The Captain's Pearl (15 page)

Lianne stopped as she heard the distant footfalls. “Bryce?” she called. It would be like him to let her get close to discovering the truth, then halt her.

She held up the lantern so it would be a beacon to anyone who heard her voice. When she realized the sound of boots came from below, she hurried back to the companionway. She tightened her grip on the lantern as she descended the steep steps which had only a rope as a railing. When the light flickered, she realized the oil must be running out. That surprised her, for she knew Bryce ordered the lanterns kept full. He did not want the early twilight to force them to lose an extra hour's work.

“Is someone down here?” Her voice rumbled back to taunt her. If she could speak to one of the crew without Bryce eavesdropping, she was certain to learn more about the ship.

The glow of a second lantern appeared for a moment. She lifted her skirts so they did not drag in the bilge water on the boards, wondering how the light could have appeared and disappeared so quickly. When she paused in front of an open door, she laughed at her own skittishness. It had not been a ghost, just a man who must have gone into this hold. She could see a reddish light at the far end.

“Is someone in here?” she stepped cautiously into the room, her lantern flickering wildly again.

The door slammed behind her. She whirled and stepped into water. The lantern flared, then went out. As she set it on the deck, she gasped as she noticed water inching up her arms. The water was rising!

She lifted her hands to her nose. Salt water. Glancing at the far end of the hold, she saw the reddish glow again. It was not a lantern, but the sunset coming through a hole in the side of the
China Shadow
. The slow oozing of water through it would swamp the ship if it was not repaired soon. Was this what Bryce had wanted to keep her from seeing? Too late, for she
had
seen it.

Being careful not to slip again, Lianne groped for the door. She jerked on the latch. It refused to move. She tried it again. She had to get out of the hold. To stay in this cold water for long would be dangerous. Her gown and wool cape already were damp.

Raising her fists, she banged on the door. “Help me! I am in here!”

Desperately she waited for an answer. There must be someone else on the ship. She had heard footsteps and had seen the lantern. She pounded on the wood, shouting until she became hoarse. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the red light of the sunset had been swallowed by the night.

Hours passed slowly as Lianne clung to the small space by the door where the water remained shallow. A step in any direction took her into deeper water. Her teeth chattered until she clenched her jaw. As an ache climbed across her head, she realized she could not feel her feet. Rubbing her hands together, she winced, but now pain meant her fingers were not frozen.

The numbness climbed her legs until her knees refused to support her. As she slid along the uneven door, her cloak caught on it. She leaned her face against the material which hung precariously on splinters. Slowly her eyes closed. Some residual sense urged her to open them, but she could not.

As the hushed sound of water washed around her feet, the familiar scent of salt water became the luscious aroma which flowed from Bryce's hair. He might have run roughshod over her life, but she knew, with Bryce, she would be safe. He had risked his life for her in Canton and her father's wrath here in Massachusetts. She surrendered to dreams of Bryce kissing her as he had in Canton, dreams that must never come true.

Pain.

It consumed Lianne. When she heard odd sounds from the darkness surrounding her, she slowly realized that they were moans. Her moans.

“What is wrong?” she whispered. Or did she? She could not hear herself speak. Her next question became a gasp, as agony shot up her right leg. “No,” she tried to cry, but no sound emerged.

Broad fingers settled on her cheek. Warm fingers. Only when they touched her did she discover how terribly cold she was.

“Blue eyes, wake up. Please wake up. Show us that you are alive.”

Of course, I'm alive
!

“Blue eyes, wake up.”

Bryce
! Only Bryce called her blue eyes. When he repeated his order more urgently, she struggled to answer. All she heard was a dull croak which resonated through her agony.

“Open your eyes, blue eyes.”

She wanted to, but they were glued shut with some substance which must weigh as much as the ship. Why was he taunting her instead of helping her?

“No!” Pain erupted along her leg again. Wanting to bat away the fingers which were gouging her with heated needles, she found her arms as useless as her eyes. Tears dripped along her cheeks, cold and icy tears like the water in the hold of the
China Shadow
.

