The Captain's Frozen Dream

by Georgie Lee

  Reaching the docks was only one success. He must find the Thomas George before it set sail. With few ships still moored, Conrad feared he was too late, but nothing was lost until the Thomas George set out to sea. Even then it would most likely dock in Portsmouth before sailing off across the Atlantic, giving Conrad at least one more chance to reach the ship and Katie.

  The chaise came to a stop near the wharf and Conrad jumped out and sprinted down to the dockmaster’s office. He entered the rickety shack perched over the water and a rotund man wearing a worn fisherman’s coat looked up from where he hunched over a small stove in the corner.

  His rheumy eyes filled with suspicion at the sight of Conrad. ‘Navy don’t usually send such fine men to press sailors.’

  ‘I’m not here in search of a crew, but the Thomas George. Which berth is she in?’

  ‘Ain’t in no berth, but set out with the tide like all them others.’ He pointed a thick finger at the filthy window.

  ‘How long ago?’

  The man shrugged, the hole on the shoulder of his coat widening, then closing with the movement. ‘Can’t say. Don’t pay much attention to ships leaving, only those coming in which has to pay their duties.’

  Conrad wanted to throttle the man for being difficult, but he couldn’t blame this stranger for his problems, besides, there were other ways around them. ‘Is there a small boat I can hire to take me out to the Thomas George?’

  ‘None here at the moment. All taking advantage of the good sailing to ferry goods and people. If you wait by the wharf, one might return and you can hire it, but I can’t say for certain. It’ll be up to you to find one.’

  ‘I will.’ Conrad marched back outside, cursing the steady breeze whipping over the river and rippling the murky surface.

  On either side of him, the emptiness of the wharf mocked him. There wasn’t a rowboat or dingy to be seen, only sailors shuffling about to shift the cargo unloaded by recently docked ships. He turned to make for the few vessels still tied to their berths, ready to commandeer the nearest sloop if it meant reaching the Thomas George before she sailed out of the mouth of the Thames. Katie wasn’t going to put herself so far beyond his reach it would mean crossing an ocean to find her.

  He’d just reached the nearest ship, ready to ask to come aboard, when a lonely figure coming up the dock made him stop.

  A woman carrying a satchel weaved around two sailors hauling coils of rope. Her steps were hesitant but steady and over the clatter of seagulls and the slapping of the water against the piers, Conrad could just make out the fall of her half-boots against the wood. The satchel brushed her legs as she walked, disturbing the swish of the thick blue pelisse covering her slender body.

  ‘Katie?’ Conrad rushed down the planks to her, stopping a few feet from where she stood.

  The late-afternoon sun reflecting off the water glittered in her eyes and deepened the gold of her hair. He opened his arms to embrace her, then lowered them, waiting as he would for a sounding before he sailed closer. ‘You didn’t leave.’

  The satchel dropped to the ground with a soft thud.

  ‘I couldn’t. I know I’ve given you little reason to stay with me or want me, but I want you. I don’t care if people sneer at me, I don’t care about the whispers or the rumours, I don’t even care if you leave, only that we’re together before you go and I’m here waiting for you when you return.’ She moved closer, raising her hand to his face, her fingers achingly close to his cheek, but not touching it. ‘I want to be with you and know you love me as much as I love you, wherever you are.’

  ‘Where I’ll be is here.’ He pressed her hand to his face, covering it with his to warm her slender fingers against the chill. ‘I’m not going to Melville Island. I resigned my commission this morning.’

  Hope whispered through her eyes. ‘You aren’t leaving?’

  ‘No.’ He brushed a round tear from her cheek, then slipped his hand behind her neck. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the expedition.’

  ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you of America.’ She slid one hand around his waist and pressed so tight against him not even the breeze could slip between them.

  ‘No secrets between us.’

  ‘Never.’

  Conrad leaned into Katie and a kiss more precious and deep than any he’d ever experienced with her before. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. It was all he could have asked for and everything he wanted.

  A few sharp whistles sounded from somewhere above them. Conrad and Katie broke from their kiss to peer up at the numerous sailors hanging from the rigging and pointing at them.

  ‘It seems we’ve scandalised the sailors.’ Katie laughed, the sound as beautiful as her smile.

  ‘Then let’s take our scandalous behaviour somewhere more private.’ He swept her into his arms and carried her from the wharf, leaving her sad satchel behind. There was no weakness or worry as there’d been in the mine or even last night, only the surety of her body so close to his, her breath stroking his cheek where she nuzzled against him. The heat spread down though his chest to consume him, the desire filling him stoked by the lazy play of her fingers in his hair.

  He quickened his pace as the chaise came into view, eager to reach it and answer the invitation in the subtle press of her lips against his neck. He carried her into the vehicle, closing the door behind him and pulling down the shade. Without a word, she reached over and drew closed the other, leaving them to the intimacy of the faint sunlight creeping in through the sides of the darkened windows.

