Forgotten Truths (The Forgotten Truths Series)

by Justine E. Domke

  “What’s wrong?” He stood next to the door as I went over to the window seat.

  “I’m tired. You said so yourself.”

  “Yes, but that was to get us out of the foyer. Why’d you run from the barn?”

  I closed my eyes. “Things got a little… tense.”

  He stood quietly for a moment. “It was when I had my hand on your face, wasn’t it?”

  I slowly nodded, still not able to look at him.

  He sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “Stop apologizing. I know you didn’t, and I’ll survive.”

  The sun was starting to set. It was amazing how quickly the days seemed to go while I had been here. I turned my head to look at James. He hadn’t moved from where he was standing next to the door.

  “I think I’m going to go to bed.” I said quietly.

  He nodded but didn’t comment.

  “And if you don’t mind, I’d like to have the room to myself.” I turned to the window, but not before I saw the corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk.

  “But the foot of your bed is so comfortable.” His tone was soft and a little sarcastic.

  “Just as well, go back to your bed. Where’s your room so I can find you when I wake up?” I looked back at him.

  “I’m right across the hall, but I’ll be up before you. I guarantee it.” The smile slowly left his face.

  “Well, I still don’t want you coming in to check on me. I’ll be fine. I’ll come over to your room when I wake up.”

  “Okay. I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight.” He stepped out into the hall and pulled the door shut with him.

  I stood up and stretched. I slowly walked over to the bed, pulled back the blankets, and lay down. I started thinking through the day, and when I got to our conversation about Mark, I made myself stop. I didn’t want to think about him. I knew he was looking for me, but I wanted my father to find me instead. I felt myself start to drift and then let the sleep overcome me.

  Chapter VI

  “Andrea!”

  I turned around when I heard my Shawn’s voice. He stood at the end of the dock that I was on.

  “Shawn!” I ran toward him and wrapped him in a hug.

  He laughed, unexpected by this. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?”

  I followed him to a little boat that some men from the ship were rowing toward the dock. “I was kidnapped. You have no idea what I’ve been through. I even rode a horse!”

  He laughed again. “I haven’t seen you so happy before.”

  I felt like I was bursting at the seams as we were rowed back to the ship. Finally, I was with my father again. But how had he found me? Why had I been on the dock in the first place? It hadn’t looked familiar. I turned around, but a heavy fog was rolling in so I couldn’t see it anymore. The little boat made it to the ship and was tied off where a rope ladder was hanging down. I climbed it with my father right behind and was welcomed back by the entire crew. A few had some smug looks, and I saw a couple of them trading some money for bets. It didn’t bother me. I was just so glad to finally be back.

  I turned toward my father. “How’d you find me?”

  “Well, after a few threats and fights, we finally received enough information to find where you had been taken.” He led me up to the top deck and stood behind the helm. He cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, “We’re off boys!”

  A loud cheer rose from the deck and men ran around to pull lines and climb the rigging.

  I turned back to my father. “But how’d you know I was with James?”

  He looked at me with a confused expression. “Andrea, we found you on the dock. You were there alone. Who’s James?”

  I opened my mouth, but found I had no response. It had been by chance that I had been on that dock at that specific moment. But what had I done to get there? Why was I there? And where was James? He never left me alone.

  “Hey, Andy! I’m glad you’re back.”

  I turned around to find Jason behind me with a big grin on his face.

  “So am I Jason. Where’s Mark?”

  Jason got a strange look on his face. “We never found him. We assumed he had been kidnapped with you.”

  I stood there, slightly shocked, but had nothing to say to my surprise. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, but now at least I didn’t have to worry about him talking to my father.

  A few days passed with no big problems. My father decided about a week later that we needed to check out the island where I had been captured. He wanted me to see it and he wanted some of the men to look for Mark. So that evening, with a heavy fog rolling in, we docked, but I didn’t leave the ship. My father argued with me, but when I repeatedly reminded him of the last time I got off the ship, he let it go and let me stay. By nightfall, everyone besides Jason, my father, and I were on the island.

  I stood at the bow. I was looking down at the water when I felt a presence next to me. I turned and saw Mark standing there, an odd grin on his face.

  “Hi, Andy.”

  “Mark!” I was shocked. How had he gotten here when no ships had come back? “They said you went missing and never got off the island.”

  “I’ve been hiding below deck. Something has come up. I need to speak with your father.” He looked over at the helm where my father was.

  “You aren’t going to ask him if you can marry me are you?”

  He slowly turned his attention back to me. “Not today, Love.”

  I took a step back. Where had that name come from? He smiled knowingly at my reaction and then walked toward my father. He pulled his sword out and before I could say anything or move, he shoved it through my father.

  I screamed and ran toward him as he pulled the blade out of my father’s chest. I held my father in my arms and watched as blood pooled on his chest. He looked up at me and said, “Andrea, wake up.”

  Someone grabbed me from behind and I spun around to hit him. I didn’t see his face, but he started to pull me away from my Shawn. I started to scream again and fought against it. My father watched me and said again, “Andrea, wake up.”

