Nine

An ear-splitting noise woke me. For a moment, I was terrified – it sounded like the same blaring horn that called the crew to combat on warships. I'd seen enough of such battles to last a lifetime. The only thing louder than the call to arms in my memory were the screams of the dying – far too many for me to count.

I'd go over the side, into the water, before I'd witness another naval battle.

"Time to get dressed up and go for a walk, lass." William's voice was surprisingly calm. He grinned as he grabbed a towel to dry his freshly-washed face.

Why did the prospect of war make him so cheerful?

He hung the towel over the rail and turned to face me. Something saddened him and his voice turned soft and coaxing. "It's all right, Maria. I'm sure it's only another drill – the captain swears the regular drills while he was in the Royal Navy saved his life. Don't worry. I'll take care of you. Now, get down here before the captain comes looking for us. If the ship really is sinking, we don't want to be slow."

William held out his hands and I took them, sliding from the bunk to thump feet-first onto the deck. He led me out of the cabin, as unhurried as if we were headed to breakfast, but he bypassed the deserted mess hall. I wasn't sure where or why he was taking me, but my instincts told me to trust him. He'd had three days and two nights to attack me, if that was his desire. Of course he'd touched me, but, like his tone, he kept all contact between us both courteous and gentle. He hadn't even pulled my hair when he'd combed it.

The wind hit me as we reached the main deck – a cold air current that made me turn my face to it, closing my eyes and breathing deep to savour the freshness. It plastered my shirt against my chest and turned my nipples into hard chips of ice. Oh, how I loved it.

"Here. Take it, lass, before you freeze."

I felt something rough and gritty brush my arm, and opened my eyes. William held out his salt-encrusted, woollen jumper with an entreating look on his face. He clenched his other arm against his body, as if the wind chilled him more than it did me. I shook my head, laughing as I pushed the jumper away. I wanted as little as possible between me and the bracing breeze.

Reluctantly, he pulled it back over his head and grasped my hand again. He led me along the deck to a spot out of the wind. A crewman stood beside a large, open box, handing out canvas pillows with trailing ribbons. He already had one tied around his torso.

"Have you ever worn a lifejacket, lass?" William asked, pressing the surprisingly hard pillow against my chest. He helped me pull the awkward thing over my head before he tied the ribbons securely around me. When he was similarly trussed, he led me through a maze of boxes and crates and along the path that skirted the deck.

I scanned the grey-green waters, searching for the other ships that had provoked the call to arms, but I saw nothing but us, clear to the horizon. Turning to survey the sea in the other direction, I bumped into something hard. I squeezed my eyes shut at the blinding pain in my head.

William's warm fingers touched my forehead. "Ooh, that was a nasty bump. You should watch where you're going – these lifeboats could save your life. You don't want to dent one with that hard head of yours." For a moment, the only sound was wind and that blaring horn, before he continued, "Are you all right? Do you want to lie down? I'll carry you back to the cabin when we're done, but we have to wait here until the whole crew's assembled."

I forced my eyes open. The stars had faded and the initial, shocking pain, too. The dull ache it left behind was bearable. I turned my eyes on the object I'd collided with – a small, wooden boat suspended at head height to catch the unwary. Another hung behind it and two more mirrored these on the starboard side of the vessel.

I lost interest in the boats as I realised the whole crew was standing on the deck and they all seemed to be staring at us.

"If you're this slow in a real crisis, McGregor, the lifeboats might launch without you, leaving you to your fate," Captain Foster said.

"You wouldn't leave without us, captain," William replied. "The sound of the alarm horns terrified Maria. You could have given the poor girl some warning. After the ordeal she's been through, it seems hardly fair to scare her into thinking this ship's sinking, too."

Captain Foster's expression hardened. "Just because a ship rescues you once, doesn't mean it's safe. I learned that in the Atlantic. Those German U-boats had it in for me that day. Maria!"

I jumped at the sound of my name, but my eyes were already on the angry captain.

"When you hear that sound, it means the ship's sinking and if you don't hurry, you'll sink with her and drown. Do you understand?" I stared at the man, mystified at what I'd done to make him look so desperate. He stomped his foot on the deck and waved his hands. "The ship. Tell me you know what a ship is!"

I wet my lips and pointed at the deck beneath my feet. "Ship," I said slowly.

"Hallelujah, she's not as stupid as we thought," a voice sneered and several men laughed.

Painstakingly, Captain Foster lifted one hand and rippled it like the swell beneath the ship. "Ocean." I nodded – this word I knew. He floated his other hand above the first. "Ship." I nodded again. His ship hand took a sudden dive, plunging down beneath the surface of his make-believe ocean. "Ship sinking."

