Liam sat up, looking back at the beach. The battle was already over, most of the rebels lay dead or dying, but a few were escaping up the hill, into the forest. The British soldiers milled about, killing the rebels who still lived. Liam’s eyes widened. A huge man had ridden slowly forward on a small horse, one which appeared pathetically abused by the man’s vast weight, and now stood fetlock-deep in the water. He wore no helmet and his red hair gleamed. He stared directly at Liam. It could be none other than Sir John Perrot.
Even from this distance, he saw the man’s rage. Perrot lifted one hand, shook his fist at the escaping rowboat. Liam’s jaw set. And he stared back, knowing he had just escaped with his life—by an act of God, or of Fate.
Katherine was in the kitchens when Guy came running in. Her hands were sticky with syrup, for she had been candying sweetmeats alongside two kitchen maids. This past week had been a frenzy of activity, distilling cordials, drying fruits, and making jams. Katherine did not have to hear what Guy was saying so exuberantly to know that theSea Daggerhad come home. To know that Liam had come home.
She washed and dried her hands quickly, her pulse pounding in excitement—until she realized that Guy was telling her that theSea Daggerhad already berthed, and that there were wounded men amongst the returning sailors. Katherine cried out. “How do you know?” She could imagine Liam upon a pallet, pale and lifeless.
“I was there when the ship arrived,” Guy said in a rush. “’Tis not the captain, he is fine, but he is bringing a wounded man up to the house. He says you must get your medicines out and prepare a bed.”
Katherine was briefly stricken with relief, but in the next instant she had turned to the two serving girls, ordering them to bring her medicinal basket, soap and water, and plenty of clean linen for bandages. She flew from the room.
Katherine ran upstairs, entering the unused bedchamber. She threw open the hides to let in the sharp winter air. Contrary to what physicians recommended, she believed fresh air to be healthy and invigorating.
She uncovered the bed. A servant appeared behind her. “Let me do that, my lady,” he said.
“Make a fire, Ned,” she ordered, then raced from the room.
As she stumbled down the stairs she heard Liam’s richly timbred voice. Her gaze flew to him, clinging—inspecting every inch of him.
A servant had taken his cloak. His shirt was bloodstained, as were his breeches, but she saw no sign of any wound upon him. “Are you well, Liam?” she cried, rushing into his arms.
He smiled at her gently. “I like this greeting, this hot concern,” he murmured. “Yes, Kate, I am well. But your old friend is not.”
Katherine did not understand. She turned, finally seeing the man who lay upon a pallet stretched on two wood poles, an unconscious man sweating with fever. Her eyes widened when she recognized Hugh. “Good God!” She ran to him and knelt at his side, touched his forehead. How terribly hot he was. Then Katherine saw the wound. It was festering, and it needed to be taken care of immediately. Hugh opened his eyes, but only stared at her blankly.
Katherine nodded. “Take him upstairs.” The two sailors instantly obeyed. She turned to Liam’s steward, who hovered behind her. “Bring me vinegar, brandy, and moldy bread.”
“Moldy bread? We have no—”
“Get me moldy bread this instant,” Katherine cried. Lifting up her skirts, she hurried up the stairs, determined to save the life of the man she had once loved and intendedto marry.
“I thought it was you,” Hugh whispered several days later.
Katherine had just entered the room. She smiled, pleased to see him awake and without fever, but she had known for some time now that he would live. “Barry men are hard to kill off, it seems.”
Hugh watched her. “At first, when I was out of my head with fever, I thought you an angel.”
Katherine laughed, thinking of how wicked she had been last night. “I am hardly an angel.”
Hugh looked only at her face. “You could be an angel, Katie. That is how beautiful you are.”
She stared at him, no longer smiling.
“You have changed even more than when I last saw you,” he said with a sigh, falling back on the pillows. “And I, I am still as weak as a newborn kitten.”
“That is correct,” Katherine said. “But you are mending well, and in a few more days you will be able to get up and out of your bed.”
“How can I thank you?” Hugh asked. “For saving my life?”
Katherine did not hesitate. “I treated you as I would have treated anyone. You do not need to thank me.”
Hugh stared at her searchingly. “Perhaps I will find a way.”
Katherine shrugged. Then she started, for Liam stood in the doorway. She smiled at him, going to him immediately. He put his arm around her. “You never cease to amaze me,” he said.
“While you stay with me upon my island, I ask but one thing of you,” Liam said quietly. He and Barry were alone in the hall.
“You can ask anything,” Barry said. “Because I owe you and Katie my freedom and my life.”
