Passion's Tide (41 page)

The stars shone overhead as Anton l
ifted Amber’s trunks into the longboat, the crew standing back, uncertain how to approach her and say goodbye
.
There was an awkward silence hanging in the humid air.

Suddenly, Johnny and Henry pushed through the crowd and ran up to Amber
.
“Oh good, we didn’t miss you,” Henry exclaimed
,
as he thrust a
wooden box at her
.
“We wanted you to have Puck. We know how much you like him, and he seems to like you best anyway.” A frustrated meow came from inside the crate, and a pink nose tried to poke its way through the air holes that were c
arved into the wood
.
She thanked Henry and let Eli take the box from her as Pax approached with a canvas bundle
.

“I don’t know how much use you’ll have for these in your new life,” he said, lifting th
e corner to reveal her weapons,
sh
arpened
and polished
.
“But I want you to take them with you just in case
.
If anything, they’d look awful smart hanging above your fireplace.” She accepted the bundle
with a nod.

Next, Abe limped to the fron
t of the crowd
.
“Miss Amber, I made you your favorite ho
neycakes to take with you, and the boys helped me to write down the recipe so you can tell the cook at that fancy new house of yours that Abe says to make them for your breakfast.” The lump in her throat grew larger and larger as the crew members presented her with thoughtful gifts: a new lock for her trunks from Deacon, presented with a blush and an apology for breaking hers in the first place, a conch shell from Creed, a small wooden pirate that
Anton had painstakingly whittled
.
The figurine had long cu
rly hair.

“Is this me?” she asked in surprise, looking up and seeing Anton’s bandaged hands
.
Wringing them together now, he grinned and nodded.

“I worked real hard to make it as pretty as you, but this is as close as I could get
.
Went through a lot of w
ood, too.”

At last Johnny stepped forward, a homemade book with a crude leather binding in his hands. “I wrote this for you,” he said as he held it out to her, and dropped his voice so that o
nly she could hear him. “It ain
’
t much, but I wanted to thank you for making me to learn how to read and write.”  Scrawled on the cover was the title:
The Adventures of Ruby Red and Puck
.
Beneath that was a drawing of a redheaded pirate and a buccaneer cat burying a treasure chest
.
Tears welled up behind her eyes as
she smiled
.
“It’s wonderful Johnny, thank you,” she said to the boy, who took her by surprise by throwing himself at her. She staggered backwards and wrapped her arms around him, holding him for a moment until he pulled away, wiping a dirty hand across h
is eyes and leaving a smudge.

“Amber, we need to leave soon,” Eli said quietly behind her
.
She squared her shoulders and blinked back tears
.
Anton got into the boat that he would help row, taking Puck’s box with him
.
She thanked everyone, received embr
aces and encouraging words from the crewmembers
.
Picking
up the skirts of her simple dress
, she
climbed into the longboat
.
Eli said a few words to the crew and followed her.

She lifted the box with Puck from the bench and sat,
scaring
the kitten into mewing again
.
She whispered soothing words
.
When that didn’t work, she pushed a finger into a hole and searched around until she found the animal’s chin, and began scratching
.
Puck quieted down and
issued
a low purr as Pax and Deacon sat down on the opposite bench and the boat was lowered into the water.

“You ready Amber?” Eli asked.

She gave a futile smile
.
“Of course.” The men began rowing and Amber watched as one by one the faces peering o
ver the side of the boat disappeared
.
Puck settled at the bottom of the box and fell asleep. It was the middle of the night and the water was calm, but Amber was wide-awake.

The ride was completed in silence, the one lantern in the center of the boat shining to guide their way until they reached the docks, at which point they blew it out
.
The flickering lights from the deserted harbor provided necessary illumination for them to steer the boat into an empty space.

“We’ll let you off here,” Eli whispered, turning in his seat to face her
.
“We can’t stay, but a magistrate should walk through here within the next half an hour, doing rounds
.
Tell him what I told you, and he’ll help you get home.” She bobbed her head once to show she understo
od.

Eli and Deacon rowed the boat closer to the dock, while Anton hopped onto the ladder and extended an arm for the first trunk that Pax hoisted up to him
.
The second trunk was exchanged in the same fashion, the third
—the one holding her books—requiring all four men to lift
it
onto the dock
.
Next, she handed the small wooden box to Anton, who took it with care and placed it beside her luggage. At last, she embraced each man for a final time and climbed out of the boat, standing by her trunks and wat
ching as the pirates rowed off into the early morning fog.

Feeling alone and scared, she took a seat on her trunk and pried the top from Puck’s crate
.
He blinked up at her, yawned and stretched in the small confines of the box, and allowed her to lift hi
m out
.
She slid the box to the ground and placed the kitten on her lap, stroking him until he fell asleep again.

That was how the magistrate found her, asleep with a black and white mound of fur in her arms.
H
e had seen some strange things in his years of walking the harbor, but this was a first
.
Glancing around him and seeing no one else in the vicinity of the girl, he cleared his throat.

Ambe
r sleepily opened her eyes, and upon seeing the magistrate in front of her, she smiled
.
“Hello, I was ho
ping you could help me find my family.”