Around noon, David wagered. He’d seen the airship returning to the rail camp. “Is he coming back with supplies?”
“No.” Vashon’s gaze held his. “Unless we give you up.”
Annika drew a sharp breath. “Because we took the troll?”
“He mentioned nothing of that machine—and I don’t think he knew who was in it. Di Fiore wants Kentewess alone,” Vashon said, before looking to David again. “He said that you shouldn’t have turned him down. He thought that Mr. Dooley lied to him when he said you were lost.”
Jesus Christ.
Stunned, David could only shake his head. He’d known di Fiore had been upset when he’d rejected the man’s offer. But these were the demands of a madman.
Lucia took his hand. Her face was pale, her jaw set. Red stained Dooley’s cheeks—still angered by di Fiore’s visit, no doubt.
“If we produce you, we’ll receive all of the cargo in
Phatéon
’s hold,” Vashon said. “Di Fiore will keep the engine and the ship, but all of the food stores bound for Heimaey will be delivered here.”
Before coming into the house, his aunt had said they had a decision to make. It was clear that
David
had a decision to make…but it wasn’t one at all. Should he refuse and let everyone starve around him? That was no choice.
And di Fiore, that damned observationist, was probably only forcing the choice on them to see what they would do. To see what David would do. It shouldn’t have been difficult to guess. Leaving with di Fiore would be a small sacrifice. The man didn’t even ask for his life—just to work with his father. Of course David would accept. Only a monster needed to test it.
“He’s returning tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
David nodded. “I’ll go.”
A chorus of denials rose around him, the fiercest one from Annika. Her chair skidded back. Hands braced on the table, she leaned over and stared him down, her jaw set. “You
won’t
.”
God, he loved her. “He doesn’t plan to kill me.”
“Not now, maybe.”
“I won’t watch you starve, Annika.”
A dangerous glint lit her eyes. “There are a lot of dogs.”
“It’s true,” Vashon said. Her voice rose as she spoke, clipped and furious. “And I’ll be damned if I let him take my ship and hold my food hostage until I beg for mercy, then force me to trade over a passenger under my protection.” On a deep breath, her tone evened out again. “At any rate, once we’ve eaten through those stores, what then? It will be easier to leave on foot in the spring, but there’s still a risk. Di Fiore could have Smoke Cove in his pocket the moment he sees a threat.”
Annika sank into her seat again. “What of Höfn?”
“And hope di Fiore hasn’t bought that, too?” Vashon shook her head. “He has five hundred and fifty men in Iceland. Perhaps two hundred in Smoke Cove. You estimated fifty more at the camp. That is too many left unaccounted for. Maybe some are working on the drill that Fridasdottor mentioned to me, but perhaps more are in Höfn. He’s locked up half this island; I have to assume that he’s tried to take the other half, too.”
Annika nodded, her eyes shadowed as she met David’s gaze. Resolve set her expression. “My people can help.”
Everyone looked to her. Heart pounding, David reached for her clenched fist. “Let me do this, Annika.”
“No.”
Vashon frowned. “Where are they?”
She evaded. “We have more trolls. More machines like the one outside.”
The room had become deathly quiet. Without expression, Vashon studied Annika’s face. David could all but see the captain thinking of witches and trolls, and reconciling those stories with the odd stoker who’d boarded her ship four years ago.
Finally, the captain nodded. “How long will it take?”
“Usually only three or four days, but I’ve never crossed during the winter. It might be slower, take twice as long. Add another day if I have to backtrack. After I’ve reached them, we’ll need a few
days to prepare, then the same amount of time coming back. At most three weeks, if I have trouble traveling over the highlands. If I’m gone more than a month…I’m not coming back.”
“In a month, I’ll be taking the few boats left and raiding that rail camp myself,” Vashon said. “What will you need?”
“The coal bunker is almost full. We’ll leave half here for heating—I know a few places to restock on the way. The surturbrand doesn’t run as hot, but it’ll push her. There are a few potatoes and pieces of bread left in our packs from
Phatéon
’s galley, enough to last those three or four days, so we won’t have to take any from the stores.” She met David’s gaze again. “I need someone to help me see during the nights, so that I’m not bound by the short daylight hours.”
