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Chapter Thirty-Four

Homeward Bound

"There…" Emily Williams stood back with a satisfied look on her face.

She'd spent the last two days setting the house to rights, closely supervising the three young housemaids she'd hired from the town's orphanage. They'd been good enough for rural girls, but she did wish she could have brought a few of her well-trained servants from Philadelphia. But her husband had put his foot down at that.

"Our son-in-law will not thank us for expending monies unnecessarily," he'd replied to her request.

"That's as may be," Emily sniffed frostily. "But I will not have them coming home to a messy house."

"Messy?" Bradford looked around in bemusement. "There's nothing wrong that I've seen. Martha has always run a tight ship. She won't thank you if she hears you've said otherwise."

Emily shook her head. "That's because you're a man. You often can't see things that are right in front of your nose. Martha is well enough but she is not a city servant."

"Have it your way." Her husband threw up his hands in defeat. "I still don't like it. I do worry about what the Captain will say when he finds out. We are staying in his house, uninvited."

"It's not for you to like or dislike," his wife reminded him as she went back to supervising her hired housemaids. "He will thank us, you will see."

She stopped to look back. "Besides," she said comfortably. "I think it's his cousin, your erstwhile brother-in-law, Claymore, who's more deserving of the sharp edge of his tongue. I can think of none better."

She went on her way, smiling contentedly as she shooed the chattering girls before her. Her husband frowned after her, knowing she was very wrong.

※※※※※

Elroy gagged when his mouth suddenly filled with salt water. He struggled to breathe, almost overwhelmed by the waves trying to sink him beyond all hope of recovery. "Maybe dying isn't for the best, after all…"

He fought his way valiantly back to the surface, flailing about wildly. The loud cries of a gull flying overhead assaulted his senses.

He fell back into the water to look up, spitting out the mouthfuls of ocean he'd inhaled. "See? Can't even drown myself right," he complained to the gull.

The bird turned its head to look at him first with one bright beady eye and then the other. It cried again. With the movement of its beak, Elroy could just see the wound in the soft flesh. He knew it was the bird he'd saved from the fish hook.

"Thanks, birdie…" Emotion overwhelmed him. "At least, I got to do one last thing right…"

The sight comforted him immeasurably. He reached up to try and touch the bird. It squawked sharply at him before suddenly flying off, quickly disappearing into the distance.

"See ya…" Elroy turned his reaching hand into a wave of farewell.

He shook his head, despair overwhelming him once more. "Time to go…"

He relaxed back into the water again, knowing this time he would not rise to the surface. It was truly time to go…

"If I 'adn't seen it with me own eyes, I'd neva 'ave believed it!" a man's voice commented loudly as two strong arms plunged into the water and a pair of large hands seized Elroy by the shoulders of his shirt just as he sank out of sight one final time.

Elroy yelped in pain as he was hauled to the surface, spitting and spluttering the salt water. He hung miserably, looking like a drowned rat in Nathan Grimes' large hands.

The carpenter shook his head as he hauled his hapless prize aboard the ship's dinghy. "A confounded muddlin' fool and no mistake! Got more lives than the ship's blasted cat! And about as much sense! Dawdlin' after a stupid bird!"

He dumped Elroy into the waist of the boat, throwing a blanket around him as he began to thump him on the back with mighty strokes that rattled the helpless seaman's teeth in his head. Wet and miserable, Elroy groaned as he curled himself into a ball, trying to avoid his crewmate's over-enthusiasm for removing all the water from his lungs.

"You surely got someone upstairs lookin' out for you," Nathan opined, peering into Elroy's waxen face to satisfy himself his crewmate was still breathing.

The carpenter grinned as he gave him one final hefty thwack on the back. "Cause, man, you surely gonna need all the help you can get, once the Captain gets ahold of your miserable hide…"

He shook his head as he turned to his rowing crew. He pointed back toward the Carolyn with his whiskered chin. "Let's go home, boys. Deliver this wretch to his just desserts. He'll be strung from the yardarm come the end of the afternoon watch."

