Willie nodded. “That sounds like Maybe.”
“Remember, you weren’t given much time to be a husband and wife before needing to be parents too. This will be harder in some ways. But, be patient. What she misses with your words, let her see the proof of in your actions.”
“Aye, Da. I should have come to you sooner.”
Joseph blew out a breath. They’d deal with the note thing. If it came up. The rest, he’d pray for guidance for Willie and Maybe. “Let’s go home.”
“You go. I want to mull over your advice. Get it into my brain. I also want to give her a chance to cool down before she throws something at me—she’s got a good aim.” He laughed.
“Aye, I will see you at home, then. Don’t take too long, son.”
“I won’t.” They embraced. “Thank you, Da.”
“One last thing. Something important that my father used to tell us. He said it came from the Proverbs. ‘Make sure you are right, then go ahead.’ Think about it, son. That advice has helped me more than I can say.” He paused, emotion constricting his words. “Son, my father would have enjoyed you.” He wanted to say more, but thoughts of his father brought moisture to his eyes and closed his throat.
He hugged his son once more and headed back to the house.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sarah tapped at the door.
Maybe threw it open, her fist raised in the air. Her gusto deflated, and she dropped her fist. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought it were Willie.”
And ye would hit him? Sarah bit her tongue, remembering what it was like to have her emotions whirl within when she carried one of her babes. She also remembered more than once when she’d wanted to strike Joseph. “Might I come in?”
“Of course.” Maybe held the door and stepped aside.
“How can I help, darlin’ girl?”
Maybe appeared to crumble in front of her.
Sarah wrapped her arms about the girl and helped her to the chair. “Oh, child, this is just one bump in the road. When ye both are calm, ye can talk it all out.”
Maybe grabbed a piece of paper off the table and thrust it as Sarah. “Look at this! Look what he did! How can I go hiding when he’s telling the villain I’m here?”
Sarah opened the wrinkled page and her breath caught in her throat. There was no missing her son’s writing or misspelling. Willie, what were ye thinkin’? “He shouldn’t have done this. But perhaps he was trying to protect you?”
Maybe stared at her shoes. “Yer right. He’s always tryin’ to protect me, even when I tell him not to do it.”
“Ye told him not to do this?”
“Aye, and he did it anyway. And then he found himself a position on another ship.”
“What?” Sarah’s blood turned to ice, and her knees went weak. She reached for the bed and lowered herself to sit. “Why would he do this?”
“Because he loves the sea more than he loves me or our baby.” Tears traversed Maybe’s cheeks.
“Och, no, I canna believe such a thing. Oh, no. There must be another reason. He loves you with all his heart. There must be more to this.”
Maybe sniffed. “He was telling me about his day and said he someone offered a position aboard a ship heading for the Caribbean.”
“They offered him. What did he say?”
“What else could he say? Someone dangles his favorite thing in front of him, he’s bound to grasp at it.”
Sarah’s heart began to return to a normal beat. “Ah, but he didn’t tell you he agreed, did he?”
Maybe met Sarah’s gaze. She could see understanding dawning in the girl’s eyes. “Oh, he dinna say!” Then her face grew fearful. “He dinna say because I never gave him the chance! I just yelled at him as if he said aye. What have I done?” Her hands covered her face, and new sobs filled the air.
Sarah came to her, kneeling in front of her. “Oh, lovey, it will be fine. Do not worry. Willie will be back in a thrice. Ye can tell him yer sorry and listen to what he has to say. He wouldn’t leave ye. He loves ye.”
Maybe threw her arms about Sarah and sobbed harder. “It is worse than that. I called him stupid. I know he isn’t. But I also know that is something that hurts him. I wanted to hurt him right then. What have I done? He won’t want to come home to me now.”
There was nothing left to do but hold her new daughter in her arms and rock her back and forth until Joseph brought Willie home.
Twenty minutes later, Sarah heard the front door open and close and breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe had calmed, but she needed to see Willie. They needed to talk this out. At least things were on the mend.
Joseph peeked in.
“Where’s Willie?”
“He’ll be along. He wanted time to think before returning. I’m guessing he walked to the bluff. He will be back.”
Maybe lifted her head. “But he’s coming back?”
“Aye, lass. He’s coming back. Have no fear.”
The girl’s muscles relaxed. A moment later she pulled back and wiped her face.
Sarah tucked a curl behind Maybe’s ear. “I think we should let ye wash yer face and straighten yer cap before he gets here. Joseph, let’s go to our room.” She reached for his hand reveling in the strength he sent her.
Joseph nodded. “Aye, we’ll be in our room if you need anything.”
“Thank ye, Mother, for listening and setting me straight.”
Sarah blew a kiss to her and let Joseph lead her.
