Chapter 8

The nights after her rescue were torturously long. The man who spoke to her in low whispers was trying his best to save her from the infection that was running rampant in her system. He was there all the time in her feverish state, bathing her face in cool cloths and cleaning the wound on her shoulder. Katherine could also hear him praying in those moments when she was lucid. She wondered if these were her last moments on Earth before the black inky darkness sucked her under one last time.

Katherine knew what it felt like to die. She had been prepared hundreds of times in the past for death, no matter how it came. Sometimes she imagined it would be as peaceful as sinking beneath the waves on a tranquil day. Other times it was violent, a gasping breath full of water that would choke the life right out of her. Neither death was painful though, simply a moment of existing and then nothing.

That was how she concluded she wasn't dead when she finally woke. Her head pounded and felt stuffed full of cotton as her senses swam around her. The rocking of the bed she was in wasn't from the ocean, but from a huge red dog that sniffed at her face and licked insensately at her skin until she pushed him away with a groan, her arms and legs feeling as thick as lead.

Where in the devil was she?

She tried to push herself up on an elbow only to cry out in pain as the wound in her shoulder pulled painfully. The spots of blood that soaked through the bandage brought back the memory of what had happened and she was suddenly choked with a fear as to Philip's fate. A deep breath was drawn into her aching lungs, calming her already frayed nerves. It would not do to give into fear now.

She pressed a hand to the wound and slowly pulled herself to the side of the bed. The room was small but welcoming with sparse furnishings and cheerful sunlight that streamed through a nearby window. It was anything but familiar. Clutching a hand at her throat, she sighed in relief when she felt his mother's necklace still hanging between her breasts, a slight weight that gave her worlds of comfort. That tiny piece of Philip gave her hope and strength. Now, it was only a matter of figuring out where she was.

There was little in her memory from that day. She'd crippled the Ocean Blue. Bega had shot her. She could remember washing up on the beach, so tired from her journey that she didn't think she'd be able to climb far enough on the sand to save her from the high and violent tide. Her arm had been useless, the wound from the gun slowing her as she tried to claw her way onto solid land. That red dog had saved her, grabbing hold of the thin chemise she wore and hauling her forward until she gasped upon the sand of the beach like a doomed fish. Then there'd been a man...

She quickly glanced around the room for any sign of him until her eyes settled on a tunic placed upon a rustic chair. With great effort she pulled herself to her feet and waited for a wave of unsteadiness to pass. Making her way towards the chair, she pulled the tunic over her head, mindful of her wound until she was enveloped in the soft fabric. It was comforting to feel safe, even if for a moment. The man must have been the one that cared for her, prayed over her, made sure that she survived. The kindness of strangers was not something that she was use to and it left an unfamiliar feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

The sound of a door opening caught her attention and the dog scurried from the room, a man's voice calling him Red before shooing him away and trying to keep him quiet as the barking began. Katherine cautiously stepped to the door, peeking out into a cheerfully bright area where a man was walking in the front door, greeting the excited dog in hushed tones.

His once dark hair was laced with silver and hard lines graced his tan face from days in the sun. The man looked oddly familiar to her, something deep in her memory stirring which only served to confuse her more. Perhaps her escape from the Ocean Blue had addled her brain, she thought to herself as she gathered her courage to step into the other room. He had not given her any cause to fear him and with a deep breath she stepped into the other room.

The creak of floorboards beneath her bare feet announced her before she was ready; her eyes wide as the man turned and looked at her. A smile graced the man's face as he caught sight of her, his dark eyes warm as he took a step forward before stopping at her hesitant look. He rubbed his hands over the sides of his breeches, wondering just what he could say to calm her nerves.

"I be thinking I lost you to the shadows, Miss Katherine."

His deep voice was so familiar and the task of trying to place him quickly tired her already strained body. She was pale, her skin as white as parchment and he could see she was struggling. Motioning her forward, he held out a chair at the table and ushered her to take a seat. She was cautious, the tunic clutched tightly at her throat with her good hand until she sank down into the chair with a grateful sigh. Once she was settled he turned towards the fire that was burning in the hearth, lifting the lid on a pot that simmered with the most delicious of smells.

Katherine watched as he produced to wooden bowls and spoons, placing them to the side as he finished his task. Glancing down towards her lap she plucked at the soft fabric of the tunic, her mind racing with so many questions that she was rendered mute. If this man knew her then perhaps it would be best to proceed with caution. But at the same time, maybe she could get some answers. It was a difficult situation that she finally decided to address with a simple question.

"How do you know my name?" She asked gently as that charming dog made his way towards her and placed his head in her lap, gazing up at her with a pair of dark brown eyes that had her smiling.