  Once alone, Conrad freed her hair from the pins holding it up, pulling them out one by one and dropping them to the floor. Her golden curls spilled over her shoulders like the way the sun from the Downs used to grace her skin. He slid his fingers through the silken tangle to draw her to him.

  ‘I want you, Katie, all of you,’ he murmured in her ear, taking the lobe between his teeth to graze the tender skin as she freed herself from her pelisse.

  ‘I’m yours,’ she breathed, laying her head on his shoulder as he began to undo the buttons on the back of her dress. At length the fabric opened and he slid it from her arms to reveal the stay and chemise beneath. Sliding a finger between the cotton and the stiff boning, he eased one full breast from its confinement and lowered his head to taste the tender point.

  Her hands on his shoulders tightened and she moaned as he made circles on the tip with his tongue, exhaling on the wet flesh to tease it. While his tongue worked, he slid his hand beneath her dress and raised the fabric above her knees, caressing the length of thigh beneath.

  She fumbled with the buttons of his coat until the blue wool dropped to the chaise floor to join the pins. Her fingers against the fall of his breeches stilled as he found her wanting centre. His body tightened at her readiness, the desire to be one with her more powerful than any he’d known before. She’d waited for him, come to him instead of running away, at last willing to accept him whether he was a captain or a marquis. He shifted her on to his lap, the firm pressure of his thighs against hers making him want to rush forward, but he waited, continuing to caress and tease until she whimpered in his ear.

  ‘Please, Conrad, please.’

  Her plea broke his resolve and, raising her hips, he settled himself between her legs. The tip of his erection just touched her as he waited, as ready to bring them together as he was to join their lives.

  * * *

  Katie straddled Conrad’s thighs, eager to surrender to him and take this last step to declare herself his. With knowing hands, he guided her down over him. The sound of the carriage driving over the streets drowned out her cries as he filled her in both body and spirit. It was an intimacy she’d sought her entire life, one she’d never imagined she’d find. Yet here it was with Conrad.

  She arched her back as he rocked into her, ready to make any sacrifice t
o be with him. Nothing mattered except Conrad, not the fossils, the future or anyone’s condemnation. Let them judge and whisper, they couldn’t touch either of them now, not with his chest hard against hers, their hearts beating in rhythm with their passion.

  With his stroke steady and firm inside her, she opened both her being and heart wider to him. Her fingers dug into his arms as she clung to him, racing faster and faster with him until at last her body shattered around his. With a groan, he met her release, his breath hot and powerful in her ear as they clung to one another, united, never to be separated again.

  Epilogue

  Two years later

  ‘Lady Helton, I have the most wonderful news,’ Miss Benett’s clear voice rang through the Heims Hall conservatory like the sound of a hammer against a rock on a clear day.

  ‘What is it?’ Katie twisted around on her small stool, the charcoal still between her fingers as she looked away from her sketch. The palm trees which had once filled the room were gone, replaced by a forest of easels and canvases and tables covered with sketchbooks and boxes of pencils.

  ‘It’s not what I’ve found, but what Mr Buckland has discovered.’

  Young Aaron slid off the chaise where Katie had positioned him by the tall windows and toddled on fat legs to clutch Miss Benett’s skirt. The lady geologist bent down to ruffle his sandy hair, the same shade as Conrad’s hair, and pinch one chubby cheek. ‘My, how big you’ve grown, almost as big as Anne Marie’s boy.’

  Miss Benett picked Aaron up and carried him back to Katie, handing her the paper instead of her son. ‘You must read this.’

  Katie took the article with a slight gasp of surprise. There at the top was the picture of a beast so similar in shape and form to her creature. It smiled with sharp teeth above the thick content printed below.

  ‘Mr Buckland found a creature like yours, here in England. And look there.’ Miss Benett reached down to point to a paragraph midway down the page. ‘He references your paper and your presentation from the Naturalist Society.’

  Katie smiled, the old part of her which had fought so long and hard for recognition proud of the accolade, no matter how late or small.

  ‘This could be the making of you. If you wanted it,’ Miss Benett prodded.

  ‘But I don’t.’ Katie folded the paper and handed it back to her. ‘I employ my talents elsewhere now.’

  Katie picked up her son and nuzzled his neck, making him giggle. All her life she’d been pushed by her father to assist him, eager to learn what he’d taught her in the hopes he might one day cherish her as he had his work. Then, after he’d died, the work with the fossils had been the only thing left, until Conrad had made her see she could have and be so much more.

  She looked to the illustrations of her child, Conrad and Heims Hall covering the one conservatory wall. The most cherished watercolours of Conrad holding Aaron hung on either side of the door, their smiles a lively encouragement for her work. Within the love and security of their marriage, Katie had found her true calling and real happiness at last.

  ‘Yes, you’re a brilliant artist,’ Miss Benett conceded.

  ‘Have you brought my wife another stone to illustrate for your book?’ Conrad asked as he strolled into the room.

