than you are.”

“So you wouldn’t have cared?”

“The fact of the matter is that you have not kidnapped me but I have kidnapped you, so how about we change the subject?”

I threw my hands up in the air, quickly frustrated. “What is it that you have against pirates? What have we ever done to you?”

He opened his mouth to answer but then shut it. He sighed and covered his face with his hand. He held it there for a second, and then dragged it down his face. When he opened his eyes again, he didn’t look at me. He reached beyond me for a pair of pants and a shirt. Then without looking at me, he handed them to me and walked out of the room. I watched him and was about to ask what his problem was when he appeared in the doorway again.

“I will be back. I’m just giving you your privacy to change.” He reached in and closed the door. I looked down at the clothes in my hands and then down at the dress that I had forgotten that I was in. I threw the clothes on the bed and ripped the dress off, flinging it across the room.

Chapter IV

James knocked on the door before he entered. I was standing at the armoire, just closing it after I had put in the rest of the clothes he had given me. Since he was taller than me, I had to make some adjustments. I had done it most of my life, but most of the time the clothes were, at least, close to my size. This wasn’t the case with James’. He had a larger frame than I did. I had rolled up the cuffs of the pants along with the sleeves of the shirt. The waist of the pants was a bigger problem, but I had tried to gather a couple of the belt loops in front and tied the loose shirttails in them. It may have looked odd, but I worked with what I had.

James reached up to the lamp on the wall and lit it
with a candle from the hallway. He hadn’t looked at me yet, but I noticed that he had changed out of his uniform into similar clothes that I was in. He kept his back to me as he went to another lamp next to the mirror and lit it as well. I always preferred natural light, but there was something about the way the candles flickered in this particular room that had a settling effect on me.

James went to close the door and then turned to face me. When he eyed my clothes, I could tell I’d caught him off guard. He had looked ready to continue our conversation when he had come in, but now he was trying to hold back laughter. When he saw how I was looking at him, he stopped immediately and sat down in the chair. I came back over
to the bed and sat at the foot. I crossed my legs under me as I leaned back against the post.

“So what do you want to know about me?” he asked.

I folded my arms across my chest. “What will you tell me?”

“Well, I was born right here-”

“Where is here to be exact?” I interrupted.

“Port St. Martha. Anyway, I was born here and lived with my mother until she died when I was twelve. I don’t know what happened to my father. My mother didn’t like to talk about him. I only knew that he left quickly after I was born. So after she died, I was wandering the streets when Captain Brown found me. That was about eight years ago. He brought me here and introduced me to his son, William, and we became friends quickly, and I’ve been here since.”

“I thought you said your father was dead.”

“Well, I consider him to be. I’ve never heard from him or heard anything about him. It’s just simpler to say he’s dead than try to explain.”

“I guess. You don’t have a very exciting history.”

He leaned back. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but unless I get more specific questions, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Because of this statement, we stayed up all night. I asked him question after question and he answered honestly to all of them. I learned what he liked and disliked about people, why he was able to get away with not doing any work on the ship when he brought me here (which was because he didn’t actually work on the ship), and much more. This was probably the easiest way I’d ever gotten information from someone. With pirates, or other men in general, if I wanted to know something I’d ask without holding back, but usually they wouldn’t tell me the truth.

I stretched and yawned as light appeared in the sky. The sun was rising. James did the same thing and smiled when I yawned again, not able to stop it.

“Go to bed. You look exhausted.”

“Well, we have been up all night.”

He stood up. “You’ve looked exhausted for the past few days. And when you did sleep, it wasn’t for long and didn’t look like it was a very deep sleep. Just relax and don’t worry about anything. I’ll get a few hours of sleep and come in and check on you later.”

“I’ve gone several days without sleep and I’ve been fine.” I yawned again, but I didn’t want to admit defeat. The bed was very comfortable under me. There was no doubt that if I lay down right here, I wouldn’t wake up for several hours.

“But you’ve been very stressed the past few days. Just don’t worry about it.” He pulled the chair back to where it had been originally and went to the door. He had his hand on the handle, but stopped and looked back at me.

“May I ask you something?”

I yawned in response.

“Have I gained any of your trust since yesterday?”

I gave him a tired look. “Was that what you were trying to do?”

“No, I just want to know if answering your questions made a difference.”

“I have more where those came from.”

He looked down at the ground, and then met my eyes again. “So is that a no?”

I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them. “No. But it isn’t a yes either.”

He smiled. “I’ll take that. Get some rest, and I’ll come in and check on you later.”

After he left, I stood up and went over to the bench against the window. I watched as the sun rose above the town and how it glistened off the water. I leaned my head against the glass, not able to keep it up anymore. I closed my eyes and let the sun warm my face as I fell asleep.

I dreamt that I was walking through a town, looking for Mark. We had somehow gotten separated. I picked up my pace, starting to get worried that I couldn’t find him. I tripped over my own foot and landed on the ground. I crawled over to the building next to me and sat against the wall, crying. I was never going to find him. I suddenly heard a voice in my ear say
, “I’m going to pick you up, please don’t panic.”

I turned my head and saw James leaning over me cautiously. He picked me up, and when he set me down, it was on something soft. I kept my eyes on him and said, “I can’t find him.” He smiled down at me. “We’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

When I woke, the sun was filling the room with a bright light. I rolled over onto my side and stretched my back. The bed was much softer than anything I’d ever felt before. Then I had a thought. I hadn’t fallen asleep on the bed. I opened my eyes and saw James sitting in the chair, pulled up by the bed again, and blocking my view of outside. He was watching me carefully with concern on his face.

