“Your pseudonym? You said you were an author, but I assumed you were published under your own name. What is your pseudonym?”
“Arieta DeCosta.”
“You aren’t serious. You’re Arieta DeCosta? I loved your books.”
Sara laughed. “Well, I fear there won’t be any more.”
“But you should write more.”
“I’m not sure my style of romance will be well received for the next couple hundred years or so.”
“So, write them anyway. Lock them in a trunk and pass them down to your children. Then late in the twentieth century, one of your descendants can publish them.”
Sara laughed. “I’ll think about it. I suspect I may be a bit busy for the next few years.”
Zina laughed too. “I hope so. I hope you have lots of children filling your home.”
“So do I. But Zina, I’m serious. Come find us. Leave Venice before it falls to Napoleon.”
“That’s years away still. Plus, there’s a war coming in America too. Maybe, in twenty-five years, after the Revolutionary War is over, I’ll think about it. Venice will still be Venice until after that.” Zina shrugged. “But, if I get bored with Venice before then, I may come earlier.”
She and Zina chatted for several hours, making what had started as a painfully long night fly by.
Signore Santi arrived more than an hour before sunup.
“I’ll go with you,” said Zina. “I’m not ready to say goodbye.”
Signore Santi shook his head. “I know you’d like to, but it poses too great a risk.
Tears filled Zina’s eyes. “Then, my dear girl, give me a goodbye hug.”
“I’m not saying goodbye, so I’ll give you an ‘until we meet again’ hug.”
When they’d said their farewells, Sara had climbed into the gondola with Signore Santi then the gondolier rowed away into the predawn quiet.
The gondolier took them to the Arsenale, where a longboat was moored and two sailors waited. Signore Santi helped her into the boat, retrieved a small chest from the gondola, and climbed in himself. It was still dark when they’d reached the merchant vessel moored in the lagoon and the longboat was hoisted up.
Signore Santi helped her onto the deck and, with the small chest under one arm, he introduced her to the captain, speaking English. “Sara, my dear, you have just boarded the Silky Selkie and the captain of this fine vessel is Edward MacLeod.”
The captain gave a small bow. “Good morning, Miss Wells. ‘Tis a pleasure to meet ye.” He was a big man with thick sandy hair and a bushy reddish-gold beard, both shot with a fair bit of silver, and he spoke with a thick Scottish burr. “Ah sure, the Selkie is a fine vessel, but Santi could say nothing else for she was built by Santi and MacIan a few years ago. Welcome aboard.”
“Thank you, sir. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” She offered him her hand, and he took it, kissing the back.
“Now, lass, Santi has filled me in on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. So, for yer own safety, I’m going to show ye to yer cabin and I’ll ask ye to stay there until we’re under sail tomorrow.”
“Certainly.” Sara didn’t look forward to spending the next twenty-four hours in a cramped ship’s cabin, but she understood the necessity of it.
Emilio Santi said, “If you would wait just one moment, Captain. Sara, my dear, this chest is for Benedict from our partnership.”
The captain took it from him. “I’ll carry it down the passage for ye.”
With his hands free, Signore Santi took both of hers in his and switched to Venetian. “I believe you and Benedict are soulmates, brought together and meant to stay together. I will miss him terribly, but he deserves this happiness. And now that I’ve come to know you, I will miss you too. I’ll be staying on the ship tonight, to ensure Benedict is safely aboard tomorrow. But, as you will be hidden, I may not see you again. Go with God.” He had kissed her on both cheeks.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. I’m so sorry we have to leave like this.”
“Don’t think another moment about it. Look forward to the life ahead of you.”
The captain showed her to the cabin she and Ben would share, and as promised, she hadn’t left since then.
The cabin was bigger than she’d expected it to be. The captain had explained that it was the first mate’s cabin, but he would kip in with the boatswain for this leg of the trip. Two chests of their belongings stood against one wall and a bed was built into the opposite wall. A small table and two chairs stood in the space between. A port hole by the bed let in light and fresh air.