He rubbed his hands with keen anticipation. At his feet, Elroy quailed in his misery and snivelled in his despair.

"Just let me die…" he moaned.

Of, course, none of his crewmates paid any attention to such folly. Any seaman, good or bad, saved from the briny deep, was a triumph they intended to celebrate.

※※※※※

"Have I done something wrong, Sir?" Jack asked in an anxious tone.

"Not that I've lately seen," Claymore replied morosely, puffing on his long pipe.

"Good…" Jack sighed with relief. "I was worried, Sir. If you don't mind me sayin'. Ever since that wedding you had out at the Captain's house, I—"

"I've already told you. That wedding's not to be mentioned," Claymore fired up. "Not now, not ever again! Is that clear, young man?"

"Yes, yes, of course…" Jack scrambled to reassure him. He laid one forefinger alongside his nose. "Mum's the word. I ain't said a thing to no one."

"Good and keep it so," Claymore advised sharply. "If I hear you've been talking…" He shook his head.

He pulled his pocket watch out to peer at it. "Why are you still here?" He tapped the watch face with the end of his quill pen. "Get you gone before the day is gone. I expect results, not inane questioning."

"Aye, Sir!" Jack saluted sharply as he jumped off his stool.

He grabbed up the large rent book and ran for his hat. He stopped in the office's open doorway. "And Gull Cottage, Sir?"

"Well, what about it?" Claymore snarled, watching his young clerk with deep impatience.

"Do I… Do you wish me to go out there for the usual check? Like the Captain asked you to."

"No!" his master snapped. "The house is no longer any of our business. Leave it be. It's been taken care of."

"I see…" Jack frowned. "Well, I guess the Captain will be home soon enough now. There's talk in the town that the Rebecca's been seen by some fishermen. She's on course to reach Boston in the next week or two."

He brightened. "The winds have been stiff and very favourable. No doubt the Carolyn won't be far behind. You must be pleased, Sir. To know your good lady niece will soon be home again."

"Get going, boy!" Claymore shot back. "Enough idle gossip! You can't come back with my hard-earned monies if you don't go in the first place!"

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir…" Jack touched his forehead again before absenting himself from his employer's wrath.

Claymore slumped back in his chair. The boy's parting words echoed around and around inside his aching head. The Captain will be home soon enough now…

He lifted his nose to the warm summer afternoon air, seeking any trace of sulphur. He'd even gone so far as to demand the demon's attention. But silence greeted him and nothing unsavoury or odorous wafted his way.

His chin sank back to his chest. He knew he was for it the moment his cousin found out what he'd done. He'd overstepped familial bounds for the sake of a purse of gold, which he no longer possessed. He was seriously out of pocket and soon out of time.

He knew he should be the better man. Carolyn's arrival in the town had changed the course of his life and him. She'd been a positive influence on his base nature. But the lure of extra coin had been his undoing.

It was not so much his cousin's wrath he feared. Daniel had been angry at him many a time before. It was the reason they'd become estranged. But the disappointment he knew he would see in the green eyes of his cousin's wife. Guilt began to overwhelm him anew.

"Blast, blast, blast…" he muttered bleakly, as he went back to his endless figuring.

※※※※※

Daniel stood on the deck with his balled fists planted on his hips as Nathan and his small crew carried Elroy's limp body aboard the ship. They dropped him onto a pile of blankets and began to massage him roughly, warming his clammy flesh. The rest of the crew watched their Captain keenly, thinking about what verdict he would soon give on Elroy's fate.

"A tot of rum for each of the rescuers," Daniel commanded.

The men cheered as cups were thrust into their hands and the fiery liquid poured in. They all saluted their generous captain's good health.

Elroy's tipple was a mug of scalding hot coffee pushed into his chilled hand by Malcolm, who helped him drink a measure. The hapless seaman managed to push himself up onto one elbow, still coughing as he managed to swallow some more of the warming brew.

His lips were pale and his face ashen. He groaned at his rough treatment but he didn't complain as he managed to finish the coffee while his crewmates licked their lips and wished for more rum.

