Accusations

Gregory Smythe glared down at her. "Your accusation is against Miss St. John, then. I hope you realize how serious this is."

"It's true, Captain. Did you not see her taking the extra food this morning? I'm telling you, she is feeding someone."

Bloody hell. He had seen. Gregory stared at her. He could feel his jaw beginning to pulse, and he failed to understand his immediate angry reaction to Lily's attempt to get Arabella into trouble. The internal conflict, he couldn't even verbalize to himself. Her striking green eyes flashed in front of his face. He was disturbed at his own need to protect and defend Arabella. Distracted, he glanced at Earl and then back at Miss Collingwood. "I will take care of it," he said sharply. Turning, he began striding toward the bow of the ship.

"Where are you going?" Lily's voice was rising. "You just said you would take—"

"At my convenience, Miss Collingwood," Gregory said firmly. "Not yours." Again, he moved toward the bow. But he could hear Lily's voice reach a feverish pitch as she turned to his first-mate.

"Your captain is pampering Miss St. John, while the rest of us are treated like cast-offs."

Gregory looked back over his shoulder, to see the commander leaning over Lily and glaring at her.

"I can assure you, Miss Collingwood, that our captain always does his duty—to his crew and his passengers."

Lily whirled away from him and disappeared inside her cabin, letting loose a long string of profanity and slamming the door shut behind her.

A moment later, Earl had caught up with him. Gregory's mouth quirked up on one side. "You, Commander, are the most loyal chief-mate anyone could ask for."

Earl chuckled in response. "And I could swear, Captain, I saw a little blonde head peeking out the door of her cabin during all that."

* * *

Hiding

Arabella closed the small crack in the cabin door, shocked by what she had witnessed and overheard. Lily had disappeared into her own room with an explosive string of curses. She'd never even heard some of those words. For a moment, Bella thought the commander was going to take the redhead to task for her rudeness. He lifted his palm as if it was itching to smack something, and she doubted it was the cabin door. Earl moved around the corner and out of eyesight.

"Chloe! We have to hide you. Quickly! Leave the food there and follow me. Somehow, Lily found out about you. The captain will arrive any minute now to search my room."

"I feared I would bring my trouble down on your head, Miss Bella. Let me try to make it back to the lower level."

Bella shook her head side to side. "Nonsense. You can't stay down there. I promised to protect you, and I will, no matter what. At present, the most important thing to see to is hiding you until after my cabin is searched."

Peeking outward and down the corridor again, Bella sighed with relief. "Excellent," she whispered over her shoulder. "The coast is clear. Follow me!" Trying to keep her concern from showing, she gave the younger girl a quick smile. They could do this.

They had to do this.

Glancing around the corner toward the bow where the commander had disappeared, moments before, she exhaled with relief again and led Chloe toward the stern. No one was there, aside from a few of the crew, who were busy. None of them were paying any attention to her. At the far end, a cabin caught her eye. Whispering for Chloe to wait where she was, Bella rushed forward and quietly knocked on the door. If someone answered, she could claim to be lost.

Luck was on their side. It was empty. Motioning Chloe to come to her, she pulled the girl inside and shut the door behind her.

She gasped as she glanced around. The room was much larger than her own. It covered the whole expanse of the ship from side to side. There were arched windows all the way across the room, facing the rear of the ship. The large bed was at the left, next to the wall. The sight of a hammock set off to the side caught her eye.

Light poured into the room from the row of windows. Cabinets lined the opposite walls, but the room was tidy and uncluttered. In the center was a long table filled with maps and charts and a few odd-looking instruments. A feeling of unease tugged at her, and her brow knit with worry. Whose cabin was this?

Chloe surveyed with frightened eyes. "Miss, what if the person who uses this cabin comes back?"

"Then, you'll have to hide under the bed. If the owner returns, I will try to distract him until you are able to escape safely back into my room. Think of this as an exciting adventure, Chloe. It's better than being below. Isn't it?"

Chloe stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Too much excitement could scare a person to death," she muttered, before disappearing under the bed.

Satisfied that Chloe was safe for the moment, Bella opened the door a tiny bit and sneaked a peek. The crew was still busy. She slowly began strolling down the side of the ship toward her cabin. If questioned, she could claim she was just out for a walk in the fresh air.

Footfalls warned her of an approach. She turned to see the captain and Earl coming around the corner from the bow of the ship. They were moving toward her cabin. Earl was watching Lily's cabin door when it popped open and she exited, muttering to herself about searching the cabin herself, if the men aboard were too busy.

It was Gregory who responded to her words. "You will not dare to enter Miss St. John's cabin without invitation, Miss Collingwood. Such action would constitute a breach of not only respect, but of protocol, and quite possibly incur retribution. Do I make myself clear?" Gregory's words were low and threatening, and Lily took a step away from Bella's door quickly.

Bella rushed forward, fearing things were going from bad to worse. She dared not look them in the eye.

"I-is there a problem, sirs?"

The captain nodded. "Miss St. John, would you kindly open your cabin door?"

