“No. I’ve inherited a tract of land in the wilderness.”
“Oh, in the wilderness!” Stern raised his eyebrows. “Well, that will be a change for you. I’ve never been there, of course, but we had a carpenter on board who spent some time there. He was a fascinating fellow. He talked a great deal about the hardships of pioneer life.”
“Is it very hard?”
“Well, it was when he was there, which was some time ago. According to his stories it was a struggle to keep from being eaten by bears or scalped by Indians.”
Sabrina listened more than she spoke, and finally she found she could eat no more. She turned to the captain and said, “Captain Drum, would you excuse me? I’m rather tired.”
“Of course. Would you see the lady to her cabin, Mr. Stern?”
“Yes, sir.”
Sabrina rose, and as the two left the room, she took Stern’s arm again. They made the journey across the deck, and when they stepped inside to go down the corridor, nausea struck her like a blow. She gasped, and Stern suddenly turned to her. He took one look at her face and said, “Feeling queer, Miss Fairfax?”
“Yes. I’m going to be sick, I think.”
“Come along. We’ll get you to your room.”
Sabrina clung to his arm, and when he opened the door to her cabin, he said, “If I were you, I would lie down. We don’t have a doctor on board, but there’s nothing a doctor can do for seasickness anyway. I’ll come by and check on you later.”
Sabrina could not even answer. She barely waited until the door was closed before she leaned over and deposited her supper on the floor.
———
Sabrina had lost all track of time. She knew only that she had thrown up until there was nothing left to throw up. The ship tossed and rolled, and she lay flat on her bunk, too weak to do more than pull up the blanket. She was disgusted, for she knew she had made a mess. There was no maid to clean up after her, and she found herself wishing fervently she had never heard of the Caledonia, or of America, for that matter. A knock at the door sounded, but at the same instant the nausea came so that she could only croak an invitation.
She heard the door open and then close. Someone struck a match, and the light from a lamp mounted on the wall cast yellow shadows over the cabin. She turned her head and opened her eyes to see Sion bending over her.
“The first mate told me you were sick, miss.”
Sabrina nodded and whispered, “Water, please.”
“Of course.” Sion disappeared, and Sabrina lay there in utter misery. She had never known such a sickness as this. It seemed as though her insides were being ripped out, and with every movement of the ship she wanted to throw up more.
The door opened again, but she did not even open her eyes. She heard movements and then the sound of water being poured from a larger vessel to a smaller one. An arm came around her, lifting her into a half-sitting position. She felt the glass at her lips and took a few sips. “No more.”
“Better take a few more sips, miss.”
Sabrina could not even speak. She simply lay with his arm holding her and from time to time took a sip of water.
“Lie down awhile, and I’ll make the cabin presentable. If you have need again, you can use this bowl the cook gave me.”
Sabrina lay there but opened her eyes long enough to see Sion cleaning up after her. Such a duty, which would have disgusted her, seemed not to trouble him.
After some time she felt herself growing sick again, and she lost the water he had given her. At once he came over and said, “Don’t mind it, miss. You’ll be all right soon.”
“I think I’m going to die.”
“No danger of that. Here, let me clean you up a little.” Again Sabrina heard the sound of water being poured, then she felt a cool cloth cleaning her face. It felt good and refreshing, and she discovered that she was growing sleepy despite her illness. Several times Sion forced her to drink just sips of water, but then she dropped off into a troubled sleep.
Sometime after this she awakened and heard Sion say, “You need to eat just a little of this, miss.”
“No, I can’t eat.”
“They tell me it’s the best thing for you.”
“I’ll just bring it up again.”
“I suppose you will, but sooner or later you’ll be able to keep some down. The danger, they say, is in getting dried out and weak.”
Sabrina was too weak to argue. She allowed Sion to lift her up and felt like a baby in his hands. He had a bowl of something, which turned out to be a thin broth. She managed to keep down a few swallows of it and then said, “No more.”
