He chuckled.“Oh, you don’t know tired, my dear! You and I get to watch Daniel and Futtrell turninto sleepwalkers.”
“What do you mean?”she asked as she backed toward the gangway.
“With Mr. Lansing dead, and the sailing master, too, it’s watch and watch about until we reach landfall. That’s four hours on and four hours off,unti they drop.”He smiled.“We’ll be lucky if the French don’t find us again.”His smile widened.“I am sure they will be kind to you because you are an American, but the rest of us?”He shrugged.“There are some who worry about things like that, but I am not numbered among them. Good night, Miss Whittier. Come visit again.”
Hannah shuddered and hurried to the gun deck, and down the companionway to her room. The Marine sat outside her door this time, his bandaged leg resting on an overturned bucket. He held out a note to her.
She took it over to the ship’s lantern and read,“Imperative you come to my cabin. We have a matter to discuss. Adam will be there, too. Spark.”
Hannah folded the note and put it in her pocket. In another moment, she stood outside the captain’s door. The Marine there clicked his heels to attention and opened the door for her.
Adam looked up from his contemplation of a handful of papers as she entered, his face grim. Spark stood beside Mr. Futtrell in quiet conversation. Spark motioned her in.
“Come, Miss Whittier,”he said.“Have a seat.There’s something here you must read. Adam, give her that first page.”
He was all business, standing there in his stockinged feet, far removed from the man who could not bring himself to bury his comrades that morning. She didn’t understand his restless energy until she took the paper and began to read.
“Sit, Lady Amber,”he said, pulling out a chair for her. She did as he said, her eyes on the paper, her attention caught.
“We found this document in a tarred shot pouch,”he explained as she looked up,a question in her eyes.“I can only assume that the poor Frog was supposed to throw it overboard and sink it, but our lieutenant of Marines boarded too soon and spoiled his aim.”
“This can’t be what I think it is,”she murmured when she finished.
He took the water-stained page from her.“It is a communiquéfrom William Darlington, the acting governor ofAntigua, to Napoleon himself, damn his traitorous hide.”Spark banged his hand on the table andshejumped.“I have sat at that man’s table and eaten his food! And here he is, a traitor to the crown.”He took the next pages from Adam, who was sitting quietly now and watching the captain.“There’s more, Hannah,too much more.”
She continued reading, distracted at first by Spark, who paced back and forth across the width of the stern, then absorbed and repelled at the same time by the document in her hands. It was pages of information about ship strengths of British commerce raiders and ships of the line that sailed in theCaribbean.
Spark stopped his pacing and stood behind her chair. He jabbed the page with his finger.“And look here! That damnedDarlingtonnames Lord Luckingham, another traitor within the government itself! I am astounded what men will do for money.”
She put down the papers and Spark satbeside her.“We haveto get this document toEngland,”he said.
“But isn’t that where we are headed?”She looked at the captain, wondering at his restless energy.
He took her hands.“Hannah, we’re sinking. The pumps can’t keep up, and we’ll never raisePortsmouth. We’re going to settle lower and lower in the water until we have totake to the small boats.”
“Oh.”She let that news soak in, then freed her hands from the captain’s.“You had a charton the table this morning. The Azores?”
He nodded.“That’s our only hope, Hannah, and the trouble of it is, I don’t know if they remain in Portuguese hands, or if the French have taken over. I think within a very short time, we will be prisoners of the French, even if we make that landfall.”
He took her hand again.“I wanted you to know how bad was our situation, you and Adam. I’m sorry I ever got you two into this mess.”
Hannah did not pull her hand away this time.“All I really wanted to do was get toCharleston,”she reminded him gently.
He winced.“A hit below the waterline,Hannah!”
Adam stirred in his chair.“Thee has something in mind, doesn’t thee?”he asked quietly.“And excuse me if I doubt it is an apology.”
Spark gave Adam a measuring stare, and then a reluctant smile.“There are no flies on Yankees, are there?”he murmured.
“No, sir,”Adam replied.“What do you want from me? I’d prefer thee did not involve Hannah, if it’s to be dangerous. I at least have considerable regard for her welfare, even if thee does not.”
His words, quietly spoken, hung in the air. Mr. Futtrell, who had been listening to this exchange, tugged at his chin and turned away.
“You think I have no regard for Miss Whittier’s welfare?”Spark asked, his voice as quiet as Adam’s.
“I don’t trust thee,”Adam said.
“Adam, what is thee saying!”Hannah cried.
