Chapter 8
The Prodigal Daughter Returns
Ben
I had to fend off a few questions from James about the boxes and Lillian’s necklace, but he soon gave up.
Oliver pretended not to listen as he lay on his pallet in the corner and was no further bother.
The haunted look in Margaret’s eye remained, even as she painted her nails on the floor.
It seemed that Mr. Bennett was the only one of us able to find a full night’s rest, but even so, he doesn’t show it in the slightest this morning.
“It’s already much too hot,” Mr. Bennett complains, already tugging at his sleeves. It hasn’t slipped past me that he was able to retain much of his wardrobe from the sinking, while the rest of us have been left with little to nothing.
Margaret sighs to my left. “Sir, this is the coolest it will be for the remainder of our journey.”
“The humidity will get worse as well,” I chime in. I hope Lillian will say something lovely about the weather, the climate she thrives in, but she remains quiet. Too quiet.
Giving Lillian the space she needs has always been a delicate dance, but this is uncharted territory.
The vision had nearly killed her last night, and what she had seen was still not fully explained.
My hope is that Ademir and the river will give her the sense of security she needs to dive into the meaning of her vision.
I only wish I could have given that sense of safety to her already.
Lillian plows ahead of me, that restless energy permeating the ground with each step.
Her pack of artifacts has been returned, and even though I know that it’s heavy and cumbersome with the edges of the boxes protruding and prodding her, I doubt she'll let it leave her back for the duration of our adventure. I can’t say I blame her.
Before I can catch up to Lillian, Margaret loops an arm through hers.
As much as I still don’t trust the woman as a team member should, she went through hell with Lillian, and I know she’s a good person to have around her while she’s struggling.
Lillian seems comfortable around her, and Margaret did a kind thing in salvaging a few of her clothing items.
Diederick is next to join her, coming up on her free side.
I hear him say something under his breath that manages to make Margaret laugh.
Lillian’s head whips toward him, and I see the ghost of a genuine smile grace her lips.
She stares at him in satirical disbelief before she turns forward again and the view of her profile is lost to me.
“This chap, Ademir?” James asks, sidling up next to me. “You’ve worked with him in the past? His name was mentioned in the 1928 files, but I want to be sure before I jump to conclusions.”
“Of course he has,” Mr. Bennett says through an annoyed sigh. “Why do you think we’re stuck working with a savage when we could have brought any of our own men to navigate the river?”
As if just any man could navigate the forks and floodplains of the Amazon.
“He’s one of the finest men I’ve ever met,” I say in answer, trying to keep the growl from my voice.
The Englishman has been saying things of that nature since we departed this morning.
“It’d be best if you kept your archaic comments to yourself.
If Lillian were to hear you, I don’t know if I’d be able to respond in a respectable manner. ”
“Perhaps you have spent too much time with him in your past life and are becoming a savage yourself, Mr. Reed.” He laughs, and for a moment, he reminds me of Archibald.
I think I might swing for him—to achieve what goal?
I have no idea. Thankfully, James angles himself in a way that separates the two of us.
“He is one of the best men I’ve ever worked with,” I say again through gritted teeth.
Nothing could have prepared me for the emotions of Lillian and Ademir seeing each other again.
He was there to meet us when we arrived.
Sitting astride the railing of a boat—one that he now owns—his eyes went directly to Lillian.
She broke from our group and ran straight for him.
The aging man showed off his lingering athleticism by leaping down several feet and greeting his daughter with open arms. Them coming together was something I will never forget.
For once, our opinionated group was rendered speechless.
He took her face in his hands and told her something in Portuguese. I didn’t have to understand the language to know that he was standing in awe of her, everything she’d become that he had only witnessed in letters.
When their embrace ceased and Lillian dropped her head in tears, Ademir was quick to gather her face in his hands and lift it up.
He wiped the moisture from beneath her eyes and pulled her to him again.
He rested his cheek atop her head for only a moment to rest his eyes.
When they opened again, he smiled at me and extended a hand.
Lillian hardly moved to allow me into their sphere.
She still hasn’t moved within 5 feet of him, even as we steam down the Amazon toward Manaus.
There's been nonstop chatter between them. Seeing her happy is enough to ease the separation between us. I’m here for her if she needs, but in Ademir’s presence, she’s almost a new person.
“Can they speak English so the rest of the class might understand?” Mr. Bennett squabbles between puffs on his cigar. I wonder how many he managed to bring with him and how many I can manage to make disappear. I never was a fan of the tobacco smell they left behind.
“Oh hush,” Margaret says in concentration.
Their card game has run long, and she’s attempting to make it her first win of the afternoon.
“I can hear them perfectly fine; they’re simply speaking about old times.
Nothing to concern yourselves with at all.
” She lays her card down, and the rest fold with a groan.
James demands another go, and so the three of them and Oliver take up another round.
I contemplate joining them, but then see Diederick at the bow by himself.
For once there is no chart or journal in his hand.
He’s simply looking out over the water. My heart softens as much as I can manage when I think about what happened to him the last time he journeyed to this country.
After running one more glance over Lillian and Ademir in the wheelhouse, I push all other thoughts to the wayside and approach Diederick. He doesn’t greet me or really even acknowledge my presence. “I never thought I’d be back here,” he whispers.
