A note to all my lovely readers:

The third and final book in my series is now available on Amazon.

Lucie Of Beacon Bay

If you would love to read my recent novels retelling the original story of The Ghost and Mrs Muir then please go to Amazon (US)

and look under Books for Lucie and the Captain and Lucie Of Greystone Cottage by Katherine Lange.

They can be downloaded to any device with the Kindle app. You do not need a Kindle to read them.

Thank you for your attention, please enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Sailing To London

"It is all very beautiful…" Carolyn stood within the secure circle of her husband's embrace as they watched the sun setting behind Carolyn and waited for the full moon to rise before them. "I can see why you really love being out here."

The steady cutting of the ship's hull through the dark waves chuckled as a constant music underscored everything. With the passing of the days, Carolyn had become used to the song and the rolling nature of the deck beneath her feet. Her dreams were now very nautical in nature and this was reflected in the new manuscript she was writing.

Even Martha has managed to stop grumbling about decks that don't stay still. The housekeeper had finally gained her sea legs and was now firmly in charge of the ship's galley. Much to the bemusement of the cook, who went around muttering darkly about managing females to anyone who would listen. But since Martha's food was better than his, there were very few sympathisers to his cause.

Carolyn shook her head and smiled. The sound of the ship's running hull was a reminder of how far they'd come and how far they still had to travel. As the darkness began to crowd in, the long, narrow trail of rising moonlight became their only illumination across the vast expanse of the restless Atlantic.

"It is very beautiful…" Daniel agreed, looking down at the soft curves of her cheek and neck. "A wide ocean, a sturdy ship and a star to steer her by. I once thought they were all I would ever need. I made my peace with it and myself content."

"Yes…" Carolyn nodded, sensing his narrowed gaze without turning her head. "I can see the appeal in it all. No wonder you found your inspiration for your wonderful poetry and verse."

"'Beloved, I am bound to you, for now, for all eternity. I can chart no other course, but homeward to your arms. I must return to you as surely as the sea birds flying with my ship return every season to the distant land.

Your loving arms are my harbour, my shore, and my anchor in a storm-tossed world. I fly to you as truly as an arrow flies into the sun, to be lost in the brilliance of your smile, the warmth of your greeting and the certainty of your endless love…'" Daniel quoted softly. "It was something to occupy my mind in the dark reaches of the night. But no matter who I addressed the letters to, I now think that all those poems and thoughts of endless longing were always meant only for you."

"I'm glad I am the last woman in your life rather than the first," Carolyn replied candidly, turning within the circle of his strong arms to face him.

By the light of the moon and the running lanterns that were being ignited along both sides of the ship's deck, her husband studied the loving look warming her eyes. "If we only had more time on this voyage, I could show you how much you are loved. We're still working our way through your list of likes and dislikes, remember?" he said, teasingly. "'The loneliness I harbour in my heart is the loneliness of a single ship adrift on the endless ocean. I wait suspended on the silence of a windless doldrum… The memory of your beauty sails the lonely watery wastes with me – and I am alone no more…'"

"So beautiful…" Carolyn acknowledged. "But sometimes I think we may have to go back to a previous point," she continued mischievously, reaching up to trace the curve of his lips with the tip of one forefinger. "I wonder if we'll ever get to the end of our list?"

"Somehow I doubt it. But, while we still have time, there's only one way to find out." Daniel chuckled as he drew her up against him and kissed her warmly and with sensual intent.

"Is there enough time?" Carolyn asked, when they finally drew back from each other. "You've been so busy. I've hardly seen you."

"There is a small measure," her husband assured her quietly. "I must take the first watch. But I am yours until then."

"Then we may have a few precious hours to be together," Carolyn replied quickly. "I will see to the children and meet you in our cabin as soon as I can get away. I'll leave Martha to give them their supper and put them to bed. Gaining her sea legs has given her a whole new lease on life and she's restless to be doing more."

"Then don't keep me waiting…" Her husband kissed the tip of her nose before he released her. "I'm eager to get back to where we left off on our list of likes and dislikes."

"Oh, I won't," Carolyn promised breathlessly as she gathered her skirts and hurried away toward the forward hatch.

※※※※※

Claymore sat hunched over his bookwork. The thick wreathing of the smoke rising around his head, as he puffed away on his clay pipe, underscored the depth of his deep sense of frustration and injustice.

No matter how he added up his figures and tried to make them fit, there were always going to be more clients wanting summer accommodation this year than he had houses to rent. It was shaping up to be the best year he'd ever had and he cursed at the loss of potential income.

