Sail With Me (A Discovery Series Book) (30 page)

“Well, they found it. They were burning the city down when we left. We’ve
brought a few Sunal with us to start over again,” I explained.

William’s eyes softened a bit. “How many have you got?”

“About thirty or so,” Daniel replied. “Look, they don’t mean anyone harm.
They have treated us like family. We want to settle in somewhere and have some
peace.”

“If it’s peace you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place. So far
anyway. Welcome.” William motioned to the other men behind him, calling them
over. He introduced us to his crew, pointed out his boat four vessels down from
ours, and handed us a roughly drawn map of the area. Thanking him for his
kindness, Daniel and I returned to Tizoc and his family.   

“This is Florida,” I told Tizoc. “We should round up the others and make
camp somewhere.”

Tizoc closed his eyes. After a moment of silence, he opened them again.
“They will be here shortly.”

Daniel clamped his hand onto Tizoc’s shoulder. “We’ll wait for them then
wander up the coast a bit. Find a free spot.”

As he walked toward Citlali, I could tell that some of the uneasiness of
running into my father had seeped out of Daniel. He was pleased he had led us
to our intended destination. I was proud of him as well.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Tizoc. I jogged back toward William.
“Excuse me?”

William turned around. “Yes, Miss Charlotte?”

“Do you know if Captain Denham and his sons are hereabouts?”

“Aye, his sons be three camps over and Captain Denham is staying on his
vessel.”

My throat tightened. “Thank you.”

William rejoined his group as I walked back toward Tizoc.

“My brothers are here,” I said, kicking at some sand. “My father’s on the
Emily.
” I gazed out across the water to my father’s ship.

“Are you going to find them?” Tizoc lifted my chin so I would look at
him.

“I don’t know. I want to see Eric and Riley, but my father…”

“Don’t you think he might be relieved to know you are all right,
Cihuapilli
?”

“I think I’m still angry about my father not coming to look for me.”

Tizoc took my hand. “Come, sit with this family that loves you then
before facing the one that would ignore you.” He pulled me toward Citlali who
was laughing over something Daniel was saying. The sound was light and airy. It
did wonders to drain away the uneasiness.

I allowed Tizoc to guide me over to his mother. She was seated on a tree
stump, Yaoti standing next to her. The rest of Tizoc’s family and Daniel were
gathered around as we waited for Acalon, Xochitl, and the Sunal from the
Swell
to join us.

“Ah,
Cihuapilli
.” Citlali stood and opened her arms to me. I
gratefully accepted her embrace, needing it so much. When she drew back, her
eyes were moist.

“You are a wonderful young woman,” she began. “Because of you and Daniel,
my family is alive and together. I thank the gods for sending you both to us.”

“We needed you and your family as much as you needed us.” Daniel came to
stand behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder. As he kneaded the muscles
in my neck, some of the anxiety roiling around in my stomach seeped out.

Once we got settled in, I’d find Eric and Riley. I couldn’t be mad at
them. I was operating under the assumption they didn’t come looking for me
themselves because my father had not let them. They’d want to know about my
adventures.

My father, on the other hand… I wasn’t sure what to do about him. I was
sure, however, that I couldn’t hide from him.

We found a lovely spot close to the tree line a little way down the beach
from where we had anchored the
Charlotte
. Trudging along, each of us
shouldered a load and in a couple of hours we had a sufficient camp set up. The
rest of the Sunal that had fled Ezenoch with us were busy setting up a camp
beside ours. 

“New beginnings can be good,” Citlali said.

Tizoc gave his mother an impromptu hug, and the image warmed me more than
the Florida sunshine that was now sliding toward the horizon. In a few hours,
it would be dark in this new place. Drawing in a breath, I walked over to where
Daniel and Yaoti stoked a sizable fire, while Yaretzi and Teiuc prepared to
cook some fish that had been caught. Acalon and his brothers solidified the
shelters while Xochitl paced down by the water’s edge. She was too
uncomfortable to sit still and wait for the baby to come.  

“Daniel.” I folded and unfolded my hands in front of me.

He turned to face me as he tossed one more branch onto the roaring blaze.
Brushing his hand on his breeches, he straightened out his rumpled tunic and
raked his fingers through his hair.

“You’re ready to find them,” he said.

I nodded. “It will be dark soon.”

“We could always look for them tomorrow.” Daniel sent me a sheepish grin
that made me laugh.

“We could, but what would that gain us but a bad night’s sleep?” I
smoothed out my own tunic and breeches. “Should I change these clothes?”

“Only if
you
want to. Don’t change for
him
.” Daniel’s gaze
grew sharp for a moment, but then his facial expression softened. “Sorry. Come
here.”

