Petals on the River (9 page)

cheeks.
 
"I'm not afraid of work, sir," she said carefully, aware that

her next words might greatly reduce the possibility of being purchased.

"I'm just not well acquainted with it, that's all."

"I see," Gage responded in bemusement.
 
Perhaps what Annie had told him

was actually true, that Shemaine O'Hearn really had been brought up as a

lady.
 
Only the very wealthy could afford to coddle their offspring with

servants, which seemed the only plausible explanation for her soft hands

and lack of skills.
 
"I sincerely hope you have a talent for learning on

your own, Shemaine.
 
I can ill afford a tutor for you, nor do I have the

time or the ability to instruct you myself."

"I learn very quickly, sir," she averred hastily.
 
"If there are books

to he had that give detailed instructions on the duties of a

housekeeper, then I can teach myself."

"I will earnestly have to look for one."

" Twould help," she answered gingerly.

"Do you even know how to cook?" Gage posed the inquiry again, trying to

subdue his sudden concern.
 
He fervently hoped they wouldn't have to

starve before she familiarized herself with some of the basics.

"I'm clever with a needle, sir," Shemaine hedged cautiously, not wanting

to divulge what she was basically uncertain about.
 
Her mother had

thought it prudent for a young lady to be taught all the skills of a

wife, and their cook had fervently agreed, but Shemaine had not been the

most attentive of students and could make no guarantees as to the extent

of her memory.

Accepting her reply as a negative responseS Gage heaved a dismal sigh.

He wasn't at all excited about the prospect of having to endure a

novice's cooking, but even Roxanne's skills in that area could not

compel him to veer from the course he was quickly laying out for

himself.
 
He knew by the very act of coming here today that he was

seriously testing the winds of fate, but his desire to have Shemaine was

beginning to far outweigh all other considerations.

"You seem very young," he remarked, not wanting to dwell on her

inexperience.

"Not so young, sir," she readily rejoined, though at the moment she felt

ancient.
 
"I was ten and eight this past month."

"Young enough!" Gage scoffed.
 
"Unless, of course, you think a score,

ten, and three is ancient."

Shemaine was bemused by his statement.
 
"What's so significant about a

score, ten, and three, sir?"

" Tis my age," Gage informed her bluntly.

Oh!
 
Shemaine's lips formed the word, though her voice failed to give

utterance to the syllable.
 
Embarrassed by her blunder, she avoided

meeting his gaze for fear he might detect her astonishment. She hadn't

really thought him to be that old!

An uneasy silence passed between them, and finally in fretful confusion,

Shemaine raised her eyes to meet the ones that stared back at her.
 
She

fully expected him to tell her that he would have to seek elsewhere for

a servant, but his eyes delved deeply into hers and seemed intent upon

searching out her innermost secrets.

"Now," Gage breathed, as if speaking to himself, "all I have to do is

convince Mr.
 
Harper to sell you to me."

Shemaine's heart fluttered in genuine relief.
 
Though she had desired

earlier to be bought by a woman, there was something about this man that

made her confident of his integrity.
 
Perhaps it was the angry look that

had sharply creased his brow when he had broached the subject of the

prisoners being starved.
 
She just hoped her lack of skills would not

bring that particular disaster to bear upon his small f amily.

Gage returned to the bosun and offered a sum with a casual indifference

that was well feigned.
 
"I'll give you fifteen pounds for the girl."

James Harper felt his hackles rise.
 
Perhaps it was his own jealousy

that had raised its inflated green head like a wary serpent when the man

had looked the girl over, but he was beginning to suspect the colonial

wanted her, not as a nursemaid for his son, but as a mistress for

himself.
 
"The captain gave me strict orders about the girl, Mr.

Thornton!
 
She's not to be sold."

"Twenty pounds then," Gage said a bit more testily.
 
He removed a

leather purse from a larger pouch that was slung from a shoulder by a

rawhide strap and worn on the opposite hip.
 
Carefully he counted out

the coins and offered them to the bosun.
 
"That should be enough to suit

your captain."

"I tell you, the girl is not to be sold!" Harper insisted, growing

irate.
 
He refused to even acknowledge the outstretched hand.

"Dammit, man!" Gage snapped.
 
Realizing his heightening intention to buy

Shemaine whatever the cost, he asked incredulously, "You bring your

prison ship into port and flaunt the cargo for every man to see, then

you say you have no intention of selling the best part of it9" He

laughed with trenchant skepticism.
 
