The Royal Handmaid (24 page)

Finally he dusted off his hands and said, “This should be enough for now. We’ll have to go chop it up and soak it in water.”

“It’s not as easy as going to a pharmacy, is it?”

Karl grinned at her. It made him look much too young to have nearly finished medical school. “Not quite as easy.” As they started back toward camp, he suddenly asked, “Why haven’t you ever married, Meredith?”

The question caught her off guard, and when she finally spoke, her answer was guarded and careful. “Why, because I never met a man I loved.”

Karl shifted the bag to his shoulder. “I always thought marriage was just about finding someone you can feel comfortable with.”

Meredith laughed. “I felt comfortable with my eighty-two-year-old Greek teacher, but I didn’t think that was enough to make a marriage. What about you? How old are you, Karl?”

“I’m thirty-three.”

“And you were never in love?”

For a brief moment she saw something flicker in Benson’s eyes. “I guess not,” he said. “Come along. Let’s get this stuff ground up.”

****

“Abigail, you’ve got to eat something,” Jimmy implored.

“I’m just not hungry.”

“But you haven’t eaten anything all day. Oscar made this especially for you.” He picked up the plate and held it in front of her. The two were sitting on her cot, where Jimmy had come to bring the lunch Oscar had taken such pains with. “Just have a few bites of it.”

Abigail took the plate and managed to eat several bites, then she shivered. “I’m afraid,” she whispered as she put the plate down and leaned against his shoulder.

He pulled her close and whispered, “Don’t be. We’re going to get through this just fine, and then we’ll be a real family.”

“But I’m so scared.”

She straightened up, and Jimmy saw the tears running down her face. She stared into the plate blankly, and he could not think of a single comforting thing to say. In all truth, he was terrified of what lay ahead of them. He had always wanted children, but out here in this primitive place with no medicine, no nurses, and only Karl to help, he knew exactly how she felt. “We’ll be all right,” he said as he pulled her into another embrace.

“Jimmy, I’ve been thinking,” Abigail said, pulling away again, her voice tightly in control. “Ever since all this happened, since the wreck, I’ve been thinking how shallow my Christian life has been.”

“Why, you’ve always been a fine Christian!”

“No I haven’t. I learned how to talk like one and say the right things, but it’s almost like I’m playing a role. I’ve always envied people who had a real experience with God.”

Jimmy became very still and did not speak for a time. Then finally his voice came out in a low whisper. “I know what you mean, Abby. I love the Lord, and I know you do too, but this business of being out here cut off from everything has not been easy.”

The two sat there miserable, unable to comfort each other, when suddenly Maggie Smith came through the entryway. “What are you two doing huddled up in here?” Maggie said cheerfully. “Come on out in the sun. It’s a gorgeous day.”

“I don’t think so, Maggie,” Abby answered. “I’m tired. I think I’ll just lie down.”

Maggie took in the tense expressions on both of their faces.
They’ve been quarreling,
she thought. “Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. Shep and I are going to go to the cliff and get a bunch of eggs. When I get back, I’m going to make you the best omelet you’ve ever tasted. I may not be much of a cook, but it’s hard to go wrong with eggs fresh from the nest.”

“I’m really not hungry, Maggie,” Abby said.

“You just lie down and rest,” Maggie replied. “When you get one whiff of my omelet, you’ll sit up and take notice.” She left the shelter and joined Shep, who was waiting for her. “Let’s go, Shep.”

He grinned and said, “Kind of like an Easter egg hunt, ain’t it, Maggie?”

“Did you go on those when you were a child?”

“Me? No, my uncle and aunt weren’t much on playing games on Easter.”

They made their way to the cliff, and for a moment they stood looking down at the incredible view. “You ain’t afraid of heights, are you?” Shep asked.

“No, not a bit. I’ve been afraid of other things but never that.”

Shep felt strange in this woman’s presence. She was so far above him in so many ways. He was raised by a shrimper who doubled as a street preacher, and she was educated and
cultured, from an altogether different world. But the two of them somehow felt right together. They stood there enjoying the breeze and the hypnotic motion of the green water that washed onto the white sand below, the harsh cries of sea birds in their ears. “I noticed that most of your preacher friends have been pretty down,” Shep remarked. “All except you and Travis. You seem to have survived this pretty well.”