He hated to allow so much as a single penny to escape his greedy grasp. But to have actual dollars slipping through his fingers was against everything he believed in and stood for.

"I do wish my cousin would've listened to my sound reasoning," he grumbled for the umpteenth time of complaining about his sorry lot. "A tidy profit to be made all 'round. A tidy profit, indeed. Blast…"

He looked up sourly when the office door opened and young Jack walked in out of the cool spring evening. The boy had been diligently doing the rounds of their rent collection and property checking everything on his employer's behalf.

"About time you showed up!" Claymore grumbled, pulling his watch from his waistcoat pocket and glaring at it. "You're four and a half minutes late!"

He waved his quill pen for emphasis. "Five now, if you count the time it's taken for you to shut the door and hang up your hat!"

"I'm sorry, Sir…" Jack shook his head as he hurried to deliver the large rent book to the desk. "But what with having to walk all the way out to Gull Cottage to check on it for you…" He shrugged apologetically. "You said you were too busy to go."

"Excuses, excuses…" Claymore tapped the end of his quill against the face of the watch. "Five minutes here and five minutes there," he tut-tutted. "And all out of my pocket! People are so careless with their time. Time is money, young man, time is money. Why am I the only one who knows this?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously over the rims of his spectacles. "And I suspect from the look of you, that you've been dallying at the house of that Miller girl, again. I told you before, you've got more than enough work here to keep you well busy and there's no time for any spring romance. We'll have work all night again, now."

"Yes, Sir…" Jack's young shoulders slumped with despair. "I'm sorry, Sir."

"Yes, well…" Claymore turned back to his work. "See to it that it doesn't happen again. I do not pay you to be tardy with my interests. Squire the girl on your own time."

"No, Sir, I won't. I mean, yes Sir, I will." Jack sighed as he turned away to his stool and the afternoon's work he still had to complete.

"You had no trouble out at my cousin's house, then?" Claymore asked, keeping his gaze down.

Jack's young brow creased as he looked up in puzzlement. "No, there wasn't any trouble. All neat and as it should be. Why, were you expecting something to be wrong out there?"

"No, no, no…" Claymore waved an agitated hand. "I was… It can get a bit stormy out there, that's all. They can have odd weather at times. I wouldn't want there to be a window broken or anything out of the ordinary that could be laid at my door when my cousin gets home."

Jack brightened. "Oh, I see. No, nothing like that. It was all as quiet as the grave."

"Good to know…" Claymore scowled at the neat lines of figures in his ledger that would not add up, no matter how many times he tried to make them do so. "Blast…" he said again, with feeling.

As he studied their prosaic nature he could almost swear he could hear again that disturbing sound of male laughter that he'd heard out at Gull Cottage. And under its derisive note was the steady chuckle of water running beneath a ship's hull. Or how he imagined it would sound if he'd ever had the nerve to step aboard any sea-going vessel.

Despite his family connections to the ocean and ships, Claymore was not a nautical man and he had no wish to be so. He would no more go to sea than he would think of flying up to the full moon that was rising steadily beyond the horizon. He got seasick just by looking at the ocean and the docks were as close as he ever wished to go to such dangerous and unpredictable waters.

"Blast and damnation take them all…" he grumbled as he returned to puffing on his clay pipe and a fresh wreath of smoke rose up around his bent head.

※※※※※

The flickering lantern light in the Captain's cabin painted dancing shadows across the walls. The night was clear and the sea calm. To Carolyn, lying safe and secure in her love's strong arms, it was like being rocked to sleep in the most gentle of cradles.

"Are you asleep?" her husband queried softly against her ear. "You should be."

"No, not quite…" she reassured him with a contented sigh. "I'm in that wonderful place that lies between waking and sleeping."

"Where everything shimmers and floats?"

Carolyn turned her head against his shoulder. "How did you know?"

"I know because I know you," her husband replied. "You sigh with contentment just as you fall asleep. I listen for it every night and then I know all is well with you."

He smoothed the backs of his fingers slowly from the curve of her cheek, down the silken warmth of her neck and shoulder and onto the soft curve of one rosy-tipped, plump breast, where he lingered for a breathless moment or two, circling a lazy fingertip around its peak. The subtle torture made his wife gasp and he chuckled.

Then he continued the slow journey down to her hip and waist before he spread his fingers wide over the rounded swell of her abdomen. There his sensual touch lingered, running a lazy circle around her navel with the same fingertips.

"I love you…" he whispered. "I wish we could stay like this forever. But my watch will soon be upon us and I must go. Duty calls."

"I know. This is enough." Carolyn laid her hand over his, stilling its teasing movements. "Though, right now, I couldn't think of anything more heavenly. But how do you know the hour when you haven't even looked at your timepiece?"

