Going Home

The Shamus O'Flynn bore south across the dark waters of Puget Sound, headed from Port Angeles to the safe harbor of Seattle. The party celebrating the recovery of the two youngest Bolt brothers from their abductors and the apprehension of a major group of crimpers hadn't run as late as some revels aboard this vessel – the participants were exhausted from worry and lack of sleep, and had turned in before midnight. The creaking of the stalwart craft as it rocked across the waves soon had nearly everyone sleeping soundly.

In a cabin below decks, Jason Bolt lay half-awake, listening to the familiar sound of his brothers sleeping nearby. They had spent six months on this very ship, sleeping in this very cabin, as they came round the Horn, and he could almost imagine they were still on that journey. But that trip, while filled with challenges, had been an adventure of sorts. No one had been in real danger then – he had never really doubted that he would arrive in Seattle with everyone intact.

But then again, everyone was safe now. Dawn would come soon, and they would be in Seattle shortly thereafter. It was the trip to Port Angeles that had been difficult. As soon as Corky had reported that he'd lost Joshua and Jeremy in Port Angeles somewhere – that they had simply disappeared without a trace – a strange empty feeling had settled in Jason's stomach, and it had stayed with him all through the voyage north. And it had multiplied ten-fold when he'd heard Biddie's voice in that saloon. What had those girls been thinking?

Of course, he knew what they had been thinking. Candy truly loved Jeremy, and couldn't sit by and do nothing when he might be in trouble; and Biddie would help Candy in any way she could. But they hadn't realized what they were getting into, what kind of town Port Angeles was, and had inadvertently added to his worries, rather than helping. And that uneasy feeling had kept gnawing at the edge of Jason's consciousness, right up to the moment when his brothers had run into that clearing above Frenchman's Cove, alive and well and laughing their relief at having found him.

Across the cabin, Joshua shifted in his berth and murmured something Jason couldn't hear clearly. Jason peered over at where the boys were sleeping, but the pre-dawn light from the single portal was too dim to make out much. Jeremy, in the lower berth, snored softly, the stress and long hours having caught up with him first. Jason wondered what had been in that drink the crimpers had used to drug their victims – he had, after all, been given the same concoction in his attempt to find where Josh and Jeremy had been taken, and it had worn off with no lasting effects. Maybe it was just because Jeremy was smaller – perhaps it had hit him a little harder, and would take a little longer to get out of his system.

In his own berth, Joshua woke with a gasp, abruptly sitting halfway up in bed and breathing hard. After a moment, he let out a huge sigh and dropped back to the pillow. Before Jason could decide whether to let his brother know he was awake, Josh swung his legs over the side of his berth and dropped lightly to the deck. Quietly, he pulled on his trousers and, snagging his boots and jacket, slipped out of the cabin.

Jason sat up and stared at the closed door. Perhaps they weren't as safe as he thought, quite yet.

Joshua sat hunched over, elbows on his knees, on a crate on the deck of the Shamus, facing east and watching the sky slowly lighten. He hadn't been expecting the nightmare – he would have thought he was too tired to dream – but who expects nightmares, anyway? Once awake, he knew he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep, and he didn't want to wake Jason and Jeremy with his tossing and turning. A little cold, fresh air and he'd be able to shake off the dream. And they'd be home soon, and put the past few days behind them.

It was the smell of coffee that distracted him from his thoughts, and he looked up in surprise to find Jason standing beside him, a steaming cup in each hand.

"Mind if I join you?" Jason asked, extending one of the mugs toward him.

Joshua shrugged and nodded, accepting the coffee and taking a sip as Jason took a seat on the crate beside him. "Yeagh! Clancy's coffee," Josh grimaced.

"Any port in a storm, brother," Jason chuckled, and they settled into silence for a while.

"Did I wake you?" Joshua asked eventually, never taking his eyes from the horizon.

"I was mostly awake already," Jason replied. After a moment's debate, he went on, "Want to talk about it?"