“Also, so that he can’t give himself up,” Lucia said, her fingers tightening on his.
“Yes,” Annika said. “And so di Fiore can’t take him.”
So it wasn’t his decision, then. That was all right. David liked their choice better.
“All right,” Vashon said, and her gaze found the first mate standing behind Lucia. “James, please help Fridasdottor secure everything that she needs. Quickly, now. Mr. Kentewess, I hate to push you out the door, but I expect di Fiore to return tomorrow, and we’ll need to erase the tracks from the machine.”
David stood. Just arrived, and quickly leaving again. “Of course.”
He met Annika’s eyes for a brief moment, then she was away with James, half of the aviators following her. Wearing an expression of deep satisfaction, Dooley rose to his feet.
“And that’ll do for me. I’ll be looking forward to seeing di Fiore’s face when a few more of those machines walk through his camp.”
David would look forward to it, too. He had to completely grasp that it would happen, first. He and Annika were traveling to Hannasvik.
Lucia touched his arm. “If you can spare a moment, David, Mr. Goltzius wants to have a word with you and Mr. Dooley together.”
He’d spare it. A narrow wooden stair led to a small bedchamber. An oil lamp burned low, casting golden light across the bed. Goltzius lay with blankets tucked under his arms. Bandages swathed his neck and forearms, the back of his hands. Maria Madalena Neves sat on the high-backed chair beside him. Whatever care she’d been providing, it didn’t appear to be the gentle sort. The look she gave Dooley could have cut through ice, and thinned to a razor when David followed him in.
“We won’t tire him, senhorita,” Dooley said. “Or upset him.”
She exhaled sharply through her nose—exasperation, disdain, and a warning all in one breath. David was impressed. With a sweep of her skirts, she left. He glanced back at the Dutchman, who was laughing.
“I would tell you that she’s not at all like that, but it’s only half true. She is when we’re not alone, but when we are, she’s really quite something.”
Remembering the softness he’d seen while she’d walked the deck with her nurse, David believed it. Maria Madalena might let her guard down for brief moments, or when she was with the man who’d rescued the woman she loved, but the rest of the time, David suspected that the haughtiness was as much a part of her as the gentleness was.
David nodded, looking Goltzius over again. Despite the bandages, the man looked well enough. No sickly color, no fever. “How are you, then?”
“Just torn up. Worse on the legs, but aside from the scars, I’m assured I’ll walk easily enough again. Your aunt has taken fine care of me.”
“And she’s not the only one, I see.”
“An unexpected reward for rushing headlong into danger without
the sense to first grab a club.” Goltzius’s smile seemed flat now, his humor strained. “But I did not ask you up here to wag on about my heart. I must confess a deception to you both.”
Dooley’s bushy brows rose. “Oh?”
“Yes.” He met David’s gaze squarely. “I was sent here by my cousin to determine whether rebuilding Dutch settlements would be a viable effort. We knew that di Fiore was bringing Castilian laborers in, and we didn’t want to lose the island through our inaction if it was worth having.”
David exchanged a glance with Dooley, saw the same lack of surprise.
“We know,” he said.
Goltzius blinked. “You know?”
With a laugh, Dooley claimed the chair beside the bed. “Kentewess and I have been out on expeditions too many times for such news to set us back on our heels now. There’s never been any place we’ve ever been that didn’t profit or benefit some Society patron. Sometimes, that purpose is well hidden, and we have to look sideways to see it. The moment you came on in place of our first botanist, though, we only had to look at you straight on.”
“Ah, well.” A flush rose over the young man’s cheeks. He cleared his throat. “When we’re in New Leiden again, I’ll do what I can to see that the survey continues. I won’t be able to return, however.”
“Well, we’ll still need a botanist, won’t we?” Dooley frowned. “Is it the dogs? You’ll heal up, get back on your feet. With our equipment, we’ll be prepared for them.”
“Not the dogs.” Beneath the curling red mustache, his mouth firmed. “I have another interest now. I will soon be married.”
There could be no question as to whom. Torn, David clenched his jaw. With Heimaey gone, Maria Madalena and her lover had almost no protection. A husband could provide it, and no one would think anything of her nurse accompanying her, remaining by her side.
