Dark Prince
“T hat gentleman is exceedingly amiable and charming...handsome, exuberant, and energetic. He shows me…with a gracious enthusiasm…all manner of things.”
Mary Kingsley
“I promise I won’t run away,” said Meg.
As if satisfied, he rose, lifting her with him, and then reluctantly set her down to head for the door and answer it, himself.
“The captain shall see you on the bridge, sah!” echoed a voice from the companionway but Meg could not see past Tom to connect it with a face.
“I’ll be right there.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans and drew out a bill of foreign currency that he handed over, and then shut the door again. He turned back to Meg.
“Probably just a message from my crew saying they’ve landed in Accra,” he explained. “But I’ll have to go up there and make some arrangements for a reply. Shouldn’t take too long. Go back to bed, though, will you, Meg? Nurse’s orders. She said she’d look in on you later. Meantime, just bang on the wall if you need anything. I’m only in the next cabin over.”
“But, Tom, I feel much better. Why can’t I just come with…”
“Nurse’s orders,” he repeated. “Besides, I’ve already had to listen to her about bringing you here like that in the first place. Judith and I go way back. Now, listen, priss, I have a plan. So, I’ll pick you up first thing in the morning for breakfast and we can discuss it.”
“What sort of plan?”
“First thing in the morning.”
“I won’t sleep a wink wondering what it is.” She began arguing, again. “So you might as well…”
He put a hand under her chin to tilt her face up and stopped the flow of words with a kiss. Not a demanding kiss: it was a very tender and affectionate one. But its effect on Meg was immediate. All manner of emotions welled up from the very depths of her being that she could barely keep from bubbling to the surface. As it was, she reached up to put her arms around his neck, again, in search of that place where, only moments before, she had felt so wonderfully cherished and secure. Except this time, he caught her against him, and lifted her right off the floor.
He laughed, as if the pure pleasure of having her reach out to him instead of push him away was something of a triumph in itself. It was that same delighted laughter she had heard for the first time, in the forest. “There,” he pronounced as he set her down. “I’ve wanted to do that all day. Only I didn’t dare risk another one of your swings. But I’ll tell you something. I’d risk two of them to get that kind of response, again.”
“I really don’t know what’s come over me.” She could feel the heat of color creeping into her face. “Hardly an hour ago, I was going to complain to the captain about you, and now... well, now, you’ve completely changed my mind. Swept me off my feet, again. How did you do that? And that cabin next door...well, after the last two days...it suddenly seems like a long way away.”
The smile that came first to his eyes and then the corners of his mouth made her suddenly gasp at the inference of her own words. “Oh…that’s not what I meant!”
“Might not be far enough, priss. Especially if you ask me to stay.”
“But I wasn’t talking about…well, of all things…now, you probably think…”
“I think it’s pretty amazing how much I could love you in such a short time,” he confessed. “And I adore it that you have those kinds of feelings for me, Meg. Which is why I’m not even going to ask. Until you’re mine, anyway.” Then he flashed her the most appealing smile and winked at her. “Wouldn’t want to offend the Giver of such a perfect gift.”
Meg hardly knew what to say. She was too overcome with the sudden feeling that he was the absolute, most wonderful person in the world. But before she could collect her roller-coaster feelings enough to answer, he brushed the side of her face with a final kiss and headed out the door. Leaving her wondering how she had ever gotten along without Tom Anderson. Which was quite the turnaround from an hour ago. But she couldn’t help it. Not even a bit.
It was strange how, ever since she had met him, Meg hadn’t been able to keep from telling him exactly what was on her mind. The words seemed to tumble out all by themselves. It was an odd sort of familiarity she’d never shared with anyone else. Not even her family. There really did seem to be an open channel between them that either could tap into at will. It was something she’d never experienced before. But she hadn’t been prepared for the intensity of feelings that could come rushing back through that very same channel.
Meg’s life suddenly fell into place like the last piece of a puzzle she had been working on for years. The picture that became clear at that moment was so much more beautiful than she had ever imagined, that it took a series of constant reminders that what had just taken place had really happened. She had come on this trip in a hesitant effort to make something of her own natural talents that she could offer back to God. Resigned, almost to the point of hardness, that there was no one in the world who would ever be able to put up with (much less, understand) all those strange idiosyncrasies that made her who she was. To which the Lord’s loving response was to hand her...
A perfect match.
Was that possible? But Tom Anderson was a lifetime in the making, even as she had been, and they had traveled halfway around the world from opposite ends to accidently run into each other. Twice. Even if it was possible, did the Father of Heaven really take such a personal hand in the earthly interests of His children? It was mind-boggling! But even figuring it out suddenly didn’t seem to matter.
