Chapter Ten

Nathan watched as Amanda set her spoon down and eyed her bowl warily. As if he were experiencing déjà vu, he knew what she was thinking.

“Is something wrong with the soup, Amanda?” Nathan asked.

She looked up from her scrutiny of her bowl and shook her head with a wan smile.

“I’m just not hungry, I guess.” Her statement belied her earlier comments of being hungry.

“You are worried about the safety of the food,” he said with a knowing glance in Robert’s direction.

Amanda looked up, startled.

“You expressed the same concerns before,” he said with a gentle smile. “And they are valid concerns.”

“My great-grandmother died of typhoid fever,” Amanda began.

“Yes, I know,” Nathan said. “You told me before. It is a real danger in our time. However, I checked with Mrs. Spivey this morning, and she told me she keeps her foods well chilled in an icebox in the root cellar, and she boils the milk before using it. I think you may safely eat the food.”

Robert watched her sympathetically. “Ellie had many of the same concerns and still does. She daily awaits some invention known as a refrigerator.”

Nathan nodded. “I have used a refrigerator,” he said with grin. “A superior invention, but it will not be safe for use for many years. At present, there is a model available, but it uses poisonous gasses which are toxic to both humans and the environment.”

“I shall have to tell Ellie. I do not think she was aware of that,” Robert said. “It seems you learned a great deal during your sojourn in the twenty-first century.”

Nathan nodded with a sigh. “The public library was a source of great comfort and information. It is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.”

“But I thought you said you stayed in a shelter,” Amanda said. She imagined him huddled up next to a heating grate by a public building as she had seen homeless people do in Washington, D.C. when she was on a high-school trip.

“Most shelters do not allow single men to stay inside during the day but provide beds for the night. As I mentioned before, I used their services on occasional nights during the winter, but I spent most nights at the train station,” Nathan said. He smiled but the smile did not reach his eyes.

Robert tisked and shook his head in sympathy. Amanda blinked back moisture that sprung to her eyes. She loved him too much to know that he had suffered.

“When I was not at the train station,” Nathan continued, “I sought the pleasure of reading books—many, many books. Only once did I indulge in the extravagance of attending a theater for a ‘film’ or ‘movie’ as I heard it referred to—some historical romantic film regarding time travel, a coin, and a wonderful hotel on Mackinac Island in Michigan. I had seen an advertisement for it, and I hoped the production would shed some light on my situation, but although I found the story to be a charming tale, there was nothing in it that was helpful to me.”

“In returning to your time?” Amanda asked.

“In finding you, and then returning to my time.”

Amanda drew in a sharp breath.

“But if it had been a matter of a coin or something, you would have returned anyway, wouldn’t you? Without me, right?”

Nathan shook his head, and Robert nodded as if he knew the answer.

“No, Amanda. I would not. I had every intention of staying until I found you. I wasn’t going to leave.”

“That is what I would have expected of you,” Robert said.

“At any rate, the movie was decidedly romantic, but a fictional tale of time travel. I cannot tell you both how many times I repeated the mantra, ‘Amanda is with me,’ ‘Amanda is with me,’ ‘Amanda is with me,’ to no avail.” He smiled to belie the sound of desolation that crept into his voice. “It would have been more effective to repeat ‘I will see Amanda again one day.’ ”

Amanda’s cheeks brightened, and she gave him a tremulous smile. Nathan bit his tongue. It was not his intent to repeatedly bemoan the past year of his life. Amanda was with him now, and he had returned home. He was warm, well fed, well clothed, and in the company of a good friend. There was no need to sound so pitiful.

“But enough of that,” he said brightly. “We are here now, and the food is delicious. I simply cannot understand why Mrs. Spivey is not filling her dining room with patrons.”

They finished the meal, and complimented Mrs. Spivey on the food. Robert rose to return to his hotel.

“Will you see us off on the sternwheeler in the morning?” Nathan asked. He held up a hand as Robert opened his mouth. “Yes, I know. I promise to return to Seattle as soon as we are back.”

“Yes, I will be there,” Robert said. “And I will hold you to that promise. “As it is, I hesitate to return to Seattle without you in tow. Ellie will not be pleased. She longs to see you both.”

Robert bid them goodnight and left. Nathan turned to Amanda.

“I suppose we ought to make an early night of it. The boat leaves first thing in the morning.”

Amanda nodded. “I’m exhausted anyway and ready for bed,” she said. She turned toward the stairs, and Nathan raced to take her arm in his. She smiled up at him, and his heart melted...as it always did when she looked at him in just that way.

Nathan drew in a sharp breath. When she looked at him in just that way. The expression on her face was one that he had longed to see for the past year. It was a look of love, the same look she had favored him with when they were engaged. Did she love him again? Would she tell him so?

They reached the top of the stairs and paused before Amanda’s room. Nathan hesitated before saying goodnight. Would she speak? He stared into her eyes, willing her to say something.

“Nathan,” she began.

He waited, barely holding his breath. Had his dreams come true? For the second time in his life? An end to his loneliness?