* * *
Willie thought of walking to the bluff, then changed his mind. Maybe was right concerning one thing: he loved the sea. The freedom he felt while sailing compared to nothing he’d ever experienced. Without planning, his feet led him toward the docks. Even this late, a few sailors and strangers walked about. He glanced at the faces and spotted a common denominator. Too many looked lonely. He would be lonely, too, without Maybe. He might have planned to rescue her, but if he were honest, she rescued him. And as much as he loved sailing, he one hundred times more loved holding her in his arms, viewing their future in her amazing eyes, and caressing her soft skin before allowing her kiss to sail him high above the clouds. It was no contest. His life was with Maybe. He wanted no other.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned his steps toward home, toward Maybe and their family.
Then all went black.
* * *
Sarah woke and dressed. Though still dark, she needed to get the fires banked and the kitchen ready for cooking. Upon opening the door, she noted a shadow at the top of the stairs. A step closer, she could see Maybe sat on the top step, her head resting against the wall.
“Maybe, love, what are ye doin’ here?”
“He didn’t come home, Mother. Willie didn’t come home.”
“Joseph!” Sarah sat next to her, holding on to the girl who looked like she might faint. She’d been here all night? How had she kept from falling headfirst down the stairs?
Joseph emerged a moment later.
“Carry her to her bed. I’ll stay with her while ye find yer son.”
“My son?” He scooped Maybe in his arms.
“He’s yers when he doesn’t come home all night and leaves this poor child worried sick.” She followed him to Maybe and Willie’s door. “I’ll have Beth and the girls start breakfast.” Knocking first, she opened the girls’ door and told them to get things started. She returned to Maybe as Joseph left their bedroom. “Please find him, love. I had such peace last night, but this morning I fear something is wrong.”
He kissed her forehead and went downstairs. Seconds later she heard the front door. She lifted a prayer for her son and returned to Maybe.
* * *
Willie listened to a familiar sound but at first couldn’t place it. Then it came to him, lapping water. He was aboard a ship. He sat as panic convulsed in his muscles. It was dark but for a few overhead cracks seeping lines of gray light. He was in the hold.
Feeling around, he got to his feet. His hands found no cargo in f
ront of him, so he took a few steps. And tripped. He fell, landing on his right side, smacking his elbow against something. What had he tripped over? Moving to his hands and knees, he heard a moan. He used his hands to investigate in that direction, finding a body, a man based on his clothing. And alive, if the moan were any indication. He found the man’s shoulder and shook it. “Hey, are you all right? Hey!”
The man moaned again and tried to roll from him. Willie grabbed him and shook hard.
“Stop. Ow, me head. Stop shaking. Where am I?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Willie ran his fingers through his hair, finding a very tender spot. Ow! He dropped next to the man as understanding clobbered him. “I’m not sure, mate, but I think we’ve been impressed.”
* * *
Joseph wandered near the docks. He’d found nothing to give him a clue up on Willie’s hill so he tried here. He wasn’t alone. Another man was there with a woman. They asked questions about a missing brother who didn’t come home last night.
“You too? My son is missing.”
“Aye, Andy only went out for a wee bit last evening. Wanted to stretch his legs a mite, he said. He didn’t come back. We’ve been asking questions for over an hour.”
“Have you learned anything?”
“Only one word. Impressed. I’m praying that’s not it, but if yer son is missing, too, then I think we know what happened.” The man put his arm about his sister as she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. He turned her away from the docks and toward the town.
“What do you intend to do?” Joseph called after them. This couldn’t be all.
The man paused and glanced over his shoulder. “Go home and pray. That is all that is left.”
Joseph had been praying, ever since before he left the house. He needed to do something. He needed to bring his boy home. He needed to find his son. Now.
He turned back to the dock. The sun teetered on the eastern horizon, the area buzzed with people going about their business. It overwhelmed him. How could life appear so normal when men went missing?
Where did he start? Where should he look? There was no giving up on his boy.
Where to begin? What was the starting point in all this busyness?
If Willie had been impressed, that ship would have already left port. Something inside left him in that instant. He had no power, no control, no say. This had happened, and he had no strength to change it.
The man was right. There was nothing to do but go home and pray. Helplessness weighted his steps. How did he tell Sarah and Maybe that Willie had been taken?
He needed to pray before returning home.
* * *
“Ho, you there, down in the hold. Come to the ladder.”
Willie helped the man up, a boy really, called Andrew Ryan. They felt their way towards the ladder by the light from the above opening.
“Climb on up here.”
Willie followed instructions with Andrew coming behind him.
Daylight blinded him after so long in the dark hold. He scrubbed his eyes with his palms and surveyed his surroundings. They were out to sea. Land was a tiny speck aft in the distance.
It was also his first chance to view Andrew. He was young, maybe sixteen and scared. The scared part registered the loudest.
They were prodded from behind to move closer to the bow. “Stand over there.”
Willie moved where indicated, still working out in his brain how this ship was run. If he could get an idea of that, he might plan the best way to extricate himself from this situation. Something he would have time to think on since land behind them was shrinking fast.
The crew made a semi-circle around them with one more man standing on the bowsprit, a coiled whip in his hand. He appeared to be in charge, though Willie wasn’t sure yet if he was a boatswain or a master. The ship appeared to be a sloop, a smaller ship than the Frances Pearl. It looked to be a crew of twelve, far scruffier than his former mates.
