Windmera-Desperation

She laughed. “You must be hungry now as well. Oh, I promise you, Bunky, when we get home, you will work for Godwin and me and never be hungry again.”

He smiled. “I would work for ye forever and go hungry to do it.”

She pulled him along, taking the left fork, which she thought a darker better avenue. It turned out that it led to a quieter wharf overlooking a less traveled but deep canal.

Only one vessel slapped against the padded docks. It looked like all its crew was on leave. Bunky and Heather gave each other a look because at their backs they heard Colin screaming. They also heard the sound of two Frenchmen that Colin must have enlisted to help him in his search.

Bunky’s voice held desperation as he said, “We can hide on that boat…come on.”

There was no one about as Bunky led Heather across the plank, onto its deck, down its waist, and into the storage hatch. The hatch door clanged above their heads and Heather sank to her knees, exhausted and wishing that Godwin would suddenly appear and come to their rescue.

Bunky fell upon sacks of grain and put a finger to his lips for quiet, realized Heather could not actually see him in the dark, and whispered, “No talking.”

Above them, they realized the boat was not empty as they heard Colin speaking in French and asking if the seaman had seen anyone nearby. The crewman told him no, apparently asked yet another crewman who agreed they had seen no one.

Bunky whispered, “What are they saying?”

“Colin wanted to know if they had seen us—they said no.”

The boat went quiet then and Bunky whispered, “We better stay put for another hour. Colin will have to set sail by then. He’ll make enough on the brandy…so he won’t keep looking.”

The boat gently rocked and Bunky said, “I can still hear Colin shouting at those Frogs. I can’t believe he is bothering about us this long.”

“He is angry, Bunky, not only about losing a fine purse, but because he feels you betrayed him for a woman. That he cared for you was evident to me. That might make him look hard for a bit longer than you think.”

“Aww, that can’t be. Colin don’t care for no one but himself. That much I have always figured.”

“Well, at least for now, we are safe here. We’ll give it another hour and then see if we can slink off in the dark with no one the wiser.”

“Aye, agreed.”

Heather sighed and put her head back. Hope filled her mind and heart. Another day and she would return to Godwin and he would know the truth. Whatever was she going to do about Sara? That woman would always pose a threat.

The sound of scurrying little feet made Heather begin to squeal. She clapped a hand over her mouth and then tugged at Bunky’s wool seaman’s coat. “Bunky…rats, rats!”

“Aye, I know. Don’t think on it. I’ll kick ‘em off if they come near us. Don’t ye worry none, miss.”

“Oh, oh, I don’t know if I can bear it sitting here in the dark with rats.”

He patted her hand. “They won’t bother us. They have enough food down here…grain bags everywhere.” He sighed. “I think we best stay here ‘til the wee hours…just in case.”

“Yes, I quite agree, but I think we can stay out of sight…only let’s get out of here,” Heather said.

“Well, at least not yet,” Bunky disagreed. “We’ll lope off and see how much coin we have between us later. If we don’t have enough, there is no telling, but we might stowaway on a boat headed for…”

“Stowaway? Back to England? Do you think we could manage that?”

“If we don’t have enough coin, we’ll have to, aye, miss,” Bunky said, and sighed.

“Oh, Bunky, I have embroiled you in a mess, haven’t I?”

“No, miss. I did that to m’self when I accepted to follow Colin’s orders. I should have ridden off with ye, right off. I should have taken ye to town for help. This is on me.”

She patted his arm. “We’ll find a way.”

“Aye, that we will,” he agreed.

* * * * *