The Stolen Heart (25 page)

He sniffed, and eventually nodded. “It could be. Take Steward and
Cook, and see what you can find. And double the rations tonight,
Cook. We’re just about finished trying, so as soon as we're done, we
can get started on the cleaning. The men will give you a hand.
You’ve been overdoing things these past couple of days, and I would
not have you falling ill again.”

 

 

She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. Scrubbing up isn’t as
bad as cutting in and trying out. I do love the scent of lemon, at
least.”

 

 

Jared looked over his shoulder, and leaned forward to kiss Almira.
“Just be careful, won’t you. Rats are nasty old things.”

 

 

“I will.”

 

 

He kissed her once more, in an almost proprietary manner which Al
felt sure was deliberate in front of Cook, a seal of ownership which
the other man could not fail to interpret correctly.

 

 

“Well, I’ve been well and truly warned off,” he said with a grin as
soon as Jared was gone.

 

 

“I’m sorry, I can’t think what’s got into him.”

 

 

“He loves you, of course.”

 

 

She shook her head. “If he does, he’s certainly never said.”

 

 

“Men aren’t very good at the words. Besides, he’s confused. He’s
only just discovered recently that you’re a woman. Wait until he
finds out he’s about to become a father.”

 

 

She rolled her eyes at the thought. “I’ll wait as long as I can to
impart that bit of news. I have no idea how upset he is going to
be.”

 

 

Cook patted her on the back. “Not upset, no. He will be worried
though. But that’s only natural, dear. Don’t hold it against him if
he fusses for a few days, and threatens to put you ashore. Giving
birth can be just as dangerous off ship as well as on, I’m sure.”

 

 

She shrugged. “My mother managed to have us all, and raised us at
sea for nearly two decades. Admittedly we spent most of the time in
the captain’s cabin, doing lessons, knitting and sewing, but the
ship most often have been in peril.

 

 

"I wish I had learned more about what my father did at the time. I
feel I would have appreciated him better, got to know him as more
than just a father, but as a person, if I had. I certainly see Jared
in a whole new light than I did when we first met at the wharf all
those weeks ago.”

 

 

“I think that’s a good thing. At least you won’t have any silly
romantic notions about what he does. You’ve experienced the dangers
at sea first-hand now.

 

 

"As for your father, I know you’re worried, but don’t give up hope.
Who knows, he could be home right now with your sisters.”

 

 

“I certainly hope so.”

 

 

“Come, let’s find Steward, get the stores, and get that meal
started.”

 

 

“Are we really going to look for dead rats?” she said, wrinkling her
nose in distate.

 

 

“Might as well, as long as we're down there.”

 

 

She rubbed the back of her neck, easing the tension there that had
begun to make her head ache. “I really think it’s just the baby
giving me an odd notion, though. Everything seems to be, well, more
extreme. I feel like I can’t sit still for a moment, like, like my
skin is crawling,” she said in wonder.

 

 

He checked her forehead. “You’re not feverish, anyway.”

 

 

“I’ve heard women in the family way get all sorts of strange notions
and cravings.”

 

 

“Aye, my mother used to eat pickles all the time. And my sister,
when she was waiting for her first child, scrubbed everything from
top to bottom just like you are doing, and sprinkled all of her food
with pepper.”

 

 

“Hmm, now that you mention it, a pickle would be good.”

 

 

Cokk grinned knowingly. “We do have a barrel. We’ll dig it out.”

 

 

So Al ate pickles almost constantly for the next week, scrubbed the
blubber room until the crew could have eaten off the deck, and
practically ravished Jared every time they had a minute alone
together.

 

 

It was a relatively peaceful week at sea, marked by the sighting of
a blue whale, also known as a sulphur-bottom, far too huge and
dangerous for any but the most foolhardy and desperate whalemen to
tackle, and even then only with three boats together.