I wish I could respond with the same sentiment, but that would be lying. “I always figured I would find myself here again.”
“Well then, I am sorry for you. It must have been a long 10 years of waiting and wondering.” His eyes are still on the river in front of us. “The river dolphin of the Amazon,” he says, gesturing to the water.
The pink skin is what I notice first when leaning over the bow. Their movements are swift and when one breaches ahead of us, I can’t help but think the creature has a permanent smile. Lillian would adore this. I turn to get the others to share the joyful creature, but Diederick stops me.
“They would not appreciate it as they should,” he says simply.
“Lillian certainly would,” I answer, confused.
Diederick’s eyes slide to the house behind us. “She’s coming now.” He pushes up his glasses and returns to his observations.
Lillian’s steps are much lighter now than they had been earlier today. Her light skirt billows around her, and her hair has been pulled back into a bun at the top of her neck. The heat is stifling with the sun right overhead.
The first day we met, she gave away her hat at a train station.
I had been so worried about her not getting the shade she needed that I had insisted she wear a new one when we boarded.
Looking at her now, I wish I could provide her every comfort against the discomfort, even one as familiar as this one.
I clear my throat when she reaches us. “You’re not too hot or thirsty?”
“Why must something always be wrong when I come to find you?” she asks with a slight laugh. She’s right, of course, she is a grown woman who can make her needs known.
Stepping completely in front of her, she meets me at her full height and still has to tilt her chin upwards to look at me.
“So you’ve left the nest and flown down here for my company?
Lillian, I’m honored.” The comment is a testing of the waters to bring some semblance back into our teasing nature.
When she grins, I know she’s about to match my wit.
“Actually,” she begins, flipping the leather strap of my chest holster to straighten it. Her fingers linger as she answers, “I came for his.” She then turns to Diederick. “Ademir would like a few moments with both of you.” Her smile falls slightly, sending my own defenses up in my mind.
Before I can nod and step away, she’s speaking again. “Don’t be too long; I would enjoy your company.” Looking over my shoulder, I find her holding a hand across her brow to shade her gaze.
I’ll buy her a hat in Manaus—that or steal one from the others. I want to see those eyes of hers unhindered.
Ademir switches places with me when I arrive. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken up a wheel, but I do so willingly. The Amazon is deep and wide here; there won’t be too much of a struggle in the navigation for a few hours.
“It’s been a long time, Ben,” he starts. His English sounds broken and unsure, as though he hasn’t practiced it in years. When I don’t confirm his statement, he tries again. “Why did you not write?”
This takes me aback. Turning the wheel slightly to the left, I calculate my answer. “Oh, I didn’t think you would want to hear from me.”
“I expected to hear the truth from you in letters. Lillian never would tell me the hard facts.” I swallow at that. Lillian had told me she spared him the worst of her stories from Germany.
“It wasn’t just to spare you pain; there was a certain level of security to maintain.” I balance the wheel again and finally look the man in the eye. “I was with her for the full 10 years. I rarely left her side. I can assure you she was as safe as she could be.”
He cocks his head to the side, clear confusion written across his face. “And you are not yet married?”
I can’t stop the sigh. “Ademir—”
He waves my sentence away. “No, no, I do not wish to pry into such things. The love you have for each other is obvious, even without the wedding bands.”
I suddenly feel very selfish looking at a man who never had the chance to marry the woman of his dreams. A man who sacrificed everything for that very chance and was forced to watch it all slip away from him through violence and fate.
As if he can hear my thoughts or feel the guilt radiating off of me, he lets out a shaky breath. “I only wish that you do not become like me.”
There’s nothing I can say to that, so I grip the wheel harder and stare ahead until my eyes burn.
It’s not long until Lillian steals that attention.
Her sleeves are rolled to her elbows, and for a moment I get another glimpse back, back to the moment that I decided I was going to follow her for the rest of my life.
Her sleeves had been rolled just as they are now, and she had a book in her lap.
“She’s much the same,” Ademir says from beside me. “I’m glad to know she has kept her soft and truly kind heart.”
The comment thrusts me back into the present world.
“You said that to me before we departed. You said that we could only trust someone with a soft heart to wield the power we search for.” Ademir doesn’t dare look at me.
“What do you mean by that?” I had wanted to ask that same question years ago, and now I may finally get an answer.
“Mr. Morgan told you all that you need to know, I’m certain of it. He wouldn’t have sent you back here if he thought she was not ready.”
“Ademir,” I say again, “what do you mean by that?” When he finally turns to me, I find tears lining his eyes.
“There’s—” His words fail as a presence charges in from the left.
“Ben!” Margaret yells from the wheelhouse door. “I thought I might pop in and learn a bit about our vessel here.” She smacks the metal frame twice before coming up right beside me. “Humor me and let me steer for a moment.”
I glance to Ademir for his permission. He’s already hidden away the emotions from a second ago. He nods and retreats to the bench that lines the far side of the small room. Far enough away to give her space, close enough to study her and make an inference on her character.
My jaw tightens knowing I was so close to getting some very important information. Thoughts run circles in my head, completely tuning out any curiosity or inquiry from Margaret as we sail off into our first sunset of the trip.