Because, no matter how she tried to explain it, the pure thankfulness that bubbled from her heart at that moment was proof enough that God had honored her efforts to reach out for more by giving her the deepest, most secret desire of her heart. The one that had been there so long it seemed impossible. The one she had set aside like a childhood fairytale and almost didn’t even believe in anymore. A perfect match. Then, again, maybe she was just dreaming. Maybe they both were.
Would they still feel this way tomorrow?
It was a question she need not have worried over. Because something equally as amazing seemed to have taken place while they were apart. By the time Tom returned the following morning, all doubts had dissipated into such a comfortable acceptance on both sides. It seemed they had been together forever, instead of a mere few days. What’s more, the warm glow left over from the things they had said to each other the night before, seemed to cast a shine over everything they did. Even simple things became special.
It started with breakfast on an outside deck. The boat was one of the oldest vessels left on the lake, but the Volta Queen made up in charm what it lacked in amenities. Just how many Volta Queens there had been over the years was contestable. Tom said he liked it for the peaceful Old World atmosphere, rather than most of the modern ones that were more like floating bars and dance clubs. It was there that Meg finally got to meet the nurse, a middle-aged English lady who was married to a West African marine engineer.
She was short, with generous proportions. Her blonde hair was beginning to gray and tied with a colorful scarf at the nape of her neck. She joined them at their table, without being asked, and clapped Tom on the shoulder like a teacher who had just caught him cheating on an exam. “Is this your idea of letting her sleep in, Thomas? It’s barely half past seven.” And then to Meg, “Feeling better, luv? You were asleep when I peeked in, last night.”
“Much better,” Meg replied, liking her instantly. “Thanks for everything you’ve done.”
“I can’t keep her down. She was awake at six-thirty,” said Tom.
“That’s not what I heard from the boys in the kitchen. You telling them to have tea sent in to her at six.”
“Judith, you’re as much of a snoop as the last time I was here. Maybe even worse.”
“How else can I keep boredom away when all I do is pass out aspirin for headaches and fever?” She gave Meg a playful wink and turned over the cup that was upside down in a saucer in front of her. “Seriously, though, don’t go dragging her through more forest, today, or down any rapids. Quiet bit of lunch in Yeji, and then a good long nap afterward. Wouldn’t want a relapse, now, would we.”
A young man in a white steward’s jacket came up to the table with a steaming pitcher. “Tea with lemon for you, Mama Jude?” he asked as he poured coffee for Tom and Meg.
“That would be grand, Kori,” the nurse replied. “And a bit of toasted biscuit, this morning, too.”
“Word of warning, Meg,” Tom handed her the little pitcher of cream for her coffee. “Judith’s a knuckle-rapper if you don’t do what she tells you.”
“Only for scamps like you,” said Judith. “You know,”—she turned back to Meg—”he once took three doses of malaria pills all at once and went off on a hunt, after I expressly forbade him even to think of getting out of bed.”
“She hit me with a clipboard when I got back.”
“It was the only thing I had in my hand at the moment.”
“Good thing it wasn’t a…” The French national anthem interrupted the banter, and Tom took his phone from a vest pocket and looked at it. “About time,” he muttered as he flipped it open with his thumb. “Gilbert, where the devil are you?” He got to his feet and whispered aside to Meg, “It’s a bad connection. I’m going to the upper deck for more reception.” And then he wandered off.
“Well, I’ll be honest with you, luv,” Judith said after he was gone. “Whatever it is you see in that man is beyond me.”
“You don’t think he’s wonderful?”
“That one? You must be kidding, he’s anything but. Throws regular tantrums if he doesn’t get his way, but I take it you haven’t seen one of those, yet.”
Meg was about to mention it probably came from being spoiled as a child, when an amazing thought suddenly popped into her head. “I think he’s...quite a prince, actually,” she replied, instead.
Judith laughed outright at the idea. “A dark one, if you ask me. But if you don’t mind that wild look in his eye, you must be made for each other. Watch out for the werewolf, though. Especially when things go wrong.”
A remark that Meg might have taken more seriously if she had heard it twenty-four hours earlier. Instead, she found herself wondering how such a wonderful man could be so mistaken by everyone else. What’s more, it was equally amazing that a person like him could actually be enamored with someone, like herself, who was so set in her own quirky ways. That’s when she realized (with a sense of utter amazement) how falling in love had happened to her just the way her mother predicted. Two people who seemed ordinary to everyone around them, became nothing short of extraordinary to each other.
