Ransome's Quest (40 page)

The first lieutenant turned and scanned the faces around him. “Gentlemen, long live the legend of Charles Lott.”

“Long live the legend of Charles Lott!” the others cheered.

Gratitude swelled in William’s throat, and from the redness of her eyes, Charlotte struggled hard to keep her own emotions at bay.

Ned stepped forward. “Dismissed!”

Charlotte wrapped her arms around William’s middle. “Thank you, William.” She craned her head back to look up at him. “How did you know all of that?”

He tweaked her chin and extricated himself from her embrace. “Your husband is my subordinate officer. He must report everything to me.” He glanced over his shoulder at a red-faced Ned. “In his own time, of course. And occasionally to my wife before he reports to me. Which will never happen again, will it, Captain Cochrane.”

Ned snapped to attention. “No, sir, Commodore.”

“Very good. Now, you and I have charts to review.” William took Charlotte by the shoulders and turned her toward the door. “And you have a ghostlike legend to maintain, so I suggest it is time you disappear and stay to the big cabin until we reach Kingston.”

The back of Charlotte’s neck turned bright red, and William had no trouble imagining the thoughts running through her mind. He had more trouble trying to ignore the fact he knew what she was thinking.

He prayed God would give them a happy, fulfilled marriage that matured and grew despite the unusual way in which it began.

From his hammock William could see Julia’s open eyes staring at the whitewashed decking above her. She seemed afraid even to blink, but eventually, as the night wore on, her eyes grew heavy and closed.

William, however, could not sleep. He could not stop watching her, thanking God she had been restored to him, praying her pain would abate, praying her mind would settle on happy memories, praying his presence would give her the peace she needed to sleep through the night.

She woke up screaming. He jumped out of the hammock and reached for her. She hit and clawed at him, moonlight illuminating the terror in her distant eyes.

He grabbed her wrists to keep her from injuring him or herself. “Julia, wake up. You are safe. You are home.”

The word
home
made her blink. She stopped struggling; her body went limp. Tears poured from her eyes. “It was so real. He was there.”

“He’s dead, Julia. I watched him take his last breath. He can never hurt you again.”

Her eyes drifted closed.

William took down his hammock and used the narrow space beside the wide box bed to pace and pray.

Each time she woke up screaming, it took William longer to wake her, to calm her.

The fourth time it happened, Dawling arrived with Dr. Hawthorne while Julia still struggled against William.

When finally she broke through the nightmare and truly awakened, William trembled and dripped with perspiration from the exertion of trying to hold her still.

Dr. Hawthorne leaned over her; she kept tight hold of William’s hand.

“I do not understand why the laudanum is not keeping her asleep. Captain Ransome seems to be responding to it much better.”

William gazed into her teary eyes and knew he’d have to countermand her choice. “She did not want to take it, afraid it would make the nightmares worse.”

“She must take it. She needs to stay as still as possible for the broken ribs to mend. The struggling, the screaming, will only make them worse.” Dr. Hawthorne pulled a bottle out of his coat pocket.

“Yes, Doctor, I agree. I will ensure she takes the proper dosage.” He took the bottle, as finding the one the doctor had given Julia earlier would be difficult without lighting all the candles in the cabins. He knew she’d probably stashed it somewhere out of sight hoping he would forget about it.

“Good. Send for me if you need me again. I am on the night watch with Mr. Kent and Captain Ransome.”

Dawling saw the doctor to the door and returned with a glass of water. William measured out the dosage of the powder and stirred it into the liquid and turned back to Julia, glad James had chosen to stay in the sick berth where the doctor could deal with his nightmares and outbursts, if necessary, and that Michael had hung his hammock in the berth Declan had used in the wardroom, where he did not have to witness his sister’s anguish.

He scooped Julia’s head and shoulders up with his left arm and held the glass to her lips with his right hand.

Julia pressed her lips together and turned her face away.

William leaned closer. “Do not make me force you to drink this in front of Dawling,” he whispered.

She turned her head back. “But I can’t fight him. If I drink that, and he takes me again…”

He kissed her forehead, his own heart hammering at the agony in her voice. “I will be here to fight for you. You can stop fighting now and just rest. I will protect you.”

“Promise me, William.”

“I promise.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you. I will protect you, now and forever.” He pressed the glass to her lips and she drank, wrinkling her nose at the bitter taste.

She slept.

He did not.

Morning came.
Alexandra
and
Audacious
moved back out into open sea and set course for Kingston.

Julia awakened, groggy and disoriented. William stayed with her much of the day, and they both dozed occasionally.

She took the laudanum without resistance that night. “The nightmares are there, but hazier, not as real.”

Through the night, William awakened at every bell sounding, checking to make sure Julia slept. A few times he could tell she was in the throes of a nightmare—she clutched at the bedding, kicked her feet, tossed her head. But as quickly as it began, it ended, and she succumbed to the powerful lure of the laudanum.

On Tuesday Midshipman Kennedy had just marked noon when
Alexandra
entered Kingston Harbor. If Declan delivered the message as requested, carriages from Tierra Dulce should be waiting for them.

