Petals on the River (97 page)

built.
 
I've no ken when he might've done it, but he made a paddock with

stout sticks for his mule an' then piled some brush bewilderment and he

looked back at .
 
wantin' ta do her 'round the barrier so's the animal

wouldn't be seen.
 
It looked so natural, I the'er gave it heed though I

was standin' just a few paces away.

The way it looked ta me, he meant ta stay out there for some time an'

wasn't wantin' anybody who might've come inta the woods ta see him .
 
.

.
 
includin' the lot o' us."

"I wonder if he's been the one we've been searching for all this time,"

Gage muttered half to himself.

"Don't know, Cap'n," Gillian answered.
 
"But it were plain ta me that he

had ta have been out there for some time ta do ev'erythin' he'd done."

Gage frowned in confusion.
 
"But how would Cain have stopped Potts if he

had shown up?"

Gillian readily supplied the answer.
 
"I was fifty or so paces off when

Andy started screamin', an' I ran back ta see what had scared him so.

That's when I noticed Cain hunkered down in a hollowed-out ol' tree

trunk.
 
He'd pulled a green branch in front o' it an' was hidin' there

as still as a mouse until he realized I'd seen him.
 
When he pushed the

branch aside, I noticed right off he had a rusty flintlock across his

lap.
 
It gave me a start, cause I didn't know whether or not he'd be o'

a mind ta use it on us.
 
Ta be sure, Cap'n, the pistol looked so old it

might've blown up in his face if he'd fired it.
 
I'm thinkin' he was

plannin' on usin' it on Potts."

Gage took his sniffling son from his wife.
 
Shemaine had dried Andrew's

eyes and wiped his nose, but Gage could still feel the boy quaking

against him.
 
The tiny arms crept around his neck and held on

resolutely, at least until Shemaine rubbed a hand soothingly over the

boy's back.

Then Andrew lifted his head and peered at her with a quivenng grin.

"You little rascal," she teased, ruffling his hair as she tried to ease

his trauma.
 
"You nearly frightened the wits out of me."

"I'll take him back to the ship with me," Gage murmured.

"Gil'an," Andy called, looking around for the young man.

Gillian stepped to where the boy could see him.
 
"Right here, Andy."

"We going' ta Daddee's ship now.
 
You comin'?"

Gillian chuckled.
 
"I guess I'd better.
 
Pa'll be wonderin' where I lit

ta."

Shemaine watched them until they began ascending the building slip, then

she turned and, espying everybody who had been in the cabin now watching

from the porch, she went to join them.

William was the most concerned, and questioned her as she drew near.

"What happened, Shemaine?"

l "Nothing serious, my lord.
 
Andrew was just frightened, that's all.

There's a badly deformed man living somewhere between here and Newportes

Newes.
 
Andy saw him in the woods, and you know how afraid he is of

strangers.
 
Well, he's absolutely terrified of Cainþ"

"Cain?" her mother repeated.
 
"What a strange name."

"I agree, Mama, but if you were to see the poor man, you'd be able to

understand how appropriate the name is."

"Has he made himself a nuisance?" Maurice inquired.

"Nay, not at all," Shemaine replied, noticing that her former betrothed

had elected to stand beside Garland at the edge of the porch.

The two truly made a handsome couple, and she hoped that more would come

from this, their first meeting, and that Edith du Mercer might come to

consider the girl a fit mate for her grandson.
 
"In fact, if Gillian

understood him correctly, he was watching over me."

Camille was immediately apprehensive and clasped a shaking hand to her

throat.
 
"Why would he be doing such a thing?
 
Does he suspect that

you'll be harmed by someone?"

Shemaine knew whom her mother immediately considered the culprit and

tried to seem unconcerned as she shrugged.
 
"There was a sailor aboard

the London Przde who threatened to kill meþ"

"Is he still here?"

Shemus interrupted, sharing his wife's disquiet.

"Yes, Papa.
 
Jacob Potts seems rather adamant about keeping his vow."

"But why should Cain set himself up as your guardian?" Camille could

only wonder what had transpired to compel the poor man to play paladin.

What was her daughter not telling them?

Shemaine was reluctant to explain, for she knew her mother would be

greatly distressed if she knew the whole of it.
 
