Dawn on a Distant Shore
Page 79
"And they call your kind barbarians." Curiosity grunted softly. "Now I wonder what Miss Priss meant about the Campbells being a worry to Carryck." She stood, lifting Daniel onto her hip, and looked out the window to the rolling sea.
Sunset, and the sea tugged the light out of the day. With a sleeping Lily in her arms, Hannah leaned against the wall to watch seabirds wheeling white against a sky of bruised blue and scarlet. Through the wall of the surgery she could hear the Hakim as he sang his prayers: he had a hoarse voice and a tin ear and still his chant wound softly around her like a silk veil. Hannah understood nothing of his language or of his god, except that they were a comfort to him, so far away from home. She leaned harder against the wall, held in place by Lily's sleeping weight, her breath damp and sweet. Behind lids the color of seashells the baby's eyes darted: even in her sleep she looked for her mother.
Curiosity's humming stopped, and Hannah roused herself. Over Daniel's sleeping head she saw Curiosity's face creased in concentration. "Listen," she whispered.
Hannah cocked her head and closed her eyes, but she could hear only the sea and the creaking of the ship around her. Nothing of Giselle Somerville. Nothing yet, she corrected herself.
"What is it?"
Curiosity flapped a hand. "Listen!"
Hannah closed her eyes. Overhead, men were moving, as they did so often to change the watch, shift sails, wash down the deck, haul rope, or look to the hundreds of other chores that divided the day into its parts. But the ship had her own voice, too, and it came to Hannah softly, a faint shudder and then a sighing, as a woman sighs at the end of a long day.
"Are we slowing?"
Curiosity spread out a hand, palm up, as if to weigh the question.
From the doorway Hakim Ibrahim said, "We are heaving-to."
"Stopping?" Curiosity drew in her breath on a hiss.
The smooth brow under the Hakim's turban creased. "Not quite, but almost. Perhaps we have lost a sail." And in response to Curiosity's expression of disbelief: "Such a loss is not unknown, Mrs. Freeman."
Hannah touched his sleeve. "Are we near land?"
The Hakim took a rolled parchment from a cubbyhole in his desk and spread it out for her to see. Hannah shifted Lily across her chest and brushed the baby's curls out of her face, leaning forward to look.
"We are not within sight of a port, if that is your question." One strong brown finger made an arc across the map. "This whole area is called the Grand Banks--shoal reefs. Fishermen come from as far away as Portugal." From another cubby in the desk he took stones to anchor the curling parchment, and then he stood looking at it, one corner of his mouth turned down. "I will go to the captain and see what is to be learned. If you will excuse me."
When he was gone, Curiosity smiled at Hannah over Daniel's head.
"What?" Hannah asked. "What?"
"Sail, my foot," said Curiosity. "We been moving fast since we left Canada behind, and all of a sudden we ain't. Heaving-to, he say. Maybe we're waitin' for somebody to catch up."
Hannah's heart fluttered, and in perfect imitation of its rhythm came a tripping knock at the door. She jumped, and Lily frowned in her sleep.
Curiosity pointed with her chin to the sleeping cabin. "Keep out of sight," she whispered.
"Give me Daniel."
"No," said Curiosity. "I need him here."
"I see you ain't finished with us, after all," said Curiosity. "Come on in and set, then. I cain't get up with this child so sound asleep."
In the darkened sleeping cabin Hannah put Lily down in the cradle and covered her carefully. Then she inched back to stand in the shadows near the door. She had left it standing slightly open, so that from this angle she could see only a bit of Curiosity's back and half of Giselle Somerville.
"I waited until the doctor came up on deck," Giselle said.
"You don' trust him, then."
A surprised laugh. "Do you?"
Hannah wished to see Curiosity's face, but then her long silence told quite a lot on its own.
Giselle's expression was calm, too, as if they were discussing nothing more than the possibility of a summer's outing. When she spoke her voice was very cool.
"You must pardon my confusion," she said. "It was my impression that you were on this voyage against your will."
Curiosity laughed, but there was nothing cheerful in the sound. "Oh, you got it right. I never did think to cross this sea. Never even cared to lay eyes on it. My mama crossed it in chains when she weren't much older than Nathaniel's Hannah. Made a slave of her, and she died a slave."
Hannah hugged her arms closer around herself, afraid to breathe lest she miss even a word. From Giselle Somerville there was no sound at all, but Curiosity seemed not to notice.
"Now, I been free some thirty years," she continued. "My children were born free. I s'pose somewhere deep inside I had "free" mixed up with "safe." For a woman most especially it ain't the same thing, though, is it?"
A flush was rising on Giselle's neck. "No," she said. "It is not." She lowered her gaze and then raised it again, so that Hannah realized suddenly what a strange color her eyes were, violetlike in the very white face. She said, "I am offering you an opportunity to get away."
