My Seaswept Heart (30 page)

He taught her to swim with a patience he
didn’t give to cooking. Slowly, lovingly, he showed her how to hold
her breath, then blow out through her nose. How to open her eyes to
the beauty beneath the surface, and to sweep her arms forward, and
undulate her legs to propel herself through the water.

As in most things she did, Anne was an adept
student. She could now dive and float about, holding her breath,
then popping her head above the surface to gulp air and laugh. But
she hadn’t gone past the security of the shoreline.

The pirate hadn’t tried to force her, though
she knew he wished her to swim out farther with him. He would come
back from his daily excursions with tales of the wondrous,
rainbow-colored fish he saw. Or describe Lucy’s antics in such
vivid detail, that she knew he embellished, trying to make the
adventure seem more tantalizing. More unmissable.

But it wasn’t the adventure that lured Anne
toward the coral rocks. It was the pirate captain himself. As odd
as it seemed. As incomprehensible as it was a mere fortnight ago,
Anne wanted to please him. To witness his smile of pride when she
reached him.

Anne paddled her way to the surface and
worked her arms and feet the way he taught her to stay up. She’d
been practicing, inching her way out beyond where she could touch
bottom. Not far beyond. But far enough to know she could do it...
for long periods of time, if necessary.

Anne’s toes twitched with the desire to feel
sand beneath them. And she wondered just how far down she’d have to
drop to find solid ground. But she didn’t attempt to find out.
Instead she slowly moved in a circle, quickly shading her eyes,
then windmilling her hands back into the water when she felt
herself sinking.

The glare made it difficult to see, so she
squinted her eyes. But she still couldn’t find Jamie. Yelling for
him was an option, but Anne dismissed it as silly. She could swim
farther. She could swim to the rocks. Then wouldn’t he be surprised
when he saw her there.

Diving back beneath the surface Anne struck
out toward the formation that formed the boundary of what she
thought of as their harbor. Lucy swam around the area, Anne often
sat onshore and watched the dolphin arc into the air and land with
a playful splash. Jamie most often was with her, especially in the
morning.

The next time Anne surfaced it took her
longer to catch her breath. Her arms were beginning to feel as if
she were dragging several cannonballs with her. And she had to
concentrate on keeping her leg motions slow. Flailing about would
only make her sink. She didn’t want to sink. Anne swallowed down
the panic, along with a dose of seawater that sent her into a
coughing spasm.

Stay calm. She could almost hear the
captain’s voice giving her the advice.

She could do it. But first she would rest.
Leaning her head back, Anne allowed her body to float to the
surface. Relax. She studied the clouds, wondering why she couldn’t
find a single discernible shape to any of them, then twisted around
to swim some more.

She sank lower than she wished, then
frantically shoved her way to the surface, gulping air and more
seawater. She jerked around to look toward the shore, then the
rocks, trying to decide which was closer.

The rocks won.

Wishing it weren’t so, Anne took a deep
breath and headed toward the formation. She thought of the captain
as she forced her arms to pull through the water. Of the way he
looked. His smell. His taste. Of where he might be this very
moment.

But though she pulled herself up often to
look, there was no sign of him.

Still, the coral rocks loomed larger and with
a sob of victory Anne lowered her head and body and surged
forward.

It was then she saw the gray shape swimming
toward her. Lucy, she thought, and experienced a shiver of relief
mixed with fear. The dolphin for all her fun-loving ways did not
know Anne. It was Jamie she doted on. Jamie she protected.

Would she even care what happened to
Anne?

The question became moot, and the twinge of
fear became overpowering when Anne realized her mistake. It wasn’t
Lucy at all undulating its way toward her.

She opened her mouth to scream and choked on
seawater.

The jacket slung over his shoulder to form a
pouch was bulging with conch shells to make Anne’s dinner. Jamie
whistled as he sauntered along the sandy path toward what he was
beginning to think of as home. He woke earlier than usual this
morning and wandered off toward the far side of the island,
deciding to dive for the savory mollusks.

Because Annie was fond of them. He brought
them several times before, and each time she relished their meat
roasted in the coals. The last time, day before yesterday, she
admitted, the conch was her favorite island meal. She liked it even
better than the green turtle soup they made.

Enough incentive to send him diving into the
rougher waters off the rock-littered western coast.

Jamie stopped whistling the Scottish folksong
as this last thought caught hold. He was growing fond of her...
more than fond. Jamie didn’t give a name to the feelings that
swelled within him at the thought of Annie, but he knew they were
strong enough to send him foraging around the sea bottom for these
large snails he didn’t even like.

Strong enough, too, to make him hope she was
awake. Or wonder if she’d mind if he brought her into the day with
a kiss or so. The thought brought a smile to his face and a
stirring to his groin as Jamie stepped into the early-morning
sunshine.

One glance told him the beach was deserted.
Good, she was up. As someone who’d always enjoyed his first view of
day early, Jamie found it amusing how Anne preferred to ease into
it. She’d stretch her delectable body, yawn, and slowly open those
big, golden brown eyes.

Jamie sighed. His arousal was more than a
mere twitch, now, and since she was already awake they might as
well make the most of it. He set the jacket pouch on the sand near
the burned-out fire, then glanced toward the forest as she liked to
call the stretch of dense vegetation that formed the island’s
interior

Anne now considered it her job to collect
wood each day. She chose only dead limbs she found on the ground
and brought them back, stacking them neatly beneath the overhang of
the lean-to. To keep them dry, she informed him one day in that
no-nonsense way she sometimes had. Jamie’s chuckle scattered a gull
who showed too keen an interest in what lay beneath Anne’s ragged
jacket. Jamie was even beginning to like the woman’s bossy ways...
as long as he kept them in check, he added to himself.

