Dawn on a Distant Shore
Page 46

"Mrs. Bonner?"
A stranger at her elbow, bent almost in half in a low bow. She spun around to him in her anger.
"Yes?" More sharply than she intended, but he did not flinch.
"Please pardon my intrusion, madam, but I understand you are in need of passage to Montréal."
A gentleman, deferential of manner, with a kind smile and a face to make anyone gasp in horror. Elizabeth had never seen any person quite so ill-favored by nature, without a single normal or well-turned feature. But his accent marked him for a man of breeding and education, his etched silver buttons and Holland linen for a wealthy merchant with excellent taste, and there was a sharp intelligence in his mild eyes.
"Shove off!" barked Mac Stoker from the gangplank. "By what right d'you come stickin' that ugly gob of yours in me business?"
Captain Stoker might have been invisible for all the attention the stranger paid. His respectful expression remained, his head bobbing deferentially to his sunken chest, hands wound together before him. Elizabeth followed his example, and inclined her head. "You have me at a disadvantage, sir."
"I beg your indulgence for a moment, madam, and pray you will pardon the necessity of such an informal introduction. Horace Pickering at your service. I bring word from your cousin, Viscount Durbeyfield."
Elizabeth felt herself flush with excitement. "From Will! Sir, this is good news indeed. What report does my cousin send?"
He lifted one shoulder in an apology. "He asked me to keep an eye out for you, and if I should see you here, to take you and your charges to meet him--in Montréal. Time is of the essence, as he put it to me. If I may point out the Nancy? You see we docked not a half hour ago."
A great calm moved through Elizabeth: their luck had finally turned. "The Nancy is your vessel?"
Stoker snorted, but Pickering only bowed again. "I am her captain for the moment." And at Elizabeth's brow, raised in tacit request for more detail, he inclined his head. "The Nancy is available for my use while I conclude some business for my employer in Canada. The ship I command is at dock in Québec."
If Stoker were not breathing down her back, Elizabeth might have been able to formulate the many questions that needed to be asked--foremost and most important, how this man knew Will, and why someone of such obvious position would take on this task. Will could not have told him of their business in Montréal, and so neither could she mention it to him. As it was, she did not have the luxury of a longer interview. "Your timing is excellent, sir. I am delighted to accept your kind offer of assistance."
"We came to an agreement!" Stoker roared.
"Mr. Stoker," Elizabeth said. "The cost of passage on the Jackdaw is too high."
Stoker went suddenly silent, his face as icy cold as his tone. "You think passage on the Nancy will come any cheaper? There's more than one kind of pirate on the St. Lawrence, me darlin'."
Captain Pickering cleared his throat roughly, but Elizabeth held up her hand, wanting to settle her business with Mac Stoker on her own terms.
"Pirates are the least of my problems, Mr. Stoker." She managed a polite nod. "Captain Pickering, I must return to my children momentarily--"
The captain produced a broad smile that showed off a row of tiny white teeth. "May I be of assistance?"
Elizabeth saw Stoker's gaze on her. She wanted to ignore him but his expression, all knowing condescension, made it very difficult.
"Thank you, sir. But we will come to the Nancy as soon as we are able."
He bowed, and over his back Mac Stoker winked at her.
Elizabeth ran up the stairs of the public house with her skirts held high, pulled forward by the angry howling of two hungry infants.
"Thank the Lord," said Curiosity, thrusting Daniel toward her. "These children just about turnin' themselves inside out."
Hannah was at her elbow, tugging gently on her sleeve. "Is everything all right?"
"We have reliable passage to Montréal," Elizabeth said. "On a fine ship called the Nancy. I believe you can see her colors from here. Ouch!" She shifted Daniel to a more comfortable position, and accepted Lily from Curiosity. When the twins had settled to their task, she looked up. Curiosity was studying her with a combination of worry and doubt.
"Thought you went to talk to that Stoker."
"We could not come to terms," Elizabeth said. "We are much better off on the Nancy, even so. It was my cousin Will who sent Captain Pickering to fetch us."
"Hmmpf." Curiosity picked up a clean but damp winding cloth and shook it out with a snap. "How did he manage that, I wonder?"
Elizabeth would have told Curiosity more, if it were not for Hannah. But she could not speak of the gallows in Montréal in front of the child, as much as it would ease her own burden to share the news. "Will would not have engaged Captain Pickering's services if he were not sure of his reputation. He is wellborn, and a gentleman."
"Richard Todd's a gentleman, too," Curiosity reminded her. "And he caused you enough grief."
Hannah had been following the whole exchange with a sober expression. "Runs-from-Bears will be with us," she said. "We will be safe."
"Yes," said Elizabeth. "Bears is waiting downstairs. As soon as we're ready he'll go down with you to the Nancy."
"And where will you be, missy, while we're doin' that?" Curiosity was staring at her as if she were sixteen and bent on illicit escapades.