Chapter 10
Natalie went looking for Wallace. He was somewhere on the ship. Injured. But alive.
He had climbed onboard first, disappearing through a door while the captain readied the sails. “Anything I can do?” she asked.
“Can you sail?” the captain replied.
“Nope.”
“Then go make sure he’s not bleeding to death. I’ll get us to the mainland.”
“I’m Natalie by the way.”
“Captain.”
“Captain what?”
“That’s my name. Captain. Confusing, isn’t it?” He turned and began slackening off the sail.
Natalie left him to it, heading to the closed door and pulling it open. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the gloom inside. Wallace was in there with his back to her, trying to reach around his back to the head of the arrow.
She watched him for a moment. He had removed his top and he seemed more muscle than man. There was a splash of dried blood around where the arrow had emerged but already she could tell it wasn’t as serious as it looked.
“Can I help?” she asked.
“I can handle this fine,” he replied.
“You’re sure? Only you look as if you’re flailing about like a beetle on its back.”
He turned his head to scowl at her. “I dinnae need help from a MacCallister.”
“Yes, you do.” She took a step toward him. “Hold still. It’s only just inside the skin.” She picked up the tunic he’d removed and tore a strip from it. “Wait there.” Sticking her head back out of the door she shouted, “Any alcohol on board?”
“Dinnae be getting drunk,” the captain called back. “The journey isnae long enough.”
“Good advice. Where is it?”
“There’s some whisky in the bottle by the bed.”
She ducked back inside, rummaging until she found it.
“What are you doing?” Wallace asked, pulling the feathers from the end of the arrow.
“Making sure you survive long enough to get me home.”
“By drinking?”
“By keeping your wound clean.” She doused the strip of fabric in whisky before handing it to him. “When I say so, press that to the wound. Ready?”
“Ready.”
She dipped a second strip and placed it nearby.
“Here goes,” she said more to herself than to him.
Then she pulled hard and fast. The arrow came out and immediately blood began to flow.
She pressed the cloth to the wound, holding it fast while Wallace did the same at the other end.
Throughout it all, he didn’t make a sound.
“Didn’t that hurt?” she asked, feeling the blood starting to soak through.
“Aye.”
“Yet you remain silent as the grave.”
“What would be the point of screaming? The pain would remain.”
“Fair enough.” She looked at his back, noticing the scars that covered it. “You’ve had a hard life,” she said, tracing the line of one of the marks with her free hand. “Who did this to you?”
“I was beaten in the dungeon.” He paused for a moment. “Many times.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, almost able to feel his pain. She could only imagine what had caused so much damage to his skin.
Stretching her hand out, she was able to fetch a length of twine from under the bed. Wrapping it around his waist, she tied the two ends of cloth in place before finally letting go, stepping back gratified to see no fresh blood had escaped the coverings. “You can relax now.”
He looked down and then nodded. “I thank you.”
“So much for not needing a MacCallister’s help.”
“Perhaps you helped a little.”
“Tell me something.”
“What?”
“Why do you hate me?”
“What? I dinnae hate you.”
“Yes you do. I can hear it in your voice, in the way you look at me. You hate the MacCallisters and I’m a MacCallister. What have I done to you?”
“It’s not you, it’s those that came before you.”
“What? You mean my ancestors, don’t you.”
“Aye, they took my parents from me, locked up my father, took away my childhood.” He paused, sounding emotional for the first time. “They killed my father.”
“I’m not like them.”
“You have MacCallister blood coursing through you.”
“And I freed you from your chains. Does that sound like something a mortal enemy of yours would do?”
He sighed. “It is not so simple. My father was bound in chains by a MacCallister curse. He was cursed and so was I.”
“I don’t believe in curses.”
He ran a hand through his hair, wincing as he remembered the wound in his side. “You travel back in time hundreds of years. You free me from bondage and step through a door to an island far from the mainland and you do not believe in curses. You are an odd one, Natalie MacCallister.”
“And you are a stubborn fool, Wallace MacGregor so where does that leave us?”
“Sailing home hopefully.”
“Ships ahoy,” a voice called from outside the cabin.
They both emerged to see the captain running about, tightening one rope and loosening another. From around the curve of the island five ships were approaching. “I thought you said nothing could catch you,” Wallace said, peering over the side.
“I could not plan for the wind dropping. They have men to row, we do not.”
“What if we row?” Natalie asked.
“They have twenty men to each ship. We could not outrun them. What we need is…that. Starboard side.”
They looked and rolling in along the sea was a thick fog, swallowing the ocean and the first corner of the island in the distance. “The only question is which will reach us first. If we can get into the fog before the ships get too close, we will lose them yet.”
He turned the sail, urging the ship forward, muttering to himself. Natalie looked behind them. The ships were getting inexorably closer, the oars moving in unison. She ran to the front in time to see the fog swallow them up.
The captain sighed, shifting the sail again. “Keep quiet,” he whispered. “It will be our only chance. If luck is on our side, we’ll see out the end of the day yet.”
Natalie had no idea how long they sat in the fog. She was chilled to the bone within minutes, her clothes soaked, her hair sticking to her scalp. There was something eerie about the silence.