As a hand brushed hair back from her damp face, she forced her eyes open. Light blinded her. Where was she? Not in the hold of the
China Shadow
where the frigid water had continued to inch higher. The smell of fishy brine was gone.

Where was she?

A dark form moved between her and the glare. She tried to speak, but her lips quivered with the iciness eating at her bones.

“Lianne! You are awake.”

She wanted to ask Bryce what was wrong with her, but she was unable. No part of her worked. She could have been a statue frozen to the bed.

Bed!

She was in bed. Not on the
China Shadow
, for it did not sway with the ceaseless motion of the sea. Trying to make her eyes focus, she looked up to see the ceiling of her room. She was safe. Somehow she was safe.

Her contented thoughts disappeared into pain. When she shrieked, she heard Bryce ask, “Must you do that?”

“Her feet are nearly frozen. If we don't massage feeling back into them, she will lose them.” That was Great-Aunt Tildy speaking.

“But she is in such pain!”

Great-Aunt Tildy snapped with rare heat, “If we don't get real feeling back into her limbs, we may lose her.”

A motion in front of her drew her pain-filled eyes to Bryce's face. He should not be here in her bedroom, but she was glad he was. He must have saved her as she had hoped he would. Odd that she could always depend on him to be around when she was in trouble … or to make trouble for her. She wanted to thank him. Exerting all her strength to lift her right hand, she could move no more than a single finger before the excruciating waves washed over her again.

Bryce cursed under his breath as Lianne's colorless features contorted with pain. He touched her heart-shaped face. It was still too cold, but her skin had lost the clammy lifelessness it had had when he found her unconscious in the hold of the
China Shadow
.

How could she have been so foolish? While he had been playing cards with the captain and Chester Simmons, he had not guessed that she was anywhere but here in her room or with her great-aunt. He shook his head. It had been a convivial evening with Simmons laughing over everything, even his losing hands. Bryce was amazed what good friends the two old sailors were, for when Bryce first sailed with Captain Catherwood, the two men had been at odds all the time. After the fall from the mast that had left the captain in his chair, they seemed to have become friends—probably because Captain Catherwood was grateful that Simmons had been there to nurse him during the rest of the voyage back to Stormhaven.

Then, after the evening was over, the captain had sent for Bryce, frantic that his daughter was missing. Bryce had guessed where Lianne must be. Her curiosity about the true condition of the
China Shadow
, the truth he had tried to keep her from seeing, had led her into trouble. He doubted if he would ever forget opening the locked door to find her huddled in the freezing brine. He had paused only long enough to confirm that she was alive before he swept her into his arms, calling for someone to row the jolly boat for him. Carrying her back to the house, he had placed her in her bed while he sent a lad for the doctor.

At that thought, he stamped to a window overlooking the road. “Where in hell is Newberry?”

Miss Catherwood said, “You know he will not come.”

“What kind of doctor is he?”

“One who believes Lianne lied to him and humiliated him with your help.”

Bryce did not bother to keep his curse quiet. He had not guessed that trying to protect Lianne from that greedy landlubber would lead to this.

A bell rang from beyond the door. Miss Catherwood smiled sadly. “That is Samuel. He is anxious about her.”

Bryce looked back at Lianne. Her face was bleached to the shade of the muslin sheets. Never had he been so frightened as when he discovered her in the water with her back pressed against the door. The forlorn expression on her agonized face had matched the horror in his heart. He nodded. “Go to the captain. I will stay with Lianne while you assure Captain Catherwood that she will live. Then why don't you get some sleep?”

“Will you call me if she awakes?”

“Immediately.” It was a vow he did not intend to keep, for he was worried about Miss Catherwood's gray face.

When he opened the door, Bryce was not surprised to see Hyett sleeping in a chair on the opposite side of the hall, even though it was nearly dawn. The butler leapt to his feet.

“Lianne is resting,” Bryce said to the unspoken question. “Will you escort Miss Catherwood to the captain's room? I don't want to leave Lianne alone.”