  I opened my eyes, my breath coming out in short gasps. I was drenched in sweat and felt strong hands around my arms. James was leaning over me, an anxious expression covering his face.

  “Andrea, Love, it’s all right. Everything is fine, I promise.”

  I looked toward the window, but it was dark. I couldn’t get control of my breathing and I heard myself say, “He killed him.”

  “It was just a nightmare, Love. It’s okay.” I felt James sit down beside me.

  “No. No, no, no, no, no.” I put my head in my hands. There were tears I hadn’t noticed streaming down my face.

  “It wasn’t real. You’re all right.”

  I looked up at him. “Mark killed my father.”

  He leaned back. “He what?”

  “Mark killed my father! I need to find him!” I tried to sit up, but he still held my arms down.

  “Andrea, you were having a nightmare. You were screaming. It was just a dream.”

  I closed my eyes again and put my hands over them. “But he killed him.”

  He removed his hands from my arms and I felt him brush some hair off my face. “Shh. Everything’s all right, Love.”

  I sat up quickly. Before I knew what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around his neck as another batch of tears started. He didn’t respond for a moment, probably surprised, but then I felt one of his hands slide around my waist as the other one slid up my back.

  “I’m here. It’s okay. It was just a nightmare,” he quietly coaxed in my ear.

  It took me some time to calm down, and I finally felt my body stop shaking. When the tears slowed to almost nothing, I sat back. I wiped my face with my hand. James watched me carefully, unsure of what to say it seemed.

  “I dreamt that my father had found me,” I said quietly as I looked down at my hands. “He had found me and too
k me to his ship. But Mark had somehow not gotten off the island and since he wasn’t with me, they went back. All of the crew got off except for me, my father, and my other close friend, and suddenly there he was. And he ran his blade right through my father’s chest.”

  I felt his hand on my cheek. “It was just a dream though.”

  I leaned back against the pillows and placed my hand over my face.

  “Maybe you should just close your eyes and try to go back to sleep,” James said slowly.

  I looked at him. “Are you kidding? I can’t sleep after something like that.”

  He stood up. “I’m sorry. I just thought it might help.”

  “Would you stop apologizing?” I spoke through clenched teeth. He stood quietly for a moment before he went over to the door. He had his hand on the handle when I sat up. “Don’t go.”

  He turned his head toward me, but didn’t say anything.

  “Don’t leave me alone. I… I don’t want to be left alone in this room again.” I spoke just above a whisper. I didn’t like admitting defeat.

  He glanced at the chair beside my bed, and then at me. Whatever he saw in my expression made him walk around the bed and sit down next to me. He leaned back against the headboard and looked at me. “How’s this?”

  “It’s fine.” I closed my eyes.

  “Try to get some more sleep. There are several more hours before dawn.”

  “I don’t think I will.” But I still readjusted myself and slid back down to rest my head on the pillows.

  “Just try anyway,” he said quietly.

  I did end up falling asleep, and the nightmare started again. But right before my father was killed, it suddenly changed and I found myself taking a walk on the beach outside the captain’s house. When I woke up, I couldn’t figure out what had made the dream change so drastically.

  I realized that my head was on James’ chest and my arms were wrapped around his body. I stared out the window, shocked with myself as I wondered what my next move would be. I couldn’t begin to imagine what he was thinking, especially since I wasn’t sure how long I’d been like this. I slowly sat up and looked at him. He wasn’t paying attention to me, and I noticed that his arm was on the pillows. He purposefully made sure he didn’t touch me. He caught me looking at it and tried to smile, but didn’t say anything.

  I felt I had to say something, but I wasn’t sure what. I had to try anyway, even if it meant stumbling over my own words. “I… I don’t know what happened. I started to have the dream again… My father was so vivid and I just…. The dream suddenly changed… I just, I don’t know why I did that.”

  He slowly nodded. “There’s no reason to explain. It’s okay. You were fine for about an hour, and then you started to squirm, making some whining noises. I thought at one point you were going to start screaming again, but then you rolled over and wrapped your arm around me and after adjusting a little, you slept soundly until you woke up just now.”

  I ran my hand through my hair, not sure what to say.

  “It honestly didn’t bother me, Love. You’re the one with personal space issues. I made sure though that I didn’t touch you because I didn’t want you punching me in your sleep.” He grinned again. When I didn’t respond, he frowned, got up and walked toward the door.

  “I don’t know what to say, James.” I said quietly. “I didn’t mean it.”

  He stood in the doorway and turned around to face me. “I already told you, Love, it’s fine. It didn’t bother me. I was more concerned about making sure that you were all right and that you slept. I’m going to get you breakfast, so I’ll be right back. I promise you though, you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

  He made it very clear the rest of the day that I had nothing to worry about. But when I went to bed that night, the nightmare came back. James woke me up again and I responded about the same way so he sat with me through the night. I fell asleep and woke up with my head on his chest and my arm around his body again. We fell into this pattern for several days and finally one night before I went to bed, James stayed in the room.

