She was going to lie, then thought better of it. “Thirteen.”
“I’ll be damned.”
It took him over an hour to extract the entire story from Alexis. When she was finished he was certain there were things she’d omitted but he did not press her any further. He had to admit to a grudging admiration for the girl. It was clear she did not expect his pity, or even desire it.
“I can’t take you to Charleston,” he said after a reflective silence. For the first time since he knew her he fancied he detected fear in her amber eyes. Reading her thoughts he added, “You won’t go back to London either. This storm may be the luckiest thing that ever happened to you, Alex. Because we were blown off course, the captain has decided to stop at a few ports in the Caribbean and unload some of the cargo there. That’s where we’ll unload you.”
“Why can’t Oi go the whole way ta Charleston?” she asked stubbornly.
“Because it will be at least three weeks before we get there now. You can’t hope to hide the fact you’re a girl for that long. The men who called you Pretty Boy will seem like angels compared to the others when they find out. I can’t protect you all day and night too. You’ll be safer getting off at one of the islands.”
Alexis drew her eyebrows together and frowned. “Oi don’t like this, Pauley. It ain’t…isn’t wot I planned for meself. Wot would Oi…I do on an island?”
“Oh, Alex,” he laughed. “I’m not just going to push you ashore and forget about you. I have friends on Tortola, in Roadtown. I’ve told you about George and Francine often enough. You remember? Quinton shipping.”
“I remember.”
“Why do you look so unhappy? They’re good people. I know they’ll take you in.”
“Like Charlie and Meg did,” she replied bitterly.
“No. Not like Charlie and Meg. Don’t you know me any better than that? I wouldn’t put you with people like that. George and Francine don’t have any children—at least they didn’t when I last saw them—and they have money, Alex.”
“That’s na’ important. Oi wasn’t unhappy because I was poor.”
“I know that. You were unhappy because you could do nothing about it there. Well, the Quintons won’t present you with that problem. You’ll be able to get an education and if you still want to go to the United States later, they’ll see that you get there.”
“Why would they want me? They seem to have everything they want.”
Pauley lifted his dark eyebrows in surprise. “You can ask that? I thought you knew yourself better.”
Alexis tried to puzzle that out. No one had ever expressed a desire to be her friend before and it had never bothered her. Pauley was an exception. Could it be the Quintons were like him? “Oi don’ ’ave a choice, do I?” she asked softly.
“Not this time, Alex. Trust me. This is one decision that has been made for you. I’ll accept the consequences.” He laughed and held her hand when she eyed him warily.
By the time theConstellationreached the port of Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, Alexis had accepted Pauley’s decision. During the three days between the time he’d confronted her and the time they anchored near the thriving harbor, Alexis had learned all she could about George and Francine Quinton. Pauley explained how George had left England over twenty years ago with his French bride, determined to make his fortune planting sugar cane and raising livestock on Tortola. It hadn’t taken him long to realize there was a better life to be had by setting up his own shipping firm to transport the goods of the other settlers. Quinton Shipping had started slowly and suffered many setbacks before George managed to make a success of it. Alexis had seen his ships before, delivering sugar in the harbor at Bristol, their sides painted dark blue and decorated with red bands broken by the spaces of the gun ports. Alexis was intrigued by what she learned about the Quintons. That knowledge and Pauley’s daily assurances enabled her to put aside some of her misgivings.
By the time theConstellationanchored off Tortola Pauley suspected there was little left he could do to allay Alexis’s remaining fears. But when it was time for them to leave he found her alone in her cabin, precariously close to tears, and he knew that he had not begun to touch her deepest, most secret thoughts.
“I thought you trusted me,” he told her as he sat beside her on the bunk. He watched a pathetic tremor shake her body as she tried to suppress her tears. “What are you upsetting yourself about?”
“Oi ain’t upset.” Her attempt at defiance was lost as the words passed through the lump in her throat.
Pauley smiled. “Liar.”
Alexis felt herself blush, embarrassed that his accusation was true. To hide it she threw her arms around Pauley’s neck and buried her face against his chest. “Oi’m grateful to you, Pauley. Truly, Oi am. Oi know yer doin’ wot ya think is best fer me.”
“But?” He removed her arms from around his neck and placed his hand on her chin, lifting her face to meet his eyes. “I know there’s a but. What are you so afraid of? What has you shaking?”
She drew in a sharp breath; then the words seemed to explode from her. “Wot if Oi learn ta luv ’em and they don’t want me by and by? Oi’ll ’urt again, Pauley. Loike Oi ’urt now, leavin’ you. Oi don’t want ta be beholdin’ ta nobody. Nor nobody’s burden either.” She sniffed loudly. “Oi jest want ta go me own way. Ta America.”
Pauley pulled Alexis back into his arms and held her tightly. “You could never be a burden, Alex. You will always have it in you to go your own way. It’s what I love best about you.”
“Truly?”
“Truly. No one who loves you would ever stop you. As for loving, it’s a risk sometimes. I’ve never known that to scare you off.” Pauley knew Alexis would recognize the challenge he gave her and be unable to ignore it. She made no reply other than to release her tears softly into the fabric of his shirt.
Less than an hour later, the incident behind them and never to be mentioned again, Pauley and Alexis left the ship during the transfer of cargo. With Alexis firmly in tow, Pauley hurried through the busy streets of Roadtown. Behind them, in Road Bay, a small fleet of fishing sloops lazily made its way to open water. In front of them, the small settlement town was the source of one discovery after another. Pauley laughed at Alexis’s childish amazement at her first sight of one of the dark-skinned islanders. Her enthusiasm for the bright foliage was endless; she wanted to stop every ten paces to smell some delicious new flower. He pointed out fields of sugar cane on the terraced hillsides, and she made him halt in mid-stride to watch the cane being loaded on donkeys before it was taken to the mill. Pauley was happy to comply with her wishes. He could never have denied her simple delight in her new surroundings. On board the ship she had been so defensive, so old. Now, with someone guiding her adventure, she was almost like any other child he saw on the waterfront.