Even the few waves that splashed against the side of the ship were deadened. Occasionally she would hear the sound of oars nearby and her heart would begin to race but then the noise would fade away and they would be alone once more.
She found herself drawn to the very front of the ship. She sat there saying nothing, listening to the whispered conversation taking place between Wallace and the captain. They were somewhere in the fog but she could not see them, only hear their quiet voices as they conversed.
Did they know she could hear them? She doubted it. She knew she should tell them but she had been warned to keep still lest the creaking of the boards bring keen eared armies of men down upon them.
“Have you ever escaped through fog before?” Wallace was asking.
“I have escaped far worse. They don’t call me the captain for nothing. I once escaped a house of ill repute with three coins still left in my purse. Can you match that?”
“I have never entered a house of ill repute.”
“Then you are missing out on a treat. Some of them can bend in ways that would make your head spin. Tell me something, my fine warrior. Have you ever known a woman?”
“I have known a few.”
“I mean, have you known a woman.”
“I will not answer that.”
Natalie stifled a giggle. The tough highland warrior sounded embarrassed for the first time since she’d met him.
“That’s a no then,” the captain said. “Dinnae worry. I can quickly teach you the art of wooing. There is nothing to it.”
“I do not need lessons.”
“I think you do. I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at yon lassie over there.”
Wallace coughed loudly enough for the captain to shush him. “I have not been looking at her any way.”
“You can fool her but you cannae fool me. It’s in your eyes whether you try to hide it or not. You should do something about it.”
“I have no feelings for her.”
“Suit yourself. I shall say no more about it other than to offer you this piece of advice. Dinnae leave it too late or you might just find yourself captain of a ship that has no port to call home.”
She heard Wallace stalk off, leaving the captain alone to emerge from the fog a moment later, walking over to join her. “I wondered where you were,” he asked. “Doing all right?”
“Cold but okay,” she replied. “Where are we?”
“Floating in the middle of the water. I’m trying to move us closer to land but until the wind picks up it will be slow progress. What? You look like you’ve got something to say.”
“I…I heard you talking to Wallace.”
“Ah.”
“About me.”
“Aye, well, the thing is, I know I shouldn’t have pried but I am too old to keep my mouth shut.”
“You think he has feelings for me?”
“I know he does. Don’t you?”
She frowned. “I don’t think so. I didn’t notice anything between us.”
“You mean apart from how worried you were when the arrow hit him, or how your face was lit up brighter than a beacon when you emerged beside him from the cabin.”
“I was just glad the wound was not too serious.”
The captain shook his head. “What a pair you two are. It’s a wonder you’re even capable of speaking to each other when you’re so deluded.”
“Look,” she snapped loudly enough for the captain to put a finger to his lips, “even if I was interested in him, it’s not going to happen.”
“Why?”
She was about to tell him she was from the future when she managed to stop herself. “He’s a MacGregor, I’m a MacCallister. It would never work.”
“Clans come together all the time. It’s called progress.”
She shook her head. “It would never work,” she said again.
“Do you like him?”
“Yes but that’s not the point.”
“You like him, he likes you. What more is there to this?”
“It’s not as simple as that. I could be madly in love with him, it wouldn’t change the fact we could not possibly be together.”
“Why?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“You should stop looking for reasons not to be together and think about what life would be like if you were together. I have seen true love twice in my life and it is a rare thing indeed to find. You and him bluster and fluster all you like and spend your lives floating on the sea of loss if you wish. I have said my piece and I’ll say to you what I said to him, do not leave it too late. ”
Natalie noticed something in his eyes. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?”
“Nothing,” the captain said, though he would not meet her eyes.
“What is it?”
He sighed. “Wallace is behind me. Come on out, you have the footsteps of a giant stamping about with lead boots.”
Wallace emerged from the fog, looking so fiercely at Natalie, she had to turn away. It felt as if he’d just looked straight through her, as if she was naked in front of him, unable to hide anything.
She told herself she had done nothing wrong. So what if the captain thought they should be together? It wouldn’t change the fact she was going home soon and he was going…wherever he was going.
“I wish to speak to you alone,” Wallace said.
“I can see when I’m not wanted.” The captain vanished into the fog.
“About what he said,” Wallace continued. “I…I have something to say to you.”
“Yes?”
He paused for a moment, taking another step toward her. “Perhaps not all MacCallisters are bad.”
“Is that it?”
“No. I…”
“Yes?”
There was a crunch and then the boat shook violently from side to side. Natalie lost her balance, tipping over the side. She saw the water rushing up to meet her and she was certain she was falling into the depths, perhaps never to emerge.
All of a sudden, Wallace grabbed hold of her, yanking her back into the boat.
“What happened?” she asked, trying to slow her breathing as she thought about how close she came to drowning. “You saved me.”
Wallace still had hold of her in his arms. She looked up into his eyes. He leaned down toward her just as the boat shook again, a loud scraping sound echoing up from below the hull. The moment was gone as soon as it came. The boat ground to a halt.
“Land ho,” the captain called out unnecessarily behind them.