Meg was much too caught up in the enchantment of that discovery to consider warnings. She even found herself wishing that Judith might not stay too long, so she and Tom could get on with discussing his plan. Whatever it was. Probably something about the Mary Kingsley film, but she was inwardly hoping for something more.
However, just before their arrival in Yeji, when they finally were alone, she still couldn’t get him to reveal anything about it. Not even after they pulled up to the dock of the tiny lake port. It was a small town, crowded against the waterfront, with forest pressing in from all sides. After they disembarked down the gangway several minutes later, they made their way over to a bush taxi. Just as Meg noticed it was carrying a large mysterious basket on the backseat, the driver climbed out and handed the keys over to Tom.
“Three o’clock, you be back then,” said the wiry old man who held three fingers up and jabbed them into the air for emphasis.
“Back by two-thirty,” promised Tom. “I’ve hired a boat to go upriver at three.”
“A pirate boat.”
“Not this one. It belongs to the Ashanti.”
“Worse! They say he is on a rampage! There will be a drum party tonight to appease him.”
“Appreciate the tip,” Tom replied as he opened the door on the passenger side for Meg to get in.
But just as she was thinking how thoughtful it was of him to hire a taxi instead of walking the few blocks to a restaurant, he turned off on a side road, instead. It seemed they were headed out of town. As he began barreling down the narrow dirt road through the trees, it suddenly occurred to her that he was not taking her out for the “bit of quiet lunch” that Judith Banuko had suggested. Judging by the large size of the basket on the seat behind them, it was not a picnic, either.
“Is this the plan?” she asked.
“Not, yet. It’s just something I wanted to show you first.”
“Tom Anderson, just how long is this teasing going to go on?”
He reached across the seat and took her hand in his. “Trust me, priss. You’ll love it.”
However, when he made another turn into what seemed like nothing more than a pig track that twisted and turned its way into deep forest, the nurse’s warnings suddenly began to reverberate through Meg’s mind. “Throws regular tantrums if he doesn’t get his own way... that wild look... watch out for the werewolf...”
“Tom, do you know Judith thinks you’re a…” Better not come right out and say it without testing the waters, first. “Well, practically a monster?”
“Telling you stories about me, was she? Well... “He shifted down to a lower gear and plowed through a mud-hole with a practiced ease. “She comes by it honestly. My brothers and I used to tease the daylights out of her.”
“Like taking too many malaria pills and going on wild hunting trips?”
He laughed at the recollection (Meg was beginning to love the sound of that laugh), and she tried to press the matter before giving in to the charm. “I thought you said you were too much of a conservationist to hunt.”
“In our family, shooting means with cameras. But Judith’s always been such a busybody, it was more fun to let her think we were poaching on the reserve or taking a canoe down some wild river in the middle of the night, instead of telling her the truth.”
“You never did any of those things, then?”
“I didn’t say that.” He turned into a sea of tall grass and pulled to a sudden stop under a high jungle canopy in the middle of nowhere, and turned off the ignition. The silence that descended after the roar of the engine seemed to carry weight. “But don’t look so worried, Meg. Most of those shenanigans were a long time ago. It’s been over two years, now, since I’ve even been back here. I’ve changed since then. Especially, when it comes to lifestyles.”
He reached back over the seat and opened the basket. It was filled with several different kinds of fruit that looked to be enough to feed an army. Nestled into the middle of the mound was a chilled jar of some icy drink, along with a few pieces of bread and cheese. He opened the jar and handed it to her. “Take a taste,” he suggested. “It’s the best mixture of fresh fruit and ice you’ll find anywhere.”
“It is delicious,” she agreed after she had tried a sip. But she couldn’t help feeling he was trying to distract her, and prompted him to confide more. “Just out of curiosity, how has your lifestyle changed, exactly?”
“I guess it would be more appropriate to call it a change in perspective. See, I suddenly discovered there was more than just one road in life. There are two of them. One insists you have to take whatever comes along and learn to deal with it. But then I found out you can get off that road, anytime you choose, and take the other one, instead. Which, personally, I like much better. Because that one leads from...” He gave her a disarming smile. “Glory to glory. Not to mention I found you there. Now...” He opened the door on his side. “Ready for lunch?”
“I’m ready to hear your plan.”
“After lunch.”
“That’s what you said at breakfast. You can at least tell me what it’s about.”
“I’ve been trying to think of the best way to tell you, but nothing’s coming to me.” He leaned forward to look through the windshield at the top of the canopy for a moment, as if searching for something, then turned back to her with a resigned sigh. “The truth is...you’re not going to like it, priss.”