Page 11 of Hooked By a Hero
Elias’s heart melted at the comment and the delight in his sweet friend’s eyes. Mysteries could wait. Elias wasn’t entirely certain he wanted them solved. All he wanted was to stay where he was, standing side-by-side with Caspian, as theFortunesliced through the clear, blue sea. Everything else could be damned for the next four months.
Four
The voyage continued, and Caspian had never been happier. After the unpleasant weather in the Bay of Biscay, calmer seas held out for a few days as theFortunesailed southward. Caspian found the many conversations about weather among the passengers to be deeply amusing. Englishmen cared so much about the skies, but really, it was the sea that ruled most of their journey, and despite its many moods, the sea rarely changed.
“I do understand why you Englishmen prefer sunny weather,” he said to Elias, Ruby and her father, Mr. Hunt, Lady Adelaide and her maid, and Miss Cordelia Winters, who had become friends in the month since they’d set out as they socialized on the main deck one pretty day, “but you realize that too much calm, sunny weather slows the voyage down considerably.”
“I do not care,” Ruby said with a happy sigh, sitting back in the chair that Mr. Hunt had brought up from the middeck for her. She tilted her head up to the warm sun, closed her eyes, and sighed, “I could live a lifetime at sea like this.”
“You might have to live a lifetime at sea, if it is like this,” Hunt said with a laugh. “You would never go anywhere.”
Ruby opened one eye and peeked up at Hunt, who stood close to her. “I do not think I would mind going nowhere on the sea as long as I could serve as part of a ship’s crew with you, Dr. Hunt.”
Beside Caspian, Elias made a sound that was likely intended to be heard as a cough, but that Caspian knew was laughter. He sent the man a teasing, sideways look and almost took his free hand, which rested on the railing at the side of the ship, where the two of them leaned. As they had both learned in the past month, however, the ship had eyes everywhere, and even at sea, there were those who would be quick to enforce the English law against men who desired each other.
It was a crying shame. Caspian would have done anything to slip off into one of the cabins with Elias so that they could do more than just brush hands and smile temptingly at each other. He’d dreamed of what Elias’s mouth might taste like for the past few weeks, and he wanted more than casual touches. Other pairings had begun to form on the ship since they’d set out, such as Ruby and Hunt, or Lady Adelaide and Mr. Cartwright, though Lord Dunstable knew nothing of that attachment and likely would not have approved, so why should Caspian and Elias not enjoy each other’s company more?
Caspian and Elias did manage to steal some time together away from the others when theFortunestopped at the settlement of Tenerife to restock their food and fresh water supplies. They had the better part of a day on the island to explore together to their hearts’ content. Unfortunately, Ruby had latched onto them, and her grandfather insisted that the two of them take her along wherever they went. When it became known that Ruby would venture out with them, Lady Adelaide, Emily, and Miss Winters insisted on accompanying them as well.
Caspian still enjoyed himself, as he always did when investigating a new land. But he would have preferred to explore one of the many inns Tenerife had to offer, perhaps even renting a room for the single night theFortunewas docked there so that he and Elias might truly get to know each other.
It was not to be, and after that single night, theFortunetook once again to the high seas, continuing its route southward, speeding to the Cape of Good Hope as swiftly as it could with only a moderate breeze to blow them.
On the one hand, Caspian didn’t mind the slow progress of the ship. It meant that he could slip away now and then, as he so desperately needed to do, to swim in the refreshing salt water.
He woke early one morning, when theFortunewas only days away from rounding the Cape, checking to be certain none of the ship’s passengers or crew could see him, then carefully lowered himself down the darkened side of the ship on a rope he’d secured especially for that purpose. The sun was only a thin line on the horizon, and the only people up and about on the decks were the handful of crewmen on night watch. It was an easy thing for Caspian to pretend to be invisible and slip past them and into the sea.
Caspian groaned in relief as soon as his feet touched the water. He took a moment to wriggle out of his clothing, tying them to the rope so that they would dry out at least somewhat by the time he was ready to climb back up to the ship. From there, he let go and sank back into the water, letting the current caused by the ship’s motion wash over him like a cleansing bath. He needed to be one with the ocean like some men needed to breathe, quite literally, which had proved a major challenge during his exploration of England.
None of that mattered now. He was back where he belonged, and after taking a deep breath, he dove under the waves and swam blissfully along the side of the ship. His sensesimmediately sharpened, and even though it was still before dawn, his eyes adjusted quickly and he could see enough to keep his position next to the ship.
TheFortunewas a new ship, and Caspian admired its design immensely. As he swam, he reached out a hand to brush along the hull. He’d never seen a ship whose hull was clad with iron before. Copper had been used on ships’ hulls for years, but iron was new. It was an innovative, design, but one he was certain all other ships to be constructed in the future would emulate. The iron cladding prevented barnacles from latching on and made the hulking behemoth travel faster and more smoothly through the water. Englishmen truly were geniuses when it came to inventing new and better ways to do things.
As he slipped slowly back along the length of the ship, not quite able to keep up without putting all his muscle into swimming as fast as he could, voices from the other side of the hull caught his attention. They were low and indistinct at first, but as he shifted farther toward the stern, they became more distinct. He surfaced quickly to empty and refill his lungs, since he had not taken the risk of transforming, then dove back down, moving as close to the ship as he dared so that he could make out the conversation.
“…time will come soon,” the dark, pointed voice of the convict called Dick said. “Everything has been arranged.”
“I want nothing to do with any of it,” another man said, shifting closer to the ship’s hull. Caspian could practically feel the man’s warmth as he pressed against the iron-clad wall of the hull. “You’ll get us all killed, you will.”
“Not if we do the killing first,” Dick said. Caspian swore he could smell the blood in his voice.
“We’ll never get out of here,” someone else said. “They have us too carefully guarded.”
“Guards can be turned when they’re offered the right incentive,” Dick said.
“And we’ve given the man himself the biggest incentive of all,” a third, deep voice said.
Caspian blinked, his lungs burning. He wanted to wait for more, but he needed to surface to breathe. It was a bothersome inconvenience, but full transformation would have been too dangerous.
Of course, by the sound of things, danger was all around him. Once he surfaced and filled his lungs with fresh air, he swam as fast as he could for the rope he’d left hanging. The convicts, or at least the ones led by Dick, were plotting something. They seemed to think they could somehow escape, and if they did, Captain Woodward would certainly have a mutiny on his hands.
It was slightly more difficult to climb the rope while carrying his clothing, then to quickly dress once he reached the top without being seen. The sun had come up while he’d been enjoying his swim and more people roamed the deck than when he’d gone over the side. It took all his powers of concentration not to be seen as he made himself decent, then as he pulled up the rope and stored it so that the crew would never know it had been taken out and used.
As soon as all that was done and he was dressed and dried, Caspian marched straight for the hatch at the stern of the ship so that he might find Elias and share what he’d overheard.
Elias had not yet emerged from his cabin when Caspian reached it and knocked, which turned into something of a treat for him.
“Who is it?” Elias’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.
