His arms dropped. "I have to go."
Alice bit off her response. She couldn't send him away with harsh words and risk losing him forever. "Where this time?"
Buttoning his pants, Zach looked up. He could trust Alice, she had no more love for the British than he did. Still, he held back telling her everything. "I have cargo to deliver to Lisbon."
"When will you be back?" She silently cursed herself, even as she asked it. He didn't like to be questioned, and she knew the reasons. If she didn't know anything about his activities, she couldn't answer any of the magistrate's questions.
Pulling on boots, Zach tucked his shirt into his pants. It was always the same. He'd never spent a full night with Alice. Something always compelled him to leave, a restlessness that he didn't understand. He'd come to her only a couple of hours ago and was now anxious to leave again.
He hesitated, knowing he should say something to her. But the words refused to come. He feared, if they did, they'd only be lies. "I'll be back." He kissed her brusquely, and then slipped from the room, his boots treading softly on the hall carpet. Downstairs, the door closed with an impatient thud.
Alice Mulroney leaned against the wood post of her bed, already feeling the emptiness of his leaving.
"Somehow, I doubt that this time, Zach Tennant," she said with regret.
The blue-green water sliced beneathRevenge'shull as wind filled her sails. Zach stared across the harbor, the masts of the other two clippers barely outlined in the dawn light. Within a short while, they would be on the open sea and beyond the reach of the Queen's enforcers.
Their course was set, orders had been given to the crew by the second mate. Zach smiled at the news that Tobias had come aboard sometime during the night, even though he'd sworn he'd never set foot on deck again. One of the crew had informed him that his old friend was below decks sleeping off the effects of a long night spent in one of Sydney's finer gambling establishments.
Zach took the wheel, fatigue slipping away. Beyond the horizon lay endless miles of open sea, and the energy of the sea beat like the heart of a restless creature as it carried them toward the rising sun, and England.
Three
May 10, 1871
London, England
"Yer courtin' the hangman's noose if yer caught!" Tobias stomped the length of the captain's cabin, hands balled into fists of impotent rage.
"I promised yer mother I'd look out for you. How can I do that when you insist on sailing right into London harbor? For God's sake lad, there's still time for us to be away! We can unload the cargo. There's no need for you to even go ashore," he implored. "We'll take on fresh supplies and be on our way. Think! What yer plannin' is madness!" His face was crimson, large veins prominent in his neck.
"Here come the lobster backs!" came the squawked warning from the next cabin.
With a faint smile pulling at his mouth, Zach closed the journal. He'd come this far; he wasn't about to leave London without answers.
"I won't leave, Tobias. We're here and I intend to find out about my father. At any rate," he downed the last of the strong coffee, fastening his old friend with a grin. "I’ve always wanted to see England. "He became thoughtful, a wicked gleam lighting his gray eyes.
"It'll be great sport dealin' directly with the Crown, without paying the usual import tariffs they impose on the colonies. And just maybe, it'll give me the opportunity to learn what the God-almighty English have planned for us in Australia." His eyes lowered, scanning the ship's manifest.
It would take several days to unload the cargo. Already, his first mate was ashore, locating warehouse space where they might store the wool from theRevenge'shold.
Tobias shook his head. "This is no game. We could both end up in prison."
Again, that voice mimicked their conversation."Lash the bastard to the yardarm!"
"Will you shut him up!" Tobias thundered, patience gone from too much whiskey and too little sleep the night before.
Zach ignored Tobias’ and Sebastian's gloomy predictions. "You know as well as I that Sebastian says exactly what he pleases," he said of the parrot in the next cabin.
"And with his temper, I'm not about to tell him otherwise and lose some skin for it. Now. if you're quite through, I want you to go ashore."
"Not bloody likely!" the old physician blustered, Sebastian and his dire warnings momentarily forgotten. "I'm an exile! Do you know what they do to exiles who try to sneak back into the country?"
"They can't do anything if they can't prove anything. Haven't we learned that about the English?" Zach's smile deepened as he warmed to his plan.
"What do you mean by that?" Tobias failed to follow his line of thought.
Zach rose from his chair and, going to stand before the open porthole, gazed out across the harbor. "It's been over thirty years since you left England. You're not the same man you were then. You've changed."
