Читать книгу Nancy Whiskey - Laurel Ames - Страница 9

It was night, and Daniel Tallent was hanging over the heaving side of the Little Sarah, feeling rather unwell, when he noticed Nancy Riley come through the companionway door onto the rain-slicked deck. Though she was bundled in a cloak, he knew her, for she was the only woman on board the merchant ship. He was about to call a warning to her when she made her way to the opposite rail by the expedient of having the ship lurch and throw her there. He shouted to her, but the wind beat the words back at him. So he waited for the ship to wallow again before crabbing his way across the deck to grab her.

“Let go of me!” Nancy shouted, slapping him. “What do you think you are doing?”

“Why in God’s name have you come out in a squall like this?” Daniel demanded, keeping his tenacious hold on her arm. “You could be swept overboard.”

“I wanted some air,” she shouted over the roar of the wind.

“Air? Air? Are you mad? This isn’t Hyde Park, where you can take the air when you please. Now come below.”

She opened her mouth to answer him, but was silenced by a cold wave that drenched them both and left her gasping.

“The next time she rolls to port make a run for the hatch,” he ordered.

Nancy nodded, but the ship pitched them so violently toward the rail it knocked the wind out of them, and it was all they could do to hang on. A huge man loomed over Nancy then, put an arm around her waist and whisked her across the deck to the companionway, thrusting open the door and holding it against the wind as Nancy made her way down the stairs. Trueblood turned to look for Daniel, but his brother collided with him and they more or less tumbled down the companionway in a heap, carrying Nancy to the bottom.

“In here,” Trueblood ordered. Giving her no time to protest, he pushed Nancy into a cabin and onto a cot. Daniel crawled back up the steps to secure the door, then followed them in and fumbled with a light.

“Well, Daniel,” Trueblood drawled in a deep voice, “are you going to light the lamp or not?”

“I am trying, but are you sure it is a good idea? If we break it, we could roast alive in here.”

“I am too wet to catch fire,” Nancy offered, ringing water out of her cloak, then looking apologetically at the puddle it made on the floor as the lamp cast a glow over her slim form. She noticed Daniel staring blatantly at the thin gown that clung to her, so she pulled the dripping cloak shut again.

Then she stared with fascination at Trueblood’s large form crouched in the small cabin. They had been sitting at table together for weeks, but he looked immense in the small sleeping cabin the Tallent brothers shared. Also, his straight black hair, loosed from its normal neat queue, gave him a more sinister appearance. Trueblood must have sensed he was looming, for he sat on the other cot, and Daniel slid down onto the floor.

Daniel looked more appealing than usual for being completely drenched. His shorter hair clung to his brow in wet strands or curled against his neck, and those thick eyelashes set off the blue of his eyes in a heart-stopping way. He was not a small man by any means, but he was dwarfed by Trueblood. Anyone else might have thought Trueblood the older, but Nancy knew the lines of care around Daniel’s eyes placed him at least a decade beyond her three and twenty years.

“Well, Daniel, did you get rid of what was disagreeing with you?” Trueblood asked with his usual condescension.

“No, for you are still here.”

“I meant the salt pork.”

“No, it is still lying in my stomach like a cold lump.”

“I was being very foolish. You saved my life,” Nancy said to both of them.

“I have had a lot of practice,” Trueblood said, stealing the compliment as he glanced at his brother.

“I would have managed it, eventually,” Daniel said defensively. “And whatever made you go up on deck in weather like this?”

“The same thing that drove you there,” she replied. “My cabin seems to be full of vile odors, I suppose from the bilgewater being stirred up. It was almost too much for me. And Papa’s cabin is worse, for he has been sick since the storm began.”

“Are you sure it is not the rum rather than the weather?” Daniel asked as he stripped off his soaked coat in the confined space, revealing his hard-muscled frame through the wet cloth of his shirt.

“No…” Nancy faltered, trying to regain control of herself. “That’s rather forward of you.”

“Forgive my brother, child,” Trueblood said gently. “He was raised in the colonies and never had any pretensions to manners. Whereas I went to Oxford.”