"I just helped Cain one

dayþ"

"In what way?" her father pressed.

She lifted her shoulders in another lame-hearted gesture.
 
"Potts was

beating the man and I interfered...."

"How?" Shemus was becoming increasingly alert.
 
He knew his daughter

well enough to sense when she was trying to hide something from them.

"What did you do exactly?"

"I hit Potts," Shemaine answered in a fretful rush.

"Ye what?" Shemus barked loudly.

Camille was nearly swooning from shock.
 
"I dare not hear anymore!

" Her husband was insistent.
 
"Tell us everything!"

Shemaine heaved a sigh, fully expecting an explosion to be forthcoming

from her parents.
 
It was obvious her father would be content with

nothing less than the whole tangled tale.
 
"'Tis simple really.

Potts was giving Cain a thrashing, and I grabbed a stick and whacked the

tar across the head a couple of times.
 
That's all."

Camille groaned in abject misery.
 
"Oh, she wouldn't!
 
Shemus, tell me

she wouldn't!"

"Oh, she did, ta be sure!" Mary Margaret informed them gleefully,

thoroughly amused by their interrogation.
 
"I saw it all meself!"

Maurice nearly choked as he tried to subdue his laughter, but he failed

badly in his attempt, for he began to guffaw in amusement, much to the

delight of the twins and the distress of Camille.
 
Finally, he managed

to calm himself somewhat, but not before he winked at Shemaine and

cheered her on.
 
"That's my girl."

"How daring you are!" Gabrielle exclaimed with obvious enthusiasm.
 
"I

should like to be so brave."

"You squeal at first sight of a little mouse," her twin accused

lightheartedly, effectively squelching the other's dreamy sigh.

Gabrielle tossed her fine head, dismissing her sister' s chiding.

"Well, that's better than trying to feed every little animal you see."

Shemus posed a wary conjecture.
 
"I must assume this Potts is smaller

than the average man."

His daughter ventured a smile, but it was frail and unconvincing.

"Good heavens!" Shemus blustered, fearing the worst.
 
"The girl has

taken leave of her senses!"

"Just how big is this Potts anyway?" Camille asked tremulously.

Shemaine chewed her bottom lip worriedly as she turned her eyes askance.

It was terribly difficult to meet her mother's anxious gaze while she

was trying to hedge on her reply.
 
"Large, I think."

Shemus certainly didn't care for her cautious reply.
 
"Just how large

might this man be, daughter?"

"Were you able to meet Sly Tucker?" Shemaine queried tensely, fervently

hoping they hadn't.

"Oh, noooo!" Camille moaned, clapping a quivering hand across her mouth.

A roar of rage came from Shemus.
 
"Did it ever occur ta ye, daughter,

that such a man might have killed ye on the spot?"

Having the time of her life, Mary Margaret answered in Shemaine's stead.

"Oh, the big lummox tried, but his handsome self, Mr. Thornton, went

chargin' ta her rescue.
 
Kicked the mudsucker inta the street, he did!''

"I'm going inside," Camille declared faintly.
 
"I've had more than I can

abide for one day.
 
And may I never have another like it."

Shemaine heaved a sigh, thankful the worst of her parents' grilling had

passed.

"This bloody wilderness is ta blame!" Shemus muttered disagreeably as he

followed his distressed wife.
 
'She should come back home with us!
 
On

the first ship that sails to England!"

Their entrance into the cabin seemed to encourage a like response from

the servants and elders, leaving the twins and the Marquess standing on

the porch and Shemaine in front of the steps leading to it.

Maurice peered down at Shemaine, having been thoroughly delighted by her

escapade.
 
"I always thought you had it in you to turn a man on his ear,

Shemaine.
 
It gives me great satisfaction to know that I was right about

you all along."

"I think she's wonderful!" Gabrielle chimed in, yet she was most

inquisitive about the relationship between the Marquess and the

colonial's wife, for she was wont to think that they had been more than

mere acquaintances at some point in their lives.
 
She decided to appease

her curiosity.
 
"Have you two been friends for long?"

Maurice's dark eyes gleamed with admiration as he stared at his former

fiancee.
 
He was not the least bit uncomfortable about claiming her as

the woman he would have chosen to marry.
 
"Shemaine was my betrothed

before Mr.
 
Thornton stole her away."