Several muttered it may be for the best if they threw the hapless seaman back over the side. Malcolm sat next to his friend, anxiously watching him even as he rubbed him with the blankets, trying to put the colour back into his cheeks.

"They should take more care…" Carolyn hovered behind her husband, watching Elroy anxiously.

Martha stood behind her with a pot of restoring liniment and linen towels over one arm. "He looks half-dead. Stupid boy, worrying about a seagull."

"It was a gull that saved him," Carolyn quickly reminded her.

After several minutes Elroy was revived enough to struggle first to his knees, then to his feet with the rough help of his crewmates. They held him up until he could gain his sea legs again. He stood miserably, head hanging down, as he awaited his certain fate.

He well knew his time aboard the Carolyn was spent. It only remained for his Captain to deliver the verdict. Elroy looked past him, focussing briefly on Carolyn. "Sorry, my Captain's pretty lady…" he whispered in despair.

Daniel advanced on him, stopping a few inches from the smaller man. He jerked his face aside from Elroy's sudden gusty sigh of bad breath.

Drawing sharply back, Daniel looked his crewman up and down with deep disgust. "By the Great Horned Spoon, I cannot believe you nearly drowned yourself for the sake of a blasted gull! Have you none of the sense the good Lord gave you!?"

"It was hurt," Elroy bleated. "All God's creatures…"

"Stow it!" Daniel barked. "You risked your life, the lives of all your crewmates and this ship. All for the sake of a confounded bird! I knew you were addlepated, but this folly truly takes the biscuit!"

"I'm sorry, Sir…" Elroy tried to salute, but his arm was too weak.

He slumped miserably against Malcolm, wiping one hand across his eyes. He glanced past Daniel to look pleadingly at Carolyn.

"I don't feel good…" he whispered, his face going even more ashen as his eyes rolled back in his head.

He slumped unconscious into the arms of his crewmates. Daniel shook his head at him.

"Take him below," he commanded harshly, stepping aside. "Let the women have him and I'll berate him again when he's revived." He waved a frustrated hand toward the hatch leading below.

"Thank you…" Carolyn whispered, touching her husband's forearm quickly. "Martha and I will see to Elroy. Then you can talk to him."

"If I had my way I would pitch the fool back overboard for the sharks to eat," Daniel replied hardly.

"I know you don't really mean that," Carolyn gave him a quick, worried smile as she followed the burdened seamen below.

"Don't I?" Daniel looked after them, running a hand up and around the back of his neck.

He could picture Lucius' glee as the Carolyn trailed after him into port in Boston Harbour. At least, his excuse had been a whale. Maybe even a demon.

Daniel's reason for his tardiness was one, miserable, half-drowned seaman of no account. He glared darkly at the hatch where they'd carried Applegate.

"Mr Jarvis! Get us underway before we lose any more time!" he shouted at his crew, sending the watching men scattering to their stations. "Captain Beaumont will be berthing in Boston soon enough while we wallow here going nowhere!"

※※※※※

"I'm so sorry about Elroy…" Carolyn lay in her husband's arms that night in their cabin. "I also feel very sorry for him."

"Do not waste your sympathies, my love." Daniel kissed her hair. "The wretch was not born for the sea. You and the boys did your best to educate him. But he has no head for learning, only daydreaming. In that, he imperils everyone and I will not allow it to be so again."

"I know…" Carolyn took his hand and pressed a kiss to his open palm. "But he managed to stay afloat long enough to be rescued."

"A small miracle," Daniel conceded.

He turned his hand over to smooth it down across the warm swell of his wife's abdomen. "But this is an even greater miracle. We must have a care now."

He went up onto one elbow to look down at her, tucked so trustingly against him in the warm candlelight. Her green eyes were full of love and understanding. He knew what he had to say next, she would agree with, but it needed to be expressed. For all their sakes.

He played his fingers across her naked skin, drawing slow circles around the shadowed dip of her navel. "We will be berthed in Boston come the dawn after next. From there we load a new cargo and sail for home."

"Home…" Carolyn breathed softly, a wistfulness in her tone. "It will be good to be home again."

