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“When,” Elijah corrected, his face unforgiving. “Whennews of our success reaches them, sister. I declare it. Within days, we’ll sail up the Thames and arrive in London faster than anyone ever has! Boston to London in fourteen days!”
Her smile was sincere, even though shadows filled her eyes. No matter; Elijah, for all his pride, still had grief clinging to him, too. He was only thirty-three but had spent half his life at sea; harsh sun rays and corrosive, salty wind had lined his once-boyish face. His hair was a deep auburn, and the freckles on his cheeks matched. To Helen, her brother looked like a worn, tired child.
She squeezed his hand. “You’ve commandedAlacritywell. Your men look upon you with respect and admiration. Sailing to England with such speed puts us in good stead for what comes next. This has been night and day from being aboardParadisewith that odious captain!”
The mention of their ill-fated voyage to San Francisco on a different ship didn’t land as she had hoped. She’d meant to praise him, as the contrast in journeys spoke volumes about his skills at sea, not to mention their turning over a new leaf in their relationship.
Elijah shook his head, anger and disgust rippling from him. “It’s a marvel you can tolerate any ship again after spending the better part of a year on board that ill-named abomination.”
“I didn’t mean to speak of that. I want to speak ofyou.”
He executed a mock bow, and she smiled.
“I’m terribly proud of you, Elijah. But I can’t celebrate until we return from China with a hold full of sweet-smelling tea. When we achievethatfaster than any ship before,Alacrity—and Captain Elijah Miller—will deserve a place in the tomes of history.”
“It was your idea, Helen. If not for you, I’d”—a shudder ran through him—“I would have done something rash by now, like burnAlacrityto ashes. This plan of yours has saved us both.”
“It’s only that now. A plan. But we’re on our way, aren’t we?” She smiled, lifting her chin in an effort to dispel the sadness that hung between them.
It didn’t work. Elijah’s expression looked more pained. “It was reckless to believe Robbie and I could find peace on boardAlacrity.”
Her eyes dropped, as did her shoulders. She waited for the stab of pain at the mention of her husband. In the space of a few breaths, she registered sadness—but not more.
In their nearly two weeks at sea, they hadn’t spoken of Robbie. With each mile sailed, each day closer to her goal, Helen realized she was moving forward.
Was Elijah?
She patted his hand, causing him to look down at it with surprise, as if he’d forgotten he had the appendage. “I’m sorry, Elijah. For everything that has happened.”
“I’msorry. I don’t deserve your grace. Not after the suffering we—I—caused you. No, don’t say it. You want to tell me I didn’t intend your suffering. That doesn’t change a damned thing, does it?”
She inclined her head in acknowledgment, but her voice reflected her hope and resolve. “It’s to the future we must look. Whether or not it makes history, I simply want to reach London. I’ll sleep easier once we find your Mr. Hughes. Until then, we won’t know if he received your letter—or is in any position to help us.”Or is willing.
“Hughes is an honorable man. You’ll see. I saved his life in Canton. Ten years may have passed, but he won’t have forgotten his oath to repay me. Never thought I’d need to collect.” He shrugged. “But so be it.”
For all her efforts to be uplifting, she couldn’t help but name her starkest fear. “Before we can loadAlacritywith tea, we have to secure a fortune in silver. If we can’t, all is lost.”
“We will. You’ll make sure of it, Helen. Haven’t you always?”
Old resentments stirred. Oh, how he took for granted that she would manage—just as he had always done whenever he sailed away, leaving her.
Despite her own doubts, bravado forced her chin up. “Yes. I always have.”
∞∞∞
For all her meticulous planning, Helen was unprepared for the momentousness of sighting England’s shores. Until then, she had thought of Britain as nothing more than a necessary stop between Boston and China.
The ship’s boy rapped at her cabin door just past dawn, calling out for her to meet Elijah on the quarterdeck.
“England!” Elijah yelled, pointing port side. He stood just outside the wheelhouse that protected the helmsman from the elements.
The hint of blurry cliffs in the distance stole Helen’s breath. Standing dumbfounded until Elijah pressed the leather-covered barrel of his telescope into her hands, she lifted the brass instrument and extended it to full length. Through the eyepiece, ripples of blue turned into granite cliffs, carved rough by ages of prevailing winds blowing in from the Atlantic. As she tipped upward, moss green stretched across the land before it met blue sky.
For all her intention to look only to the future, it was the past that stole her breath as she spied Britain for the first time.
The very land Father’s people left over a century ago. The country he hated.
Life’s peculiarities had her and Elijah reversing the desperate journey of their ancestors, even if temporarily, in search of a better life.
