Miss Whittier Makes a List (31 page)

Her rescuer ran on board the ship just behind the captain and Adam jumped from the dock as a sailor cut the cable and they swung out to sea. T
h
e seaman set her down, apologizing for his rude behavior
,
but Hannah could only wring his hand in gratitude while he towered over her and blushed like a schoolboy.

“
Someone take the captain below,
”
snapped a commanding voice from the deck.
“
Lively now. We don
’
t know how bad he
’
s hu
rt
. Miss Whittier, where is the doctor?
”

Hannah looked up at Mr. Futtrell, who stood, eyes ste
rn,
feet planted widely apart, on the darkened deck.
“
He was the diversion,
”
she said simply.

Futtrell nodded, but said nothing. Adam helped her below deck, where a sailor had already wrapped the captain in a blanket. Without a word, she sat down and leaned back against the gunwales as the sailor deposited the unconscious captain in her lap then raced back on deck again. The harbor shook with another explosion while Futtrell steered a course out into the
Atlantic
, taking them out of h
ar
m
’
s way and far from the wrath of a French garrison destroyed by a handful of shipwrecked members of the
Royal
Navy.

Hannah took a deep breath and then another. What ship was this, she asked herself as she pulled the captain closer and looked about her. Everywhere were barrels of fish, and nets. Captain Spark sti
r
r
ed
in her
ar
ms and opened his one eye. She touched his face.
“
I think Mr. Futtrell has commandeered a Po
rtu
guese fishing vessel;
”
she said.

Spark nodded and then closed his eye again.
“
Lady Amber, it is nine good sailing days to
Lisbon
,
”
he said.
“
Only think of all the ways you w
ill discover that you can cook t
unny.
”
His voice was scarcely audible, but it c
arri
ed a conviction that put the h
ea
rt back in her.
“
I told you I was a rapid mender.
”
He chuckled, and then winced.
“
But I think I will sleep now, my dear. Don
’
t wake me until we get to
Lisbon
. I could sleep a week.
”

Captain Spark slept for two days as the
Maria
l
a
Rainha,
a f
ishing smack from Terceira
,
plowed a course for Lisbon, some nine hundred miles distant. Hannah found an old mattress from one of the forward cabins and with Adam
’
s help, rolled him onto it. He made no comment beyond a stifled groan and another lapse into unconsciousness. When he was conscious, he seemed intent on what was happening inside his body. She held his hand, fearing this inward preoccupation and praying that it did not require a doctor. And then one morning he sat up and demanded something to eat.

“
We have lots of tunny, and it
’
s not getting a moment younger,
”
she said.

“
Why then, I
’
ll have some, Miss Whittier,
”
he said. He made a face.
“
You would think Mr. Futtrell could have commandeered something with a keg of salt beef and sea biscuit on board.
”

“
Oh, you are a difficult
patient!
”
she teased.
“
You are complaining, and here we are under all sail and proceeding to
Lisbon
, where I trust we will see no more ugly customers.
”

He nodded and rubbed at the stubble on his chin.
“
Only a cou
rt
martial board, Lady A, and they can be decidedly un
pleasant
.”

She stared at him.
“
Surely
thee
will ... you will not be castigated for losing the
Dissuade
.
”

“
It is standard procedure. You still remember the dispatch you memorized?
”

She n
odded.

“
Good! That will help. I only wish I had the original.
”

“
But you do,
”
she said and tugged at the blanket around his waist.

He gr
inned
.
“
Ha
nna
h! Mind your manners! Ship
’
s discipline!
”

“
Oh, hush,
”
she said, blushing. She pushed on the bandage and was rewarded with the crackle of paper.
“
Dr. Lea
se bound it around your waist.
”

“
By
God,
so he did,
”
Spark replied, fingering the dispatch layered
between the muslin str
ips. He leaned his head against the gunwale, looking suddenly old.
“
And all he had in that medicine satchel was gunpowder
,
I suppose.
”

“
I suppose,
”
she echoed, her voice soft.
“
Why did he do it, Daniel?
”

The captain touched her face.
“
You have never called me that before.
”

“
I was forward. Forgive me.
”

“
You are char
ming, and I won
’
t forgive you.
”
He let his hand drop to his lap, serious again.
“
I don
’
t know why he did it. Maybe some people have to beat themselves over the head with their sins, real or imagined. I am not numbered among that sensitive lot.
”
He gazed into her eyes.
“
Put that on your list, Hannah. A rascal is always a be
tter bedfellow than a m
an with a guilty conscience.
”

She was silent, looking at her hands.
“
I wish I had never mentioned that list,
”
she said finally, and got up from the deck where she sat. She quietly left the lower deck, even as he called to her to return.

The ate tunny for a solid week—boiled, stewed, soupy, fricasseed, roasted, poached, and
sautéed
, while Mr. Futtrell and
Adam
, their eyes almost gluey from lack of sleep, stood watch and watch about and Captain Spark grew stronger. He could open both eyes now, and wiggle his fingers without flinching, and when he laughed at something she said he did not have to hold his side. She would have shaved him
,
but no one on board had a razor.

The
Maria la Rainha
had been captured at the end of its voyage, and the water barrels were all but empty. The sailors and crew went on quarter rations immediately and began an elaborate deception to make sure Captain Spark had plenty to drink. Hannah was touched by their solicitude, and by the way that at some point during the day or night, everyone on board managed to wander by the lower deck to see that he was getting better. I wonder how I could have thought them rough,
barbaric
men, she asked herself
when she came on deck one night,
relieved by a sailor who insisted that Captain Spark was well enough for her to leave his side.

Mr. Futtrell
was standing the watch. He motioned to her to give him a progress report and then invited her to join him.
“
Soon we
’
span>
ll be in
Lisbon
and this adventure will be over,
”
he
said.
“
Do you think you
’
ll
tr
y to go to
Charleston
then?
”

Hannah smiled to herself.
“
Charleston
seems like another world, Mr. Futtrell.
”

“
It isn
’
t. You can pick up
your life
where you left off.
”

She couldn
’
t answer him. She knew she could never return to what she was before. Perched on the railing, her
arm
looped through the rigging, she examined her character and realized with a shock how much she had changed. I know that I can face the worst kind of trouble, she thought. I also know better than to let Hosea or Papa bully me into marriage, no matter how good their intentions or how good the ma
n,
if he is not right for me. I also know that I cannot put people in lists or categories. We are all governed by so many different circumstances. I hope this will make me more tolerant of others and leave me flexible enough to see good, no matter how well disguised it may appear.

It was not something to tell Mr. Futtrell, of course.
“
What about you,
sir?
”
she asked.
“
What will you do?
”