“That’s right, miss. You rest, and then we’ll try a few more spoons.”
Sabrina lay down, and once again he began to bathe her face with cool water. Sabrina had a feeling of utter helplessness. She was all alone except for a servant she hardly knew, bound for a land she knew nothing of, with only a vague hope of success. In despair she fretted about her future until she finally drifted off again.
****
Sabrina woke up with a feeling that life was possible. She knew it was the fourth day now since the Caledonia had left England, and the seasickness had occupied all of her thoughts. She had been so weak that she had feared she would die, and it had only been Sion’s constant care that had pulled her through it. Now, however, she awoke and felt a strength that before had been drained out of her. She sat up in bed and noticed that the cabin was spotlessly clean. She knew that the clothing she had soiled had been washed and refolded. She had been able to change clothes several times, and now she swung her feet out of bed. As she sat up, she noted that sunlight was streaming in through the window and the ship was moving smoothly over the surface of the ocean. Standing up carefully, she found herself weak but not at all nauseated. The illness had left as quickly as it had come, but the four days in bed had innervated her.
She dressed, putting on fresh clothes, and wondered at how neatly they had been folded. She left the cabin feeling suddenly very hungry, and the first man she encountered was the first officer, Lawrence Stern. He smiled as he approached her.
“Well, you’re better, I see.”
“Much better.”
“I’m glad to see it. You’re probably hungry.”
“Yes, I am. Amazingly so. I’ve been having to force myself to eat.”
“That’s the way it is. That man of yours, Kenyon, he’s quite a fellow.”
“How’s that, sir?”
“Well, he’s taken care of you fairly well, I’d say. He bullied the cooks into fixing that special broth you’ve been getting and the other food. And he’s been washing your clothes.”
Sabrina’s cheeks flushed. She could think of no answer and finally said merely, “Yes, he’s done very well.” Looking out over the sea, she asked, “How much longer before we land?”
“Perhaps six weeks, if the wind holds. We’ve made good time despite the blow. Come along. We’ll have the cook make you something light. Perhaps some scrambled eggs and toast.”
****
Stern was talking with Sion, the two of them standing in the bow. The wind was cold and crisp, and Stern was commenting on Sabrina. “A very fine lady. She had a very hard time of it with the seasickness.”
“Yes. I’m glad it didn’t get to me.”
“Have you been her servant long?”
Sion liked the first officer. He had been very helpful, and he was well aware that without Stern’s help he would not have had the freedom to care for Sabrina as he had for the past four days. “Not at all. I came to her very recently.”
“I can’t help but be curious, and it’s none of my business, but she never says anything about herself.”
“I don’t know her that well, Mr. Stern. I do know she’s had a rough time of it lately. Her father died recently and left her very little. I also know that she’s inherited some land over in America. She needed someone to help her with the farming there, and I was handy.”
“I�
�m not sure it’s wise to go to America. They don’t care for the English much. She may find it unpleasant—and you too.”
“It couldn’t be any more unpleasant than being down in a coal mine.” Sion smiled, his teeth white against his skin, which had taken on some color during the voyage. Life at sea had agreed with him, and he had found out that he liked sailing. “I expect she’ll make out all right. I’ll do the best I can to help her.”
“Strange for a cultured young lady to be going to the wilderness.”
“Well, God moves in mysterious ways to do His work.”
Stern turned and studied the face of Sion Kenyon. “You’re a Christian, I take it?”
“Indeed, I am.”
“Well, you’ll need all the religion you have. Be careful of those Indians.”
“Are there a great many of them?”
“I don’t know the country. I understand they’ve been pushed back, but they’re always a danger.”
At that moment Sabrina came up, and the two men turned. Stern touched his cap and said, “Well, was it a good meal, Miss Fairfax?”
“Very good.”
“That’s fine. You’ll get your strength back after a few good meals. Well, I must be about my duties,” he said as he strode off.