I stepped closer, lowering myself to sit on a boulder beside him. Daniel
pulled me into an embrace as he stood in front of me. I rested my cheek on the
bare skin of his chest peeking through the open V of his tunic. He freed my
hair of its braid. I closed my eyes as his fingers coiled around loose waves.
How I wished we were the only two people on that beach.

“No matter what happens when we see your father,” he began, stepping back
to look me in the eye, “remember
I
love you more than anyone will ever
love you.”

Daniel found my lips, his kiss reassuring me I had no reason to be afraid
to see my father. Cripes, I was living my own life, as he was living his. We’d
catch up. He’d be on his way and me on mine. No reason for there to be any
theatrics.

No reason at all.

****

By the time we reached what I thought to be the camp containing my
brothers, long shadows crept along the white sand, and the water deepened to a
darker blue-black. Several men sat around a fire in the center of the camp,
still finishing their supper. The orange glow of the flames flickered on their
features. Eric and Riley were not among them nor was my father. When I shifted
my gaze back out to the water, however, I caught a glimpse of two forms splashing
about in the ocean.

“This way.” I tugged on Daniel’s hand and guided him down the beach
toward the two figures. Before I had a chance to call to them, they chased one
another out of the water, and my eyes filled watching them.

Eric was out first, his black hair soaked and stuck to his forehead. He
was fitter than when I had seen him last. Riley was right behind him looking
exactly like Eric except for the sopping wet bandana he pulled from his head
and wrung out as he walked onto the beach. Both of them sported scruffy black
beards, making them look more like rogue pirates than the fine Englishmen I
knew them to be.

“Is that them?” Daniel whispered in my ear as he stood behind me.

“Unmistakably.” I edged closer as they plopped down onto the sand next to
each other. I laughed when they both pushed their palms into the sand behind
them and tilted their heads to the right in the exact same way. They must have
heard me, because they turned their heads, again at the same time, and regarded
me with sharp green eyes.

“The Denham boys.” I took a couple of steps closer.

“Yes, miss.” Riley raised one eyebrow as he studied me. “What can we do…”
His voice fell away as his gaze shifted to Daniel then back to me.

I put my hands on my hips, letting them look at me. Eric got to his feet
as did Riley.

“Charlotte?” Riley whispered.

“It can’t…” Eric started but couldn’t finish.

“You… how can… you’re here!” Riley stammered, an overjoyed smile growing
by the mile on his lips as he rushed to me. I found myself twirling in the air
with him as he caught me under my arms and spun us both. I couldn’t help
laughing as we slowed down and he squeezed me close.

“I want a turn at that,” Eric said. He wasn’t as sloppy about it as Riley
was, but he squeezed a bit harder, a bit longer.

“Charlotte,” Riley said. “We’ve been looking for you for months!”

“What?” Had I heard him correctly?

“We’re here in Florida because Benjamin finally told us you were with
Captain Finley. I figured you would end up here because of my letter,” Riley
said. “Father went a little nuts.”

“A
little
?” Eric said. “He went crazy, Riley.”

“All right,” Riley consented. “I reckon he lost his mind for a while.”

“But I saw the
Emily
sail out of Southampton,” I said. “I watched
as you left port.”

“We went to Portsmouth for supplies then came back to Southampton. Father
asked every sailor between the two cities if they knew where you had gone. He
sent us to ask Benjamin again.”

“Though we initially wanted to kill Benjamin,” Eric started, making me
cringe at the thought of them hurting my friend, “we understood why he hadn’t
told us while Captain Finley was still in Southampton.”

“You would have stopped me from going,” I said.

Eric and Riley both nodded, looking so much like identical twins.

“We found out Finley was headed to the Americas, and Father set a course
for Florida after I told him about the letter I sent you.” Riley pointed to the
shell still hanging around my neck and winked. “We ran into some bad weather,
got thrown off course, damaged the
Emily
, and had to stop for repairs.
The sea had a mind of her own.”

“As if she didn’t want us to get here before you did,” Eric added.

“We’ve been here about two weeks, hoping we’d find you.” Riley gave my
arm a light squeeze.

“Looks as if you found us instead,” Eric said.       

“What have you been doing all this time?” Riley asked.       

Where to begin?

****

“Married?” Eric said, looking between Daniel and me. Though both he and
Riley had paled at the notion of me fighting Spaniards, Eric hadn’t said much
as I recounted my adventure up until I ended with my plans to marry Daniel.

“If that’s all right with you.” Daniel’s jaw clenched for a moment before
Riley thrust out his left hand toward him.

“Of course, it’s all right with us,” he said. “If you’ve put that smile
on Charlotte’s face and helped keep her alive all this time, then you’ve earned
our blessing.” Riley was always so easy to win over.

