Anne
The floor of the small dank cabin crawled with movement, and the sound of hundreds of tiny legs scurrying across the boards made the hair on the back of Anne’s neck stand up. The Providence was teeming with rats and cockroaches, each creation vying for precedence, and clearly outnumbering the human cargo on board.
It was too dark to see anything in the cramped space. Her father had often explained that open flames were forbidden at sea unless attended to in the galley, and the light from the massive stern lantern mounted on the back of the ship did not reach into the ship’s belly.
The smell of wet canvas and mold permeated every inch of the filthy vessel. With tears running down her cheeks, Anne wondered how she would possibly endure several weeks aboard. Her cabin was like a coffin, for she truly felt as if she would die.
Lying in the protective cocoon of the hammock, she turned onto her side, pulling her knees up to her chest. Her forehead was damp with perspiration, and her head pounded. What had been the contents of her stomach now swilled around in the bucket on the floor as the ship rose and fell with every surge.
Anne had lost track of time. Each wave that crashed against the hull of the ship seemed to count every second with never-ending precision.
Her fingers shook as she reached for her pocket watch, the cold metal an anchor against a rising tide of despair. Her side still hurt from when she’d fallen in Bristol, but by the time they reached their destination, it should be healed.
Her heart, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter.
She’d written the note, just as Drummond had instructed. She’d almost expected him to stand over her shoulder while she’d performed the task, but thankfully he’d left her to her duty.
She hoped Teach would understand what she’d written. If he couldn’t find a way to get to her . . . then she would find a way to get to him.
I will make it out of this alive. I will, she vowed silently.
But not if she remained in this cabin much longer.
Stumbling to the door, Anne wiped furiously at her cheeks. She tried not to think about what was underfoot, even as she felt the telltale squelch of several insects through the thin leather soles of her walking boots. Pulling the door open, she took a deep breath of the briny air, and tripped in her haste to reach the deck.
The ship continued to roil beneath her feet, and more than once Anne staggered against the railing of the stairs as she made her way up to the deck.
The slate gray of the sky matched the choppy waves of the sea, both extending in an unbroken line to the horizon. The wind whipped her hair about her face, and wrapped her skirts around her legs.
The port of Bristol had been left far behind. And with it any hopes of seeing Teach.
Choking back a sob, Anne clenched her hands to her stomach, her nails biting into her palms.
She had always planned to leave England, she reminded herself. Together she and her father had often looked at maps and sketched their course, an expanse of open sea the only hindrance between them and their destination.
But from where Anne stood now, the stretch of water appeared wider and vaster than she could have imagined. And she was alone on a strange ship, without a single coin to her name.
“Don’t go too close to the sides,” said someone on her left.
Startled, Anne whirled around, clutching a nearby rope to keep her balance. Before her stood a boy and a girl, each perhaps twenty years of age. They were both blond, with wide blue eyes, and they were clearly related.
The boy was stout, with sturdy shoulders and a thick neck. His sister, although not as large, had a full figure. Her brown dress and shawl were threadbare, hardly sufficient to protect her from the biting wind. And she was far too cheery for being aboard such an unworthy sea vessel.
“I had no intention of doing that,” Anne said.
The girl smiled, her eyes warm. “Good. My brother, Coyle, here, says it’s dangerous and that I shouldn’t come up here without him.”
Anne glanced at Coyle. People would definitely think twice about approaching if he stood by your side. Anne had already felt several crewmen eyeing her, their gaunt expressions hardened by years of strenuous labor. She planned to ignore them, hoping they would afford her the same courtesy.
“My name’s Cara Flynn. What’s yours?”
“Anne Barrett.”
“Pleased to meet you, Anne Barrett. Would you mind if Coyle and I kept you company? I have no wish to spend any more time in my hammock than necessary.”
“I wouldn’t have minded,” Coyle muttered.
His sister frowned. “Then you can go back down. I told you I’d be fine up here.”
“I couldn’t remain in my cabin any longer either,” Anne said, shivering at the thought of the rats and cockroaches.
“You’re lucky you have a cabin. Coyle spent the whole night making sure no one harmed us. But the only thing that came close to bothering me was a cheeky rat who took a liking to my ankles.”
Anne grimaced. “Lucky” was not a word she’d use to describe her present situation, but having her own cabin was far better than sleeping with the rest of the passengers in hammocks belowdecks.
Excusing herself, Anne moved away from the siblings as they continued their discussion of the numerous dangers on board the ship. Despite the chaotic running and shouting of the crew, Anne felt strangely removed from everyone and everything around her.
She drew a deep breath, her stance wide to maintain her balance. Looking toward the stern, Anne watched the white-capped waves that seemed to form a path trailing behind the back of the ship. That path led to Teach.
Even as Anne tried to block out the seriousness of her situation, it continued to plague her thoughts. The fact that she sailed on the Providence instead of the Deliverance made her ability to reunite with Teach incredibly difficult.
Difficult, but not impossible.
It would not be an easy journey. For either of them. But he would come for her, of that she was certain. And she would not give up until he found her or she found him.
Lifting her head, Anne turned and studied the open ocean in front of the ship. The initial shock of leaving England was beginning to wear off. Admittedly, she’d hoped to leave under different circumstances, but she would survive this voyage.
She had to.
And one day she and Teach would be together again, for it was just as he’d said. They could be on opposite sides of the world, but she would always be his, and he would always be hers.