Daniel nodded, clearing his throat. "And it is there that you must stay for the rest of the summer while I sail for London once more."

His hand wandered lower, coming to rest above the shadowed angle of her upper thighs where their child lay snugly. "You know, I would have you with me for always," he hurried on when Carolyn opened her mouth to protest his decision. "But you now need things this ship cannot provide."

He looked up, anxious for her to understand. "I would know you are safe, my love. If also far from my care and protection."

"I know…" Carolyn turned her head to press a kiss to the naked skin over his rapidly beating heart. "It has been a wonderful first voyage, full of adventures and places. But we both must be sensible now. Martha and I have already discussed this. It's the walk at the house for me once more, to watch you sail beyond the horizon."

She spread one hand out over his hip, her fingertips tracing sensuous lines down his flank. "I need to stay in Schooner and see my own doctor. There's a new physician in town, a Dr Ferguson."

She nodded. "I was seen by Mary's doctor in London and he said all was well. But we cannot risk a second voyage."

"Thank you, my love…" Daniel breathed, playing his fingers back and forth over her sensitive skin, making his wife inhale sharply. "There will be other voyages. Other cities to see…" He kissed her lingeringly. "I promise."

"And I shall keep you to that promise," Carolyn replied softly, seeing all the love and gratitude in his blue eyes. "But, in the meantime, we have more memories to make for us to store against the time when I shall be all alone again…"

She pushed closer to him, feeling his heated strength against her lower body as she pushed one knee between his, bringing her leg higher, teasingly. She smiled knowingly as her husband groaned, deep in his throat at her sensual toying.

He watched her with hooded eyes as she slow-walked her fingers toward their ultimate goal. That part of his body that most assuredly made him a virile man eagerly welcomed her soft caress and then there was no need for further conversation in the shadowed cabin…

※※※※※

Elroy lay in his hammock, feeling miserable. He reached to pick at the bulkhead before him, teasing out a splinter of wood to idle away the time.

Under his Captain's strict orders, he'd been confined to his berth for the last two weeks of the voyage home. He went nowhere, but to the head, and did nothing beyond eating his grub delivered by an equally downcast Malcolm.

"I'm sorry…" Elroy's hammock swayed to the rhythm of the ship, as he listened to his crewmates shouting and working above him in the fresh sea air. "I'd do anything to go back and not fall over the side."

He loved the ship and his mates. Even his irascible Captain, who had dressed him down, to within an inch of his miserable life, once Elroy was well enough to hear the verdict on his fate. He was made aware of every one of his many shortcomings and how he was going to resolve the thorny issue by being a man and owning up to his failings.

Elroy's name was to be struck from the ship's rolls and he would be turned off without references. No master worth his salt would employ such an inept excuse for a seaman.

"Aye, aye, Sir!" Elroy had taken it manfully, not moving an inch from standing to full attention in front of his master.

Even Daniel had to admit later, in private to his wife, that the miserable excuse for a seaman had taken it better than he'd expected.

It was only when he was alone in the crew quarters that Elroy shed a tear or two for the fate he wished heartily was not his to bear. "What will my good mother say?"

His Captain had reluctantly agreed to carry him home to Schooner Bay. There he and the Carolyn would part company, for good. Elroy was destined to die a landlubber. A fate he had come to heartily detest.

His attention was jerked from picking at the hapless splinter of wood by the calls of 'Ahoy, land ahead!' He rolled over in his hammock, wishing he was anywhere but in Boston Harbour. He draped one arm over his eyes.

The sounds of the ship preparing to enter the outer harbour picked away at his consciousness. He could help his mates. He just knew he could. All he needed was one chance to redeem himself. Maybe even resecure his berth before it was too late.

He dropped his arm. "My Captain said I'm confined to my bunk for the voyage home." He sat up. "But now that we're back home…"

He swung his legs over the edge of the hammock and dropped to the floor. If he was truly lucky enough, something heroic and redeeming would surely fall his way. Something to redeem himself in his Captain's critical eyes…

※※※※※