Joshua almost smiled, nodding slowly. He had known, the minute he saw his brother on deck, that this conversation was going to happen. But knowing wasn't going to make it any easier to say out loud; he had come out here to avoid this subject in the first place.

Beside him, Jason leaned back against the crates behind them, waiting him out. After an interminable silence, Josh finally drew a deep breath and began.

"I should have stayed with him."

Jason blinked, a little lost. "When?"

"When he left the saloon. I could tell something was wrong with him; I should have gone with him."

Jason sighed, leaning forward again. Why was it that Joshua thought everything that went wrong was his responsibility? "Josh, this was not your fault –"

Joshua looked at him abruptly in surprise. "I know that. My God, Jason, they drugged him! There was no way for me to see that coming. And if I hadn't followed him at all, or waited another minute –"

"Agreed," Jason nodded. Those last possibilities didn't even bear thinking about. "Is that what's bothering you? We can't worry about what might have been, Joshua. You know that."

"Yes, I do." Josh looked out across the water again, at the steadily lightening sky, and took a moment to gather up his courage. "Jason, when I got out into that street, and I saw them dumping Jeremy into that wagon … he wasn't fighting them, he wasn't even moving, and I thought … just for an instant, I thought …"

"You thought he was dead," Jason finished gently, knowing one of them had to say it, had to get it out in the open where it could be examined and put to rest.

Joshua sighed, relieved to have shared the basis of the nightmare that had shaken him so badly. "Jason," he went on after a moment, groping for the words, "I don't know … the bottom just fell right out."

Jason settled a hand on Joshua's shoulder and squeezed. "Brother, I know the feeling."

Josh glanced up at him, studying his face, and realization dawned. He nodded, looking away again. "Yeah; I guess you do."

After a moment, Jason released his brother's shoulder and drew himself up. "Well, we got through a difficult time, these last few days; and if there's one thing the Bolt brothers know, it's how to accept good fortune when it drops into our laps. I'm going to go –" he stopped abruptly; he had reached to give Josh's wrist an encouraging squeeze, and Josh had winced and pulled away. Frowning, he set aside his coffee and used both hands to push up Josh's sleeve and reveal the bandages on his wrist.

"Joshua?"

Josh looked at him, slightly baffled. "From the ropes, Jason; remember? We told you about getting free."

"You didn't tell me about this. How bad is it? Both wrists?"

Joshua nodded, smiling in amusement and gently pulling out of Jason's grasp. "Yes, both wrists; they weren't worth mentioning. You can ask Lottie – she wrapped them for me."

Jason sat back to study his brother a moment. "You must have been pretty determined to get yourselves out of there."

"Yeah," Josh agreed, and then realized where Jason's thoughts might be going. "We knew you'd come looking for us, Jason; there was never a doubt of that. We just didn't know if – if you'd come in time."

Jason leaned back, slowly accepting this, and Joshua decided to lighten the mood. "And we sure didn't know you'd bring Stempel."

"I told you, he volunteered," Jason grinned.

Joshua shook his head in disbelief, smiling. "If I live to be a hundred, I'll never get over it."

Jason grew somber again for a moment. "Yes, you will, Josh; we'll all get over this."

"Hey, what are you guys doing up here?" called a familiar voice. Both brothers turned to see Jeremy emerge from the companionway, fully dressed and looking relaxed and reasonably well-rested.

"Well, at least one of us got enough sleep last night," Joshua said to Jason, as Jeremy worked his way across the gently rolling deck.

"Good," Jason replied with a wicked smile. "He can run the camp today while you and I sleep." Jeremy did appear to be in better shape than either of his older brothers. So much for possible after-effects from the drug.

Jeremy took a seat on Jason's other side and grinned at his brothers. "Looks like we're almost there."

As if in response, the lookout in the crow's nest above them sang out, "Seattle ahoy!"

Sure enough, the dark smudge of land on the horizon was growing larger, and the dim outlines of buildings were beginning to show themselves.

"Come on, brothers," Jason said, rising and pulling them along with him. "Let's go down and wake Aaron and the ladies. We're almost home."