But did Goltzius know? Even if her attitude changed with him, even if she showed affection, that couldn’t be the love Goltzius hoped to have. Perhaps that would be enough for them both—and if Goltzius loved her, surely he wanted to protect her.
David didn’t know what choice either one of them had.
“Senhorita Neves?” A troubled expression tightened Dooley’s face. “You have spent a bit of time with her.”
“Yes.”
The older man made an obvious effort at humor. “And now you’re in love? You and Kentewess both. They must have been serving quite the dish at the captain’s table. Lucky for me, my heart’s already taken, or I’d be weeping over Vashon.”
Goltzius managed a smile, but it didn’t last. “Yes, well. I believe it was something she ate after Heimaey. There was some talk about the women there, if you remember. We thought it best to put those notions to rest before she and her friend were hurt by them.”
So he
did
know—and planned to sacrifice his own happiness to protect her. “You’re a good man.”
“No doubt of it,” Dooley said.
“And she’s a forceful woman.” Goltzius laughed a bit. “This wasn’t the adventure I expected, but I will see where it takes me.”
Not far, if David didn’t start off soon and bring help. With a warm wish for Goltzius’s recovery, he took his leave, walking with Dooley out into the snow.
A frown had etched itself across the other man’s forehead. “He’s a stronger man than many,” he said. “It would be easier to hurt her, I’d think. To force her into the role he wants her in.”
Uncertain, David simply looked at him.
“What, you were thinking that I don’t have eyes to see or ears to hear? My mother didn’t push me out squalling yesterday.”
“Or even the century before,” David said dryly.
“That’s a fact, and accounts for all the wisdom I’ve gained and you refuse to heed. So are you all right to go?”
Aviators surrounded the troll. None of them seemed to be carrying anything, so whatever supplies they were taking must have already been loaded.
“I think so.”
The older man glanced up. “Not much snow to cover you.”
“We’ll have a good start tonight.”
Knowing Annika, she’d go until she simply couldn’t anymore. Then David would take care of her as best he could, wishing every second that he could do more.
“I’ll also want to be hearing about these trolls when you return,” Dooley said.
David couldn’t do that, either. “Not from me.”
“Fair enough. I’d rather hear it from the driver’s mouth.”
“If she wants to.”
The other man nodded. “Then I’ll see you when.”
This time, they were better prepared to spend time inside
a troll. A feather tick mattress was brought in, a pot for cooking, extra oil for the lamps. Many of it came from the houses of those already dead; it felt a bit like raiding, but Annika swallowed that guilt. There was nothing to be done for them now—she could only focus on helping those left.
Supplies stowed, she checked Austra Longears over again, tightening bolts and oiling joints—then covering some of her nakedness by tying a red ribbon in a bow beneath her nose. She said her good-byes to Elena and Mary. Both looked at her differently now that they knew she’d come from a village full of witches and trolls; Elena’s hug felt stiff. Annika didn’t let herself dwell on that, either. If four years of friendship hadn’t taught Elena the sort of woman that Annika truly was, then the rest hardly mattered.
But she had to laugh when, in the middle of her embrace, Mary said, “I
knew
you weren’t from Norway.”
The last bin of extra coal was scooped from the bunker and carried away. Mr. James came out of the hatch, his thin face red from the heat. Annika waited for a question she couldn’t answer, and was surprised when he said, “I suppose you’ve seen that I don’t always know what to say to you.”
Well, she
could
answer that. “No.”
Nodding, he took off his hat, awkwardly scratched his head. “You’ve always seemed to be somewhere else. Somewhere better, I thought, and I hated to intrude on that by asking about it, so I always said the first thing that came into my head instead of just saying what I was thinking. But this is easy to say, and I’m thinking it, too: Good luck to you.”
Oh. That was truly wonderful of him. “Thank you.”
She shook his hand, then straightened as Vashon approached. “Come with me inside, Fridasdottor.”
Annika climbed through the hatch after the captain, saw the other woman’s attention fall to the bedding on the floor. Her direct gaze rose to meet Annika’s.
“Tell me truly, stoker: Is this arrangement acceptable to you? Mr. Kentewess seems to be a well-mannered young man, but the fact is, you are an unmarried woman and vulnerable.”
What could David do to her that he couldn’t do to a married woman? “He won’t hurt me.”