Curiosity leaned forward without any warning and simply thrust the sleeping Daniel into Giselle's arms. Giselle let out a startled sound, and for the first time real surprise showed on her face.
Sunset, and the sea tugged the light out of the day. With a sleeping Lily in her arms, Hannah leaned against the wall to watch seabirds wheeling white against a sky of bruised blue and scarlet. Through the wall of the surgery she could hear the Hakim as he sang his prayers: he had a hoarse voice and a tin ear and still his chant wound softly around her like a silk veil. Hannah understood nothing of his language or of his god, except that they were a comfort to him, so far away from home. She leaned harder against the wall, held in place by Lily's sleeping weight, her breath damp and sweet. Behind lids the color of seashells the baby's eyes darted: even in her sleep she looked for her mother.
Curiosity's humming stopped, and Hannah roused herself. Over Daniel's sleeping head she saw Curiosity's face creased in concentration. "Listen," she whispered.
Hannah cocked her head and closed her eyes, but she could hear only the sea and the creaking of the ship around her. Nothing of Giselle Somerville. Nothing yet, she corrected herself.
"What is it?"
Curiosity flapped a hand. "Listen!"
Hannah closed her eyes. Overhead, men were moving, as they did so often to change the watch, shift sails, wash down the deck, haul rope, or look to the hundreds of other chores that divided the day into its parts. But the ship had her own voice, too, and it came to Hannah softly, a faint shudder and then a sighing, as a woman sighs at the end of a long day.
"Are we slowing?"
Curiosity spread out a hand, palm up, as if to weigh the question.
From the doorway Hakim Ibrahim said, "We are heaving-to."
"Stopping?" Curiosity drew in her breath on a hiss.
The smooth brow under the Hakim's turban creased. "Not quite, but almost. Perhaps we have lost a sail." And in response to Curiosity's expression of disbelief: "Such a loss is not unknown, Mrs. Freeman."
Hannah touched his sleeve. "Are we near land?"
The Hakim took a rolled parchment from a cubbyhole in his desk and spread it out for her to see. Hannah shifted Lily across her chest and brushed the baby's curls out of her face, leaning forward to look.
"We are not within sight of a port, if that is your question." One strong brown finger made an arc across the map. "This whole area is called the Grand Banks--shoal reefs. Fishermen come from as far away as Portugal." From another cubby in the desk he took stones to anchor the curling parchment, and then he stood looking at it, one corner of his mouth turned down. "I will go to the captain and see what is to be learned. If you will excuse me."
When he was gone, Curiosity smiled at Hannah over Daniel's head.
"What?" Hannah asked. "What?"
"Sail, my foot," said Curiosity. "We been moving fast since we left Canada behind, and all of a sudden we ain't. Heaving-to, he say. Maybe we're waitin' for somebody to catch up."
Hannah's heart fluttered, and in perfect imitation of its rhythm came a tripping knock at the door. She jumped, and Lily frowned in her sleep.
Curiosity pointed with her chin to the sleeping cabin. "Keep out of sight," she whispered.
"Give me Daniel."
"No," said Curiosity. "I need him here."
"I see you ain't finished with us, after all," said Curiosity. "Come on in and set, then. I cain't get up with this child so sound asleep."
In the darkened sleeping cabin Hannah put Lily down in the cradle and covered her carefully. Then she inched back to stand in the shadows near the door. She had left it standing slightly open, so that from this angle she could see only a bit of Curiosity's back and half of Giselle Somerville.
"I waited until the doctor came up on deck," Giselle said.
"You don' trust him, then."
A surprised laugh. "Do you?"
Hannah wished to see Curiosity's face, but then her long silence told quite a lot on its own.
Giselle's expression was calm, too, as if they were discussing nothing more than the possibility of a summer's outing. When she spoke her voice was very cool.
"You must pardon my confusion," she said. "It was my impression that you were on this voyage against your will."
Curiosity laughed, but there was nothing cheerful in the sound. "Oh, you got it right. I never did think to cross this sea. Never even cared to lay eyes on it. My mama crossed it in chains when she weren't much older than Nathaniel's Hannah. Made a slave of her, and she died a slave."
Hannah hugged her arms closer around herself, afraid to breathe lest she miss even a word. From Giselle Somerville there was no sound at all, but Curiosity seemed not to notice.
"Now, I been free some thirty years," she continued. "My children were born free. I s'pose somewhere deep inside I had "free" mixed up with "safe." For a woman most especially it ain't the same thing, though, is it?"
A flush was rising on Giselle's neck. "No," she said. "It is not." She lowered her gaze and then raised it again, so that Hannah realized suddenly what a strange color her eyes were, violetlike in the very white face. She said, "I am offering you an opportunity to get away."
Curiosity leaned forward without any warning and simply thrust the sleeping Daniel into Giselle's arms. Giselle let out a startled sound, and for the first time real surprise showed on her face.
