He stirred inthe bed and turned to face me. “Dianna?”
“Yes, it’sme,” I told him and dipped a fresh cloth in the ice water. “I’vegot something to help your face.”
“Is it yourwarm bosom?” he joked.
I let a grinspread across my face. God, I had missed him so much. I stillcouldn’t believe I had him back.
“You wish,” Ikidded. “Now, lay back. It’s going to be cold, but it’ll speed upthe healing process and bring down your swelling. If it works, youshould be able to open your eyes soon.” I laid the cold, saltedcloth across his puffy eyes and he tried to stifle a wince. “Sorry,the salt in the water is going to sting your wounds a little.”
I rested mybottom on the edge of the bed and gently scratched his goldenscruff with my fingertips. I missed the feel of it. Henry turnedhis face toward my palm and kissed it, sending goosebumps trailingup my arm. It still felt surreal, that he was even there. Alive andin my bed.
“How iseveryone?” he asked.
“Good,” Ireplied and checked the cloth. It had already lost most of itschill, so I wrung it out in the ice water again. “We have a smallcrew, but enough to keep us sailing. Finn said he’s steering us toa small inlet over near Cupers Cove so we can lie low for a while.We’ve got plenty of food and supplies.”
“You’re quitethe captain,” Henry told me with a sly grin.
“Hardly,” Ireplied and grabbed a plate of scrambled eggs. “Here, open up.” Ifed him a few bites and listened to his moans of delight at thetaste of food on his tongue. “I can’t believe she was starvingyou.”
“Dianna,listen to me,” Henry said, a serious tone carrying his words. “Idon’t want you to worry about what may or may not have been done tome. It’s over. You saved me, in more ways than I can count. Thereis nothing that woman can do to me, now or ever, that would beworse than the thought of losing you. I see that now.”
“What do youmean?”
“When Iwatched you tear through the threads of time and disappear beforemy eyes, a part of me died.” I caught his swollen and crackedbottom lip tremble as he spoke, and I wanted to cry. “She beat me,day after day. Tried to pry information from my mind throughstarvation, taunting, threats. But I could endure it all. No matterwhat she did, it could never reach that dead part of my soul.”
I was almostafraid to ask, but I did. “What… what information was she pryingfor?”
He sighedthoughtfully. “Give me some more of those eggs, would you?”
“Henry.”
His expressionmorphed into a frown. “Dianna, think about it. We all witnessedwhat happened to you.”
I thought fora second. Then the answer came to life and unfolded in my mind. Iknew then what he meant. “She was trying to figure out who I am,wasn’t she?”
“Yes,” hereplied reluctantly, then added before opening his mouth, “Eggs,please.”
“What did youtell her?”
“This cloth iswarm again,” he said, trying to distract me.
I let out anexaggerated sigh, soaked it in the ice water and wrung it outbefore placing it back over his eyes. “Tell me. Should I beconcerned?”
Henry sat up,the cloth falling from his face, and he felt for my hands. “I wouldnever let any harm come to you, Dianna. Do you understand? I wouldprotect you and our child with my body and my life before I everlet Maria Cobham lay a hand on you.”
I chewedon my bottom lip. “That soundslike I should be concerned.” Henry squeezed my hands and I couldsense his worry. “Shit. What did you tell her?”
“Nothing atfirst,” he replied. “But then… she manipulated the information fromme. I didn’t even understand what it was she was after until it wastoo late. I was just trying to protect your honor–”
“Henry! MyGod, just tell me!” My worry quickly grew to fear, and I suddenlyknew we weren’t safe like I’d thought. We never would be as long asshe roamed the same Earth as us.
“Dianna,”Henry spoke softly, carefully. “How much do you know about yourmother?”
I tried tohide the shock I felt at the mention of my mom. What did she haveto do with any of it?
“I don’tknow,” I shrugged and searched my brain for answers, “she was fromthe past, she time travelled byaccident like I did, only she went to the future and met my dad.They fell in love and had me. She decided to stay in the futurewith us and then drowned when I was in my teens.”
“How did youfind out this information?” he asked.
I felt moreand more uneasy and my words became a whisper. “Her journal.”
“Did it happento mention what year she came to the future from?”
I thought fora moment. “No, it didn’t. Why? Henry, what the Hell is goingon?”
“Please don’tbe upset with me, but I don’t think your mother drowned,Dianna.”
Tearswelled in my eyes and my throatwent dry. “W-what? How can you say that?”
“I have reasonto believe she may have come to your father from sometime in thelate 1600s and that she went back, she’d found a way.”
I stood upfrom the bed, head shaking in disbelief. But I couldn’t help butremember how I’d gotten back to the past myself. If I didn’t leavea note for Aunt Mary, my disappearance would have looked like adrowning.
“No,no…why would you think that? What did Maria tell you?”
Tears streameddown my face then. My mother’s death and disappearance wassomething I’d put to rest years ago. But talking about her likethis… it was like the pain from a fresh wound.
“Because whenI finally spoke your name she went mad, more than her usual insaneself,” Henry told me, his sightless face following the sound of mypacing footsteps around the room. “And afterward, she lost all interest in me. She becameobsessed with this new plan. Details, maps, gathering supplies