“They are not colonies anymore, but a country, as you well know,” Daniel countered.

“Of course, Daniel. At least they pretend to be a country. But with all the petty bickering and. backbiting, not a country I hold out a great deal of hope for.”

“Why did you fight beside me then?”

“Hush, Daniel. I suppose we are not very alike for brothers, even half brothers.”

“Ah, but you argue like brothers, so appearances make no matter. And it was not the rum, for Papa can, in the ordinary way, drink like a fish with no ill effects.” Nancy shivered a little, then clamped her pale lips shut so that the men would not notice. “I must go back to my cabin now or I will catch my death of cold.”

“Let me escort you across the hall,” Trueblood said as he stood up to offer his arm, almost stepping on Daniel, who scrambled up and inhaled to let them past him. Her cabin was no more than two steps away, but Nancy took his arm anyway, with a nod gracious enough to match Trueblood’s manners. Somehow his playacting stole away the horror of almost having been washed overboard. But she had not been swept into the cold sea, so she decided not to dwell on it.

“Well, Daniel, not a very propitious encounter,” Trueblood said on his return to the cabin, his dark eyes twinkling in amusement.

“And Miss Nancy Riley is as much of an enigma as ever,” Daniel answered as he stripped off the rest of his wet clothes and managed to dry himself, though the tossing ship thrust him from bed to wall a dozen times. He was wondering how Nancy could possibly manage and wished he could help her.

“Does everything have to be a mystery to you?”

“She is far too genteel a lady to be traveling with a rough soldier. I cannot believe he is her father. Have you seen the way she blushes sometimes at meals at the language he uses?” Daniel pulled on dry breeches and a shirt, leaving his damp hair tousled.

“That has nothing to say to anything. Any woman might blush who must dine with half-a-dozen men, and Sergeant Riley is not the only one who forgets to guard his tongue. That trader Dupree sneaks in some very rude comments in his French, and they make her blush more than anything her father says.”

“I must know her story or I cannot be easy in my mind about her.”

“What are you thinking?” Trueblood whispered with a twinkle in his eyes. “That she is a spy, like you?”

“Of course not. I only want to make sure she travels with the man willingly, and I do not know how to broach the subject”. Daniel stripped the wet blanket off the bed and stretched out upon the narrow mattress.

“Simply ask her. Riley does not hang about her neck. When he is not off playing cards with that Canadian, Dupree, he is so drunk he pays no attention to her.”

“Yes, Riley is as thick as thieves with Dupree.”

“Who else has he to talk to with you ignoring him and me looking down my nose at him?”

“And Dupree, taking ship with us at the last moment like that,” Daniel whispered. “I think he may be on to me.

“Well, Daniel,” Trueblood said in a quiet voice, “why did you stay in Washington’s employ if you are to be forever looking over your shoulder?”

“You did not think performing secret services such a bad life those last years of the Revolution.”

“It paid well, and someone had to keep you from getting shot or hanged.”

“You did not care about the money any more than I did. I still don’t care about it. We make plenty on trade alone.”

“Why do you do it then, little brother?” Trueblood asked.

“What else do I have? You can go back to Champfreys. Your mother wants you home. She said so in her last letter.”

“As I recall, she begged you to come home as well.”

“Not until Father admits he was wrong, and he will never do that.”

“The war has been over a long time. If Father was a Loyalist then, he is not now. You do not have to keep playing the rebel all your life.”

“That is not why I bolted,” Daniel almost shouted.

“Why then?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“Secrets even from me, Daniel?”

“Do not ask, Trueblood,” Daniel begged in anguish as he closed his eyes. “It was not true, what he accused me of. That is all I can say.”

“I believe you, little brother. But it has been sixteen years, half your life, since you left. Most likely he has forgotten what he said to drive you away.”

“Ah, but I have not.”

“So you remain in service, Captain Tallent, ununiformed, unappreciated and a prey to every suspicion that flits across your mind.”

“What will become of Nancy if Riley gambles away all his money before we reach Philadelphia?” Daniel had put his arms behind his head and was now staring intently at the bulkhead, his blue eyes troubled.