"By the sounds of the ship and the stars beyond." Daniel nodded toward the large window on the other side of the cabin that offered a fine view of the starry night outside.

"I still have so much to learn." Carolyn shook her head against the heated curve of his naked shoulder. "You will need to teach me."

"With pleasure. But I have so much to learn about this…" Daniel renewed his exploration of her lower body. "Having a child is a miracle I never expected. You have given me so much I am grateful for."

"You do have a lot to learn." His wife's smile widened. "Like the time will come when I will grow so fat and ungainly, I won't be able to see my poor feet let alone reach them. Will you love me, then?"

"With all my heart and soul. I will love you in all your seasons…" Daniel bent down to kiss her. "Because you are truly the only woman for me."

※※※※※

The following dawn was fine and the day bid to be fair indeed as they sailed onwards across the limitless waters. Stretching out his tall frame with a groan, Daniel left his bed and sleeping wife with a deep sigh of regret. He dressed quickly before buttoning his jacket and pulling on his sea cap as he made his way above into the crisp morning air.

"Coffee, Captain?" Nathaniel Grimes walked to his side as soon as Daniel appeared on deck.

The carpenter was holding out the heavy, earthenware mug in his hands. He balanced expertly with the ease of long practice against the cant of the decking.

"Thank you, Mr Grimes…" Daniel accepted it gratefully, sipping the strong brew.

His brows rose in amazement. "This is good coffee."

Grimes nodded. "It's that Miss Grant of yours, Captain. Since she took over the galley she's been makin' the best coffee we've ever tasted aboard any ship. The cook might complain about her takin' over his galley, but if I were a single man, I'd marry that Martha in a flash. She's a rare prize and no mistake. We eat like kings."

"I'll be sure and tell her." Daniel nodded, taking another long sip of the excellent brew.

"Thank you, Captain." The ship's carpenter grinned as he knuckled his forehead. "Wonder what the lady's got for us for breakfast today. Can't wait to find out." He went back to his duties, whistling a jaunty sea shanty.

"Morning, Captain…" Nathan Jarvis appeared at Daniel's side. "And a very fine morning it is, too."

"It is indeed, Mr Jarvis." Daniel savoured his coffee. "Do you have anything to report?"

"All is well. But just look who we've finally managed to overhaul and run to ground during the night." Jarvis pointed with his chin toward the line of the far horizon.

A set of white sails could be clearly seen in the dawn light, being drawn ever closer by the Carolyn's faster pace. The other ship was rigging more sails as they tried to keep ahead of their pursuer.

Daniel finished his coffee and smiled with satisfaction. "I do see, indeed. And Beaumont thought himself safe from us. Fine work. Very fine work, indeed. My compliments to the crew for their diligence."

"Thank you, Captain," Jarvis replied with a grin. "Captain Beaumont won't be best pleased. He hoped to win your wager and be the first to berth in London."

"I should say he will not be best pleased," Daniel acknowledged. "Oblige me by bringing us alongside the rascal as soon as you can. I would like to complain to him in person about his leaving us behind at Boston docks while he made good his escape."

"It will be my absolute pleasure, Sir." Mr Jarvis saluted before he turned and hurried away to command the crew to hoist more sail aloft and be quick about it.

In what seemed like no time at all the Carolyn overhauled the Rebecca. The two ships slowed to a snail's pace to run side by side so their respective captains could exchange their morning pleasantries.

"Blast you, Daniel Gregg. But you surely took your sweet time in catching up to us," Lucius Beaumont shouted across the water separating the Carolyn from his own ship. "I was beginning to think that the next port I'd see you in would be London. Are you getting slow, old man? Or do you tarry with other, more intimate matters, and not care to win our wager?"

His grin was wide and challenging in his dark beard but he looked none too pleased. He turned to mutter something to his attentive first mate before Beaumont jumped up onto the ship's rail. He held onto a nearby halyard as he leaned far out above the restless waters to make himself better heard. "Do you yet tarry with that pretty new wife of yours?"

"I figured it must be you who's slowing down, old man!" Daniel replied, ignoring the jibe. "And I still command my own ship!"

He turned to murmur commands to an expectant Mr Jarvis before Daniel also jumped up onto the rail of his ship with one hand to a halyard and the other resting on his hip. "In times past you would've at least made a decent race of it before I caught you up!"

"In your blasted dreams, my friend!" Lucius shouted as he shook his head.

