Besieged

'Will there be a priest?'

'Aye, so they say.'

'Thank God for that!'

Fortune listened, half-amused. It was good to know these women had been just as nervous as she had been about the voyage, and its eventual end. What would her new home be like? Had the Highlander made the crossing in safety? All of her wordly goods, along with the horses, had been aboard the smaller vessel. And what little the other colonists had was spread between the two vessels. She wondered what Kieran would say when he saw Aine. With God's blessing she intended giving her husband a son as quickly as possible. None of Mama's special potion for now.

'Look!' one of the women suddenly cried out. 'I see buildings!'

'There's a church spire!'

'Praise be to God!'

Ualtar O'Flaherty came down from the wheel deck where he had been standing, and smiled at the women. 'Well, now, lassies, if you intend looking yer best for yer men, you had best go below now. We'll be shortly landing at St. Mary's Town.' Shooing their children before them, the women disappeared below.

Aaron Kira came to join them. ' 'Tis a wild place, m'lady. I wonder if there is any business to be had here. Time will tell.'

Over the water came the sound of a cannon booming.

'They've sighted us,' the captain continued, 'and have signaled all their citizens that we'll be docking soon.' He turned to Fortune. 'Well, Cousin, yer almost home. Kieran will be eagerly awaiting you, I know. It's a very different place yer coming to, Fortune, and you must be prepared. He'll have a house built by now, I know, but it will not be the kind of house you're used to at all. Later, you will have a better one, but this first home will not be at all what you may have envisioned. The conditions are still very primitive.'

'You frighten me, Ualter,' she answered him.

'I don't mean to,' he answered her. ' 'Tis just that your new home will be nothing like Queen's Malvern, or your stepfather's castle, or even Erne Rock. 'Twill appear more like a large, rustic cottage.'

'As long as I don't have to live in a wigwam as the settlers did last year,' she told him. Then she smiled. 'This is not the old world, Ualter. I know. 'Twill all be very new, but one thing will not be new. The love Kieran and I have for each other.'

'Yer a brave lass,' he said.

The Cardiff Rose sailed gracefully into St. Mary's crescent-shaped harbor, and docked shortly thereafter. Fortune and Rois stood holding their children in their arms, their eyes scanning the crowd on the wharf below. About them the other women and children crowded, some of them already weeping with the sight of their men. The gangway was lowered, and Captain O'Flaherty escorted his cousin and her party ashore, but there was no sign of Kieran. Then Kevin appeared, enfolding Rois and Brendan into his arms, his eyes wet with his tears of joy. Fortune waited while they greeted one another with kisses and caresses, Kevin admiring the son he had never seen. Brendan was not certain if he should cry or not at the sight of this big man who was hugging him so hard. Finally Kevin realized that his mistress was waiting silently. He broke away from Rois, and bowed to Fortune.

'Welcome to Mary's Land, m'lady. You'll be pleased to learn that the Highlander docked over a week ago. The horses are already settled in their meadow, and yer goods are safely at Fortune's Fancy.'

'Fortune's Fancy?' She looked puzzled.

Kevin grinned. ' 'Tis what the master calls the estate, m'lady,' he told her. ' 'Tis a fine house we've built for you, and the wee lass.'

'Where is my husband?' Fortune asked. 'Is he all right? Why isn't he here to meet us, Kevin?' Her lovely face was concerned.

' 'Tis that troublesome indentured wench, m'lady. She's been told a hundred times not to wander into the forest, but she did this morning, and managed to get herself lost. Many Moons, the old Wicocomoco medicine man, brought her back, sobbing and howling that she was going to be scalped by the Indians. The master didn't want to leave her alone under the circumstances. He knew you would understand, m'lady.'

'Poor girl,' Fortune said, but she was not feeling any sympathy at all for this nameless indentured servant who had disobeyed Kieran. Perhaps when the mistress of Fortune's Fancy came home at last the girl could be guided, and learn to behave herself.

'I've brought the wagon, m'lady,' Kevin said, interrupting her thoughts. 'The ship's crew have loaded the goods you brought on it, and we had best get going. We're about five miles from the town.'

'What of the other colonists?' Fortune asked him. 'And Master Kira?'

'Their men know where to take them, m'lady,' was the reply. 'Master Kira, opposite the docks, that small house there'-he pointed-' 'tis been purchased for you, along with an indentured man.' Aaron Kira thanked Kevin, kissed Fortune's hand, and bid her farewell before turning to go to his own establishment.

Kevin helped his mistress and his wife up onto the hard wooden seat of the wagon. Each woman held her child. Then climbing up, he signaled the horses to be on their way. Within minutes he and Rois were chattering away. Fortune listened briefly with half an ear, and then her thoughts turned to a husband who would remain with a hysterical servant rather than go to greet the wife he hadn't seen in almost two years. She wondered why she had bothered to dress in her finest gown for him. It seemed to her that Kieran had more care for a servant than his own wife. Had she made a mistake in marrying him? Had she made a mistake in coming across an ocean, and away from her loving family? She would soon find out. If he had changed she would return with Captain O'Flaherty to England in a few weeks. She wouldn't stay where she wasn't wanted or loved. Her fingers brushed the rich blue silk of her gown. The warm breeze blew the feathery white plumes in her hat, and brushed her cheek.

Kieran saw her seated up on the wagon's bench as it came up the dirt drive of the house. The blue of her gown was neither dark nor light. The deep snow-white linen collar edged in lace stood out against it. She wore leather gauntlets trimmed with fine gold lace. He had never seen her in a hat. She was so very elegant. Why on earth had she married him? Why had she traveled all this way to live in this primitive place? Did she still love him? Then he saw the small child, not even a baby, seated in her lap, and garbed identically to her mother. Kieran Devers felt his heart contract, and then seemingly crack. He could scarce find his voice when the wagon finally stopped before him.

'Kieran!' He had forgotten how sweet the sound of her voice was. She smiled, and then said, 'I feared for your safety when you did not come to the ship to meet us. Will you not welcome us home, sir?'

'God's blood, I have missed you!' he burst out. The look in his dark blue eyes was burning, and she instantly forgot all her previous doubts, as did he at the sight of her face.

Rois plunked her son in his father's lap, and snatched Aine from her mother, singing a favorite ditty to the startled baby so she would not cry, and her parents could greet each other properly. Rois could well imagine her mistress's hurt that Kieran had not come to the ship.

The master of Fortune's Fancy lifted his wife down, drawing her into his arms, and kissing her passionately. His lips burned against hers. He felt his desire boiling up, and he wished they might slip away to make love for the next week, or two. Her arms about his neck, she pressed herself as tightly against him as she could, sighing with undisguised pleasure as he kissed her mouth, her face, her eyelids over and over again until her knees grew weak, and she cried, 'Stop, my love!'