“Hm. Is that wise, with how little we know of him? You remember what happened to Mary last year with that Ray character? He nearly ruined her.”
“Is Isaac as nefarious as Ray?” Harriet scowled.
“No, I suppose not. Ray made my skin crawl from the first moment I met him. But Isaac is so secretive. What does he do? Why is he here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly. He could be part of some crime ring. A bandit!”
“Oh, Beth, you do have a very active imagination. He is a normal, non-criminal person. I think.”
“Exactly. Just be careful. Don’t do anything rash because you are on the higher side of marriageable age.”
“I’m not sure what to do with that. Was that an insult?”
“No. Of course not. It was a sisterly warning, or advice, what have you.”
“Fine. I suppose you are right. I should exercise more caution and learn more about him before I try to integrate him into our lives.”
“Yes.”
As John took the pearl, he felt compelled to look down upon it as it glowed ever so slightly in his open palm. Serene took the pearl from him and placed it between his collarbones. Two glowing gold strands snaked out of the pearl and around John’s neck, joining together seamlessly at the back. John felt warmth course up and through his body and happiness creep upon his person. The aches and pains of sleeping on rough terrain vanished, as well as his yearning for Lavender. He still felt that he loved her strongly, so perhaps the pearl did not make one fall in love with someone after all.
“Serene will take you to your boat now.”
“Thank you,” John said as she pulled him into a kiss. John’s thoughts of Lavender drifted away quickly. Serene broke the kiss and stepped onto the pool of water. John joined her. Together they sank into the water slowly. John noticed that he had no need to breathe and felt like he could hold his breath forever. Then he saw Serene in her full mermaid glory. What had looked pale green, stringy, and wet above the water now looked in its right place. Her hair flowed in the water, and her skin looked creamy and white. Her eyes shone blue, and her tail sparkled and glittered in the filtered light of the ocean. She took John’s hand and swam powerfully fast. It did not take long before they broke the surface of the water and John could see his boat before them.
John smiled and chuckled, feeling exhilarated. “Come on, I’ll show you my boat.”
John climbed aboard and took Serene’s hand. She climbed with legs that had appeared from nowhere. As she climbed fully aboard, her hair dried and her eyes became more human-like. A dress protruded from her skin and changed into a beautiful, long-sleeved, dark red gown that dragged on the ground with a slit up to her thigh.
“Serene, such beauty. You can transform from one pleasing form to another.”
“Yes. I can transform you, if you would like.”
“Transform me how?”
“I did it for Morose. I made him young again so we could be together longer”
“How old are you?”
“I am sixty moons.”
“Moons? Let’s see. There are roughly twelve moons per year. Divide sixty by that and you are only five years old!”
“Years?”
“It doesn’t matter. You are just a child.”
“A child?”
John shrugged her question off and looked around. Confusion had overcome him. “I was going somewhere before, but I can’t remember exactly where.”
“You were going to rescue your wedding day from Morose, my love. But it doesn’t matter now.”
“Why?”
“Because you are my love now.”
“I don’t know about that,” John stumbled. He felt an intense exhaustion, and he couldn’t remember what he was going to do next. “But I am very tired.” John yawned and felt he must lay down immediately. He stumbled all the way to his cabin and collapsed on the bed.
John woke in his cabin. The boat rocked gently back and forth, and a refreshing breeze came in through the open cabin door. He sat up and blinked a few times, waiting for his head to clear. He looked around his cabin. What time was it? What day was it? Why was the door open? Then he remembered his special visitor, Serene. Where was she? John could not risk losing her, but he couldn’t remember why. He jumped from his bed and rushed out the door to the deck. The sun blinded him momentarily, and he shielded his eyes with his arm. “Serene! Where have you gone?”
John felt a wet hand on his other arm. “I am here. You have slept a great while.”
John’s eyes finally adjusted enough to see Serene. “There you are. We must go.” But he stopped, because he couldn’t remember where they were supposed to go and why it was so urgent.
“You want to find your married. Why can’t you remember?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I need to do something, but then you—you make me forget. You are in my mind somehow.”
“I’m not in your mind. I am here,” Serene said as she sat on a barrel.
“But you, you—” John put his hand on his neck and felt the pearl. He had forgotten that she had given it to him. He pulled it gently and it came off. “Here, take this. It makes me confused.”
“It’s not my pearl that makes you confused. It is your mind. I thought you had a strong mind.”
Serene took the pearl from John, and it disappeared into her hand.
“I don’t feel any better,” John said as he rubbed his eyes. In fact, he rapidly began to feel worse as his aches and pains returned.
Serene approached him as if she were gliding on ice. “Here, it will help with your pain.” She placed the pearl back on John’s neck, and the gold strands wrapped around his neck again. This time John did not feel as confused and groggy as before. His pain and his mind cleared.
He looked at Serene. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Her skin glowed from within, and she always had a pleasantness about her face. John couldn’t help himself. He reached for her and kissed her. She kissed him back with her cool lips.