"Ship sinking," I repeated warily, wondering what he knew of such things. Surely this ship wasn't...please, no! I raced to the rail, leaning over to stare at the waves. The ship didn't look any lower in the water than it usually did. I stormed back to the captain. "NO ship sinking."

William burst out laughing. "She's got you there, captain. You did scare the life out of her this morning for no good reason. I think we'd all be in for a tongue-lashing if she knew enough English. Thank God for small mercies."

Captain Foster's eyes bored into mine. "If the ship's sinking, that horn will blow." He stabbed a finger at the source of the blaring sound. "And you leg it up to the lifeboats if you want to live." He slapped the side of the nearest lifeboat with unnecessary force, making it rock in its davits. "That's it for today's drill. Get back to work." He wrenched his life jacket off and stalked to the box where they belonged.

Bewildered, I stood unmoving as a sea of men swept past me to follow the captain. William yanked my arm, pulling me behind the lifeboats to make way for the others to pass. He helped me remove my lifejacket and passed both of them to Charlie, who joined the queue of men waiting to return the bulky items to their box. The ship seemed eerily quiet when the siren ceased.

"Don't be afraid, lass," William said, lifting the cover on one of the boats. "These are much better than your flimsy raft and you survived on that. I heard stories of how shipwrecked Dutchmen and Englishmen have crossed this ocean in boats no bigger than our lifeboats – men who lived to find land. They didn't have the supplies ours do, either – and we can thank Captain Foster for that. He was cast into a boat just like these in the war and he survived. If our luck turns bad and we have to board these, I'll lift you aboard the captain's boat myself, for I know he'll steer us safely to land." He held out his arms. "Here, I'll help you up so you can take a look for yourself." I stepped closer and was surprised when his hands closed around my waist, lifting me into the air.

I panicked and caught the edge of the boat, swinging my legs up over the gunwale, and clumsily hooked my body into the craft. The plank seats stopped me from rolling to the bottom of the boat, but I had barely a second to catch my breath before the boat tipped dangerously and I had to cling to the bench to stop myself from falling out as William climbed over the side.

He dropped to his knees and wrenched open a locker beneath a bench. "Come and see." He gestured for me to come closer and I inched my way along the seat to look underneath it. William pulled a tin from the multitude crammed inside the locker and held it up. "Captain Foster's supplies. He refused to put to sea unless the lifeboats were stocked with as much condensed milk as water. He says he'll find a way to make it law – all lifeboats should carry condensed milk. One crazy Scotsman, trying to change the world." He laughed, but his eyes turned sad. "I didn't want to change it, only see it, but now I'm beginning to understand why my brothers wanted to settle down. Halfway round the world, in the middle of the ocean, and I finally see –"

"You planning on sailing away into the sunset with your little whore, McGregor? Is that what took you so long to appear on deck? You had to pull your cock out of her and get her clothes back on? Plenty of hard-working men on this ship – seems to me you should share, seeing as you're only a passenger and all." A hand caught my foot, almost yanking me out of the boat.

William grabbed me before I fell. "Leave the girl alone, Sciarra. You're lucky she doesn't understand a word of your filth – I'll let it go this time, but if you say it again, I'll break your face."

I twisted so I could see the grinning idiot behind me. I might not have understood his words, but I didn't like his tone, or his hands clutching at me.

"Go on, McGregor, just a taste," Sciarra wheedled, his tongue snaking toward my ankle.

Revolted, I kicked and felt the satisfying crunch as my feet met his face. He landed on his back on the deck. Shock morphed to fury on his face and he sprang to his feet. "You bitch..."

I shifted to a crouch, ready to leap out of the boat to tackle him to the deck, but William beat me to it, landing lightly on his feet between us. "Get the hell out of here, Sciarra, before I hurt you worse than she has."

I let myself down to the deck, glaring at the horrible man, his lip bleeding from the damage I'd inflicted. I itched to hit him again.

"Put a leash on her," Sciarra muttered as he stalked away.

William and I both stared after him until I felt his fingers close around mine. "I don't know what it is about you, but you drive men crazy with how much we want you. I know if you were mine, I'd never want to let you go." He squeezed my hand. "Even now, I don't want to." William laughed shakily as his eyes bored into mine. "Probably a good thing you don't understand me. If I'd said that to any of the girls back home, they'd be buying a wedding dress that very day. Maybe it's because I've never seen you in a dress. I wonder if I ever will." The wind swept away his laughter as he led me to the mess deck for breakfast.

I clasped his hand tightly in both of mine, shaken at the message in his eyes that he'd reinforced with words I'd understood. If this ship sank, I'd fight off sharks to see him safely to land. William wouldn't suffer Giuseppe's fate. "No let go," I murmured, but I doubt he heard.