Sister Elizabeth
lay anchored in the harbor and, through his spyglass, William was pleased to see O’Rourke touch the tip of his hat in salute as
Alexandra
came to anchorage nearby.

William’s first call of duty was to report himself to Fort Charles to see if the new admiral had arrived and then to begin the work of reporting and claiming the prizes and bounties.

But first he had to see his wife home.

Under normal circumstances he would have bidden Julia farewell at the dock, seen her bundled up into one of the carriages, and gone about his work. But these were not normal circumstances.

Though she mentioned a headache, Julia seemed much more alert today than yesterday. She still had pain in her side, but even that seemed lessened. When the jolly boat reached the dock, she climbed from the boat to the quay with only a hand-up from William.

Jerusha cried out and ran down the dock, Jeremiah close behind. They coddled her like a delicate china vase and ushered her down the dock to the waiting carriages. William waited for the second boat to arrive, this one with Michael and James.

Michael, the man who had spent the past fifteen years as a pirate, walked down the dock toward the carriages. Jerusha turned, looked questioningly at him a moment, and then she screamed, threw her hands in the air, and jumped up and down before smothering him in an embrace.

Jeremiah—

The Tierra Dulce overseer seemed happy to see Michael, but he was nowhere near as surprised as someone who’d believed Michael dead these fifteen years.

“Do you think we will ever have such a reunion with our family, William?” James held his hands out in front of him as the sergeant of the marines locked his shackles.

William rested his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I do, James. Whether it is here or on the other side, where we will be with Father again, I believe one day we will all be together.” He looked down at the iron cuffs around his brother’s still-raw wrists. “I am sorry for this.”

“I am ready to face the court-martial and whatever judgment they pass. You cannot blame yourself for my disobedience.”

William cuffed his neck. “Please do not speak that way in front of the court. Be honest but do not put the words of condemnation into their mouths for them.”

“Aye, aye, Commodore.”

William nodded at the marine guards, who shuffled James away toward the cart that would take them to Fort Charles, where James would remain until his hearing.

O’Rourke arrived from
Sister Elizabeth.
“It is good to see you, Commodore. You are a day later than expected.”

“A story that can wait until another time.” He looked at each of his lieutenants, now gathered with him on the dock. He reviewed their orders, catching O’Rourke up on what he needed to know. “It will be late tonight or early tomorrow morning before I arrive. If the captain from Fort Charles challenges you, Mr. Campbell, tell him—”

“Tell him Commodore Ransome is called away on urgent business for Admiral Witherington.”

“Very good. Now, see to your duties, and we will square everything away when I return.”

“Aye, aye, sir.”

The boats’ oars had all struck the water before William made it to the end of the dock. Charlotte and Michael sat in the seat across from Julia and Jerusha, while Jeremiah sat in the box with the driver. William opened the door—and realized there was no place for him to sit.

Julia raised her head from Jerusha’s shoulder. “I should have waited to get in until we said goodbye.” She started to push herself up off the seat, but William stayed her with his hand on her knee.

“Goodbye? I was going to take you home, make sure you arrived safely.” He looked into her eyes, expecting to see a haze of confusion brought on by the laudanum, but they were as clear as her lagoon.

“William, you have work to do. As you can see, I am quite safe, surrounded by family and friends.” She placed her hands on his cheeks and leaned forward, grimacing. “But I do love you for wanting to see me safely home, even if it means shirking your duties.”

She kissed him. “But I won’t let you do that. I love you too much to let you do something so out of character.” She kissed him again. “Go see to your duty and your prize vessel and your bounties. That is what is important now. And then, as soon as you are finished, come home to me.” She lingered over a final kiss.

“If you are certain.” Her kisses, and her insistence he do his duty, lightened his mood instantly.

She leaned back with a groan, hugging her ribs and making Jerusha cluck over her with concern. “I am certain, William.”

He stepped back from the carriage, closed the door, and touched the fore point of his hat. “I will see you in a few days, then.”

The carriages—one full, one empty—rolled away, and William rounded, ready to return to duty. It was a long walk from the Kingston docks to Fort Charles, but knowing Julia had recovered sufficiently that she could bid him a cheerful farewell only hours after clinging to him upon awakening from her opium-induced sleep relieved his greatest burden.

After half a mile he stopped and turned to look back down the road toward where the carriages had sat, his mind replaying Julia’s farewell. Her sweet kisses. The joy in her face and eyes and voice. Her releasing him from his promise to stay by her side.

She released him from his promise to stay by her side.

No wonder she’d laughed when he’d told her he would resign his commission to stay with her, to watch over her. She’d laughed because she’d known something that he just realized, something he couldn’t believe it took him this long to figure out.

Julia didn’t need him.

He was either the biggest fool in the world, or he had not yet begun to comprehend how much God had blessed him.

Most men desired wives who needed them—needed their strength, their protection, their wealth, their social status. Julia needed none of those things.

But God had instead blessed William with a wife who loved him. And that was all he needed.

E
veryone raise your glass.” William waited for all around the table to comply. Then he said, “Congratulations to the newest post captain on Jamaica station, Ned Cochrane.”