Not being near her had affected him almost constantly. He was more irritable and less focused. He found himself distracted, always searching the deck for her beautiful profile, but it was never found. He’d done so much for the ship, and the men seemed to finally be rallying behind him, and yet it brought him no joy.
Even when the captain had asked him to dine with him and they’d celebrated the dolphin catch, Will still found himself wanting something more.
“You’ve spotted a ship, then?” The captain joined him at the helm, pulling Will from his reflections.
“Do you wish to accompany us on the rowboat?” Will asked him. The man’s face looked gray and even older than the last time they spoke.
The captain analyzed the distance with his own spyglass. “No, you can be the liaison.” He drew in a deep breath. “I will stay here and man the wheel as we approach the ship.”
By noon they were near enough that Will, along with Mr. Wilson, Jack, and Mr. Crenshaw, were lowered in the rowboat and set out for the other vessel.
“Ten to one they give us nothing,” muttered Crenshaw.
“I love how downright cheery ye always are, Crenshaw,” Jack spat back. “Makes ye real likable, ya know?”
Will kept back his smirk as he continued to pull on the oars. Crenshaw, after all, had ruined much of his happiness, most painfully where Ann was concerned. Praying had become more and more a part of Will’s daily routine, and this time he prayed that Crenshaw would be proven wrong.
Evening, April 14, 1854
52 days at sea
“If only that blasted ship had given us food,” said Jack as he prepared to change watches with Will.
Will shook his head as he came up the ladder, holding aloft a lantern. “Nothing we can do about it now.”
“Except starve,” Jack said.
Will needed some way to take his friend’s mind off their disheartening day. He glanced up at the canvas of stars above him. “There really is nothing more beautiful than the night sky.”
“Ah.” Jack grinned. “Glad to see that our old Will is back. Ye seemed distracted for a while, and I worried it was the passengers’ strange ways ruining ye. But here ye are, spoutin’ sailor philosophy like always.”
Will shook his head, and Jack told him the coordinates.
“As for me, where the stars are concerned,” Jack said. “I can think of a fair number of ladies who glimmer far more than those specks in the sky.”
Will pursed his lips.
“Ye don’t agree?” Jack folded his arms. “No longer so enamored with Miss Fowles, eh? Now that ye mention it, I haven’t noticed ye bumpin’ into her much.”
Will’s hand tightened on the lantern, and he hung it on a hook near him.
Jack raised his eyebrows. “Tell me, Will, which way is it? I’m desperate for any kind of gossip, and ye have forbidden me from talkin’ about how this ship is cursed, so I gotta move on to other subjects.” He leaned forward. “She snubbed ye?”
A grunt escaped from Will’s mouth. The fact was, despite his note and his resolve, Ann still plagued his thoughts. Why couldn’t he put it to rest? He sucked in a draft of the cool night air and checked over both shoulders to make sure they were quite alone.
“What I am about to tell you is strictly confidential. You can’t breathe a word of it to any soul, do you understand?”
Jack’s brows peaked. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” he whispered.
“You are worse than a nosy mother hen.”
“As ye were,” Jack gestured.
“I kissed Ann.”
Jack steadied himself on a nearby post. His whisper was full of disbelief. “No—impossible! Ye?”
Will raised his brows, exasperated. “You think me incapable of wooing a lady?”