Maggie shook her head and defended her friends. “It’s been hard on some of us. We’re a spoiled bunch, Shep. We’ve always had everything we needed or wanted, and when that’s stripped away from you, it takes a little adjusting.”

Shep stooped down to pick up a stone and threw it over the cliff. He watched it fall before answering her. “But it ain’t bothered you much. You’re always smiling.”

“Well, I guess that’s because I got what I’ve always wanted.”

“And what was that?”

“All my life I wanted to be slender like other women that I looked at.”

“Well, you got that.” Shep grinned. “Pretty hard way to lose weight, though.”

Maggie laughed. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Did it really mean that much to you? I mean, after all, there are lots of happy people that weigh a little too much.”

“I know that. I guess I was a little obsessed about my weight. You know, Shep,” Maggie said slowly, “it’s the oddest thing. No matter how much I weighed, I always felt skinny. Inside, I mean. But then I’d look in the mirror and see this overweight girl. I felt like I was trapped in a body that belonged to someone else.”

“It seems that some people are just naturally heavy.”

“You’re right, they are,” Maggie said. “But I wasn’t one of them. I was overweight for one reason. I was a glutton, Shep. I was an unhappy girl and then grew up to be an unhappy woman. And when I got unhappy, I would eat.” She turned to face him and laughed. “Now I don’t have to worry about
overeating, or if I do, I work it off. Come on. Let’s go get some eggs.”

The two made their way down the face of the cliff, and from time to time, Shep would toss her an egg, which she would catch adroitly and put into the bag she wore around her neck. Laughing, she suddenly was aware that she was truly happy. Here in this primitive place with a man she hadn’t even known for a year on the face of a cliff, she was happy. Marooned and with only the barest necessities, when before she had had it all. But now she felt a contentment she could not explain, but could only delight in.

****

Charlie Day and Lars Olsen came up to stand beside Cerny Novak as he stared out at the sea, his face fixed grimly.

Charlie searched the endless sea for ships. “I wish we was off this blasted island.”

“It don’t do any good to talk about it,” Novak grunted, “so shut your face.”

Day was accustomed to Novak’s moods, and he saw that the big man was obviously in a bad one. “I been thinkin’,” he said finally. “I’m about ready to get in the cutter, rig it with a sail, and try to get off this place.”

Lars laughed mirthlessly. “You wouldn’t do it,” he said in disgust. “You’d be afraid to, and so would I.”

Novak gave Olsen a quick look. “I don’t know, Lars. We might make it.”

“We might . . . and we might not.”

Novak kicked a shell at his feet and said harshly, “I’m tired of lettin’ those preachers tell me what to do.”

“So am I,” Day agreed. “They ain’t got no authority over us.”

Olsen stared at the two and then finally fixed his eyes on Novak’s face. “What are you thinkin’, Cerny?”

“I’m thinkin’ I’m through waitin’ on them. That’s what!
And the next time one of them gives me an order, I’ll show you. There’s going to be a new order around here.”

Charlie Day laughed. “That’s the way to talk,” he said. He grinned and added, “Maybe we’ll all just call you Captain now.”

The three made their way back to camp. As they approached the clearing, Professor Dekker left the fire, where Rena was poking at it with a stick, and approached Novak, saying with some irritation, “We need more firewood, Novak.”

Something snapped inside Cerny Novak. “You need more firewood? Go cut it yourself.”

Lanie MacKay, who was cutting up some breadfruit beside Pete and Karl at their crude table, looked up with anger. “Don’t speak to the professor that way, Novak!”

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

He turned abruptly when he heard Maggie and Shep laughing as they returned with two canvas bags bulging with eggs. Maggie did not catch the tension that had suddenly risen, and she held up her bag and said, “Look, we’ve got lots of eggs. I’m going to make one of my famous omelets for Abby.”

Novak had always hated to take orders, and now with the captain laid up, he realized there was no one to curb his rebellious streak. “You make
me
an omelet, Maggie!” he ordered.

Maggie looked up at the big man in shock. He had never been very approachable, but he had always been more or less respectful up to now. “I’m Miss Smith to you,” she said with asperity.

“No you ain’t. You’re Maggie, and I’m telling you to make me an omelet with about a dozen of them eggs!”

Lanie stepped toward the two anxiously. “You mind your manners, Novak.”

