JOURNEY HOME

Candy Pruitt is standing at the railing on deck of the Shamus O"Flynn looking out at the vast ocean before her. Tears sting her eyes as she remembers the awful fight her and Jeremy had hours before, when he found out she had stowed away on the ship to come look for him. Then in the middle of their argument, Lottie arrived and all his attention was then switched to what Lottie had to tell them about Amy Fletcher and her mission. It wasn't really a mission to help the underprivileged at all. She was using it as a front to hide her real mission of crimping, kidnapping young men to sell to ship captains to fill out their crews. When Lottie, Jeremy, Josh, and Captain Clancey hurried out of the Captain's cabin to go find Jason and Aaron who were being held by Amy's men, Jeremy didn't even look her way. He did rush back in to demand she and Biddie stay put, they were not to go anywhere. They would finish their talk when he returned. No kiss, no hug, no I love you. Just a stern look and a stern voice. Then he was gone.

Hours later when they all returned safely, Jeremy didn't even look at her. She ran to him and hugged him, but he did not return her hug. He more or less just brushed her aside. He was too busy talking with Jason and Joshua. She could understand that he was relieved to have his brothers back with him safe and sound, but still could he not have at least given her a little smile or something to let her know he cared. Is he still so mad at her that he can't stand to even look at her? All she did was go in search of the man she loved. He would do the same for her, wouldn't he?

Candy goes for a stroll and winds up at the spot where Jeremy and she first talked while she was doing her laundry. Both of them were so different back then. Jeremy was an adorable, shy, young boy who stuttered, that stole her heart in no time at all. When the ship rolled and he caught her in his arms to keep her from falling, she was his from then on. They spent those six months together everyday. And when they reached Seattle, she was so in love with him. She was sure he felt the same way about her. Until now.

Sitting down on a bench she closes her eyes and prays that Jeremy will forgive her for whatever misdeeds he thinks she did. She loves him so much. While he was gone to rescue Jason and Aaron, she hoped and prayed that he would come back safely. She needed to apologize. If something had happened to him and they didn't get to make amends. . .But he did come back safely and now she would get to apologize. Will he accept my apology?

"Oh Jeremy!" she whispers.

"Yes?" she hears.

She looks up and Jeremy is standing in front of her. "I didn't know you were here," she says.

"I've been looking for you."

"You have?" she asks.

"Yeah, I was beginning to think you had left the ship and I was going to have to go rescue you," he slightly chuckles.

"I wouldn't do that. You told me not to."

"When did me telling you something, ever prevent you from doing just the opposite?"

She holds her head down. "Am I that bad?" She bites on her bottom lip.

"No, I was just kidding. . .kind of," Jeremy says. "May I sit?"

Candy nods her head and answers, "Of course."

They sit in awkward silence for a little while. Finally Jeremy says, " Can we talk about this, Candy?"

"If we can talk calmly. Can we do that? I don't want to get into a shouting match with you again."

"I don't want that either."

"Jeremy, are you still mad?"

"Candy, I wasn't mad. I was scared to death."

"Scared? You sounded pretty mad to me?"

"I was scared of what could have happened to you. And Biddie. These were some pretty rough people we were tangling with. They wouldn't hesitate to hurt or even kill a woman if you got in their way. I just don't understand why you did this, put yourselves in danger like this," his voice starting to rise.

"You don't know? Jeremy Bolt, I love you and when I heard that you had been shanghaied, I knew I had to help find you. Jason and Lottie wouldn't tell me anything, so I decided to go find out for myself," she says as she begins to cry. "Oh Jeremy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you and everyone else. All I wanted was for you to come home."

Jeremy puts his arm around her shoulder and pulls her close. "Don't cry Candy. You know I can't stand to see you cry. I'm sorry too."

"You are? For what?"

"For taking all my fear and frustrations out on you."

"It's all right. I guess I deserved it. But Jeremy, if I had it to do over, I would still come looking for you."

Jeremy sighs, "Candy, please promise me you won't do anything like this again. I can't have you putting yourself in harms way like this ever again. Promise me."

"But Jeremy, wouldn't you do the same if it were me? Well, maybe you wouldn't."

With his free hand, he takes her hand and squeezes it. "You know I would. Don't ever have any doubts about that. I'll always be here for you."

"So if you can do it, why can't I?" she asks. "What's the difference?"

"There's a big difference."

"Oh, you mean because I'm a woman. A woman can't go looking for her man. Jeremy, I would risk my life for you."

He kisses her fingertips. "I know you would and I appreciate you wanting to do that, but Candy, I don't want you in any danger."

"I can take care of myself, thank you."

Jeremy smirks and rolls his eyes. "I know you think you can and most of the time, I agree with you. You're a strong woman who isn't afraid to try anything. But Candy, if you would have made just one wrong move with these people, it's hard telling what they would have done to you. I can't lose you."

She looks him in the eyes and asks, "So, you do still love me then?"

"What? What kind of silly question is that?"

"Well Jeremy, when you and Joshua came on board after your escape, all you did is yell at me. You didn't hug me or act like you were glad to see me. Then when all of you left, you still didn't act like you wanted anything to do with me. And when you returned, you didn't pay me any mind. I ran to hug you and. . .and you. . ." she can't finish. She gets up crying and walks over to the ropes where she had hung her laundry all those many months ago. "So I came out here to get out of your way."