“I have never felt this way before. I feel like I could pick up a locomotive!”
“What is a locomotive?” Serene asked.
“A train.”
“What is a train?” Serene blinked.
“You are such a child. You need someone to teach you. I am a worldly man. I have been so many places and seen so many things. I must show you everything!”
“I want to see things, my love.”
John looked at her with the admiration and doting usually saved for a puppy. “Where do we start?”
“Where does your heart tell you?” Serene asked. She didn’t realize that her spell did not extend to the truth in John’s heart. She did not realize that by asking John to think with his heart, the question would betray her.
“There’s this small town in America. It’s what my heart feels I should show you first.”
Volume Six
Pirate-napped
Peter closed the bank door and locked it. He was the last to leave. It helped him maintain his secret better.
The night was still and warm, and the sun had not yet set even though it was well after six. The town was still bustling, but no one Peter really knew was out and about on the street, so he walked down to the docks as he had been doing for many weeks. He walked into his father-in-law’s office and found Michael sitting at a desk, writing away. He sensed Peter and looked up.
“I’m almost ready.”
“Take your time,” Peter responded. Michael finished writing a few more lines and put the paper in an envelope that he placed on a pile of other filled envelopes on his desk.
“Ready.”
They locked up the office on their way out and headed down the road to a warehouse. They said nothing to each other the whole way. As they walked up to the door, they could hear the
rhythmic sound of sawing.
“Sounds like he beat us again,” Peter said.
Michael nodded as he opened the door and they both stepped inside.
“Evening, fellas.” Isaac waved after he put down his saw. Michael and Peter rolled up their sleeves and each put on a heavy leather apron.
“It’s looking really good, Isaac.” Michael pointed at the chair Isaac was working on.
“Yeah, there’s just one thing. Mr. Hardison wanted it to be made of American maple. What we have here is birch. Not nearly the quality he wanted. I didn’t even realize. After I sent him the sample, he sent back a scathing letter telling me so.”
“That’s my fault,” Peter admitted, shaking his head. “He mentioned it to me when I took his order, but I forgot to tell you what wood to order.”
“Don’t worry. I figure we can just sell these to someone else. That’s why I’m finishing them up, but the bad news is that I told him it would take four weeks to get the American maple and he cancelled his order.”
“Shoot!” Michael punched the air. “That means we have no orders?”
“I’m afraid so. Looks like you two need to rustle up some more.”
“It wasn’t easy getting that first one,” Peter said as the color in his face drained.
“I know. But you did it once. You can do it again. What about your contacts, Michael?”
“I’ve exhausted my contacts. I’ll have to ask around again, maybe even bring in my father.”
“I think I have a lead from the bank. I’ll have to look up his details and see if he would be interested in custom-built boat furniture.”
“Maybe we need to branch out and make regular furniture too. Maybe do some side jobs like handy work around town. It could help us get our name out.”
“That’s the problem, Michael. It gets our name out. Can’t we just tell the girls we’ve been trying to start a business?”
“Absolutely not. Have you met them? They will try to help and lend us money and get involved.”
“We need the money. Would it really be so bad for them to be part of it?”
“You two do what you need to do. We are out of lumber. We need new saw blades, and I don’t have any lacquer left. Even if I got an order, I wouldn’t be able to fill it,” Isaac said.
“I’ve got some money set aside.” Peter sighed. “I’ve also got an order, but you aren’t going to like it.” Peter handed a paper to Isaac, and Isaac studied it for a minute.
“I don’t really do boat repairs, but I suppose if it’s all we have for now.”
“It is. Can we manage it? None of us have experience, but I figured it was better than nothing and we could work it out.”
“Let me see that.” Michael grabbed the paper from Isaac. “I can handle these. This doesn’t do much to grow our business, though, Peter.”
“I know, but we need the money, and maybe you can convince them they need a few extra things while we are there.”
“Maybe they could use a few chairs,” Isaac said, pointing to the chair he was constructing.
“Getting our name out there is proving to be more difficult than I imagined,” Peter said.
“Yeah, it’s hard to build a business with no reputation . . . and no product,” Michael said.
“Well, we have two chairs. Let’s start with those.”
“We still have lumber left over. Can you design something with what we’ve got left and I’ll try to sell it?” Peter said to Isaac.
“Sure, I think I can do that. I was already thinking of a folding chair design. It takes minimal wood and would be perfect to stow away when not in use.”
“I still think we should tell our wives, Michael. Liz has been very concerned about my absence, and I know that Mary has been giving you a hard time as well.”
“Just give it a little more time, Peter.”
“Even that sister of yours, Harriet, has been giving me a hard time. You’ve some strong women in that family of yours, Michael.”
“What do you mean? You’ve seen Harriet again since that day?” Michael said.
“Oh, yes. She asked me to join your family for the Fourth of July celebration. I almost said yes, but the glare from Liz scared me straight.”
Michael looked at Peter and smiled.