“He’s a very fine man, miss. He was a great help to me when I was trying to take care of you.”
Sabrina turned and hesitated. “I have to thank you, Sion, for taking care of me. I know it must have been unpleasant.”
“Unpleasant! Why, not at all, miss.”
“I think it was, but I’m very grateful to you.”
Sion nodded but shrugged off her thanks. “You’re welcome.” He waved his hand at the sea ahead of them. “That’s pretty, isn’t it? I didn’t think I’d like the sea, but I do. If I had started in it early, I might have made a sailor of myself.”
“Do you really believe we’ll be all right in America?”
“Why, of course we’ll be all right, miss. Why wouldn’t we be?”
“We might get butchered by Indians.”
“No, I think not. God wouldn’t take us there for such an end as that.”
Chapter Nine
It’s a Big Country
As the Caledonia nosed into the harbor, Sabrina stood at the rail grasping it hard, as though it needed her help to make its way inside toward the swarming docks. Portsmouth, Virginia, was not like she had imagined it, but then she had little idea of what America would be like. The harbor was busy with ships of every description, most of them lined up with their sails furled so that the bare masts looked like a forest stripped of all its branches. Smaller vessels scurried like water beetles over the surface, headed from the ships that were anchored farther out manned by sailors in brightly colored jerseys of every description. The smell of salt was in the air, but it was not the clean smell that she had learned to enjoy on the voyage, for it was tinged with the raw scent of civilization.
The weather was warmer than she had expected, much warmer than it had been when they left England. She remembered the first officer telling her that America was much farther south, and therefore, the winters were much milder, but the summers could be stifling, especially in the southern colonies. Overhead the sky was blue and hard enough to strike a match on; across it fleecy clouds were driven by a brisk wind. The hoarse squalling of the gulls that circled incessantly mingled with the shouts of the officers on board the Caledonia, and from the docks came the sound of a man lustily singing a song about a woman who did him wrong.
After the bout of seasickness, Sabrina had enjoyed the voyage, although she did fight with boredom most of the time. Mr. Stern, the first officer, had obviously been taken with her, and it raised Sabrina’s spirits somewhat to see that despite her loss of money and position she still was able to charm a man. The two had taken strolls on the deck, and she had listened attentively as Stern told her what he knew of America. She had allowed him to kiss her once, but then she had laughed and stepped back, saying, “I have heard that sailors have a girl in every port.”
Sabrina had also been somewhat puzzled by Sion Kenyon. She had actually seen very little of him, for after he had cared for her so wonderfully while she was sick, he had kept company with the sailors and some of the other passengers headed for America. Sabrina, at first, had been apprehensive that he would take advantage of the situation, fearing that because he had helped her he might feel free to move closer to her socially. This had not been the case, however. Indeed, he had deliberately shunned her company. This had brought some relief to Sabrina, but paradoxically she wondered at the man. She knew her own attractiveness, but he appeared to be totally uninterested in her. He had been polite and respectful on those occasions when they met, but nothing more.
“All passengers prepare to go ashore!”
Sabrina heard the loud voice of the bosun and straightened up. She kept her grip on the rail, however, and in that instant the fears of what lay before her rose again within her breast. During the voyage she had successfully pushed them away, covered them up with the activities of the ship, and had spent many hours reading. But now all that had changed. The swarming dock that lay before her was as alien to her as if it had been China or India. Now, once again, the feeling came to her that the wisest thing she could do was to stay on this ship and sail back to England as quickly as possible.
“Well, here’s your new home.” The voice came from directly behind her, and Sabrina turned to see Mr. Stern smiling at her. He waved his arm and said, “It’s a big country, Miss Fairfax.”
“Yes, it is.”
“You’ll find your place in it, I’m sure,” Stern added. “But if you don’t, you can always go back home again.”
“I doubt that. This will have to be my home, Mr. Stern.”