  ‘Daddy.’ Aaron wriggled off Katie’s lap and ran to his father. Conrad gathered his son up in his strong arms and tossed him above his head, making the boy squeal before Conrad caught him and settled him on his hip.

  ‘She has enough to draw, what with Captain Sefton shipping so much back from Melville Island.’ Conrad laughed as he carried Aaron over to stand behind Katie and admire her unfinished sketch. ‘He’s lieutenant governor there, a post he writes quite suits him.’

  ‘He should send her specimens, for there’s no better artist who can render them. In fact, Mr Buckland should have come to you to do his drawing, instead of whoever he hired for his.’ Miss Benett wrinkled her nose at the illustration, then set it down on the table next to Katie’s watercolours, exhibiting as much pride in Katie’s work as the artist herself. ‘Yours of the creature were far superior. Whatever did you do with the animal?’

  ‘It’s at Helton Manor, along with so many other relics,’ Conrad answered, laying one hand on Katie’s shoulders. She revelled in the weight of it and the steadying influence of him, unable to believe she’d once nearly thrown this life with him away. Katie covered his hand with hers, curling her fingers to join with his. Those days were gone now and there was no reason to dwell on them.

  ‘Perhaps we should donate it to the British Museum,’ Conrad suggested.

  Katie tapped one charcoal-stained finger against her chin. ‘Or sell it to benefit your hospital for wounded sailors.’

  Conrad wiped the charcoal smudge from her face. ‘Or your charity for impoverished young women.’

  ‘Aunt Florence would love to have something so sensational for the charity, so would Mr Edgar.’ She rose and slid her arm around Conrad’s waist, enjoying the warmth of the sun which lingered on his coat from his time outside.

  ‘How is Mr Edgar? Still prattling on about transmutation?’ Miss Benett asked.

  ‘He is, and Aunt Florence is all too happy to listen.’ Aunt Florence and Mr Edgar had married shortly after Conrad and Katie, bringing both of their long years of loneliness to an end.

  ‘They aren’t the only happy couple,’ Miss Benett teased.

  ‘Indeed, they aren’t,’ Conrad concurred, smiling down at Katie with the same deep love swelling her heart.

  ‘No one could be as happy as we are.’ Katie pressed a kiss to Aaron’s chubby cheek, then rose up on her toes, her lips meeting Conrad’s in a searing kiss which blotted out the world. They were together, a family, in love. It was everything she’d ever wanted and the answer to all her dreams.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from UNDER A DESERT MOON by Laura Martin.

  Author Afterword

  New discoveries and research in the natural sciences had been brewing all through the eighteenth century, but it began to really come together in the early nineteenth century.

  Fossil-hunting and the study of ancient creatures along with rock strata and attempts to date different geological time periods were happening in both England and Europe. Identifying previously unknown animals based on fossil records had also been taking place in both France, under Georges Cuvier, and in England under such men as William Buckland.

  Certain terms, including ichthyosaurus and proteosaurus, while very modern-sounding, did come into common use around the time of Katie and Conrad’s story. Saurus comes from the Greek word for lizard. I had a great deal of fun researching the early fossil-hunters and geologists and incorporating real historical figures like Etheldred Benett and Dr Gideon Mantell into the story. The Naturalist Society is a fictitious one I created for the story, but it is modeled on many different scientific societies in existence at the time.

  Another real historical figure I incorporated was Second Secretary of the Admiralty, John Barrow. Mr Barrow’s obsession with discovering the Northwest Passage for Britain led to his sending out many expeditions to the Arctic over a number of years, including the famous and ill-fated Franklin Expedition. Naval ships sailing to the Arctic were fitted out to resist ice and other severe conditions and were often provided with tantalising leads to follow from the whalers already working the far north.

  Exploration of the Arctic was limited to the very short summer and most expeditions only lasted roughly six or seven months. Ships were able to sail into uncharted bays and inlets once the sea ice broke up in the spring and then had to be sure to sail out again in late summer before the ice froze again. As Conrad discovers in the story, any ship lingering after the end of summer risked the very real nightmare of becoming trapped and having to spend the winter in the ship.

  While I
did a great deal of research for this story and did my best to remain true to the facts, words and events of the time period, I did take a little historical licence with the departure point of Katie’s ship bound for America. Although there were docks and wharves and a naval shipyard in Greenwich, there wasn’t as much commercial travel from the Greenwich area. However, for the sake of Katie and Conrad’s story, I needed the convenience of a closer wharf than Portsmouth.

  It was great to research maps and plans of early Greenwich, as well as the scientific discoveries and excitement of the early nineteenth century.

  The creature Conrad brings back for Katie is based on the Nanuqsaurus, a small tyrannosaurus-like dinosaur that has been found in Alaska.

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  Under a Desert Moon

  by Laura Martin

  Chapter One

  Emma leaned over the side of the boat and allowed her fingers to trail across the surface of the water. It was cool against her skin, a refreshing sensation in the heat of the afternoon sun.