“He said lots of men shave the hair off their faces,” Knut interrupted. “But we don’t have any hair ‘cept the hair on our eyebrows, so Gunnar shaved them off me!”
“You did it too!” Gunnar turned around. He was only missing one eyebrow.
“Turn around, boys, your time’s not up yet,” Maddie commanded, and the twins immediately obeyed.
Hallie had just poured herself a cup of coffee when the back door opened and Duncan came in. He went straight to Hallie.
“Captain Prescott sent his man over with a message that you were to come to his ship right away. Some kind of emergency, I gather. I’ve got the carriage out front so we can leave as soon as you’re ready.”
Hallie looked at Maddie as she got up. “You think it’s Kit?”
“I don’t see how. He just left here himself a few minutes ago. He said he had a meeting with some banker at ten.”
Hallie ran and got her hat and cloak. She stuck her head back into the kitchen. “I’ll send a message if it’s anything urgent,” she told Maddie, then left with Duncan.
Half an hour later Hallie and Duncan boarded theWanderer, and while Duncan waited on deck, she was taken to the captain’s quarters. They entered the small cabin and her gaze met Lee Prescott’s.
“I found something of yours,” he said, nodding across the room.
Hallie turned, and there was Liv, sitting on a bunk, dressed as a boy.
“What in the world... ?”
“She tried to stow on board a clipper leaving for the Orient this morning,” Lee informed her.
“You did what!” Hallie ran to Liv and grabbed her by her ridged little shoulders. “You could have been killed, young lady! What are you doing, stowing on ships?”
“Running away,” Liv announced, obstinacy radiating from her face. “And I don’t care if I do die!”
“For God sakes, why?”
Liv was silent.
Hallie looked to Lee, but he shrugged.
“I’ll leave if you want to be alone,” he offered.
“No, thank you, Lee,” Hallie said, grabbing Liv’s grubby hand and pulling her to the door. “I’ll take care of this at home. But thanks for saving her ornery little fanny.”
He waved them off, and Hallie continued to drag Liv behind her, ranting at her along the way and walking so fast that even Duncan had trouble keeping up with them. They walked down the ramp, heading toward the carriage, when Hallie stopped. She looked over to the next wharf and saw the empty mooring.
TheSea Havenwas gone.
She looked at Liv. “Isn’t that where Da’s ship was moored?”
“Yes,” Liv answered, then clammed up again.
Hallie marched toward Duncan, dragging Liv along. “Duncan, do you know anything about my father’s ship?”
“No. Why?”
“It was moored right there,” Hallie pointed to the empty mooring. “Would you put Liv inside the carriage? Oh, and watch her, she’s got some fool notion about running away. I’ll just be a few minutes. I want to ask about theSea Haven.”
Duncan helped Liv inside while Hallie went to question some of the dock workers. After a few minutes she located a warehouseman who was said to know everything about anything that happened near the Broadway Wharf.
When Hallie asked him about the ship, he answered her immediately. “Oh, theSea Haven, that’s the Howland ship, right?”
“No,” she corrected. “It’s the Fredriksen ship.”
