“Or crazy,” a voice broke in.
Cloud searched out the speaker and glared at him. Mike Garrison shrunk back under the penetrating stare. Mike, as rugged and bawdy as any man on theHamilton,was not immune to his young captain’s commanding presence. In his forty years he had never met a man who could set him in his place like Cloud. He liked it. It was better than serving a man who was afraid of his brawn and went out of his way to avoid provoking his teeth-grinding anger.
“She’s not crazy, Mike,” Cloud said sharply. “You’ll find that out soon enough if she recovers.” Mike murmured an apology for being out of line, and Cloud laughed shortly. “Don’t apologize to me, Mike. You can apologize to her. She’s the one who is going to prove you wrong.”
“Then I’ll look forward to her recovery,” he answered firmly.
Cloud explained the situation more fully to his men and when he was done he ordered them back to work. When he was not needed any longer, he returned to his cabin to check on Alexis. She did not seem to need him either. She was still unconscious, oblivious to the pain that would overtake her once she awoke.
“Come in,” he answered impatiently to the knock at his door.
Landis strode into the room and walked over to the bed. “You did a fair job here, Tanner,” he said as he inspected the wrapping.
“You didn’t come here to tell me I should have gone to medical school. What do you want?”
“It’s the men. They have something to ask you. It’s not my place to give them an answer. I’ll stay with her until you get back.”
Cloud left his cabin. It had not taken them long to gather the courage to confront him. He knew what they wanted to know. He had been asking himself the same question since he’d returned to the ship. But he also knew the only answer it was possible to give them. And the answer was no.
He approached the small group of men standing on the quarterdeck. “Mr. Landis said you have a question for me. What is it?”
“You probably already know, Captain,” said Harry. “We want to go after Travers. He couldn’t have got much of a head start on us. We could take him.”
Mike cut in, his square jaw tightened with purpose. “There’s not a man here who won’t stand behind you if that’s what you decide to do.”
“I appreciate that, Mike. I only hope you will understand why we can’t do it. We’ve lost two good men to Travers’s insanity and we have a young woman below who may die because of his cruelty. We’re not at war with the British and we may not be for some time. To initiate an attack against Travers’s ship would be to invite catastrophe. We can’t start a war on the basis of one man’s actions.” He examined the men’s faces. They were unhappy with his decision but they knew he was right. They had known his answer just as he had known the question, but he admired them for asking it anyway. It never hurt to take an extra chance, even if the outcome was changed little by the effort. “Washington may open its eyes when we return and inform them there will be no ships from Quinton. It’s going to put a heavier load on our ship builders. Until then we can do nothing but get there as quickly as possible.”
The men nodded their agreement. When Cloud left they went back to their stations, each silently hoping Mr. Madison would finally realize what they had known for several years: No American ship was safe in the open water until American vessels were allowed to prove they were a match for England’s sea power.
Chapter 4
Cloud slept very little during the next three nights. He stayed by Alexis’s side, changing her bandages and wiping her head as a fever set in. Landis relieved him occasionally so he could catch a quick nap, but when he heard Alexis moan or cry out he invariably woke up.
The second evening was the hardest. Her fever grew worse and Landis warned Cloud she might not survive the night. The crew also grew restless, waiting for word of her condition. If she died, Cloud was going to have his hands full trying to keep the men from doing anything foolish.
She talked in her sleep, crying out for George and Francine. He thought it was strange that she called her parents by their first names. Landis, who had known George years ago, was at a loss to explain it. Her most despairing cries were for Pauley. She would try to sit up, would reach out for him, and when she could not find him, would collapse into anguished sobs.
It was on the fourth night of their vigil, when Landis had stepped out of the cabin for some fresh air and Cloud had finally succumbed to his need for sleep, that Alexis woke.
She sat up peering through the darkness at the man sprawled in a chair near her bunk. Still feverish, it took her several minutes to remember who he was. When she did, she could not stop all the other images that flashed, unbidden, in front of her eyes.
She recalled every detail of the day vividly until the moment she fainted. After that she could not remember anything. She despised the weakness that had caused her to faint, but as pain gnawed at her back she understood why it had happened. She fought the urge to moan, biting her lip instead and causing tears to spring to her eyes.
She wondered how long she had been out. Not more than a few hours surely. It was night now. It couldn’t be too late. She tried to identify her surroundings. Her own room didn’t roll—Oh dear God! She was on a ship and the sound of water breaking against the hull outside told her she was not in port. What had these men done? How could they have taken her away from the island?
The man in the chair was still sleeping soundly. She tried to think back. Hadn’t the other man called him captain? Then this was his ship and he would have made the decision to bring her here. She started to move, only one overwhelming thought in her mind: to get away. She stopped abruptly when she heard him stir. She remained motionless until he was quiet, then she got out of bed, looking down at her body in dismay when she felt a chill. Where were her clothes? Silently she cursed the captain in a rapid burst of French, almost sorry the object of her anger couldn’t hear her.
She wrapped the sheet around her body and quietly searched the large wardrobe for something to wear. She was more than a little astonished to find her own things folded neatly away among the clothing that could only belong to the captain. She dropped the sheet to the deck and pulled on a chemise. She winced at the pain as the material pulled against the bandages and she could feel the bleeding start again. She was lifting a dress out of the wardrobe when the door to the cabin swung open. She recognized the man who entered as the same one who had been with the captain. When he did not notice her immediately, she slid into the shadows:
Landis walked over to Cloud and woke him roughly. “Your turn for some air. I’ll watch the—Christ, Tanner! Where did she go?”
Cloud jumped to his feet. It wasn’t possible. He had just dozed off for a few minutes. She couldn’t have gone anywhere. He turned when he heard a small movement coming from the corner of the cabin. Alexis was standing against the wall, holding a dress in front of her. Her eyes shone like a cat’s in the dim light, and Cloud wondered if she could see them more easily than they could see her. He lighted a lamp and walked toward her.
As Alexis watched the captain’s approach she pushed herself against the wall. It was not fear that made her seem to back away, but pain. She thought she was going to faint again and the wall was the only thing offering her support in the wildly spinning cabin. It would never do to faint before she had a chance to tell them to take her back to Tortola.
Cloud stopped a few feet in front of her and placed the lamp on a commode. “Ma’am, you’re not well enough to be moving yet. Let me help you get back to bed. You’re ready to faint again.”
What a nice voice he had, she thought as she shook her head. It was clear and deep, blanketed with anxiousness. He did not appear to want to harm her. His liquid green eyes told her that. His outstretched arms were an extension of the things she saw in his eyes and heard in his voice. They looked inviting for their strength as well as the comfort they could provide. His body was lean and firm, and she remembered being held against it. He must have been the one who caught her when she fainted. Now the pain was almost unbearable. She wanted to be held in those arms again, but she remembered her purpose and fought the urge to submit. She recalled this was the man who had taken her away from Roadtown. She had to tell him that he must return her. She had to make him understand.
