The Stolen Heart (2 page)

Trident
, she offered up a final prayer of thanks
to the Lord for having put her in the path of Captain Starbuck when
she had needed it most.

 

 

Since that fateful day, he had gone out of his way to help her. She
didn't know what would have become of her and her sisters without
his compassionate viewing of their plight, and timely intervention.
She certainly didn't know how she would manage each day without his
unfailing kindness and friendship.

 

 

Almira gave a grateful smiled to Jared as she got back on deck, and
got an answering pat on the shoulder. It was only supposed to be
captain to cabin boy, but all the same, his touch sent a shiver of
desire coursing through her veins.

 

 

If she hadn't already been a bit smitten with him before they had
set sail, she most assuredly was now. For despite living in close
quarters with the tall, dark, golden-eyed captain, thus far she
could find no flaw in his looks, morals, or personality.

 

 

She could recall their first meeting, the shock of his handsome face
and kind demeanor, as though it were yesterday.

 

 

It had been a raw August day, more like winter than summer, and she
had just buried her mother in the small churchyard down the road
from their tiny house. They hadn't even been able to afford a decent
coffin, she remembered with a pang.

 

 

She had felt sick to her stomach watching the thinly shrouded body
disappear into the damp muddy ground. She had then gone home with
her sisters and made some hot tea, noting that these were the last
of the leaves. The coffee was long gone, and the butter and bread
were about to give out as well. With only a handful of coins left,
they were staring starvation in the face if she didn't do something
soon.

 

 

She had drunk the tea to steady her nerves, then grasped her
brother’s old coat and trousers and shirt and gone into the tiny
room she shared with her sisters. There she had taken the plunge.

 

 

She’d grasped her mother’s sharpest pair of shears and hacked off
her luxuriant blond tresses until they curled close to her head just
above her ears. She had stripped off her plain brown gown, one of
the few she owned and the one she had deemed most suited to the
funeral.

 

 

Next she had removed her corset, petticoats, and drawers and small
hoops, and had seen herself standing naked in the small mirror: a
tiny waist, embarrassingly rounded breasts, lean hips and legs.

 

 

She’d cut the petticoat down the seam, and hacked off one long
strip, which she had then bound around her chest to flatten her
bosom. She’d cut the scant amount of lace off her drawers, and most
of the legs, and stepped into the trousers. She’d tugged on some
warm woolen stockings which were held up around her calves with a
pair of plain black garters, and had put on her sturdy pair of work
boots which she used in the garden. Then she’d donned the thick
cotton shirt, and shrugged into the waistcoat and jacket.

 

 

Her sister Amy had come in just then and given a little scream. “Oh,
my Lord, I thought you were Adrian for a minute!” she gasped, one
hand to her throat.

 

 

“That bad?” Almira said with a small smile.

 

 

Twelve-year old Amy continued to stare at her, fascinated. “Very
good, more like. You really do look like a young lad. A pretty
handsome one at that. So you're really going to try to get a berth?”
She had sounded both scandalized and excited at the very idea.

 

 

She nodded grimly. “We’re going to starve soon if I don’t do
something. I don’t want you and Alice to suffer any more.”

 

 

“But it’s such a huge sacrifice, Almira.”

 

 

She smiled at the small tow-headed lass. “No it isn’t. I can keep my
dignity, for the most part, and make sure you two are safe and have
a chance at happiness. Mother did her best, but we're in a bad way,
dearest. We can’t stay here as we are. Short of becoming a fallen
woman, I won't be able to quickly get the money we need any other
way. I must go. I hear there are a couple of new ships coming into
the Straight Wharf. If I get there early, I might be able to talk
one of the captains into taking me on. After all, I’m not Jedidiah
Hussey’s daughter for nothing. Er, son.”

 

 

They both grinned at each other, and then Almira tried on her
brother’s hat. “There, perfect,” she had said, looking into the
pierglass from every angle, certain she made a convincing boy after
all.