“And you shut your mouth!” Novak said, whirling to face her.

“Let’s not make an issue of this,” Pete said reasonably.

“I’ll make any kind of issue I want, Alford.” Novak yanked
a knife out of his belt and grinned at the tall, rawboned man. “You wanna argue about it?”

Fearful at what was happening, Lanie quickly offered, “I’ll make you an omelet, Novak. We don’t need any trouble.”

Novak was still staring at Pete, but when the tall man did not speak, he said, “There’s gonna be some changes around here.” He lifted his voice, aware that the two men who might have challenged him, Travis and Dalton, had gone to catch another female goat to add to the herd. If those two had been there, he would have been slower to act. “Things are gonna be different from here on out.” With a laughing sneer, he ordered, “Now, let’s have that omelet.”

Maggie quickly said, “I’ll make the omelet.” She glanced at Benson, who was glaring intently at Novak. Seeing the possibility for violence, she whispered, “It’s all right, Karl.”

“No, it’s not all right,” he whispered under his breath. “You give a man like that an inch, he’ll take a mile.” He shook his head. “You’ll see,” he promised grimly.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Brute Force

As soon as Travis caught a glimpse of Rena’s face, he knew something had happened. Her lips were pulled into a straight line, her face filled with either fear or anger.

“What’s wrong, Rena?”

She stood in front of Travis, not speaking at first. Then the words spilled out in a hurry. “It’s been terrible, Travis.” Dalton, who had been trailing them, came up to join the two. “Oh, Dalton, I’m glad you’re back,” Rena said. “We’ve got a problem.”

“A problem? What kind of a problem?”

“It’s Cerny Novak. He’s pushing his weight around and acting like he’s the boss around here.”

Dalton was not a patient man. He was angry to begin with that Rena and Travis were talking, and now he drew himself up straighter and said, “What’s he done? Has he insulted you?”

“It’s worse than that, I’m afraid.” Rena told the story quickly, her focus shifting from one man to the other. She finished with, “They’ve got the three guns now, and they claim they’re going to be in charge of things.”

“We’ll see about that,” Dalton huffed. He started off but Travis stopped him.

“Wait a minute, Dalton. We need to be careful about this.”

“Careful! I don’t need to be careful when I’m handling a bunch of roughnecks. If they want trouble, they can have it!” He spun and marched away, anger evident in his posture.

“Travis, Dalton doesn’t understand how bad this is.” Rena shook her head. “I’m afraid of Novak.”

“He’s a dangerous man. C’mon. We need to stop Dalton.”

Dalton was in no mood to listen, however, and shook them off. When he reached the camp, with Rena and Travis close behind, he saw Novak leaning against a tree holding the rifle loosely in one hand, eating a mango with the other. Day and Olsen were on either side of him, both with revolvers stuck in their belts.

“All right, Novak, I hear you’ve been making some wild talk.”

Novak took a bite of the mango and smiled a wolfish grin. He made a dangerous-looking figure, and if Dalton weren’t so angry, he would have seen it.

“What’s the trouble, preacher? You sore ’cause someone else is gonna be the boss around here?”

Dalton was ordinarily careful enough, but he hated to be crossed. Ignoring the sinister light that flickered in the eyes of the bulky Novak, he approached him and held out his hand. “I’ll take that rifle.”

Novak laughed. “You will, eh? All right. Take it, preacher.”

Novak moved so swiftly that Dalton had no time to react. In one motion he dropped the mango, flipped the rifle up butt first, and drove the butt into Dalton’s forehead. The blow made a meaty sound, and Dalton fell backward full-length. He lay there, his legs twitching, his eyes rolled up into his head.

Novak reversed the rifle and turned to Travis. “You wanna try your luck, Winslow?”

“There was no call for that, Cerny,” Travis reprimanded.

Rena had never seen explosive violence like this. A cold chill ran up her back at the cruelty gleaming in Cerny Novak’s eyes. She ran to kneel beside Dalton and gingerly touched the huge bump that was emerging over his left eye. She turned and yelled, “Karl, he’s hurt!”

Karl Benson, who had been watching this along with the
others, joined her at Dalton’s side. He pulled Dalton’s eyelid back and peered at the pupil, then took his pulse. “He has a good, strong pulse,” he said. He turned to Novak. “But a man can be killed with a blow like that.”