“Daniel, you can take on the affairs of a whole country if you want, but you cannot save every orphan and stray dog in it.”

“I know. She just seems so particularly defenseless.”

“I have a suggestion.”

“I know, mind my own business.” He rolled onto his side and buried his head in the pillow.

“Why don’t you just ask her about her circumstances?”

“At which point she will accuse me of being forward again. You would love that. You seem to take more than a passing interest in her yourself.”

“Good manners should never be mistaken for selfinterest. I really am not trying to cut you out with her.”

“But you always seem to be there to leap into the breach when I have made a misstep.”

“If we are speaking of the Loyalist lady, she was using you, Daniel.”

“Her loyalty to the rebellion was never in question” “Precisely. Her interest in you had only to do with flag and country.”

“That’s not the way I remember it,” Daniel said as he drifted toward sleep. When his breathing became regular, Trueblood threw a blanket over him and got out a book to read in the uncertain light from the lamp.

Daniel was at the rail the next morning, feeling rather better since he had foregone breakfast. The rock and creak of the ship was restful, the rush of water against the Sarah’s side benign in contrast to the previous night. When Nancy came on deck she pointedly ignored him, and he looked away, remembering the slap. But one of his furtive glances in her direction caught her looking at him, and she smiled, so he made his way over to her.

“How is your father?” Daniel asked.

“Better, now that the weather is fair and the wind is causing no more than a gentle roll to the ship.”

“I am not much of a sailor myself.”

“I love it,” she said, taking a deep breath and smiling. “I never thought I would set foot outside of Somerset.”

“You don’t seem as though—I mean, you seem so gently bred. I would almost take you for…”

“For a lady?” Nancy asked in amusement.

“I did not mean anything by it, but there is such a contrast between you and your father.”

“Not unlike the disparity between you and Trueblood.”

“I had that coming.”

“If I am not prying, why Trueblood’?”

“His mother named him. He carries the blood of the great Oneida, Shenandoah, in his veins.”

“Shenandoah.” Nancy pronounced it wistfully. “What a musical name.”

“A legendary Indian chief who brought corn to the starving troops at Valley Forge. Though Trueblood and I are only half brothers and ‘not much alike,’ we are very close. Now, if I am not prying, why is there such a difference between you and your father?”

“I was raised by my aunt and uncle. I never saw my father until last month, when he came for me. It is strange. I have waited for him all my life, waited for him to come and take me away to wars in strange lands. I have taught myself everything I imagined a soldier’s daughter should know. But now that it is really happening, I find I cannot quite believe it.”

“And the strange land he is taking you to is America. What does he mean to do there?”

“He speaks of buying an inn.”

“He may do well for himself then.”

“If he does not drink all the profits.”

“Where does he mean to settle?”

“Pittsburgh.”

“I lead pack trains to Pittsburgh,” Daniel said eagerly, his eyes alight. “Perhaps we can travel together. If you need temporary lodgings in Philadelphia, I am well known at Cook’s Hotel there. Until you decide what you mean to do, it is as good a place to stay as any.”

“I should be glad for your advice. I did not mean to sound so angry last night. I did not know how much danger I was in.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have been slapped before.”

“Indeed? With good reason?”

“How am I to answer that?”

“Carefully. I am quite sure Trueblood would be able to turn this conversation to his advantage. I have scarcely ever seen so much social adroitness packed into one person, albeit a large one.”

Daniel gaped at her and then smiled appreciatively. “You have his measure, then.”

“I do not mean to offend you. Your brother has been most kind to me, besides helping to save my life. But I always find myself wondering what is going on behind those dark eyes.”

“A great deal, I assure you.”

“If I were a hostess, I would always invite Trueblood, for I would know I could depend on him to handle any social disaster that might arise, or at least, dispose of it skillfully.”

“But you would not invite me,” Daniel concluded, his eyebrows furrowed delectably.

“Oh, yes, I would, for one always needs a brooding, mysterious man about.”