“Isaac, are you interested in my sister?” Michael gave Isaac a crooked smile.
“No. Of course not. She asked me. I was going to politely accept, but then I thought better. I was thinking about keeping your secret.”
“Look, Isaac. I’m new to the family, but if you want to date Harriet, I say you can date Harriet. After we tell our wives. The last thing I need is for you to tell Harriet what we’ve been doing and then she tells Liz and it sends her into hysterical weeping until our child is born.”
“I agree,” Michael said. “I think you are a good man, and I don’t mind you courting my sister at all. But I just don’t want you to do it right now.”
“I don’t intend to court your sister at all,” Isaac said defensively.
“Why not? Harriet’s a catch!” Michael shot back.
“Yes, she’s very catchy. I like her very much. I’m just trying to focus on this.” Isaac motioned to everything.
“All right. I’ll let you know when you can go out with her.”
“Michael, I don’t intend to go out with her. At all. She’s not my kind of girl.”
“What’s your kind of girl then?”
“Someone who’s sweet and knows to mind her own business.”
“Mind her own business? Since when does Harriet not mind her own business?”
“Every time I run into her—and that is a lot—she’s always trying to figure me out and who I am and what I do.”
“Sounds like she’s mighty interested in you too.” Peter smirked.
“All right, enough about Arie.”
“Arie!” Michael laughed. “You’ve already got a pet name for her!”
“I do not. It was the name of someone I used to know, that’s all.”
“All right, let’s leave him alone for now. We’ve got to focus on this business tonight. Once that’s done, we can worry about Isaac and Harriet’s wedding.”
Michael let out a gut laugh.
“Hey, enough! I’m not after your sister. Let’s get back to work.”
Michael let his laugh taper off and sighed. “Yeah, let’s get back to work and make this work before none of us has a woman to go home to.”
Morose walked his deck solo. There was no one else awake—or so he thought. His love, Lavender, watched his every move. Now she watched from behind the mast as Morose paced the deck. He walked to the stern side and leaned over the edge, sighing as he watched the stars glitter on the surface of the water. Then he paced to the bow and stood still with his hands on his hips as he looked to the sky at the twinkling lights in the sky. He dropped his head and shook it in despair. Lavender heard a faint cry. It was Lady Coberg again. She cried night and day.
Morose walked over the hold she was in and opened the grate. He climbed down and closed the grate behind him.
“What be the matter, lass?” he said softly.
“I want to go home. I miss my family,” she said softly.
“I know yer do. I don’t know what be taking them so long to send yer ransom.”
“I do. My husband doesn’t care for me. I wasn’t his first choice. Now he can marry whom he really wants to.”
“Who that be? Perhaps we can exchange yer for her.” Morose laughed lightly.
“My cousin. Matilda. She is older than me and Sir Coberg has always preferred her, but she has no money. With me gone he will have my money and her.”
Morose sighed. “I be getting soft. Yer almost making me cry, young’n.”
“Please, let me go home. I’m no use to you, I swear. M
y husband will never pay for me. He hates me. If you let me go, I will send you money myself. I’ll pay my own ransom.”
“Agh. I can’t just let yer go. If it were just me I would, but I’ve got a whole crew of bloodthirsty men and a crazed love of me own that would sooner see yer walk the plank than return home in peace. My men already mutinied once before. If I go all soft, I surely have another mutiny on my hands. I can’t risk me Lavender over yer.”
“You don’t seem like a pirate. You seem kind and handsome. You certainly don’t smell like a pirate.”
“Thank you. It helps that my lady is aboard.”
“She seems like a pirate.”
“Lavy? No. She be the sweetest girl yer ever know.”
“Sweet? How can you say she is sweet? She tried to kill Pauly. Even she admitted he was like a father to her. She’s not right. If ever she were the sweetest, now she’s gone mad.”
“Normally I’d have yer strung up for saying such things, but I’m afraid yer right. She’s gone all bats in the bellfry.”
“I could be your girl, Captain. I’m sweet. Sweeter than her, anyway.”
“I thank yer for the offer, but yer just trying to save yer life” Morose scoffed.
“Please, I want to go home.” Lady Coberg began to sob. Morose scooped her up and held her.
“I know yer do, me girl. I know yer do. O’l Captain Morose will find a way. I’m sorry I let a poor little lass like yer get caught up in all this. I’m not a good man.” He stroked her hair and allowed her to sob into his shirt.
Morose heard a sound above. He looked up and saw Lavender standing near the grate and staring down at them. She had heard it all.
“Come on down, me love. Perhaps you can help me calm this child.” Morose hoped that Lavender would feel something for Lady Coberg and it would help her be herself again. Pauly appeared behind Lavender.
“Go on, Lavender, help the poor girl.”
Lavender cocked an eyebrow before she opened the grate and went down into the hold. She reached her arms out, and Morose stood the girl up and allowed Lavender to embrace her.
Unbroken Promises of the Heart: (Promises of the Heart Book 2) Page 11