Now nearly twenty-four hours had passed. If the escape had been successful, Ben should be here any minute. She knelt on the bed, looking out the porthole, hoping to see something. But it was dark and she wasn’t even sure from which side of the ship they’d approach. Then the door opened behind her. In that instant, she prayed with everything in her that it was Benedict and not Signore Santi or the Captain.
~ *~
Sara spun around the instant he opened the door. “Oh, my beautiful girl. I have never been so happy to see someone in my life.”
She threw herself into his arms and burst into tears. “Ben. Oh, Ben. I’m so sorry, this was all my fault.”
He held her close. “No, Sara, don’t cry. This was no one’s fault. We decided together on the best course of action and I still think it was the right one. We gave Llewellyn a chance.”
“I was so frightened that something would go wrong.”
Immediately his mind went through the litany of things that nearly had gone wrong during the escape. But none of it mattered now. “I can only believe the universe is unfolding as it should.”
“I suppose so, but I hope it unfolds with much less drama in the future.”
He laughed. “As long as my future is with you, I don’t care.”
She stepped back so he could come all the way into the cabin and shut the door, then looked at him and frowned. “What are you wearing?”
He glanced down. “My best suit.”
“You escaped from prison in your best suit?”
He laughed again. “No, I escaped from prison in the clothes I was wearing when last you saw me. But we changed into better clothes before we left the palace, so any passersby wouldn’t realize we were prisoners.”
“Well, let’s get you out of them. You look exhausted.”
“I’m not too exhausted to savor a few moments with the woman I love.”
She smiled. “I haven’t slept more than a few minutes at a time since last week. But all of a sudden, sleep is the last thing on my mind.”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him as she began to divest him of his clothes.
He was only too happy to return the favor.
She became frustrated by the buttons on his breeches. “You know, there’s a lot to be said for wearing less clothing. Kilts, for example. Dead sexy and much easier to remove.”
He laughed. “Says the girl wearing layers of petticoats.”
“By convention, not by choice.”
Soon enough they were naked. She threaded her arms around his neck and kissed him, suckling on his lower lip. He ran his hands lightly up and down her back until she shivered with delight. Then he cupped his hands under her bottom and lifted her against his firm length.
Still locked in their embrace, he stepped toward the bed and lowered her onto it. “Oh, Sara, I want you so badly.”
“Then take me.”
“But, I want to cherish you, worship you.”
“Ben, I want you too. I have craved your touch. Make love to me now. There will be plenty of time for gentle tenderness later.”
At her urging, he entered her in one firm stroke. He made love to her without restraint and she responded in kind.
He groaned. “Sara, I can’t hold back—”
“Then don’t.”
As he found his release, she reached between them, touching herself, reaching her own climax moments
later.
They lay there panting as they drifted down from ecstasy.
He lifted his weight off of her and, lying on his side, pulled her against him. “Now, my precious girl, I would love to sleep with you in my arms for a few hours.”
She snuggled against him and closed her eyes. “I don’t have to be talked into that.”
He planted a kiss behind her ear. “Besides, we’ll need to rest up for tonight.”
“Tonight?” she asked drowsily.
“Yes, I don’t want to fall asleep in the middle of our wedding night.”
“Our wedding night?”
He grinned. “Aye, once we’re at sea the captain can marry us.”
She smiled. “And he’s willing to do it?”
“I’m sure he will be. We’ll ask him to hear our vows this evening.”
She yawned. “Good.” She was asleep almost instantly.
But as tired as he was, Benedict didn’t want to sleep just yet. He wanted to savor freedom and gaze at the woman he loved so dearly. He’d go to hell and back for her again, if he had to.
He heard the captain calling orders as the anchor was lifted, sails were hoisted, and they began to move. He knew this was his last chance to see Venice, so he carefully extricated himself from Sara’s sleeping form, pulled on his clothes, and went up on the deck.