“To create the sort of social disasters Trueblood is adept at handling.”

“You make an admirable pair. I am sure the English ladies adored you.”

“We were invited everywhere, but then Trueblood has many friends in England. Do you entertain much in Somerset?”

“My aunt does. She could have turned me into a nanny for the children, but she raised me almost like a daughter.”

“Rather terrible of your father to tear you away.” Daniel tried to sound regretful.

“I assure you he came just in the nick of time,” Nancy replied with an impish smile.

“What?” asked Daniel, who had been watching for the dimple that lurked at the left corner of her mouth.

“I lived in momentary dread of Reverend Bently making an offer for my hand. Both Aunt and Uncle seemed to think I would make an admirable wife for a man of the cloth, seeing as I have a bent for nursing.”

“And like a dutiful and grateful niece, you would have accepted him.”

“Oh, I don’t know. If I could not have thought of a way out of it. But it does seem so often, when I am in the most desperate straits, that a solution will pop into my head from nowhere.”

“Desperate straits?”

“He nearly proposed to me one Sunday, but I fainted.”

“But how do you know then—”

“I didn’t really faint, of course, but only pretended so I would not have to accept or refuse.”

“That bad, is he?”

“I have no particular aversion to Oliver Bently. He is rather more than twice my age, but he is not ugly by any means. There is only this, that having regarded him as my spiritual leader, I could not imagine myself crawling into bed with him.”

Daniel broke into laughter, and Nancy admired the way his blue eyes lit when the corners crinkled.

“It is nearly time for the midday meal, if I am counting the bells aright,” she said of the muffled clanging. “Would you be kind enough to lead me in, sir?”

“I would be honored, Miss Riley.” Daniel took her arm with great ceremony.

“What do you suppose is the correct protocol for a stairway that is little more than ladder? Shall I go first so as not to expose my ankles?”

“No, I must go first. In case you should fall, I will catch you.”

“We will try it your way. I am sure when I query Trueblood he will say the opposite of whatever you have done.”

“Undoubtedly, Miss Riley.”

They were expecting to see land within the hour, and Nancy had been hugging the rail to get the first possible glimpse, her golden hair licked about by the wind. She was not used to being idle, so the whole trip had been in the nature of a tour for her, though the hardships of being confined with little privacy, frequently tossed about a small cabin and fed on boiled peas and salted meat would not have seemed a treat to many young women.

“Trueblood,” Daniel shouted from the deck to his brother perched in the rigging, “do you see anything?”

Trueblood turned from his scrutiny of the horizon. “A ship,” he called down through cupped hands, risking a fall from the ratlines, where he clung by his legs.

“What flag?” the captain called, handing a telescope to a seaman and sending him climbing the lines to the top of the mainmast.

“I cannot make it out,” Trueblood shouted.

Even before the answer came the captain began giving orders, and sailors scurried aloft to let out more sail, while others began to load the deck guns. They had only two sixpounders and a bow chaser, besides the stern guns, none of them much use if they were being pursued by a warship.

“French, sir”, the seaman called down.

“Damn!” the captain said, and he turned to Daniel. “I’ll have to ask you to take Miss Riley below. We won’t give up without a fight.”

“No, I won’t go,” she protested, pulling away from Daniel’s grasp and going back to the rail.

He came to stand beside her, watching the frigate overtake them with alarming speed and wondering what inducement he could offer to get Nancy below hatches. “We are very much in the way here. If we hinder these seamen in their work, we may face capture.”

As the captain sent crewmen hurrying to load the carronades in the stern, Daniel pulled Nancy across the deck. The enemy ship loomed larger and a warning shot passed across the bow of the Little Sarah but the captain ignored it.

“Daniel, why are they firing on us?”

“This is a British ship.”

“But we are in American waters.”

“A moot point if they capture us. Now, stop struggling and come below where it is a little safer.”

The second shot passed over the deck and caught a luckless sailor. Nancy gaped as blood spattered in all directions and his headless trunk fell to the deck. She could not even insist that she should stay to render aid. The man was obviously beyond help.