 

 

“Just be careful. Make sure you get a better ship than our hapless
brother," her sister warned with a sniff.

 

 

She tucked her shirt in better, and strode up and down in front of
the mirror to make sure she was playing her part to a tee. “I may
not have a choice, but I surely hope to.”

 

 

“Don’t listen to the shipping agents, no matter what they offer
you," she added, now moving over to look at her sister's things, to
make sure she had not forgotten anything.

 

 

“Believe me, I won’t. I'll speak to the captains myself, and won't
ship out with anyone other than a good Nantucketer.”

 

 

“Good luck, Almira,” she said, her eyes welling up.

 

 

She ruffled her sister’s hair affectionately. “It’s Al, now. Al
Hussey.”

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

 

Almira had walked down Main Street and just reached Straight Wharf
when a sudden gust of rainy wind had caught at her hat. In her
effort to stop it from flying any further along the ground, she’d
crashed straight into a tall, black-haired, bareheaded gentleman.

 

 

It was like running straight into a brick wall. She fell flat on her
back onto the sodden ground, and could only stare open-mouthed at
his sheer perfection.

 

 

He was over six feet, with huge muscular thighs encased in black
trousers. His broad chest was barely contained in a creamy linen
shirt, maroon waistcoat and black jacket.

 

 

She stared at his tanned face, with high forehead, high angular
cheekbones, well-hewn chin, generous mouth and piercing golden eyes,
and was sure he had just descended from Mount Olympus.

 

 

His brows knitted together, and she half-expected a tongue-lashing
for having bumped into him. But instead his huge hard hand came down
to grasp hers. He pulled her to her feet and laughed.

 

 

“Some blow. I fear my hat is long gone, but we might be able to save
yours.”

 

 

He strode over to where it had caught against a straggling shrub,
and handed it back to her.

 

 

“Here you are, lad.”

 

 

“I’m very grateful, sir.”

 

 

“Don’t mention it.”

 

 

She had noted his long-legged rolling gait and tanned face, and
ventured to ask, “Might you be a sea-faring gentleman, sir?”

 

 

“Aye, that I am. Captain Jared Starbuck at your service, young lad.”

 

 

“Captain Starbuck? Very pleased to meet you. My father spoke of you
often.”

 

 

“And who might he be?

 

 

“He is, was, Jedidiah Hussey.”

 

 

Jared stared. “So your Jed’s boy? I thought you looked familiar.
Never thought you would be so puny, lad.” He frowned.

 

 

“Pa was very tall, but I take after my mother, God rest her. And I'm
only fifteen,” she added as he continued to look at her with a
doubtful expression.

 

 

His elegant brows drew downwards. “Your mother passed?”

 

 

“Yes, sir, two days ago.” She tried to hold back a sniff, but failed
miserably. “We buried her this morning.”

 

 

His warm hand came out to touch her shoulder. “I’m very sorry to
hear that, boy. Come, son, why not walk with me to the tavern.”

 

 

Her sea-blue eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, er, no, sir, I couldn’t-”

 

 

“Never fear. I’m not going to lure you to the demon drink, boy. I
need to sign on some crew, and am just going to stick my head in to
pass the word around. Then I’m heading to the hotel to take tea and
get a hot meal. I'd be most pleased if you would join me.”

 

 

The prospect of eating alone with the handsome captain filled her
with quivering apprehension, but at the thought of a good hot meal,
and the chance to ask him to recruit her as well, since he was
looking for crew, Almira accepted.

 

 

“Thank you, sir. That's very kind. I shall be only too pleased.”

 

 

He strode down the street to the tavern, and did literally poke his
head in and out. Several men immediately came running. He knew them
all by name, and told them either no, or to come to see him at the
Trident
first thing in the morning.

 

 

“So tell me,” he said when he was able to turn his attention to her
once more, “how is your father?”