“Why are you looking at
me like that?” I asked quietly, my voice hoarse.

James reached over to the table next to the bed where a glass of water was. I sat up and
after he handed it to me, I took a big drink. When I was done, only half the glass was full. He took it back and set it on the table again.

“Do you know how long you’ve been sleeping?”

I shook my head. It didn’t hurt anymore.

“It’s been
almost two days. I was about ready to call the doctor because I thought it had to do with your head.”

I le
aned back down into the pillows. I closed my eyes as I sank into them. “This bed is more comfortable than anything I’ve ever slept in.”

He laughed loudly. “You were just comfortable?”

I looked at him. “I guess. Did you move me from the window?”

He nodded. “Maybe I shouldn’t have though since you slept so long on the bed. However, you look much better than you have in several days. More rested.”

“Your eye seems like its getting less black, too.”

He reached up and touched his eye. “I guess. It doesn’t bother me.”

My stomach growled, and I realized I was starving. James noticed, too. He stood up and walked around the bed. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I can make it downstairs.” I tried to sit up, but stopped when he changed his direction from the door to me.

“I’ll bring it up for you.” He insisted.

It took me a minute to realize why he insisted. “Captain Brown is downstairs, isn’t he?”

He shrugged and didn’t answer. “I’ll be right back.”

He came back
several minutes later with a tray of food. I saw eggs, bacon and toast. There was also an orange that had been peeled already and cut into slices. I sat up, and he placed it on my lap. I picked up my fork and dove right into the eggs.

He sat
down on the edge of the bed to watch me for a moment before he spoke again. “I know you’re wondering why I didn’t want you to see Captain Brown.”

I glanced at him before quickly going back to my plate.

“He’s still acting a little strange, and I don’t want you to get uncomfortable. I also don’t want you starting up a fight with him over something and being kicked out of the house. I don’t think you want that either.”

“What type of fight would I start with him and why?”

“I’m not sure, but he’s very blunt with his questions and statements. He likes things a certain way.” He ran his hand through his hair, but kept his focus on my body.

I looked down at my shirt. “In other words, he’d comment on my wardrobe preference.”

“That’s one thing. He made me go into town the first day after we got here and order some material for more dresses. Now, the material has come in, but they need your sizes to make the dresses. And before you protest, just let them make the dresses and then we’ll bring them back and you can pretend you wear them.”

“What am I supposed to wear into town then?” I looked over at the floor where my dress had been, but it wasn’t there anymore.

“You’ll just have to wear something of mine, and the tailors will understand that you didn’t have anything. You lost it in a fire or something.” He slid his hand through his hair again as he looked away.

I nodded and slid my tray toward my knees. He picked it up and set it by my feet.

“When are we going?”

He shrugged. “Tomorrow maybe, if you’re awake during normal hours of the day.”

“Why can’t we go now?”

“The tailor isn’t there today. Plus, it’s much later than you think it is.”

I looked at the tray next to him. “You brought me breakfast though.”

“Yes, but it was really dinner. I just figured you’d like something that was a more breakfast style.” He smiled.

“So tomorrow then.” I leaned back into the pillows.

“If you’re up during normal hours, like I said.”

I stretched. “I don’t think I’ll sleep much tonight after this. I’m not tired at all.”

“We’ll see.” He leaned back against the bedpost and closed his eyes. He looked ready to fall asleep. I looked at him closer and saw that just underneath the black eye, I saw a black ring, the kind you get when you don’t sleep.

“Do you ever sleep?”

He shook his head. “Not really.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t had a full night sleep in years. I’ll doze for a few hours, but then I wake up and stare at the ceiling until dawn. Usually once the sun starts to rise I get up and take a walk along the beach.”

“That sounds like something I’d like to do, but we’re rarely docked, and it’s not the same just walking around the deck.”

He opened one of his eyes to look at me. “You?”

I rolled my eyes. “I told you, the only reason I slept for so long was because I was comfortable. How comfortable can you get in hammock surrounded by men who snore?”

He closed his eyes now, a smile on his lips. “Good point. So do you want to join me?”

“For what?”

He opened his eyes and looked at me. “A walk on the beach tomorrow morning at sunrise.”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

He grinn
ed. “I look forward to it.”

We sat there in silence for a little while. I looked outside while he relaxed against the bedpost. Clouds were looming just above the horizon, and the water was getting choppy. A storm was coming in.

“I don’t think tomorrow will work,” I said as a couple of leaves blew past the window.

“Why?” He sounded tired.

“A storm is coming in.”

“Well, we’ll do it soon then.”

I looked at him, about to ask him when, but his head was starting to droop.

“Go to bed.”

“I’ll only sleep for a couple of hours,” he mumbled.

“Yes, but you’re falling asleep here, and I want to get out of this bed.”

He finally opened his eyes and met my gaze. He was curious. “Why?”

“I want to explore.” I lifted back the cove
rs, but he leaned forward. I paused and frowned at him.

“No.”

“Why not?” I folded my arms across my chest.

“I don’t want Captain Brown and you getting into a fight.”

I was about to respond when I heard footsteps and turned toward the door. They weren’t near, and it sounded like someone coming up stairs. Then they started to get softer, as if the person was moving away, and then a door opened and closed. I raised my eyebrow as I looked back at James.

He shook his head. “Just because he came upstairs doesn’t mean he’s going to bed.”

“What’s the real reason you don’t want me looking around? Are you hiding something?” I challenged as I leaned closer.

“No.” He looked me in the eye.

“Then why not? If I have to stay here, then why can’t I get my own bearing of the place?”