They were sailing out of the lagoon. He looked back towards Venice and to his surprise, felt nothing. He could see the Arsenale, where his shipyard was and where he had spent most of his days for the last fifteen years or so. He was proud of the business he’d help build and he would miss Emilio, but the sense of loss he’d expected to feel was absent. As they sailed past the Lido he again thought he’d feel a sense of loss. He loved it here. This had been his home. But his heart didn’t ache as he thought it might. He saw the stretch of beach where Sara had taken him on a picnic and they had gone swimming. A grin spread across his face. If she were on that island, nothing would keep him from jumping overboard and swimming to her. That is when he realized Venice and its surroundings was not his home. His home was wherever Sara was, and she was asleep in the first mate’s cabin. He turned away from the rail and descended the stairs without another glance backwards.
He undressed again and slipped back into bed beside her.
He was home.
~ * ~
They did sleep for several hours. They woke when the cabin boy knocked on the door near midday, bringing them bread, cheese, dried sausage, and a bottle of wine.
They ate, napped a little more, and then washed and dressed. Benedict suggested that they go up to deck for some air. They stood on the aft deck, looking backwards. The ship had sailed well into the Adriatic and Venice was far behind them, no longer visible.
After a few minutes, Sara looked up at him. “Will you miss it terribly?”
He smiled. “Honestly, no. I realized today that at some point in the last five and half weeks, you became the only thing that mattered to me. I love you and as long as we are together, home is where we make it.”
A smile spread across her face and Benedict felt compelled to kiss her. But before he’d had his fill, Captain MacLeod came over to them and cleared his throat.
“Well now, I’d say ye both look as if ye had some much needed rest.”
A warm blush spread across Sara’s cheeks.
Benedict grinned. “Aye, we did, Captain.”
“Good. And my cabin boy brought ye a bite to eat?”
“Aye, thank ye, sir,” answered Sara.
“Good. Very good. Now, if the winds are in our favor, we should reach Lisbon in two or three weeks. We have some cargo to deliver there. Then I suspect, I could take on enough goods there to make a trip to the colonies worth my while.”
“Really?” Asked Benedict. “That would be brilliant.”
“Aye. I think it’s the best plan. Santi told me about Llewellyn. I’ve never sought to do business with him because of his reputation for having a vile temper. But when I heard he wouldn’t let ye marry this wee lass simply because ye’re a Scot, well that’s beyond the pale. I won’t ever do business with him. However, having said that, there are quite a few merchant vessels that often sail in and out of Lisbon whose captains do.”
“I knew we might run into that in any major port. I’d decided we would have to bide our time until the right ship came along.”
“Still, there isn’t a man on this ship who would ever utter a word about ye. But even if you met a captain who wouldn’t ever reveal where you’d gone to Llewellyn, there is no guarantee that his men would be equally circumspect if the payoff was sufficiently large. Then there is the chance that a captain or crew from a merchant ship in port at Lisbon might recognize ye and pass the word on to him. Nay, the risk is too great. So, we’ll make certain ye aren’t seen in Lisbon and head straight to the new world after that.”
Benedict offered the man his hand. “Thank you, Captain. I’m in your debt.”
“Nay, lad, just be sure to give me a good deal on a new ship if the Selkie ever becomes unseaworthy.”
Benedict grinned. “It’s a deal. Now I must ask for one last favor.”
“Ye want to marry the wee lassie clinging to yer arm?”
Benedict laughed. “Yes, sir. If it isn’t too much trouble.”
“No trouble at all. How about we gather on the bow just before sunset, then ye can join me for a wedding supper before retiring.”
He glanced down at Sara who nodded and gifted him with a brilliant smile. “That will be perfect, sir.”
And so it was that several hours later, they stood on the bow of the ship, in front of the captain and his officers, and exchanged their wedding vows as the setting sun lit the western horizon with shades of pink and orange.