  “Do you think it would make a difference if I stayed in here tonight?”

  I sat up. “Why would it?”

  “Well, it just seems that right before the dream gets really bad, you roll over and when you’re hugging me, you’re fine. I mean, I can just sit in the chair and see if even my presence is enough. Or I can sit on the bed next to you as well. It doesn’t matter to me. But I think you’re getting tired of having these dreams.”

  I nodded. I was getting tired of him having to wake me. It would be nice to get through a night without having these dreams and to be able to sleep peacefully. “Well, if you think it’ll help. But can you sleep sitting up?”

  He sat down next to me, but kept enough space between us where I could lie down and move around a little without bumping him. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  And I didn’t. I slept through the night without the dream coming back. And when I woke, I was hugging James again. I felt his hand on my waist and his other hand on my arm around his stomach. He rubbed his thumb back and forth across my skin. But that wasn’t what woke me. He was quietly talking to someone.

  “She’s been having nightmares?” a male voice asked from behind me.

  “They’ve been pretty bad. Shawn gets killed right in front of her. The only time she’s fine is when she’s holding me,” James responded quietly.

  “It must be your charm because we all know it isn’t your looks that are comforting.”

  “Funny, William. I don’t see the ladies flock to you any time they see you either.”

  “I, at least, have a steady job.”

  James sighed. “Good point. So don’t you want to see her?”

  “I don’t want to disturb her by my boots clomping across the floor.”

  “Then take them off.”

  I heard some shuffling by the door and then soft footsteps rounding the bed. They stopped quickly once they reached the point where I knew he could see my face.

  “James, this is the girl they’ve been talking about.”

  “Who?” He didn’t sound concerned.

  “Everyone. Any time I’m in town, I heard talk of this brunette with the angel’s face in men’s clothing. This is her.”

  “Everyone or just the men?” I could tell he had a smile on his face.

  “Everyone. I had no idea she was the one living with us. Where did you find her?”

  “Why does it matter? I found her when Captain Brown asked me to go with Captain Taylor.”

  “And my father has seen her?”

  “Of course he has, Will. She has been here for more than a month, not including the week and a half it took to get here.”

  “So you know who she is?”

  How did this man know who I was? I had never met him before. I only knew that he was the captain’s son when he called the captain his father. Was I more valuable being my father’s daughter than I realized?

  “Yes, Captain Brown told me. But she doesn’t know. You’re risking enough just talking about it right here.”

  “She’s asleep. She can’t hear us.”

  “Or she could be awake and listening to everything we say.”

  I wasn’t sure if he really believe this or not, but then he went on.

  “I’m just saying that she doesn’t know and it would be wise, if she ever did see you, that you don’t bring it up.”

  It was quiet for a moment. I wondered if they were silently communicating or mouthing words to each other until I heard the man sigh.

  “She’s beautiful.”

  James stopped his thumb and then started again. “She is.”

  “I never would have expected her to look like this.”

  “Would you be quiet? Stop saying that kind of stuff out loud.”

  “Fine. I’m going to bed. We had a little trouble at the fort last night anyway so I’m exhaus
ted.”

  “What happened?”

  “Someone tried to break into the jail for some reason. We don’t have anyone down there, but someone broke in, apparently thinking there was.”

  “That’s odd. Did you catch him?”

  “No. He got away before we realized it. We didn’t think to cover the cells since no one is there. We just heard noises, and by the time we got there it was empty.”

  “Hmmm. That’s really strange. Let me know if anything else happens.”

  “I will. I’m going to bed now. Goodnight.” I heard him leave the room, and the door closed behind him.

  James shifted a little, and I assumed he was getting uncomfortable. But then I felt his breath on my ear as he whispered, “You can stop pretending now.”

  I yawned and stretched. “How’d you know I was awake?”

  “You became very still, so I knew you were listening.”

  I still didn’t move. I was too comfortable with his arm around me. He stopped moving his thumb and placed his hand on the bed beside him to push himself into more of a sitting position since he had slid down during the night. I reluctantly sat up and stretched again. It was nice to be able to sleep without having a nightmare, and James had made it very clear that he didn’t mind me holding him in order to make that happen. But it still bothered me that I couldn’t figure out why I could trust him not to hurt me, and yet I couldn’t trust anyone else, especially the people I’d known for years.

  ~~~~~~~***~~~~~~~

  James spent all morning and a good portion of the afternoon talking about Will. It had started with me asking him if Will was the captain’s son, and he hadn’t shut up since. We started to walk along the beach toward the town. We weren’t in any hurry to go anywhere, but we figured we’d check on the progress of the dresses to please Captain Brown. I was in the surf while James stayed in the dry sand. The water was cold, but felt very good on my skin as it splashed on my ankles and feet. I stopped listening to him after awhile and focused instead on the sound of the water and the feel of it. Suddenly, he was directly in front of me which forced me to stop.