The man up front raised his fist, the crew grew silent. “Mates, we have new men on the Saucy Sally. We want to help them feel right at home, learn the rules of our ship. So mates, who is the boss?”
“Declan Stryker!” They sang out in unison.
“Who makes the rules?”
“Declan Stryker!”
“And if you don’t agree, who’s right?”
“Declan Stryker!”
“One last question. Who is Declan Blackheart Stryker?”
“You are!”
The man jumped down and walked to Willie and Andrew, tucking the whip under their chins. It assured attention and intimidation all in one move. It worked well with Andrew who trembled.
“You’re not afraid of me, are you.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Am I supposed to be, sir?” He wasn’t about to show it, that was for sure.
The man chuckled. “Nice touch. Polite arrogance.” He moved to Andrew. “Now this one, he’s terrified. That is fine. He’ll do as he’s told.” Then back to Willie. “But you, I’m not sure you know how to be obedient.” He lowered his hand with the whip. “I could wait and see, but we don’t have that luxury.” He turned to the crew. “Take him!”
Three men grabbed Willie.
The instant they started to drag him, he knew what was about to happen. And it would only happen when he couldn’t fight them anymore.
Willie kicked and thrashed and bit. He yanked his arm free and punched. They might get him there, but they would pay for doing it.
It took eight of the crew, but they dragged him to the mast. Someone tore his waistcoat off him, buttons popping and flying. Then someone else ripped open the back of his shirt while others tied his hands to the metal ring on the mast and bound his feet together. They ran the line from his hands, through the ring, and down to his boots and pulled it taut.
The first crack of the whip never touched him. It was for effect, to make him anticipate and fear. It nearly worked as there was a sudden need to urinate. Willie gritted his teeth. I will not call out. I will not make a sound.
The next crack made contact. He gasped but refused to cry out. Another crack, another tongue of fire down his back. He set his jaw.
By the fifth crack, his knees grew weak, but he would not give satisfaction. He put his mind on Maybe. He saw her smile, he touched her face, he kissed her lips. He knew nothing more.
* * *
Maybe held onto Mother’s hand, terrified that she would be alone if she let go. Together they waited for the sound of the front door opening. “What if he canna find him? What if he changed his mind?”
“Hush now, lovey, he dinna change his mind. I dunna ken why he isn’t here, but I know Willie. If he told his father he would come back, then that was his plan.”
What if something happened to him? The blood drained from her face. What if he was in danger because she chased him out of the house? “Oh, tis all my fault! What if…?” The awful things she imagined were too awful to put into words.
“’Tis not yer fault. He said he’d be back, he’ll be back. Ye’ve got to have faith, lovey. Faith in yer husband but more important, faith in yer God. He not only loves ye, He loves Willie and will help him. God will bring him home to us.”
“I dunna have any faith left. At least not in God. It has been one thing after another—me father, me mother, now Willie.” She feared closing her eyes, afraid she would imagine a lifeless picture of him in her mind. It sent a chill down her spine.
“Willie is not dead. I’ll have no talk like that. And ye’ve got the baby to consider. Ye want to remain strong to bring Willie’s babe into the world. What if he walks in and sees you like this? What would he say?”
Right now she wasn’t as worried about what he would say as she was terrified he couldn’t come through the front door. She needed him. Oh, God, please don’t take Willie too! A little faith? That was all she had, but she put every bit into her plea and prayed God heard her.
The front door opened and closed. Mother
helped her sit up and wiped her face as footfalls sounded on the stairs.
Then her father-in-law stood in the doorway. Alone.
Mother rose, facing him, but his eyes remained on Maybe. Was it the December winds or had he been crying?
“I’m sorry, Maybe. I should have insisted he come home with me.”
“Joseph, where is he? Where did he go?”
He stood there, his mouth working like he wanted to speak, but his voice refused. He swallowed. “They’ve impressed him.”
Maybe couldn’t breathe. Air would not go in or out. The room swirled before everything went dark.
* * *
“Why’d he hit him so hard? Now we’ve got to lug him around.”
“Y’ know Declan cannot abide someone who won’t submit. If he’d just hollered a bit, it would have been better for him.”
“He’s coming around. Hey, hey you.”
Willie tried to bat the hand away. Air caught in his chest. It hurt to breathe, let alone move. All the surrounding voices drew him from the dark, making him more aware of his pain. “What?”
“Hey, you sure made Declan angry. You might want to not do that.”
“I’ll try to remember that. What are you doing with me?” How long had he been out?
“We’re trying to get you to your bunk. If you lay still, we can put some bandages across your back.”
Willie wasn’t sold on the idea. He’d seen how clean the ship wasn’t and remembered what infection had done to Cookie. “I’ll be fine. Where is my waistcoat? That will cover my back.”
“I doubt you’ll see your waistcoat again, unless Declan decides to wear it. He’s got your boots too.”
The Crockett Chronicles- The Complete Collection Page 80