Stern had learned enough of Sabrina’s history to feel sympathy. “Yes. Well, if that’s the case, you’ll make out.” He had taken off his hat, and the warm April wind tumbled his hair over his forehead. He brushed it back and shook his head. “I hate to see you headed out for that raw wilderness, but I know it’s something you have to do.”
“Yes, it is.”
He put his hand out, and she took it and felt the strength of it. “I will think of you often,” he said quietly.
“And I of you. You’ve been kind.”
When Stern turned away, calling out orders sharply to the deckhands, Sabrina felt she had lost something. He was only a chance acquaintance, but she had valued his kindness and consideration during the voyage, and now she wished futilely that he were going with her. She went searching for Sion and found him carrying her baggage from the hold up to the deck.
“I’ll get your trunk, miss,” he said. “You’d better watch this baggage. Some of these Americans may be thieves.”
“I expect they are. Some of them, at least.”
Sion suddenly smiled at her and winked almost merrily. “Just like Welshmen. Some good, some bad—Englishmen, too, I expect. I’ll get the trunk.”
———
Sabrina stood with Sion in the midst of the busy crowd holding the cage that contained Ulysses. The luggage made a small mound, and she looked around uncertainly. “I expect I’d better go try to find out something about the legal side of this land,” she said.
“Maybe I’d better stay here with the luggage.”
“No, let’s get a carriage.”
Sion looked around and saw a line of carriages. He went quickly and spoke to the driver in the first one—a tall, lean man with a sour expression on his face and a huge wad of tobacco bulging in his jaw.
“Good day, sir. We need to rent your carriage.”
Before he turned to acknowledge Sion, he spat an amber stream that almost hit Sion’s feet. “That’s what I’m here fer. Where you goin’?”
“My mistress will give you instructions. Perhaps you could give me a hand with the luggage.”
“Reckon I kin.” The lanky driver stepped down and towered over Sion. He seemed to be all arms an
d legs, and the clothes he wore would have disgraced a beggar back in England.
Sion led him to the baggage and said, “This man will take us anywhere you please, Miss Sabrina.”
“I need to go to the courthouse.”
“Yep.”
With this curt monosyllable the man began gathering up the bags. Sion shouldered the trunk, and Sabrina followed them to the carriage. After they were loaded, she waited for the driver to help her in, but he simply hauled himself aboard, picked up the lines, and spat again.
“Here, let me help you on,” Sion said quickly. He took Sabrina’s hand, put her in the backseat of the carriage, then leaped into the front seat. “I think we’re ready now.”
“Yep.”
The driver, having started the horses forward, turned and said, “Reckon you be English.”
“Aye, the lady is. I’m from Wales.”
“Where’s that?”
“It’s a part of Great Britain—next to England.”
“I fought in the war against you ’uns.”
“Did you, now?”
“Yep. I kept count of the lobsterbacks I kilt. Up to seventeen and then I lost count. Reckon I must have got more’n twenty of you ’uns. Was you in that war?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Thet’s good.”
Sabrina, sitting in the back, listened as the driver spoke, alternately voicing his disapprobation of anyone from “across the water,” as he put it, and spitting tobacco juice. She was disappointed in her first contact in America, but realistically she understood that this was the counterpart of a lower-class cockney from London. And Stern had prepared her to some extent for the crudeness of Americans.
“There it is,” the driver said, pulling the horses up and waving a long arm toward a two-story brick building with a cupola on top. “You want me to wait?”
Sabrina hesitated, then said, “I don’t know how long I’ll be.”
“Well, I gotta make a livin’.”
The driver did not get down, so Sion leaped to the ground, assisted Sabrina, then unloaded the trunk and the baggage, placing them next to the building while Sabrina negotiated the fare. There was some discussion about English money, and when she came back, she said, “I’ll have to get my money changed to American. I have no idea whether I overpaid him or not.”
Around the River's Bend Page 11
