He shook his head and smiled. “I am guessing, by what I thought I heard Elizabeth say, that she told you of my decision to be baptized.”
“She said sheheardthat, but I want to hear it directly from you,” she said.
“It’s true,” he said. “Though apparently it’s hard to keep a secret on this ship.”
Ann felt her entire body erupt with happiness. She rushed toward him and reached for his hands. But then she stopped herself. “Then you’ve come to believe as I do? In all of it?”
“I wouldn’t be giving up everything if I didn’t,” he said. “I’ve told Captain Fairfield of my decision just an hour ago, and it sent him reeling. Mr. Flynn might never speak to me again, and worst of all, I might have to become a landlubber and move across the country to a strange place far from any navigable bodies of water.” He pursed his lips together and raised his eyebrows and then broke into a smile.
“So you really didn’t decide to be baptized just for me?”
“Well, thatwastempting, but ultimately it wasn’t my deep love for you that converted me.”
She placed a hand on her hip. “What caused you to change since we last spoke?”
He stared at her a minute and then glanced down at his hands. “It was that book you gave me.” From the inside of his coat, he withdrew her copy of the Book of Mormon. It looked more worn than she remembered, like he’d indeed been reading it. “And a lot of prayer and revelation.”
He clutched the book tight. “After you said you would go with the Saints, no matter what, I was so set on loathing it and you and every part of this religion, but then—” He explained how he’d been reading it on his own for quite some time. “When I opened a page yesterday, and God clearly spoke to me through one of the verses, I had to ask. God answered, and He told me to be baptized, and I knew I must obey. I can’t deny His hand in my life.”
Ann felt moisture pool in her eyes, but the tears that came ran down the sides of her widely smiling cheeks. “So you know for yourself.”
“I know for myself,” he replied.
“I couldn’t be happier. I wouldn’t want you to believe or be baptized for me.” She placed a finger on his chest. “You must believe for you.”
He scooped her hands into his. “Shall we go on deck?”
She followed him up the nearest hatchway, and he led her to the forecastle and stopped when they reached a spot near the railing where no other people stood.
The beautiful plantations and vegetation rose on either side of them as the ship moved upstream. The sight of land and animals and people working the ground still amazed her, but Will’s conversion proved to be the greater miracle.
He took in the scenery for a moment, too, then turned toward her. “We’ve both saved each other more than once on this voyage.” His voice was husky. “Will you, dear Ann, continue to voyage with me as my wife no matter what the future holds?”
She thought tears might come again, but instead, she was filled with pure joy. She threw her arms around his neck.
“Yes!”
He held onto her waist and twirled with her once. Then he set her down, and she felt her breath catch. He cupped her face with his hand, and she knew what was coming.
The warmth of his kiss exceeded all the thrill of the previous kisses combined. She could love him completely now, knowing that their future would be together.
After a moment he drew back and brushed the curls away from her face. He held her, and they watched the comings and goings of people and animals as they sailed by. It was beautiful—simply watching life being lived on land.
She finally felt excited for her future, for all it would hold with Will completing it.
She knew their souls would be united forevermore.
Chapter 42
April 22, 1854
60 days to make shore
Will stood at the gangplankas the healthy passengers disembarked from the ship. Those still sick would remain aboard a few more days.
They had done it. They had reached New Orleans, and here, tethered to solid ground once again, Will felt more gratitude than ever before for a safe journey. He still had many duties as the first mate, but for now, he held Ann’s hand. Nothing about this journey had followed the usual rules.
Person after person carried bundles off the ship, some gazing at land like it was a foreign object. One woman, however, stopped in front of them.