“What is it that you do, Connor?” Eric’s gaze shifted to Daniel’s right
side, and I was reminded of how, even though he didn’t want to sail, Eric still
shared more in common with Father than his looks.

“Well,” Daniel began. “Most recently, I held a position in my uncle’s
crew aboard the
Rose
. Then I fought with the Sunal army where I did my
best to not get us killed. I captained a ship that I built. I carried the Sunal
to safety as Spaniards burned their great city to the ground.

“Next, I’m looking to fill the post of husband to your sister. A post I
will take more seriously than anything else I’ve done thus far, and one I’m
hoping to hold for the rest of my life.” He lifted my hand to his lips and
dropped a kiss on the back of it.

“Finally, once Charlotte and I pick out a spot, I’m going to build her a
house. Anything she wants. By the water. I could get other work in building or
sailing afterwards.”

“Or cooking,” I added which made Daniel smile.

Eric’s stern face softened as he listened, and I noticed the upward tug
at the corner of his mouth.

“Excellent answer, Daniel.” The instant Eric had used Daniel’s first name
I knew my husband-to-be had passed his test. Eric extended his hand as Riley
had done, and Daniel accepted it. “Welcome.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said.                  

“God, you look so much like Mother.” Riley pulled on the end of my hair.
“Doesn’t she, Eric?”

“Exactly like her.”

They both stared at me in silence for long moments. I twisted my boots
around in the sand.

“Where is he?” I talked to my feet instead of looking at my brothers.

Another expanse of quiet hung between the four of us before Riley spoke.

“Father won’t be back until morning. He’s boarding on the
Emily
.
Prefers her to sleeping on the beach.”

“He doesn’t want to keep his feet on land for too long,” Eric cut in.
“Might realize he’s given up a great deal to be a successful merchant.”

Riley gripped my hand. “Come back to our camp with us. The crew will be
happy to see you. Besides, we’ve got so much to make up for, Charlotte. We left
you.”

“You went out to make lives for yourselves,” I said.

“We could have made lives anywhere,” Eric said. “Cripes, I don’t even
want to sail! You know that.”

“It wasn’t fair to you,” Riley added, squeezing my hand. “You were still
young. We should have been around more.”

“Neither of you have any reason to feel responsible for me.” I
straightened up and drew in a deep breath. “It’s Father who should have made
the decision to stay behind. It’s Father who ignored me, couldn’t stand to look
at me.” My voice had risen, and though I was aware of it, I also didn’t care.

“If I hadn’t disguised myself as a boy and earned passage on a ship bound
for the Americas, I don’t know what would have become of me back home in
England,” I said. “I don’t regret any of what came before if it all was to lead
me to this moment.”

Daniel’s smile made me sure of my words. Sure of myself.

“You’ll come back to our camp then?” Riley said. “And listen to a few
tales Eric and I have to tell?”

I couldn’t say no to him. Knowing I wouldn’t have to face my father yet
put me at ease, and Daniel was more relaxed as well.

“All right,” I said. “But we do need to make sure we get back to our own
camp before too long. We have people there that would worry about us.”

Riley proceeded to drag me along behind him. “We would like to meet
them.”

Eric and Daniel followed, and I was reminded of when I was a little girl
before my mother had passed. Riley used to traipse me around everywhere. That
light-heartedness was in my step for the moment.

How long would it last?

****

“Your brothers are good men,” Daniel said as we walked in ankle-deep
water along the shore. We were headed back to our camp after catching up with
Eric and Riley. We had swapped stories, laughed, shared dinner, and made plans
for my brothers to show us around the area when morning came. We had to find a
spot for the new Ezenoch and maybe for our new home if we decided to stay in
Florida.

“I feel good,” I said, giving Daniel’s hand a shake.

He released my hand and slid his arm around my waist. He pulled me closer
and kissed the tip of my nose.

“You do feel pretty good.” He nuzzled his face into my hair. “You smell
good, and look good, and…” He nibbled on my ear, then my neck. “You taste
good.”

I giggled and squeezed Daniel closer. As I held him and he blazed a line
of kisses down across my shoulder, I caught sight of the
Emily
rotating
around her anchor line right next to the
Charlotte
and the
Swell
.
Clamping my eyes shut, I focused on the sensations Daniel caused to dance
around my skin. Something akin to a purr slid from my throat.

“You sound good, too.” Gripping my hand again, Daniel led me out of the
water toward our camp. “We’d better get some sleep. Morning will be here before
we know it, and there is still so much to be done.”

He jogged up the sandy hill. I looked once more toward the water—toward
the
Emily
—then sprinted after Daniel. Morning would come. Nothing I
could do to stop it. When the sun rose, my father would be on land, and I would
have to face him.