This was thewonderful adventure I’d always dreamed of. Even as a kid, all Iwanted was to sail away and live an exciting life. I thought I wasdoing that by moving out to Alberta, living in the big city, doingwhat I loved. But, truthfully, I hated my job. It was stressful anddemanding, I had no real life to speak of. I had to accept the factthat the life I was living, here in the past, was far more excitingthan anything I could ever dream of in the future.
I just hopedmy actions last night wouldn’t complicate things between CaptainBarrett and I. We were both a little drunk, gave into ourattraction for one another, but that’s all it was. A one-timething. So, why did I get excited at the thought of making him smilewith a present? I shook my head. No, I was just trying to establishtrust, be friendly. The ship-in-a-bottle was a token of that.
Then what waslast night?
I sighedto myself as I entered the tavern, pulling the heavy wagon behindme. The innkeeper, whose name I’d still yet to learn, rushed over fromhis desk to help me.
“Well,you’re an early riser, aren’t ya?” he said.
“I had alist of things to get, and everyone was asleep, so I figured itbest to get it done and out of the way.”
“Well,you just missed them. The whole lot jumped out of their beds andran out the door.”
I nodded.“Yeah, they had some business to tend to, information to find,” Ireplied, thinking of how Henry said they wanted to suss out theword on land regarding the Cobhams.
“They’veno idea how lucky they are, those boys,” he told me after checkingout the things in my wagon. “You can keep this in the kitchen untilyou’re ready to head back to your ship if you like.”
“Oh,thanks, that would be great.”
“And Ihave something for you,” the old man perked up and scuttled over tothe front desk where I watched him grab a stack of foldedlaundry.
“Theseare some clothes for you,” he said. “They were my son’s when he wasa young man, I ‘magine they’d fit you just fine. Much better thanthe linens draping off ya now.”
I chuckled andglanced down at the clothes Henry had given me. They were huge, andI looked ridiculous with the bunched-up trousers held tight to mywaist with my belt. Like a kid wearing their parent’s clothes. Igraciously accepted the bundle from him.
“Thankyou so much,” I said, and gave him a hug with my free arm. “Oh, Iactually have something for you, too.”
I pulled out anote from my pocket and handed it to him. I wrote it while I satwith the merchant and waited for him to carve Henry’s initials onthe bottle. “It’s the recipe for the pasta dish I made lastnight.”
The man’s eyeslit up with joy and he held the piece of paper to his chest. “Well,this is better than a bag of gold shillings, Dianna.”
I laughed.“Well, I’m glad you like it.” I began pulling the wagon toward thekitchen. “I never did catch your name, by the way.”
“Sheppard,” he replied, and my breath caught at the familiarname. “Nathaniel Sheppard.”
I rememberedthen, my mom once telling me that Dad’s heritage stemmed all theway back to some of the island’s first merchants and shop owners.And I wondered if Mr. Sheppard was one of them. I told myself hewas, just so I could feel a sense of pride in at least onebloodline here in the past.
“Well,Nathaniel, it was an absolute pleasure to have met you,” I told himand gave the man another gentle hug.
He patted meon the back and replied, “And I you, dearie.”
***
After a long,glorious bath that Nathaniel’s wife ran for me, I stepped into oneof the outfits he gave me as a new woman. I swear, I must have shedten pounds of dirt and grime, but it felt good to be fresh and haveclothes of my own. Clothes that actually fit. Even if they werethat of a teenage boy. I’d much rather the black trousers and asimple white shirt over a dress if I were to be spending my daysaboard a pirate ship. The pants came with a pair of blacksuspenders sewed into the seams, but I actually didn’t mind thelook. If I were back home, I’d be a trendy hipster.
The crewstill weren’t back from their recon trip, so I snuck into Henry’sroom and placed the ship-in-a-bottle on his bedside table with a note that readI told you I would replace it. I hope you likethis one better.
I heard thebedroom door open from behind me and I turned to find Henrystanding in the doorway, breathless. I couldn’t help the smile thatspread across my face and I opened my mouth to speak, but he lungedacross the room like a bullet and grabbed me by the arms, madnessin his eyes.
“Wherethe Christ have you been?” he bellowed, his massive fingers digginginto my flesh.
I struggled tobreak free, but it was useless. “I went to the market like I toldyou I would.”
“Whydidn’t you take Finn?” he yelled. “Why didn’t you tellsomeone?”
I realizedthen, that he’d thought I ran away. “Henry, please you’re–”
His griptightened like a vice around my limbs and I thought he’d breakthem. “I told you not to call me that!”
I’d hadenough. I wasn’t some snowflake woman that he could toss aroundjust because he couldn’t get a handle on his issues. I moved my legback and then brought it forward in one quick thrust between hislegs and sent him crumbling to the floor, coughing and gasping forair.
“Whynot? It’s your God damn name,isn’t it?” I moved past him and stormed out of the room, slammingthe door behind me.
In thehallway, I met Finn and I tried to hide the tears that filled myeyes. “Aye, Lassie,” he said, “Where have ye been? What’s thematter?”
“Justleave me alone,” I told him, and he recoiled at the comment. “C-canI have your room for a while?”
He stole aglance at Henry’s door, then back to me,
