James hesitated, his face turning red. Joshua was immediately of the mind that the crewman had run away.
“You didn’t wait to find out, did you?” Joshua said.
James's face turned a brighter red. “I told you I cut through to the hut and then went back to find help.”
Joshua sighed. He did not know what to say. He looked through the open window of the hut to see that the ladies had sat down on the ground beside the hut. “I am going to take Juliette back to the beach with me and finish the alert signal,” Joshua said, wishing he could silently request his uncle to keep interrogating the crewmen while he was gone. From the look on the older man’s face, that was what was going to happen anyway.
“Very well.” Cain nodded, his eyes never leaving James’s face. “I’ll have a long talk with these two. Are you taking Betts with you?”
“I think Betts should remain here?” Joshua asked. Secretly, he wished to take Juliette with him alone, though he hoped his uncle would assume he asked Betts to remain to tend the wounded.
“Very well. But tell her to come back inside. I do not like to have her out there all alone.”
Joshua did, and Betts entered the hut a few moments later. She checked on Charles, crossed the room and sat stiffly in a chair by a window.
Joshua called to Juliette, who rose gracefully and followed him down the path to the shoreline. He wanted to put his arm around Juliette, but did not. He wanted to pull her to him, but he resisted the urge. He ached to kiss her sweet lips, but he did not dare.
They just walked along, side by side in silence.
Juliette wondered privately if she had made it apparent that she was falling in love. She regretted the few times she had lost her temper with Joshua, but knew she would have done no differently. She did not like being treated like a child. She allowed herself to smile.
“May I ask what you are thinking about that has you amused, my lady?” Joshua asked, glancing down at her to see the look on her face. When she looked up at him, she was still smiling. The smile made her look so beautiful. He couldn’t help but smile himself.
“I was thinking about the Queen. Queen Elizabeth – Gloriana – that is.”
Joshua raised his eyebrows. It was not what he’d expected. “Oh? What of her?”
“I was thinking how our history is full of strong, courageous women. It seems quite silly that women are looked at as cosseted creatures, does it not?”
Joshua snorted with surprise. “Yes, I agree.” He said. “I have never considered that before.”
“I noticed,” Juliette said archly. He laughed.
Joshua gave her a warm smile. “You are a lot like the Queen, my lady. You truly are.”
The compliment filled Juliette’s heart with pride.
Together the two walked slowly down towards the shore.
At the tide-line, the two set about gathering sticks and throwing them on the pile Joshua had started earlier that morning. They worked in silence for a while. Joshua watched Juliette as she made her way carefully across the sands, picking up the various sizes of twigs and sticks.
“Do you think a passing ship will see this fire?” Juliette asked, stopping to stand on the shore and stare out over the water. “Will we have to wait for nightfall before we can try it?”
“Lady Juliette,” Joshua answered, coming up behind her to stand close. “I am hopeful that we can make a fire so large that it is bright enough to be seen during both day and night. We must do what we can to give a signal to any ships that pass.”
“It does not seem like many ships will pass this island,” Juliette said sadly, and bent to collect more wood.
“There is no way to know, my lady. We will have to pray and take our chances.”
“I am always praying and taking chances,” Juliette said in an amused voice. “Those are two things I do on a daily basis.”
“I believe we all do, my lady.”
She nodded at him, serious again. “Yes.”
She sat down in the sand, arms clasped around her legs. After a moment, he did the same. “It is very peaceful here,” she sighed. I can almost forget the threat that comes from that man-beast.” Juliette glanced behind her into the woods, as if just now remembering they might be in danger.
“I do not think the creature is as much of a threat as was first thought,” Joshua said cautiously.
“You do not? Why is that?” Juliette turned to stare at him, green eyes wide with surprise.
Joshua was quiet as he remembered his discussion with Charlie.
“Do not keep it from me?” she asked quickly. “You can trust me...”
Joshua stopped her with a look. “My lady, I am not going to keep anything from you. I have already promised I shall never keep something from you again. I was merely deciding how to say it.”
Juliette pressed her lips together, embarrassed. Joshua, beside her, wondered if there was any expression she could have on her face that made her less than beautiful. As far as he was concerned, he was ready to take her as his wife the moment they returned.
He chuckled at the thought, and then resumed what he was going to say, sobering instantly. “After my talk with Charlie this morning, and my own experience, I believe there is more to the story. I also saw the creature, just before you and Uncle Cain showed up.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You did? It did not try to attack you?”
Joshua shook his head. “No. In fact, it just sat there in the woods staring at me until you and Uncle arrived, and he called me.”
Juliette looked worried. “You could have been attacked at any moment.”
Joshua reached over and grasped her arm. He shook his head. “I do not believe that. I have seen enough to know the story James and Charlie have given us is not completely true. Something is wrong about it. James had barely seen the creature, nor did he attempt to help Charlie in any way. Charlie does not seem to be telling the truth either. I believe he somehow provoked the creature into attacking him.”
“How could he have done that?” Juliette asked.
