Lady in the Mist - Laurie Alice Eakes [143]
Dominick jerked against his restraints as though someone had punched him in the middle. Tabitha was still aboard the Nemesis. If Roscoe sailed, she would be captive, unable to return, unable to stop Wilkins.
He’d wanted her to remain quiet until Wilkins condemned himself in front of her too, but not to stay. Not to remain with Raleigh.
How could he ever have thought of leaving her to another man? It was a mistake, just one more in too many. No matter what happened in the next few hours, weeks, years, he wanted Tabitha at his side, his friend and his wife, his lover and the mother to his children. He couldn’t give her up for a renewal of prestige and the possibility of a good position received from his family’s largess. They would survive in this strange new land with God’s guidance and help, with the wits and talents God had given to them, with the community around them.
If Tabitha survived the night.
If he survived the night.
Dominick bowed his head and prayed for Tabitha’s safe return to Seabourne. He thought about praying for release from punishment for a crime he hadn’t committed, but he had disobeyed. He wasn’t back on Kendall’s property by sundown. He deserved the lashing, however ill the prospect made him feel.
“Don’t go puking on the deck,” one of his captors commanded. “We’ll make you clean it up.”
“After you get your whipping.” The other guffawed.
Dominick kept his head bowed, his body relaxed. Talking to these men would get him nowhere. Talking to Wilkins was likely to get him dumped overboard. Dominick would appeal to Kendall. He was a good man, a fair man. He said he would mete out punishment for disobedience and could never garner respect if he didn’t carry through.
But the lash!
Dominick swallowed against the burning at the back of his throat. He had eaten nothing since sometime the day before, or he feared he would have fouled the wooden planks at his feet. His head spun and his heart ached.
“Please bring her back to me,” he murmured to the wind. “I’ll find a way—”
Or perhaps he should let God find a way for them to be together. When Dominick chose to find a way to direct his future, he made amok of it.
“All right then, Lord, I give this up to You.” He spoke a bit louder than he’d intended.
His jailers laughed. “Look, he’s saying his prayers.”
Dominick smiled. He wished for peace. He felt a tension like the inner workings of a clock. He tried to twist around to see if another boat followed, if anyone was bringing Tabitha ashore. His captors held him fast. All he could do was look ahead to the pale line of sand and the glimmer of light from the village a quarter mile beyond.
The fishing boat cruised up the Trowers’ inlet and tied up at their jetty. Wilkins leaped to the dock and strode off toward Seabourne. The rest of the men tied a rope to the one binding Dominick’s wrists behind him, and led him onto the sand and over the dunes. They walked swiftly, too quickly for a man off balance on sand. Twice he landed on his knees. Both times the men laughed and dragged him to his feet again. His shoulders burned by the time they reached the square. A well-lit square filled with people, including Kendall, Letty, Dinah, and Deborah.
He was going to be punished in front of anyone who wanted to watch.
He raised his head and stared Kendall in the eyes. What he read there took his breath away. It wasn’t anger or contempt or, worse, anticipation. It was pain, raw and open.
“I trusted you,” Kendall said. “I gave you freedom I’ve never given a servant after years, let alone months.”
“I wasn’t running away. I’m trying to stop these men from stealing American seamen and selling them—”
“I found him aboard a British frigate,” Wilkins interrupted. “He’d convinced the captain he was the son of a lord and should be helped.”
“A captain you knew by name,” Dominick shot back. “A captain who knew you by name. A captain who had an American aboard.” He returned his attention to Kendall. “Have you talked to Donald Parks?”
“He was abducted.