"Good morning, Mrs Gregg." He touched two fingers to the brim of his sea cap toward Carolyn as she came up on deck to see what was going on and who was making so much noise this early in the morning. "You certainly are a very pleasant sight. A very pleasant sight, indeed. You make this voyage all the more worthwhile. I wish I had you aboard my ship. You've brought your husband a great measure of good luck, it seems."

"Yours is the silver tongue, as ever," Carolyn replied with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Captain Beaumont. But I like this ship. It suits me just fine."

"Lucius, please…" Beaumont held up a denying hand. "After all, we're family. Married as you are now to my brother of the sea."

"You think to delay us with some fancy words," Daniel accused, pointing his thumb at the quiet activity going on behind his business partner as sails were being hoisted and reset. "You seek to make a fast getaway and leave us wallowing in your blasted wake!"

Lucius tried to look shocked as he laid the flat of his hand against his chest. "You wound me, my friend. Would I do such a thing?" The Rebecca began to gather renewed speed.

"You forget, friend, that I know you too well! To my cost!" Daniel shook his head as he jumped down from the rail. "Prepare to get us back underway, Mr Jarvis! And be right smart about it, if you please! That pirate will not get the better of this ship or my crew!"

"Aye, aye, Captain!" The first mate saluted. "We won't allow such a slow crew to beat us to London town!"

"Who are you calling slow?!" Lucius bellowed across the water as he too jumped down and began shouting his orders to his scurrying crewmen.

The sails on both ships started to billow and fill with the wind. Like two eager greyhounds, the well-matched vessels began to run, fleeing before the freshening wind toward the far horizon.

"What was all that about?" Carolyn asked, as her husband bent to kiss her cheek in passing.

Daniel glanced at the other ship sailing beside them. "Oh, just the small matter of a wager as to who will reach the Pool of London first. I fully intend for it to be us. Beaumont's too cock-sure of his abilities to sail closer to the wind than us and beat us in."

"Men…" Carolyn rolled her eyes at her husband's cheeky grin as he hurried off, shouting commands. "Do they ever truly grow up?"

※※※※※

"You gotta grow up, Elroy," Malcolm instructed tersely, watching his new charge attempting to tie a simple knot in an old length of frayed halyard and failing. "You gotta want to learn to be a seaman."

"Oh, what's the use? I'm only ever going to be good enough to be fourth class…" Elroy complained with a sigh. "I'll never make it all the way up to third class. "I'll never make it all the way up to third class. I did galley work with that Miss Grant last night and all she did was boss me around. She's just like my mother."

He wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "Women scare me."

"Yes, you will make it, Elroy," Jonathan reassured him. "You just gotta concentrate better. You gotta stop daydreaming."

"Yes, Elroy. You do need to do better. After all, I vouched for you with my husband," Carolyn replied, coming upon their little group by chance.

All three thought they'd hidden themselves well among the bales of cargo and gear on the lower deck. The two boys looked happy it was she who discovered them and not their Captain or any of the senior crewmen.

"Help!" Elroy jumped as if he'd just been shot in the rump. "Oh yes, Ma'am! I mean, no, Ma'am! Thank you, Ma'am!"

He dragged off his knitted and tasselled hat with one hand while also making a grab for his wayward striped left sock that always insisted on hanging at half-mast. "Oh, my Mrs Captain's lady! My old mother was so pleased I was given a last chance. She said it got me out of the house and from under her blessed feet!"

"I can understand that." Carolyn tried not to smile at his desperate antics.

For all his bumbling and accidents there was something very endearing about Seaman Applegate. Carolyn was not immune to his innocent charms and wide eyed-eyed appeal.

Malcolm knuckled his temple. "We know what he's supposed to do, Mrs Gregg. Honest. We just need time to show him and make sure it sticks. Sometimes he forgets and we have to show him again."

"Yeah, Mother. If you'll just keep the Captain busy, we'll make a seaman out of Seaman Applegate in no time. You'll see."

"So, I guess I've just become the mother of the boys' pack?" Carolyn asked with her eyes brimming with merriment. "I think I can do that. I'll keep your secret."

"Oh, thank you, Mrs Captain's lady, ma'am!" Applegate saluted and lost control of his wayward sock again. "I won't let you down! Honest!" He grabbed for his falling hosiery, stumbling around in an awkward circle.

"I'm sure you'll try your very best, Elroy." Carolyn turned to her two co-conspirators. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks, Mother. We will." Jonathan grinned with relief.

"Thank you, Mrs Gregg," Malcolm acknowledged more solemnly. "We will make a seaman out of Elroy yet. Even if it kills him."

Carolyn grimaced as she shook her head. "I truly do hope it doesn't come to that, boys."

※※※※※