"Come now, Mr.
 
Harper, is this a

game?
 
If it is, I have no time to play.
 
Now tell me, how much do you

want for the girl?"

"What's going on here?" Captain Fitch demanded sharply as he joined the

pair.

"Sir, this pilgrim," Harper derided as he indicated Gage with an angry

jerk of his head, "is insisting that he be allowed to purchase Shemaine

O'Hearn.
 
His last offer was twenty pounds.
 
He wants to know what

you'll take for her."

Brushing back his frock coat from his ponderous belly, Captain Fitch

hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his waistcoat and rocked back on his

heels as he smirked at the tall stranger.
 
"I fear you haven't nearly

enough coins in your possession to buy the wench, sir.
 
She's already

spoken for."

Shemaine caught her breath in surprise and quickly closed the distance

between them.
 
"By whom, sir?"

Peering obliquely past the large prow of his nose, Everette Fitch lifted

dark, wispy brows as he regarded the maiden.
 
His sly smile lit his gray

eyes with a glowing ardor that was unmistakable, bringing an outraged

blush to Shemaine's cheeks as the realization dawned.
 
Somehow the

captain had contrived to have her for his own, even if he had to hide

her beneath the very nose of his wife.

"Sir, I beg you!" Shemaine came threateningly close to tears as she

considered the repulsive prospect.
 
Becoming this man's plaything would

be more horrible than anything she had yet imagined.
 
"Please, Captain

Fitch, I don't wish to arouse your wife's ire more than it has been."

Indeed, a flogging would scarcely appease the woman's desire for

retribution if she ever learned of her husband's intentions.
 
"Let Mr.

Thornton buy me.
 
He's a widower, sir, and has a youngling that needs

tending."

Recognizing the heavily weighted footfalls of his wife as she approached

from behind, Everette stiffened and clasped his hands behind his back in

perturbation.
 
Throughout the voyage Gertrude had made it her business

to dispatch her broad shape swiftly to his side whenever she sensed some

monetary matter was being discussed.
 
She was a needling, meddling,

critical old jade, and he was anxious to experience a maid far more

youthful, delectable and sweet.

"Everette, you're needed on the bridge to sign papers of indenture,"

Gertrude stated, snubbing her nose at James Harper.

"I'll be along in a moment, dearest," Everette said, trying to urge her

back to the area of the ship from whence she had come.
 
"Just as soon as

I tend to the business here at hand."

Gage grasped the situation immediately and, after purposefully doubling

the amount of coins in his purse to draw the woman's attention, spoke to

her discreetly.
 
"I was told the maid, Shemaine O'Hearn, cannot be

purchased for any amount of coin that I have in my possession.
 
Perhaps,

madam, you'd care to count them for yourself."

Gertrude peered askance at the tall man as he pressed the purse into her

hand.
 
Then she cast a suspicious glare toward her husband as she judged

the weight of the moneybag.
 
She promptly made a more accurate

accounting of the amount it contained.

Shemaine quaked in fearful apprehension.
 
She was certain that if

Gertrude Fitch suspected how desperately she wanted to be sold to Gage

Thornton, the possibility would be promptly nullified.

Gertrude came to her own conclusions and, upon returning the coins to

the bag, jerked the rawhide strings closed with a finality that doomed

her husband's scheme.
 
As much as she had yearned to see Shemaine dead

and buried, she could not lightly dismiss a generous sum such as this.

"Sign her papers, Everette," she instructed officiously.
 
"We'll not

likely gain a sum greater than forty pounds from another buyer."

Captain Fitch opened his mouth to protest but paused as he met the

colonial's sardonic stare.
 
He suddenly realized that if he wanted to

continue commanding a ship, he had no choice but to sign the girl's

papers of indenture and give her to the man.
 
He handed the document

over with a grumbling complaint.
 
"I don't know what I'll tell the other

gentleman when he comes to fetch the wench."

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Gage responded aridly. A1lowing a

spartan smile to touch his lips, he rolled the parchment and tucked it

into the flat pouch at his side.

I He glanced down at Shemaine.
 
"Are you ready?"

She was anxious to be gone before Captain Fitch could think of a reason

to delay them.
 
Looking around for Annie, she found the woman timidly