“Annie,” he called, losing patience. “There
be a pirate waiting for ye with a powerful hunger for the taste of
your lips.” He listened for the sound of her laughter to drift to
him on the breeze that always swept the cay.

His first inkling that something was amiss
came when he heard nothing but the squawking gulls and the rattle
of palm fronds over the backdrop of surf. She never wandered far
from the beach when she collected firewood. He called again, this
time cupping his hands to his mouth. He was used to yelling loud
enough to be heard over the din of battle. There was no way she
couldn’t know he called her.

Jamie turned full circle. Looking. Stopping,
his jaw dropping when he caught sight of her, her head barely above
water, near the rocks.

Before his mind could begin to comprehend
what she was doing out there, by herself, Jamie was splashing into
the surf. He dove beneath the surface, driving his hands through
the water and pulling back with all his strength. She wasn’t a
strong swimmer, by God. He pushed to the surface to take a breath
and get his bearings. Then kicked back under.

What in the hell did she think she was doing?
Jamie’s heart pounded, and he knew it wasn’t all from exertion. If
anything happened to her... Jamie wouldn’t allow himself to
complete that thought as he knifed smoothly through the clear
swells.

She’d be all right. He repeated the thought
again and again in his mind, like a litany. She’d float until he
could reach her. Jamie lifted his head to yell for her to do just
that.

And saw the dorsal fin slice through the
water between them.

His hand clamped over the knife handle tied
to his waist. His fingers shook so out of fear for her that they
slipped, and he almost dropped the weapon. But he managed to hold
on. Ducking beneath the water he wove around behind the shark,
hoping he could get close enough before it was too late.

Before the predator tired of stalking Anne
and moved in for the kill.

~ ~ ~

Anne’s arms felt like lead and her legs could
barely move. It seemed with each second that passed her head
slipped a bit further into the water.

And still the shark circled her.

Anne took her eyes off the sleek gray shape
to gaze longingly at the rocks to her right. If she could just
strike out and swim there, perhaps she could climb... The notion
lingered just out of reach as she jerked her sights back to the
shark.

What if she tried to leave the swirling
prison and it attacked? Or what if she swam into its path as she
made her escape? Or what if she couldn’t make it at all, and...?
There were so many ifs, they seemed to paralyze her.

And then from the corner of her eyes she
sensed a movement. Her heart lifted only to plummet lower than the
sea floor.

“Go back Jamie,” she yelled, coughing when
water splashed into her mouth. “There’s a shark!”

“Be still.” Jamie stopped worrying about
sneaking up on the mammoth fish and surged forward.

“No, Jamie.” Tears poured from Anne’s eyes,
mingling with the salt water already dripping from her hair.
“No....”

He was perhaps five rods from Anne and the
shark when Jamie ventured another look. What he saw made his blood
run cold. With a frenzy Jamie began slapping the water and kicking.
Anything to make a distraction.

He was coming at her. Anne held her breath,
her eyes wide as she saw the giant mouth gaping open, showing row
upon row of sharp jagged teeth. Closer and closer it came until the
sight of the yawning aperture consumed her full vision.

So this was how her life was to end. Anne
sucked in her breath wishing she’d had more time with the pirate,
wishing many things. Most of all that he didn’t sacrifice himself
for a lost cause. That he would swim back to shore as quickly as he
could.

Anne shut her eyes unable to face the awful
truth. The monster mouth. And she waited. And waited.

Water surged around her and Anne’s eyes
popped open in time to see another shape, this one brownish with
elongated spots shoot toward the shark.

Lucy.

The dolphin emitted a shrill whistle as she
plunged full-force toward Anne’s attacker. The dolphin’s prominent
snout bashed into the predator’s side, knocking it off its
course... and gaining Lucy the shark’s attention. The sun shone off
its teeth as the shark turned toward Lucy. Anne thought the dolphin
would pay with its life as the shark lunged toward her. But before
teeth could connect with flesh the dolphin dipped, contorting
itself about and swimming beneath the charging shark.

But the shark was also an agile swimmer, and
it was in a feeding frenzy. This time when the dolphin attacked,
the shark twisted, meeting her head-on. There was a loud thump as
their bodies hit, and then the sound of Jamie yelling for her to
get away.

Frantic now, Anne flailed her arms, moving as
quickly as she could toward the outcropping of coral. The thrashing
of the shark and dolphin sent the water boiling, the swells higher.
Anne arched her neck trying to see above the foam, trying to find
Jamie. She’d lost sight of him, and hoped he was on the rocks by
now. But just as that thought caught her imagination she heard a
loud roar.

Twisting her head she saw him, arm raised,
body poised beside the shark. Anne screamed, but it did no good.
The captain slashed at the sea monster, slicing into the shark’s
back with the knife.

Crimson stained the turquoise.

When the mighty fish plunged beneath the
surface, Jamie followed it.

Anne could see nothing now. Not Jamie, nor
the shark, nor the dolphin. It was as if suddenly they all decided
to leave her in peace. Yet there was no peace. Not knowing what
else to do Anne continued toward the rocks. When she was close she
kicked. Catching her foot on a sharp protrusion, but ignoring the
pain, she scurried up the outcrop and turned to scan the water.

Where was he? Why didn’t the captain
resurface? Anne didn’t want to think of the reasons. She didn’t
want to think at all.

Then from her position above the water she
spotted them. Jamie faced the counterattacking shark, which was
unmistakably trailing blood. As before Lucy propelled herself at
the shark’s flank when it made a rush at the captain.