“I was watching the frigate.”And weeping,she thinks, but she doesn’t say this. “I’ve come up with a plan to save Jack.” The bread has become dough in her mouth. She takes her handkerchief, and pretending to cough, slides the bread intoit.
Harry looks up from his mug of beer. “You know he’s being held aboard theHornet,don’t you? The day after tomorrow, they’re going to…” He trails off.
“I know. I may have a way to get him off the ship. I have to try—and I need your help.”
Harry leans forward, his elbows on his knees, mug between his hands. “Tell me.” Just that—tell me—in a tone that suggests he’ll do anything.
Something heavy lifts inside her. She says, “How quickly can you have theRapideready to sail, with as small a crew as possible?”
“With a skeleton crew, I expect I’ll need six, maybe eight hours. Half of that will be to assemble the crew.”
“Is she still moored in Nelly’s Cove?”
“She is.”
“And are you able to sail in the next three days? The ship will need to be ready and waiting. I don’t know how long it’ll take me.” She takes a flea-sized nibble of the bread crust and chews.
“To do what, exactly?”
“I’m going to volunteer to join the navy. I’ll find a way to free Jack when I’m on board the ship.” She takes a deep breath. The wordsbegin to flow again, in a torrent. “I won’t let them take him from me—from us. I’m going to get him out or…or die in the attempt.”
She thinks,I’ll die anyway without Jack. She doesn’t know if it’s true. She continued to live her life after she lost George. Every day she felt the stab of memory, but she didn’t give up. This time, she doesn’t know if she can do it. Once was enough, maybe. Or maybe there will be too many cuts, between George and Jack. Maybe she’ll bleed too much inside. “It may not work, but I’m going to try,” she says.
Harry is looking at her, his expression a mix of disbelief and admiration. “When the captain said you were stubborn, he wasn’t jesting.”
“Jack said that?”
“I think he meant it as a compliment.”
She smiles. It’s a wan, small smile, but it’s the first time since Tom Holder brought her the news that she has managed to produce one. “I wonder.”
Harry leans back in his chair, fingering his beard, his dark eyes resting on her. “Why don’t you ask him yourself when you see him?”
She wants to kiss him for saying it. “Maybe I will.”
Harry’s smile fades. “There’s one problem. Papers. The captain’s will have been revoked—they’ve searched the house—and I haven’t got any. We can sail without, but we may be taken for pirates.”
“What sort of papers?” she says.
“A special license to pull into French ports despite the embargo, as well as proof the ship is on the register. TheRapide’s port of origin is Penzance.”
She nods. “I’ll try to think of something. But we can sail without?”
Harry says, “I’d prefer not to, but if it’s the only way, we will. I’ll have theRapideready to sail by nightfall.”
Harry stands when she rises. At the door, she turns back to him. “Thank you, Harry.”
“Good luck to you, Bucca’s daughter.”
“Thank you. I shall need it.”
—
The door to the Shipwrights Arms is locked, but the blinds are open. It’s half an hour past noon. She knocks, and when nobody answers, she puts her face to the window glass. A shadow moves inside, shaped like a person. Then the door is unlocked and Richard lets her in. “Please, may I speak to your father?” she says.
Tom Holder comes from the back and says, “What can I do for you, Mrs. Henley?”
She explains that she requires a horse. “I need it tonight or perhaps tomorrow. Possibly even Friday morning.” She doesn’t know how long it will take to free Jack. “It’ll need to be saddled and ready. I promise you’ll have it back in a day. I may be able to send someone or you can retrieve it from Nelly’s Cove.”