“I agree. But there is something odd about their account of events.”
Juliette stood up. “We should continue creating this wood stack, my lord. The sooner it is done, the sooner we can return to the hut. I do not feel safe out here, even though you have your doubts about the danger.”
“Yes. Very well.” Joshua stood up too, and the two of them set about finishing the tall stack of wood. When they were at the point that they were throwing sticks up into the air to make them land on the pile, he pulled a tinder box from his belt and went to light it.
Juliette stopped him. “Do you think we should wait to light it until the evening? That is a few more hours, I know, but it will burn down to nothing if we light it during the day. I know the smoke is a good signal, but I trust the light of the fire during the night.”
“If you think it is a better idea, that is what we will do, my lady,” Joshua deferred to her opinion. He placed the tinder box back in the holder he had attached to his belt. “I am quite hungry anyway. Perhaps we should return to the hut and see if anything has changed there. I am hoping my uncle has heard more of the truth from the men.”
“I hope Betts will prepare a meal for all of us. She seems determined to care for our fallen seaman.”
Joshua nodded. “Good. I may starve to death if I do not have something to eat very soon.”
“I think you have a long way to go before you starve to death, sir.” Juliette laughed.
Joshua looked down at himself and then back to her. “Are you sure? Notice that I am just skin and bones already. I think it is a real possibility.”
The two of them laughed as they walked down the large path to the hut.
They were surprised to hear laughter coming from the hut as they approached. Joshua recognized the sound of his uncle, and there was no mistaking Betts since she was the only woman in the hut at the time. Joshua and Juliette gave each other a look, both of them cheered by
the sounds of happiness.
“I wonder what has happened,” Juliette said curiously.
“I think we are about to find out,” Joshua replied, going up the steps to the porch and pushing open the door.
What he saw when he opened the door made his smile widen. He allowed Juliette to pass in front of him. “It looks like we are all getting along,” he said. “How nice.”
“I was telling them a story from your youth, Joshua.”
Joshua stopped and stared at his uncle. “You were? What story? Am I to understand you are all laughing at me?”
Juliette raised her eyebrows, looking from one man to the other. Joshua did not seem very upset, so she assumed there was no real problem. Cain laughed.
“Not laughing at you, young sir,” he smiled. “Your exploits are a cause of some amusement, however. You were, you must admit, an amusing young man.”
“I am still an amusing young man.” Joshua turned his smile to Juliette. “I believe you said something about Betts making some food for us all?”
“Yes, I am sure she will. Betts?”
“Yes, my lady.” The woman got up from the chair by the window and crossed the room to where the baskets of food were placed. She began pulling out items wrapped in brown paper. “It will be sandwiches, I am afraid.”
“Did you finish the task you went to do?” Cain asked.
Joshua remained standing, allowing Juliette to take the remaining chair in the small room. “We did. But I am curious to know what story you have told about me,” he insisted, smiling broadly.
“Are you sure you want to know?”
Joshua laughed. “I might as well hear it, to satisfy my curiosity. Also, I am sure you would like to give Lady Juliette a good laugh.”
“I was telling them about the cows.”
Joshua thought for only a moment before recalling the incident his uncle was about to tell. “What in heaven’s name made you think of that story?” he asked incredulously.
Cain shrugged. “It came up in conversation.”
“A story from my youth came up in conversation?”
“I will tell you the whole story another time,” Cain said. “But for the lady, I will tell it again.” Cain turned to look at Juliette, his grin conspiratorial. “Master Joshua was just a child at the time. He did not know better.”
“Do tell.” Juliette leaned forward in anticipation.
“His father had told him the night before his seventh birthday that he would be learning to ride horses beginning the next day. Young Master Joshua was very excited about it. He was tall for his age even then, though he is now six feet and won’t grow any more.”
“I will start getting shorter now.” Joshua laughed. “That is what happens, is it not?”
“True,” Cain nodded. “But you are deflecting. Do you want me to tell the story or not?”
Joshua continued laughing, waving one hand to indicate his uncle should continue.
“He was awake half the night, bouncing on his bed, wandering the halls. He insisted to his father that he knew how to ride a horse, though he had never been on one in his short life. I was with the family at the time, having returned from a long voyage. I could hear him in the hallway that night, singing and running up and down.”
“You were a restless child,” Juliette noted, grinning.
“I was that night, anyway,” Joshua responded with a smile. “It was like Christmas to me.”
“He had never been close to a horse, but insisted that he would know how to ride. Be that as it may, I woke up the next morning to a very quiet house. The boy was not up and ready, as his father expected him to be. He did not arrive for breakfast. We ended up having to go in search of him.”
Juliette looked surprised, moving her eyes back and forth between the men. Joshua’s cheeks were slightly red with embarrassment, but his smile did not leave his face. “Where were you?” she asked.
Cain leaned forward and said in a low voice. “He had taken it upon himself to go out and saddle his horse on his own.”