Jeremy realizes how much he hurt her by ignoring her and knows he has a lot of apologizing to do. He walks over to her, shoving his hands down in his pockets. "I'm sorry Candy. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was, like I said scared. I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. I shouldn't have treated you that way."

The Shamus O'Flynn hits a swell and begins to roll, throwing Candy and Jeremy off balance into each others arms. They look deeply into each others eyes. "This is what I should have done as soon as I saw you on board. I should have held you close to me." He puts a hand behind her head and gently brings her face to his. He covers her mouth with his mouth and they have a long tender kiss. "I do love you Candy. I know I don't always show you that I do, but never have any doubts about that. I'll always love you."

"I love you too. And Jeremy, if it will make you feel better, I promise not to do anything like this again. As long as everyone is honest with me and tells me what is going on. I need to know if you're hurt or in danger."

"I'll talk to Jason and Josh and tell them to always keep you informed of what's happening. All right?"

"Thank you. That's all I want. I don't want to be treated like I don't matter."

"I understand," Jeremy says as he kisses her again. "You always matter to me."

"So, we're okay now? Right?" she asks.

"We're okay. We're more than okay," he replies.

As they are standing there in each other's arms kissing, Biddie hurries up to them. "Well, there you two are! I swanny! You're missing the party we're having down in Captain Clancey's cabin."

"We'll be there shortly, Biddie. Jeremy and I just need a little time to ourselves," Candy tells her.

"Well, I'm glad to see that the two of you are not yelling at each other anymore. My goodness, it was enough to make me want to walk the plank," Biddie laughs.

"Oh Biddie!" Candy laughs.

"Biddie, I want to thank you for accompanying Candy on this little excursion. At least she wasn't by herself," Jeremy says.

"Oh think nothing of it, Jeremy. I couldn't let Candy go off all by herself. Well my goodness, she was bound and determined to go find you," Biddie answers him.

Jeremy chuckles, "Next time Biddie, I hope you can talk some sense into her. Don't let her do something like this again. Can I depend on you ?"

"Why yes indeedy! You sure can. Now, I'm going back to the party. I hope to see you two there soon."

"Go on Biddie. Have a good time," Candy laughs.

After Biddie leaves, Candy asks, "Jeremy, shouldn't we go and make an appearance at the party?"

"Maybe we should, but we're not gonna. Not yet anyways. I want to stay up here with you for a little while longer. Just holding you."

"I like the sound of that," Candy giggles.

There is a long pause before they speak again. Finally Jeremy says, "Candy, I was really scared. I was so scared of not ever seeing you again."

"Jeremy, what happened? What did they do to you? Can you talk about it?" she asks.

"Here let's sit down," he answers as he leads her back to the bench and they sit. "Well, Josh, Corky, and I were in this saloon and. . ."

"You mean the Hornpipe Saloon?"

"Yeah, that's the one. Well, they drugged my drink. I started feeling really bad so I went outside for some fresh air. Luckily, Josh followed me and saw two men putting me in the back of a wagon. He tried to stop them, when they knocked him out too. Candy, if Josh hadn't come out when he did, I wouldn't be here now. Nobody would have known what happened to me. It would have been like I just vanished into thin air. He saved my life."

"Thank God he went to check on you," she says as she squeezes his hand tightly.

"Yeah, thank God. Anyways, when I came to, Josh and I were tied to a pole in some dark basement. Some man that we couldn't see, said that we would be going onto a ship to work for our keep. Never to be heard from again."

"Oh Jeremy," Candy says as tears run down her face. "How did you get away?"

"Josh somehow cut the ropes by rubbing them up and down on the pole. He also cut his wrists up pretty bad. We heard someone coming, so we overpowered them, tied them up, and made our escape. Little did we know, it was Jason and Aaron."

"Jason and Aaron? Oh no!"

"Yeah we didn't know that until we found them at Frenchman's Cove. Seeing them, felt like a ton of bricks had been lifted off my shoulders."

"I'm sure. And here I am, keeping you from your brothers. I'm sorry Jeremy."

"No, you're not. I really am glad you're here. I wish you'd have stayed on the ship the whole time, but I'm glad you came. I need you right now." He kisses her lips.

"I need you too." She returns his kiss. "Jeremy, how did you and Joshua know the Shamus O'Flynn was in port?"

"We didn't. We were just running along the dock looking for a ship that was heading north that could take us to Seattle, when we happened to see the Shamus. We couldn't believe our eyes."

"That was luck, wasn't it? Jeremy, will you promise me something?"

"Well, I'll try. What is it?"

"Will you promise me that you'll be more careful when you are away from home? And always take Joshua with you?" she laughs.

Jeremy laughs too. "I'll try my best to be careful. From now on, I'll watch the person pouring my drinks. As for Josh, that may be a little difficult to do. He has his own life to live. He doesn't want to have to babysit his brother and I don't want him to."

"I know. Maybe I should tag along with you when you go off on your trips," Candy teases.

"Now Candy, as much as I'd love for you to come with me, you and I both know that can't happen. Not yet anyways. Maybe someday when we're married, you can come with me."

"Oh, I think I'd like that. In the meantime, I think we should go join the party for a little while. I need to thank Joshua for helping to keep you safe and for bringing you back to me."

They rise and head towards the party. Jeremy stops and grabs Candy and holds her tight. "Thank you for being here and loving me as much as you do. I love you."

"You're welcome. And I do love you Jeremy Bolt."

They kiss and then hold hands as they head to Captain Clancey's cabin for the rest of their journey home.