“Benedict MacIan, will ye have this woman to be thy wedded wife, will ye love her, and honor her, keep her and guard her, in health and in sickness, as a husband should a wife, and forsaking all others on account of her, keep ye only unto her, so long as ye both shall live.”
“I will.”
“And Sara Wells, will ye have this man to thy wedded husband, will ye obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all other on account of him, keep ye only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”
“I will.”
The captain reached into the pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out a pair of gold rings. “Signore Santi gave these to me. He said he suspected ye’d be needing them. If I were a priest, I might have some prayer at the ready to bless these rings, but I’d surely give the good Lord a chuckle if I tried. Still, I figure there’s a fair bit of love in them. Signore Santi knew ye loved each other and would want them as a symbol of that love. Then too, he loved ye both and wanted ye to have them. It was his way of sending ye off with love. When ye look at them remember that. But also remember that a ring is a circle, with no start and no end. And that is the true nature of love. It keeps going with no start and no end. Love each other as you have been loved. Love yer children should the Lord so bless ye. Love yer neighbors. And here’s the hardest bit, love yer enemies. I can’t say that I’ve mastered that one, but it’s what we’re called to do. And with that, Benedict, take this ring and place it on the third finger of Sara’s left hand and repeat after me.”
Benedict did as he asked, repeating the words, “Sara Wells, with this ring, I thee wed, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” He slipped the ring on her finger.
Then Sara took the larger gold ring and repeated the words, “Benedict MacIan, with this ring, I thee wed, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
The old captain beamed at them. “Benedict and Sara, you are now husband and wife. Kiss yer bride, lad.”
Cradling her head with one hand, Benedict leaned down and kissed his lovely wife as the sun dipped below the horizon.
~ * ~
Sara couldn’t imagine a more romantic wedding and she had married quite a
few couples in her books. But this was her wedding to the man she cherished. Countless miracles had occurred to bring them to this moment. When he gave her that first kiss as husband and wife, as the sun set and the stars began to twinkle, the magic was complete.
Dinner with the captain and his officers was delicious and much to her delight, didn’t drag on. Not long after they had finished with dessert, the captain offered one more toast and bid them goodnight.
In no time, she was alone again with her beloved. “Now, my darling husband, you can take all the time you need to worship me.”
He gave a low chuckle before doing just that. He took her higher and higher, never quite letting her go. Hovering on the edge was heaven but eventually, she could stand it no more. “Benedict, please…
“Anything you wish, my beloved.” He entered her with long firm strokes, finally allowing her to topple over the edge of bliss.
As she lay in his arms savoring the afterglow, he kissed her temple and whispered, “I love you.”
She turned her head to him and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you, too.” She sighed and settled into his embrace.
Soon his breathing became slow and steady as he drifted to sleep, but sleep didn’t come quite as swiftly for her. She listened to the sound of the waves hitting the hull and took a deep breath in, savoring the ocean air. She smiled to herself. When she had flown to Venice, this was not the cruise she had expected. But a wise old woman with a pocket watch had different plans for her. Thank you, Gertrude. Then she drifted off to sleep, lulled by the gentle motion of the ship.
Epilogue
The DeCosta Farm, Mount Holly, NJ
August 1788
The cock crowed, rousing Sara from sleep as the sun was rising. She lay quietly next to Ben for a moment, remembering the dream she’d been having. It was an odd dream. She was in the twenty-first century, in her apartment outside of Baltimore.
Over the years, she’d had lots of dreams about her own time. In the early years, when they lived in Philadelphia where Ben worked as a shipbuilder, they were nightmares. She had somehow uttered the return word and was yanked back to her old life, into her old body. She searched desperately for Ben, but couldn’t find him. He was lost to her. She’d wake from these dreams, terrified and in a panic, only to find herself safe within the circle of his arms.
Nothing to Lose: The Pocket Watch Chronicles Page 17