It was not a request. She knew it. With a weak smile, Bella answered, "Of course, sir." She did her best to portray an expression of innocence. Throwing it open wide, she stood back.

The captain started to get on with the unpleasant task at hand but stopped for a moment. Turning to Lily, he gave her one last chance to change the course she had set. "You do realize, if I search Miss St. John's room, I must search yours, next?"

Her chin lifted. "As I have nothing to hide, I welcome the chance. While we are at the task, might we check out your own quarters, Captain?"

Arabella gasped. Lily was out to extract revenge. Anyone and everyone associated with Claude Picou was fair game in her war. The captain ignored the comment, but Earl's fists clinched at his sides now.

Arabella watched as the men moved wordlessly into her room. Her bed was rumpled. She hoped they didn't notice.

"You didn't use your hammock?" Gregory inquired. "The ocean was fairly rough last night."

The trouble with lying, Bella was discovering, was one fib turned into another and another, until it was hard to spout the truth. "I-I was not comfortable, sir." But she knew her face reflected guilt.

His gaze was obviously disappointed, and she felt even more horrible about being so dishonest with him.

Without warning, something jumped from under the bed and tore out of the cabin straight toward Lily, making her scream in fright.

"Might that be your stowaway, Miss Collingwood? Cooper, the ship's cat?" the captain asked, hoping the mystery was this easily solved. He smiled down at Arabella appreciatively. "Though, you shouldn't allow Cooper to stay with you, Miss St. John. He'll get hungry in here."

Lily glared back at him. "It was not a cat I heard last night, Captain. There was another person in here." She stopped when she saw his face.

Earl gave her a mocking look, before opening a tiny case stored under the bed. It would be hard to fit a doll inside, much less a living person. "Empty. What a shock."

The captain, appearing to bite back a grin at his friend's sarcastic humor, turned. "As much as it will disappoint you, Miss Collingwood, we find no trace of an unauthorized occupant in this room. Would you be so kind as to open your cabin door?"

Arms crossed, she said nothing. But the menacing look on her face was clear. They were lying, both of them. Mumbling under her breath, she stepped back to open her own room for them to enter. "I should have known."

Gregory disappeared inside, but Earl stopped at the doorway and stared down at her. His face was forbidding. Bella, still standing outside, heard his veiled threat. "Keep trying, Miss Collingwood. You're almost to the point of pushing me to take you in hand."

Arabella frowned, knowing Lily hated her, and sighed. She heard footsteps, as Lily walked past her. She remained outside on the deck, looking toward the ocean and shaking her head.

"Miss St. John?" The captain's voice caused her to turn. When she did, she gasped in shock, looking past him.

Lily had systematically begun to take her room apart. Gowns were strewn from her wardrobe. Her personal possessions were taken from the cabinets and tossed on the bed. Lily had something in her hand, and she came toward the doorway from the inside of the room.

"Look at this!" she announced.

"Biscuits?" Earl snapped, losing his temper.

The captain was furious. "I gave her permission to take those to her room, Miss Collingwood. That's my handkerchief."

"The food is not for Bella. It's for the stowaway!" Lily stomped her foot hard on the floor.

The captain's eyes narrowed. "Shall we proceed to my own cabin now? No doubt we will find even more incriminating evidence there."

"Captain?" Earl stopped him. His eyes were glittering. "Is your order to see to Miss Collingwood still in effect?"

The captain nodded curtly. "Absolutely. Thank you. As soon as we have finished with my cabin."

Bella watched as, taking Lily's arm in a tight hold, Earl marched her with them toward the end of the hallway. A few sailors in the area gave them curious looks. Bella almost felt sorry for her but stopped short. She, better than most, understood where Lily's anger came from. Mr. Picou had played games with both their lives.

"You are hurting my arm, Commander," Lily warned him.

"When we return from our search, young lady, I'm going to hurt more than that. You will clean and freshen up Miss St. John's room. Then, you will return to your cabin. Later, you will apologize to Miss St. John, not only for your treatment of her, but for the condition in which you left her room. And you and I are going to have a long discussion about making false claims, going into areas which have been expressly forbidden, and using words such a beautiful woman should never let pass her lips."

The captain, however, had stopped and turned back to them. "And, now, my room."

Bella froze. It was the very room where she had stashed Chloe, only minutes before. A small whimper escaped before she could stop herself.

The captain, however, must have assumed she was distraught over Lily's poor conduct and reached over to squeeze her hand. "This will soon be over. Trust me." He turned and spoke to both of them. "Come into the room and watch as we conduct the search, please."

Arabella was powerless to do anything as she was ushered inside, Lily just behind her. Lily watched with an eager concentration, Bella with pure dread.

The sight of the large bed and hammock was proof enough Bella had picked the wrong place to hide her stowaway. Before this journey, she assumed the worst thing she faced was marriage to a stranger in a far-off land. Knowing what Gregory was about to find, guessing at the betrayal he would no doubt feel, Bella knew she was as good as dead.

No, she was worse than dead.