 

 

At the end of the week, they had a stroke of luck when they spotted
another sail, and spoke the whaler
Peru
, a captain-owned
ship and recent addition to the Starbuck fleet.

 

 

They gammed together, and when Captain Wyer heard the tale
of the lost whaleboats, he was willing to sell his.

 

 

“But you might need them,” Jared said, tempted by the offer, but
unwilling to deprive his fellow captain of such essential pieces of
equipment.

 

 

Wyre shook his head. “What I really need is to get home. We’ve been
here at the onshore and offshore grounds for some time, trying to
fill the hold. I've just about done it at last. You've got a
well-filled hold in after only a few weeks out of Nantucket. So if
you're willing to trade oil for my boats, we both win.”

 

 

“So long as you’re sure,” Jared said, unable to believe his luck.

 

 

“I am. I could linger with you. We could gam together and hunt in
tandem. But the fact is, my men have been out for over two years, to
Japan and the Sandwich Islands and back. We’ve not had a bad trip
like you in terms of the weather and the loss of your boats, but we
haven’t had the greasy luck that you’ve had either.”

 

 

“All right, if you're sure—"

 

 

He nodded. "Certain. I've had enough for this trip."

 

 

"Very well then, name your price for the boats, and a fee for
handling our cargo."

 

 

"Cargo?" Wyer asked in surprise.

 

 

"Aye," Jared said, nodding. "You have room, don't you? And good men
able to take care of the whale bone?"

 

 

"Yes, I do."

 

 

"Good. There's no sense in heading all the way to New Zealand with
it when we can sell it all back home where there is such demand."

 

 

The older captain nodded. "True."

 

 

"So I want you to take our sperm oil and ambergris back with you as
well as our bone. I'll start this trip empty from here.

 

 

"You can handle the sale of all our takings, you and Dare if he's
ashore. And when you get back to port, I’d appreciate it if you
could give the money for the lays to the families of my two dead
crewmen straight away. It is not much consolation, but it will help
them a great deal.”

 

 

Wyer nodded his silvered head. “You write down the details, and I
will see to it personally.”

 

 

“Thanks, John. I’m so glad I ran into you.”

 

 

The men were only a few days out of port, and so had some fresh
fruit and turtles for fresh meat, which they willingly shared with
the crew.

 

 

“Are you sure, John? It might be a long trip home.”

 

 

He nodded, and took another sip of the brandy that Jared had poured
for him. “I’m going to stop in Montevideo. Now that I have such a
ripe cargo, I won’t have to worry about the crew jumping ship, and
we can get some nice supplies there as well.”

 

 

“Listen you haven’t seen the
Dolphin
, have you? Or Captain
Jed Hussey’s ship the
Calypso
?

 

 

His brows shot up. “Jed? Last I saw of him, was over a year and a
half ago, at the Sandwich Islands, bound for New Zealand.”

 

 

“He went there, because I saw him. He was heading back this way when
the ship vanished.”

 

 

Wyer looked stunned by the news. “Tis the first I've heard tell of
it. But then, I haven't gammed with too many this voyage. Damned
shame if Jed is lost. He's a good man. So I'll be glad to put the
word out. I'll ask around with any other ship I manage to speak.

 

 

"Thank you."

 

 

"The
Dolphin
, though, I can tell you about. That Captain
Smith is a madman. Hardly any crew, the ship in disarray, no oil.
He’s so drunk all the time it’s a wonder his men don’t just mutiny
and put them all out of their misery.

 

 

"I spoke him about four days ago."

 

 

"For days ago, you say?" Jared sighed in relief. They had made good
time and caught up to them even though they had had such a head
start. He couldn't wait to tell Almira the good news.

 

 

"Aye, four days ago, about dusk. He waved a pistol at me and told us
to stand off, so I imagine he must be keeping his command by sheer
force. He’ll have to put in somewhere soon, though, and anyone who
hasn’t already deserted soon will.”

