Finnemerged from the kitchen with a tray full of food for us. “There’snot much left, but I scrounged up some grub.” He sat down on thebench seat across from me and shoved the tray in my direction.“Eat, ye look like yeneeds it.”
“Thanks,”I replied with a smile. I grabbed a mug of tea and lifted it to mymouth, letting the warmth seep into my mouth and nose. After afew sips, I movedonto the bowl of porridge my friend offered and tossed a couple ofspoonfuls into my mouth.
“I stillprefer yer cookin’,” he admitted as he gobbled up the paleslop.
“Yeah, Iknow,” I replied. “But Lottie does a great job. Being the ship’scook gives her a purpose she loves.”
“Oh, Idon’t mind the lassie’s food,” he quickly amended. “It’s edible.” Agrin splashed across his face. “But I’d give me right armfor one ofthem buns ofyers.”
I triedto stifle the laugh that erupted from my gut, but such a thing wasimpossible around Finn. I’d hate to see the state I’d be in if Inever had friends like him and Lottie to take comfort in. “I canmake some later todayif you really want them that bad.” I threw him a wink. “Youcan keep your arm.”
Finn waggledhis bushy red eyebrows as he held the bowl up to his mouth to slurpthe rest of his porridge. He then downed an entire cup of tea inone gulp and rubbed the remnants of food and beverage from his longbeard with the palm of his hand.
“Youknow, I could give you a shave, if you want,” I offered.
He feignedoffense. “What? Cut me beard off?”
“Yeah, itmust get annoying. No?”
“The dayI let someone remove a hair from me face is the day I lay down and die,” he halfkidded.
I chuckled andate a few more bites of the lukewarm porridge before setting itaside. “How much longer do you think we have?”
“Until weget there?” he asked. I nodded in response. “I reckon another twoweeks. Maybe less. Maybe more. The sky is grey today and a chill inthe air. Could be a storm comin’.”
“Oh?Should I be worried?”
He shook hishead. “Nah, I doubt it’d be anythin’ more than some rain and gusts.Nothin’ The Queen cannae handle.”
I breathed asigh of relief. “Good. But ready the rowboats and secure the deckjust in case. We don’t want to lose anything.”
“Aye,Captain,” he replied and tipped his head in a mockfashion.
I’d beencaptain of our ship for months now, but Finn still found amusementin my role. I let it slide because, to be honest, I felt it was alaughable thought most of the time. Me, Dianna Cobham. A waywardchef from Newfoundland captaining a full-rigged pirate ship? Yeah,I’d laugh, too.
“So,what’s the plan for when we hit the shores of England?” heasked.
I sucked in adeep breath through my nose and shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“Yernot sure?”
“Well, Ithought we’d set up somewhere,” I quickly recovered. “Henry said hehas a friend in Birmingham we can stay with if need be. I don’texpect to find Maria immediately. I know it’ll take some time, somescouting and asking around.”
“Aye,” henodded thoughtfully, scratching at his beard, “andthen?”
“What doyou mean?”
“What doye have in mind when we get our hands on the wench?”
I struggled tothink of a response. Not because I hadn’t thought of what I’d do,but because I thought of it too often. And I still didn’t have ananswer. Killing her felt wrong, it went against the grain of myvery moral fibers. But letting her go would be an injustice to theworld.
I hung my headand closed my eyes. “I don’t know yet.”
Finn leanedacross the table and grabbed my hand gently, his voice low. “Then Isuggest ye figure it out ‘cause I reckon Henry has his own plansfor Maria and ye may not like it.”
Our eyes lockedin a shared understanding, but I knew mine projected the fear thatsuddenly ran through my body. Henry didn’t want to open up to me,didn’t want to burden me with his demons… because he planned toslay them all on his own once we reached our destination. He wasgoing to kill Maria.
The man I lovedwas going to murder my sister.
ChapterTwo
I walked the length of the ship, making sureeverything was in order but also looking for Henry. He had becomean expert at avoiding me. Even on a ship with limited space, hemanaged to be everywhere I was not. I knew I shouldn’t think suchthings, but a part of me worried it was due to the fact that Iresembled the woman of his nightmares. And now, Maria and I sharedmore than just a likeness or a distant ancestry. We shared blood.Close blood.
And the verythought turned my guts.
I found myselftrying to imagine what Henry thought of it all. Was I hanging on toa doomed relationship? Would Henry eventually leave me in order todistance himself from everything that reminded him of her? My handlovingly rubbed across my belly, silently cooing to the babyinside. Then another horrible thought flashed through my mind andmy stomach rolled over. I’d been dreaming of the baby coming outwith a full head of blonde curls and dark brown eyes.
But what if itlooked like me?
What if ourchild joined me in the Cobham traits of dark curls and tanned skin?What if he or she added to the torment that Henry faced every daywhen he looked at me? The very thought of the man I loved rejectingour child made me want to vomit.
My lungs gaspedfor air as I fought back tears and sprinted across the deck towardmy quarters. I barged through the door and slammed it closed behindme before my back slid down the wall where I pooled on thefloor.
“Jesus,Dianna!” Henry exclaimed and ran to me.
Startled by hispresence, I yelped and scrambled