The man paused, clearing his throat before glancing over his shoulder at her. "Ya told me the night I found ya. Although, poppet, there be no mistakin the Moore blood in ya."

The air was sucked from her lungs at the power of his words. Of course this man knew her family. Fate seemed to have a funny way of throwing her on the mercy of men that use to inhabit her father's ship. It was then that she saw who he was and she knew him as a distant memory from her days as a child. Her mother had always enjoyed the warm beaches of the Mediterranean and they'd stayed many times along the waters of the Italian coast. This man had been there with them, talking to her father as she and her brother played in the waters off Naples. Her father's friend, a man that she should have been able to trust, but then again Tobias Bega had been his friend as well. This man, however, wasn't on the Ocean Blue the night of the mutiny.

"Your name's Vernon, is it not? You knew my father." She asked as she watched the man dish up a bowl of the stew bubbling over the fire.

"I knew James and Gabby very well."

She was silent for a moment, her hand idly stroking Red's furry head as bumps rose over her suddenly chilled flesh. He knew her mother. A woman of whom she only had brief memories locked away. Katherine glanced up as a bowl was placed in front of her and Vernon took a seat across the table, regarding her silently.

"Did you know what was going to happen?" She asked him, startling herself as the words slipped from her mouth.

"Ya can ask each one of us the same question and get fifty different answers, poppet. It ain't something we can be proud of, Katherine. Yer father were a good man and yer mother an honest woman." He was quiet as he cleared his throat and glanced towards the small window that overlooked the ocean, anticipating the question before it had a chance to leave her lips. "Sometimes it be best to simply keep quiet when madness overtakes the rest."

"So you saved yourself." Her accusation was posed as a harmless statement, her eyes glued to the weathered face of the man that had once been in her father's crew.

Vernon was silent as his eyes searched hers to gage what little feeling might be left there. "We all do wot we 'ave to. There be those that tried to save you too. So many more than ya know. I left before it could consume me."

With a sigh she picked up the spoon and slowly fed herself, savoring the taste of the stew in an effort to remain silent. It was all in the past and nothing could change the heartache that she'd felt. All that was left now was to try and make a better future. She knew that meant finding Bega and the Ocean Blue before they slipped away yet again, this time carrying a cargo more precious than anything she could imagine. Her heart clenched painfully as she thought about Philip and that familiar feeling of despair came back to sap the energy from her body.

"I have to find the Ocean Blue." Vernon could see in her eyes that she was struggling as the strength was slowly sapped from her body, her blue eyes growing dull as the pain from her wound grew more intense. It would be a long while before she was completely healed and he worried that she would try and do more than she could handle.

"Before ye be making that decision it be best if we got ya back to bed." He said gently as he stood and stepped beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he lifted her from the chair. When she was on her feet, he helped her into the bedroom. She was shaking like from the strain of moving around, her illness taking much out of her as he gently sat her back upon the bed, tucking the blankets around her shivering frame. Katherine closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the bed shift as Vernon sat on the edge. He gazed down at the young woman as she struggled against pain and exhaustion. Brushing the hair from her face, he appraised for a moment, considering his next words very carefully.

"Yer spirit's willin but yer body's weak. Take the night an truly think on wot ya want cause if ya be headin off in this condition ya might not make it."

Katherine opened her eyes and watched him for a moment before nodding. She gave into the exhaustion and sank into oblivion. It was early morning when she woke, Vernon's words from the night before echoing through her mind as she struggled to come to a conclusion. Just the day before she could barely stand on her own. The day before that she was racked with fever so high it was a wonder she survived. Before that she had done the impossible and escaped from the Ocean Blue.

She lay awake as the room began to lighten with the coming sun, golden rays filtering through the window as she finally pulled herself from the bed. On a nearby chair sat a pair of sturdy boots, pants, and a tunic, many sizes too big but it was good enough. Her decision had been made and it seemed that Vernon anticipated the outcome. Thank God, or fate, or whatever force had washed her up on that beach in the care of this man.

As she dressed, an incessant pounding from outside caught her attention and she made her way through the kitchen and to the front window. Katherine watched through the gloom of dawn as Vernon used a hammer on the hull of the small ship that had been docked for what looked like years. The ship had seen better days, but it also told a story of its owner's care. She pulled the pair of borrowed breeches higher on her hips as she made her way onto the sandy beach, approaching the ship with a renewed sense of purpose.

The sound of a dog's bark made her smile and she ran a hand through Red's fur and he bounded towards her. Vernon's hammer never stopping as he worked in the morning light, his eyes narrowed in concentration. She watched him from a distance for a while longer before she dared to come closer.