 

 

Jared was stunned at this news. “It is a wonder they allow him to
continue on so.”

 

 

Wyer shurgged one shoulder. “He is a wondrous greasy captain when he
stays sober long enough. And they never see what he’s like at sea.
He's stone-cold sober back home. His wife is a fearsome woman when
angered, worse than he is, if the stories I've heard are to be
believed.”

 

 

“Still, my cousin Dare would never allow a man like that to command
one of our fleet.”

 

 

“And how is Dare?”

 

 

“Well. Happily married.”

 

 

Wyer looked surprised and pleased. “Do tell. Who to?”

 

 

“Samantha Barnes, the shipbuilding king’s daughter.”

 

 

John Wyer whistled. “Lucky man. She's worth a pretty penny.”

 

 

Jared shook his head. “He fell in love with Samantha."

 

 

"Oh. So he's an even more lucky man, then."

 

 

"She shipped aboard as one of his crew so he wouldn't leave her
behind. He got quite a surprise when he found out,” he said with a
smile as he recalled his own shock at finding out about Almira’s
identity.

 

 

“And she’s sailing with him now. They have a training whaler, to
teach greenhands how to cope on a ship. They love it. They also have
a son, Edward, a darling little boy.”

 

 

“My, my! And you, Jared? Anyone special for you yet?”

 

 

He shook his head. “You know me, John. I’ve never thought too much
about women or a family. I’m not the marrying kind anyway.”

 

 

Almira, standing behind the two of them ready to serve dinner, felt
herself go cold all over. It was as though Jared had punched her in
the stomach.

 

 

With a small gasp she plunked the food down on the table, turned and
fled.

 

 

Jared looked around, and had a sick feeling Almira had just
overheard everything he had said.
Well, he was hardly going to
tell John Wyer that he had fallen in love with the woman disguised
as his cabin boy, now was he?

 

 

He was forced to sit through dinner impatiently as Wyer regaled him
with tales of his voyage, all the while just wanting to see Al, to
explain.

 

 

When at last ten o’clock came, he told the other Captain that they
could commence transferring the cargo of oil to fill the
Peru’s
hold at first light, along with all his other takings.

 

 

Wyer told him that once the transfer was complete, all the boats
would be his except for their ship's boat and one other whale boat,
giving Jared four new ones, plenty to be heading toward New Zealand
with.

 

 

The two men shook hands cordially, and said good night.

 

 

Then Jared hurried below once more to find Almira.

 

 

When he got to the cabin, it was as he had feared. Al had packed up
her things, and was nowhere to be found. He searched high and low,
in steerage, the fo’c’sle, even Cook’s old quarters, but she had
vanished without a trace.

 

 

He knew that some of his crew had gone over to the other ship to
swap stories, and he felt a terrible pang in his chest.

 

 

Oh Lord. Had she gone over there and lingered? Worse still, the
Peru
was heading home. Had she decided that she had had enough of the
sea, enough of him, and was going back to the States?

 

 

Jared threw himself down on the edge of his bunk and sat with his
head in his hands. On the one hand, hadn’t this been exactly what he
had wanted to do, find a good ship with a decent captain to whom he
could entrust her? Was this not what was best for her? He could not
keep taking advantage of his friend’s daughter in this way. He could
ask John to marry them and then send her home.

 

 

But that would mean admitting to everyone that she was a woman.
Worse still, though, was sending her off by herself on a ship full
of relative strangers who might discover she was a woman, and to an
uncertain future once she returned home.

 

 

And worst of all, if she left now, they would not be able to see
each other again for months, if not years….

 

 

Hell and damnation. Much as he wanted her home and safe, he couldn’t
let her go. Noble be damned. He wanted her right here with him, by
his side, just as she had been ever since she had crashed into him
at the Straight Wharf all the way back in Nantucket.

 

 

But as much as he burned to get her back, he couldn’t exactly storm
over there and demand to see his cabin boy at this hour of the
night.