Daniel followed her down the companionway ladder. “Stay low, lower than the bed,” he warned her as he thrust her into her cabin and pulled a crate against the outside of her door. Ignoring her shouting and pounding, he joined Trueblood on deck to help reload and aim one of the carronades, freeing the gun crew to climb aloft and help let out more sail. The privateer had their range already. Its next volley of shots could sink them. But the Little Sarah had turned tail and headed south. The back of the ship presented a smaller target, of course, but a more vulnerable one. And they were heading away from Delaware Bay. Both men knew that a heavily laden merchant had little chance of escaping a fast warship.

“Try for the rigging!” Trueblood shouted above the roar of fire from the other ship.

“That is all we can hope for, to hurt their steering. We cannot do any real damage.”

Daniel held the gun steady and shouted now for Trueblood to touch the piece of smoldering hemp to the fuse.

The small shot carried away a few lines and put a hole in one sail. Meanwhile the privateer’s bow chasers splintered the mounting of the Sarah’s rudder. The brothers looked at each other hopelessly as the ship started to drift.

A cannonball through the mizzenmast sent splinters into a half-dozen screaming men and brought the whole twisted load of sail and lines down on top of the Tallents.

“Ouch,” Daniel yelped, as Trueblood freed him from the tangle. “Damn, a splinter in my leg.”

Trueblood tied his handkerchief tightly above the wound on his brother’s thigh and said, “Do not—”

Before he could finish the warning, Daniel had pulled the object out. His leg bled furiously then, but he scrambled to his feet.

The frigate had come up on their side and now laid a shot into the hull near the waterline. Only this convinced the captain to have the signal for surrender run up. They would have had to retrim and lay the ship over to get a patch on the hole or they would not have been able to pump fast enough to keep the vessel from sinking. There was no way for the battle to continue.

“You brothers and the Canadian are safe enough,” the captain said to the Tallents, “but what is to become of Riley and his daughter I do not know.”

“We shall think of something,” Daniel said as he hopped toward the companionway door, his only thought now of rescuing Nancy. Trueblood helped him down the ladder.

Nancy was still pounding and pushing against her door. “Daniel, let me out! I had rather drown in the open sea than be shut up down here like a rat!”

They ignored her. “Give me that packet you are carrying, Daniel.”

“Right. We shall have to weight it and toss it over.”

“If you can take care of Miss Riley, I’ll go over the side with it. The thing is sealed with wax, is it not?”

“Yes, but you cannot possibly stay concealed.”

“Of course I can. We are not more than a few hours from port.”

“No, I will do it.”

“Daniel!” Nancy threatened when she heard them talking. “If you do not let me out this instant, I shall make you sorry.”

They pulled the crate away and freed Nancy. Her father lay asleep on his bunk when they opened the door to check, but Dupree was not below decks.

“Daniel, you are bleeding,” she said, her anger dissipated now that she saw he was hurt. She pulled a roll of lint out of her inner pocket and forced her hands to stop shaking. What was the point of panic now, when she had something to do? She knelt to run the bandage around his leg over his beeches. There would be time to clean the wound later. For now she must get the bleeding stopped.

“It is nothing,” he said, wincing at the strength with which she tightened the dressing and tied it off. It occurred to Daniel that probably only Nancy carried an entire medical kit in the pocket tied around her waist under her skirts.

“Nancy, dear, can you speak French?” Trueblood asked.

“Yes, of course. I thought it might be useful.” She finished her work and rose to support Daniel under one arm. Now that she did not feel so helpless, her confidence was flowing back. Besides, if they were really sinking, Trueblood and Daniel would not be standing here calmly arguing over a packet.

“No decision then, Daniel. If Nancy can speak French, you do not need me,” Trueblood concluded, then went to fetch an oilskin packet from their cabin.

“It is my packet. It should be my swim,” Daniel argued, trying to wrest the object away from his brother, who was already thrusting it inside his shirt. They all lurched as the ship shuddered and reeled.

Nancy turned a beseeching look on Daniel and he hugged her to him.