 

 

She sighed. “I was hoping you might be able to tell me news of him,
sir. He still hasn't returned to port, though it’s been more than
four years.”

 

 

Jared stopped in his tracks and stared at her in astonishment. “That
can’t be. He left New Zealand before I did. Months before.”

 

 

She nodded. “So far as we know, he gammed at the Bay of Islands with
the
Lyra
and the
Mermaid
, and filled his hold. They
threw their try works over board, and began to head for home almost
a year ago with all possible speed. That’s the last that anyone's
seen or heard of him.”

 

 

He looked truly crestfallen. “I’m sorry to hear it. It’s a dreadful
loss, and hard for you and your sisters.”

 

 

“Yes, it has been,” she said hoarsely, barely holding back the
tears.

 

 

“Well, if there is anything I can do to help,” he said.

 

 

He held the door open for her as they entered the hotel, and headed
for the dining room.

 

 

“Actually, there is,” Almira had the nerve to say once they were
seated.

 

 

He looked up from the elegantly-printed menu with a slight frown.
“There is what?”

 

 

“Something you can do to help. I wouldn't ask if I weren't
desperate.”

 

 

He looked mildly wary, but nodded. “I can try.”

 

 

“I need a job. I want to ship on board with you.”

 

 

He shook his head. “Very admirable, but you're so young and green,
and small.” He grasped her thin forearm by way of illustrating his
point.

 

 

She blushed at the contact. “I know all the objections to my
becoming a whaleman, and I'd never ask for myself. It’s for my
sisters. I need some money to apprentice them with a good
dressmaker. If you were to take me on, and pay me in advance, I
could buy them their articles, and be sure they were looked after
well while I’m away.

 

 

"Then I could go off to look for my father and brother with a clear
conscience. And at least if Father did happen to come home while I
was gone, he would find Amy and Alice, and news of what had happened
to me and my brother Adrian.”

 

 

“He wasn't at sea with your father?” Jared asked, his brows
knitting.

 

 

“No, he shipped out on another whaler, for work, and to find Father
once he was so overdue that we began to fear the worst.”

 

 

“And so he left you in charge of your sisters? You're so young. How
could he?”

 

 

She shook her head. “He didn’t know Mother would fall ill and die.
He thought he was helping, earning money and searching for Father
himself. But I fear he might not take to the whaling life, and might
be in trouble, miserable.”

 

 

Jared shrugged. “Many greenhands suffer when they first ship out,
but they soon settle down-”

 

 

She shook her head. “You don’t understand. We were desperate for
money at that point, so he took the first berth he could get. The
shipping agent who signed him up told him a pack of lies. He shipped
out on the
Dolphin
from New Bedford, with Captain Smith.”

 

 

Jared was dumbstruck. When he finally found his voice, he gasped,
“Good God, not Killer Smith! How long has he been gone?”

 

 

“About three months.”

 

 

He rubbed his jaw and did some quick mental calculations. “There
might still be time to catch them, if they run into some whales, and
make long stops in each port for a drinking binge. Knowing Smith,
that's pretty likely.”

 

 

He stared at the plate the waiter brought him as if he could not
understand where it had appeared from.

 

 

Then he glanced up at Almira, who was still looking at him
pleadingly, her blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. His own
golden gaze met hers.

 

 

He cleared his throat, and sat up straight. “Very well, I tell you
what we're going to do, son. We're going to eat this fine meal,
including dessert. I adore cake, and I’m sure your family do too.
We’ll get them to wrap up some to take with us. Then we're going to
go see your sisters and arrange for their apprenticeship.

 

 

"Next we’re going to pack up the house and stow your gear aboard.
I’m going to hire you on as cabin boy, at one-one-hundredth of a
lay. The money from the apprenticeship will be deducted from that at
the end of the voyage. We’re going to find out any news we can about
you father, if I have to stop in every port and speak every ship
from here to New Zealand. And you're going to learn everything you
can about whaling, so that you can follow in his footsteps.”