But even after the old woman returned and made her bed upon a pallet of blankets before the hearth, the doubts remained. It would have been so easy to ignore what she suggested, to dismiss it as nothing but foolishness... except for the dreams.
Always there were the dreams, filled with visions and images she didn't understand. The only thing she was certain of was that those images were not from her own life.
Another place and time? What if it was possible? What if the old woman's words were true? What if she had lived more than one life and Zach had somehow been a part of it?
She crossed to the bed on which Zach lay. Gently, so not to wake him, she took his hand in hers.
She stared at his hand, then at her own. They were the same, there was no life line.
'I knew you'd come back to me.'
The words she'd first spoken that night returned. This man had haunted her dreams. His was the face that looked back at her through the mist, his arms were the arms that reached for her. Tears pooled in her eyes.
A choice, the old woman had told her. She could leave, walk away from all of it. He was powerless to stop her. It would be so easy to do just as she'd planned when she'd left the ship. She still had the gold coins. She could easily slip away, return to England, and... But what if it is true?
"Who are you, Zach Tennant? Who am I?" She rested her head at the edge of the bed.
He was certain he was dreaming. He tried to sit up, but weakness forced him back.
This wasn't his cabin aboard theRevenge. He tried to move again and felt the warmth of a hand on his, and he remembered—Lisbon and the Green Dolphin. He'd gone there to find her.
His head went back. She was here, she was safe...
Now, many hours later, Elyse felt his hand at her cheek. She slowly sat up, untangling her hair from his hand. She pushed to her feet and quietly made her way across the room. The first light of dawn slipped through the shutters at the window.
The house with a carved moon at the door was quiet, everyone was still asleep as she slipped out the room. She'd made her decision.
Still, she hesitated. What was it that held her back, refusing to let her go?
Leave, she told herself. And she did, out into the street, through the mist that rolled up from the harbor as tears slipped down her cheeks.
Zach suddenly wakened, in that way that had become habit aboard theRevenge, listening, feeling the steady roll of the ship around him. But he wasn't aboard theRevenge.
He slowly pushed himself up from the bed. He was drenched in cold sweat, then burning with heat. His fingers curled seeking the cool silkiness of her hair, but there was nothing there.
He looked around. The room was vaguely familiar. This was Zamora's house! But how? And where was Elyse?
He clenched his teeth against the pain as he forced himself to his feet. He crossed the room, leaning heavily against the table.
She had been here, he remembered, he had felt her, the warmth of her hand in his, the coolness of her hair as he had drifted off again.
He opened the door to a narrow hallway and moved toward the stairs.
Lys!
Twenty
She made her way toward the waterfront.
There, she told herself, she would find a ship returning to England as she had originally planned. Twice she thought she saw crewmen from theRevenge.Each time she turned down another street to avoid them.
Then down another street that took her closer to the waterfront, where workers already swarmed the wharf, small landing boats bobbing in the water as they set out with crews returning to their ships.
Out in the harbor, theRevengegleamed in the early morning light.
Head down, determined to find a ship that could take her back to England, she didn't see the shadow that crossed hers until it was too late. She screamed as a grimy hand clamped over her mouth and an arm went round her waist, and she was hauled up against the bulk of a foul-smelling man.
"Look what we got ourselves here, Chappy." A grunt of approval came from the shadows as Elyse struggled to free herself.