Juliette blinked, feeling the beginning of laughter building inside her. The anticipation was almost too much. She pictured a seven-year-old Joshua, trying to put a saddle on a majestic horse. “And?”
“We did not know it at the time. We searched the house, even down in the lower rooms of the mansion where no one entered but the servants. We did find him eventually, though.”
“And did he saddle the horse by himself?”
Cain shook his head. “No. He had saddled something though.”
Juliette put two and two together, realizing that at the beginning of the conversation, Cain had mentioned it was a story about cows. She raised one hand and covered her mouth. “Oh no. Oh no.”
She started to laugh just as Cain said through his own laughter, “He saddled one of the cows. And it took him three hours!”
Joshua burst out laughing. “That cow didn’t move. It gave me no trouble. But I did not understand why the saddle did not seem big enough. It sat on top all right, but getting it to strap on at the bottom was nearly impossible.”
Laughter filled the room, enlivening their desperate situation with a sudden burst of happiness like sunshine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE JOURNAL
THE JOURNAL
The sun went down on another day for the group of stranded travelers. To keep the tension at a minimum, Joshua did not yet mention his disbelief of Charlie’s story. He was choosing to wait until they returned to England, hoping there would never be any need to voice his ideas.
The stars were twinkling in the sky. Betts had laid out a blanket on the floor and she fell asleep almost as soon as she laid her head on the cushion – she had retrieved the one from the pile at the back of the room. Joshua and Juliette were the only ones still awake, talking in low voices in one corner of the room. Juliette was seated in the chair by the window that Betts had occupied earlier in the day. Joshua had dragged a chair close to her so that they would not bother the others while they talked by candlelight.
“It is frightening to think that this is what probably caused the fire on the ship,” Juliette said quietly, indicating the candle on the table next to her. “Fire is so very dangerous.”
“That it is,” Joshua agreed.
“How do you suppose it started?”
“A candle may have tipped over. There are so many flammable things on a ship: tinder, the wood of the ship itself, or an oil rag.”
Juliette nodded, turning her eyes to look outside. “I wonder about this place, Joshua. How did it come to be here? It does not seem possible that we could just have stumbled upon a hut in the middle of an island. And those piles there contain items from Europe. Probably England. Have you looked around this place to any depth?”
“No, I really have not.”
“Did you see the door in the floor?”
Joshua wondered why Juliette had waited until now to mention it. His eyebrows lifted
“I do not know what you are talking about.” He shook his head. “Please show me?”
She stood up and crept softly across the floor, lifting a small rug and showing him a small latch door hidden underneath it.
“What is this?” He got up to look at it closer, feeling a sudden shiver of excitement. “Have you looked in it? Have you opened it?”
Juliette shook her head. “I noticed it earlier, bit I did not wish to mention it because you and the Duke were talking.”
Joshua reached down and pushed on the latch, grasping the tiny handle with his fingers and pulling up the door. It revealed a small space inside. “Well, it’s not a way to get out in case of an emergency,” he joked. She smiled. “Hand me that candle.”
She did so, saying, “Be careful.”
He gave her an amused look. He held the candle over the hole. The flickering light revealed a cubbyhole filled with various items. He reached in and began to pull them out one by one. A small jar with clear liquid in it. A tinder box. A bag full of dust
. A book. A leather bag of coins.
“These are the strangest items. They don’t really look very old.” He mused as he lifted them.
“What kind of coins are those? Do you think pirates left a treasure here?”
Joshua raised his eyebrows. “That’s an interesting theory. Come, let’s look at this book. I have a mind it will give us a few clues.”
They took the book back to the table and Joshua set it down, gently putting the candle next to it and peering closely at the cover and binding. “It is an old book.”
“Open it. I want to see what’s inside it.”
Joshua was tickled by her anxious look. He opened the book to the middle to show drawings and words written in English.
“It is written in English. I would have told you that myself.” Juliette smiled wide at him. “There are so many things here that indicate someone who was British was here.”
“Words written in English don’t necessarily mean it was a British person, though,” Joshua remarked pedantically.
“Mayhap,” Juliette replied. “But it is the most likely explanation. Start at the beginning. Here, let me look.” Joshua grinned and passed the book towards her
She slid the book closer to her, took the candle in hand and put it close to the book so she could read it. She turned the pages so that she was at the very beginning of the book, where she read out the name at the front. “Sir Arnold Reginald Fenwick,” she read. “April, 1787. That wasn’t very long ago at all!”
“No, it wasn’t. I would have expected at least a hundred years ago. But that’s only about thirty or so.”
“Thirty-two,” Juliette confirmed. “This man could still be here.” She gasped. “Do you think he is the one that is stalking us? With the wolf’s skin draped around him?”
Joshua thought about it for a moment. “Mayhap,” he agreed. “But It would take quite a lot for someone of this caliber to retreat to the days of cavemen.”
Juliette laughed. “Cavemen.” She shook her head.
Regency Romance: The Earl’s Unexpected Journey Of Love (The Fairbanks Series - Love & Hearts) (Historical Romance Fiction) Page 14