“No time. We are being boarded. Do not attempt to wrestle me for it, little brother. You will never win in your present condition. You take care of Nancy.”

“Where is he going?” Nancy demanded as Trueblood slipped into the captain’s cabin.

“Out the window and over the side,” Daniel answered.

“But we are not even in sight of land.”

“He will not try to swim for it. He will just cling to the ship until we are close to shore. With this damage they will make for Philadelphia immediately.”

“What if he cannot fit out the window?”

“I had not thought of that. Trueblood will manage something.” A crash and the sound of splintering glass came reassuringly from the cabin. “Nancy, listen to me. We do not know what will happen to you, since you are English. I want you to tell them you are my indentured servant. The worst that can befall your father is to be taken as a prisoner of war.”

“What? But he has left the army.”

“He still wears the uniform, and your papers say you are English, not Irish.”

“And why would an indentured servant speak French?” she demanded, loosening herself from his grasp as many feet thumped on the deck and orders were issued above, their heads in that foreign tongue.

“I am trying to protect you, and it is the best I can think of,” said Daniel as he tried to keep his balance.

“It is a stupid plan, Daniel. I can think of something better than that. Now get out of my way. I may be needed up there to bind wounds or to translate.” She pushed him away, causing him to hop and collide with the wall.

“If I had a ring,” he called after her desperately, “I would say you are my wife.”

She turned with a startled expression on her face.

“Well, you act the part of a shrewish wife to perfection.”

Then she smiled at him, not desperate or frightened anymore, but with the impish grin that almost convinced him she was now enjoying herself. The last he saw of her was her shapely ankles, until he crawled up the ladder to find her negotiating the terms of their surrender with a rather handsome French captain.

With a sail patching her bow hole, and a cobbledtogether rudder, the Little Sarah made port with the English crew below hatches and a prize crew from the Embuscade in charge. Nancy, Daniel and the wounded were allowed to remain on deck, since they seemed harmless enough, and Nancy, apparently, had asked the French privateer if they could. The captain of the pilot boat that guided them up the Delaware seemed to ignore her shouted recriminations against the French ship that followed them. Nancy was preparing a withering testimony against their captors, for she had, with Daniel’s aid, been bandaging some ghastly wounds, and she now recalled the beheaded seaman.

“What is going on, Daniel?” she asked of the commotion at the docks. “Why would they be cheering a French pirate?”

“The American public is rather fickle, and the new French ambassador, Genet, has taken the city by storm, or so I hear.”

“But this is disgusting.”

“It would be politic not to say so.”

She looked belligerently at him, but the worry in his eyes assured her compliance, for he did look so appealing when he was hard-pressed.

“Daniel,” she whispered. “What about Trueblood? The French pirate knew he was on board, for he asked specifically where he was.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That he was taken over the side by the cannon fire.”

“Did he believe you?”

“I think so.”

“I saw him swim to an American cutter an hour ago, while we were being guided up the channel.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Now, if we can just get safe on shore.”

The British crew, including their wounded, were ferried to the docks in a lighter and given their freedom. Daniel refused to go with them. On the quay the English captain had a one-sided discussion with the French privateer, pointing to Nancy, where she stood at the rail with Daniel. Two French seamen tried to part Daniel from her, and he resisted, until Nancy cast a stream of oaths at them that set them back on their heels. The French captain grinned and motioned his men away. He had himself rowed back to the prize and boarded it, and now took Nancy’s hand in such an obvious offer of protection that it took both seamen to restrain Daniel from attacking him.

Nancy did not cringe, but answered him quite volubly, causing a crease to appear between his brows. A snapped order brought seamen scurrying with the Rileys’ trunks and those from the Tallents’ cabin. Nancy’s baggage was pulled open and her store of herbs and salves discovered. Another rapid interchange in French ensued as she knelt to repack her precious medicines.

To Daniel’s utter surprise, the baggage was all piled into the lighter and Nancy was helped down into the boat. He was left to hand himself down into the tippy vessel as best he could. He had to shove over onto the seat by Nancy to make way for her father, who still looked blearily drunk and scarcely aware of what was going on.