Bryce was not surprised when, before he could close the door, a woman slipped in. He recognized her as Lianne's maid. A smile tugged at his lips. Miss Catherwood was making certain he did not do further damage to Lianne's reputation. A groan from the bed intruded on his amused thoughts. He hurried across the room and leaned over the pillows to see Lianne's eyes were half-opened slits.

“Bryce?” she whispered.

“I am right here with you, blue eyes. You are home.”

A smile tried to form on her lips. “Mother?”

He wondered how her hope could still exist. There had been no sign of Ch'en Mei on his previous trips to Canton. Both the captain and Lianne had asked him to search for her, but there was no sign of her living or dead.

“Lianne,” he said softly, “you're home in Stormhaven.”

Her lips outlined the name of the village, but no sound emerged.

“You are safe, blue eyes.”

“Safe …”

As she faded into sleep again, he sighed. Pulling a chair to the bed, he put his feet up on the mattress as he prepared to wait out the night and the answers to questions that he needed answered.

Lianne woke slowly. Her whole body was stiff, and her feet tingled oddly. When she tried to move, she moaned.

“Awake?” came a mumble from beyond the bed.

She turned her head on the pillow to see Bryce stretching and yawning. “What are you doing here?” she gasped.

His green eyes narrowed. “I think it is more important that you tell me what in hell were you doing
there
?”

“There? Where?”

“On the
China Shadow
.”

“The
China Shadow
?” She struggled to sit. His arm beneath her back assisted her, although she bit her lip to swallow the pain ricocheting through her.

“I found you in a forward hold in about two feet of water.”

Memory flung her back into the terror of believing she would freeze to death in the heart of the ship. She began to shiver.

Putting another blanket over her shoulders, Bryce asked, “Lianne, how did you get locked in there?”

“I wanted to see how work was going on the ship.”

“You wanted to see all the damage.”

Lianne met his gaze steadily. “Yes. I took a jolly boat out to the ship. When I was looking around, I heard someone—I thought I heard someone in there. The door closed behind me, and I could not reopen it.”

“Because it was barred.”

Lianne stared in disbelief. “But how? Why?”

“That is something I intend to find out, as soon as I discover who sabotaged the hold.”

“Sabotage?”

He smiled grimly. “Don't worry, blue eyes. The fool overplayed his hand. If it had been done right, the hole in the hull would not have been discovered until we were deep at sea. Then we would be on the sea bottom.”

“I don't understand why anyone would try to wreck an almost ruined ship.”

“Neither do I … yet. Rest, blue eyes. You are going to need to spend a few days in bed. Captain's orders.”

“Father!” She closed her eyes. “Oh, sweet heavens, is he all right?”

Taking her hand between his, he tilted toward her. She backed more deeply into the pillows and clenched her hands that wanted to reach out to him.

“He will be fine now that you are. How could you be so stupid to go out there like that?”

“I had to see what you would not show me.”

His finger slipped along her cheek. “There are so many things I would like to show you, blue eyes.”

He pressed his lips to hers. He threaded his fingers through her hair as he ran his tongue along the inner curve of her lips, sending wildfire through her. The heat banished the iciness around her.

“Captain Trevarian!” came a chiding voice from past him.

Lianne tried to clear her dazed eyes as her great-aunt bustled over to the bed. Listening to Great-Aunt Tildy scold him and her maid, who had fallen asleep instead of being a good chaperon, Lianne sagged against the pillows and watched Bryce's smile widen. He bent and kissed her on the forehead before leaving her in her great-aunt's care.

“What an impossible rogue!” Great-Aunt Tildy said with a laugh. “Was he out of his mind to kiss you like that?”

She bit back her answer. Bryce knew exactly what he was doing when he kissed her with such enticing passion. If only she was as sure of what she was doing when she kissed him back …

Eleven

“Father,” Lianne said quietly from her chair in his bedroom, “I believe we have no choice but to send the
China Shadow
to be salvaged.” She handed her father, who was propped up in his bed, a sheaf of papers. “The
Sleek Shadow
was costly, and the work at the mill is depleting our cash. If we sell the
China Shadow
now, we can get some money to invest in the line.”