“Whatever did you say to him?” Daniel demanded as they were rowed to the quay.

“I’ll tell you later”, Nancy said, stroking his cheek with one small hand and looking at him fondly. This was done so much for the Frenchman’s benefit that the effect was quite spoiled for Daniel. He struggled onto the dock and pulled Nancy up beside him.

Trueblood was there in different clothes, to help her father up and unload their belongings. He looked rather surprised to see them released so expeditiously.

“You are rather damp, Trueblood,” Nancy chided. “You may catch cold over this.”

“I do not think so,” he said with a wink to Daniel.

“All safe then?” Daniel asked.

Trueblood nodded.

“Let us go home then,” Daniel said with a sigh of relief. “By the by, just what did you say to that fellow that got us dumped on the dock, bag and baggage?”

“Porter, here!” Trueblood commanded to a cartman, who came to load their effects, including Sergeant Riley.

“I don’t think I will tell you.”

“Whatever it was, it fairly shocked the captain.”

“Probably because he did not realize you have a mistress in keeping.”

“But I have not—By all that is holy, you never told him you were my mistress.”

Trueblood chuckled at Daniel’s discomfort.

“I will thank you to lower your voice so as not to make it common knowledge,” Nancy warned, her small chin coming up in mock resentment.

“That does not account for his eyes bulging in that way, or for him thrusting us and ours from the ship as though we were a couple of lepers.”

“No, that was when I told him I needed my herbs for my cure.”

“But—but you are not ill,” Daniel sputtered.

“Oh yes I am, with the pox.”

“What?” Daniel staggered into Trueblood.

“Not really, but I thought it would hasten our departure. Daniel, do not gape so. For you do not yet know.”

Trueblood was by now losing a valiant struggle to contain his guffaws.

“I have shocked you,” Nancy surmised.

“Of course you have shocked me,” Daniel shouted. “A girl of your tender years should not know anything about such matters.”

“Forgive Daniel,” Trueblood gasped. “He has a habit of underestimating women.”

“How is he unique in that respect?”

“Touché,” Trueblood countered. “I wish you would take Nancy home, Daniel, before you say something indiscreet. I will see to the baggage.”

“Something indiscreet?” Daniel shouted.

“Also, the very sight of your aghast face is going to send me into a fit of the giggles and the game will be up.”

“And you thought my plan was stupid,” Daniel grumbled in an outraged undertone as they followed the cart with the sleeping Riley away from the hubbub of the dock. “What if that officer had been a victim of the same disease himself? He might have kept you on board to care for him.”

“I had not considered that,” countered Nancy, taking his arm and compressing her lips in thought. “But then I could have given him some really vile medicine and still he would have wanted rid of me.”

“Is there no end to your invention?”

“I have always prepared myself for any disaster. During a battle one must have bandages ready at hand. I would assume one must sleep dressed ready to travel. I have drilled, you see, to be able to wake up and flee or fight at a moment’s notice. I know I was not much use in the beginning, but it was my first battle, Daniel. Did I account myself so very ill?”

He softened at the hopefulness in her young face. “I suppose not. Another woman might have swooned.”

“That would have been singularly useless, for then the pirate might have carried me to the captain’s cabin. Though, of course, I would fit through the window once Trueblood broke it, so I suppose I could have gotten away no matter what.”

“And if he had tied you?”

“I carry a knife in my stocking.”

“Is there nothing that would daunt you?” Daniel asked sternly.

“But Daniel! This was an adventure! I have been preparing for such things all my life. Think how gratifying it is to realize it has not all been in vain, that I can take effective action in an emergency.”

“You enjoyed all this?”

“No, not that man dying, of course, but the rest of it was not so bad. And I feel sure you would have enjoyed it, too, if your leg had not been aching.”

“My leg is fine. It was having you to care for that worried me,” he blustered.

“Well, now you see there was no need.”

“I grant that you slid though this situation on sheer gall and luck, but you have no idea what awaits you next.”

“Yes, isn’t it exciting?”

Daniel groaned.