“I’m worried about this sternwheeler trip,” Amanda said. “This is just a whim of mine, and your grandfather—and Ellie—would want to see you. Maybe we can come back another time...you know...if I’m still here.”

Nathan’s throat closed. If I’m still here.

“I understand your concerns,” he said in a thick voice, “but I think we should go on the sternwheeler before we return to Seattle. Who knows what the future holds? As you say, you may not remain.” He forced a smile to his face. “I am in debt to you for bringing me back to my time, and I promised you that we should go. I try never to break my promises.”

Amanda’s eyes widened. “Never?”

Nathan shook his head. “Never. Not even when I said I would love you for the rest of my life.” Afraid he might pull her into his arms, he clasped his hands behind his back and bowed slightly at the waist. “Good night, Amanda.” He turned and entered his room, there to sit on the bed and stare into the dark sky outside with an ache in his chest that he thought nothing could relieve.

****

Morning came, and with it, a small measure of hope as he remembered the expression on Amanda’s face the night before—an expression reminiscent of the looks of affection she had shown in the past. In the dark, he had made too much of her comment “if I’m still here.” As emotional as an infant, he had wanted to cry himself to sleep but had instead stared out of the window for hours, morose and full of self-pity. The darkness of the night reminded him of the hundreds of nights he had waited at the train station. And ultimately, Amanda had come.

He bathed, dressed, and knocked on Amanda’s door. She opened it, her hair wet from washing it. The fresh scent of lemons lingered in the air. Mrs. Spivey’s hair tonic.

“Ah! I thought you must have bathed before I did,” he said.

“Why?” she asked. “Did I leave a mess? I tried to clean up.”

“No, no,” Nathan replied. “But the tub was damp, and I suspected you had made use of it.”

“What a great tub! Those cost a fortune in my time.”

Nathan nodded. “Yes, I was often amused that what was of ordinary value in my time could become so costly in the twenty-first century.”

He chewed on his lip for a moment. Did she wish for help with her hair?

She ran a hand down the length of her damp hair.

“Do you mind? I think I’ve adopted you as my official hairstylist.”

Nathan sighed deeply and beamed. “I am honored,” he said with a playful bow. He entered the room and set about carefully combing out the tangles in her hair. The scent of lemon wafting up from the damp curls sent his senses reeling, and he had all he could do not to enfold her into his arms and kiss her soundly. With a shaking hand, Nathan made short work of combing out her hair, and he banded it and piled it on top of her head as he had done the day before.

“Let us see if Mrs. Spivey has anything available to eat this morning before we go down to the dock. I wish now that I had mentioned we would be leaving early this morning.”

“I told her when I got up this morning,” Amanda said.

Nathan quirked an eyebrow in surprise. “How long have you been awake?”

“I’m not sure I slept at all last night,” Amanda said.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Dreams? Nightmares?”

Amanda shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Just restless, I guess.”

Nathan swallowed hard. Restless to return to her own time? He shook his head as if to rid himself of such thoughts. They did no good. He could not control the outcome of the future. If the past year had taught him anything, it was that. He had Amanda here and now, and that would have to be enough.

He offered her his arm, and they descended to the dining room where Mrs. Spivey had laid out several dishes for breakfast. Nathan found his appetite diminished, and he barely touched his food. He noticed Amanda did the same, and he wondered if she continued to fear the quality of the food in his time. She had overcome that hurdle last time given that Ellie, Dani and Annie had reassured her and offered their own suggestions for preventing disease. He himself had rarely ever been ill, but he was leery of disease himself given the early demise of his parents and his brother.

They left for the dock following breakfast, having each packed a small bag for the overnight excursion. Robert awaited them at the foot of the sternwheeler, the Cascades, in conversation with Mr. Cunningham, the man they had met the previous day.

“Good morning, Robert. Mr. Cunningham,” Nathan nodded. “As you see, my wife and I are embarking on the sternwheeler today. I need to purchase some tickets. In that building over there?”

He ignored Robert’s look of surprise at his use of “my wife.” If Robert gave it any thought at all, he would understand why he’d had to resort to such subterfuge. Robert, always quick, smiled slightly and nodded.

“Mitch,” Mr. Cunningham said as he reached to shake Nathan’s hand. “Yep. That’s the building.”

“You’ll excuse me?” Nathan said to everyone as he turned for the building. A tug at his hand surprised him, and he looked down to see Amanda holding his hand.

“I’m coming with you,” she said firmly.

“Certainly, my dear,” he agreed.

They moved away from Robert and Mitch.

“Sorry about that. I would still rather stay with you than be left with people I don’t know.” Amanda gave him with a sheepish smile.

“I understand, Amanda. You do know Robert though you don’t remember him. Nevertheless, I certainly don’t mind if you would rather be with me. Not one little bit.” He couldn’t hold back a grin.

Amanda blushed.

He purchased the tickets, and they returned to the dock at the precise moment when the sternwheeler, the Cascades, blew its whistle.

“Time to board,” Mitch said. “Enjoy the trip,” he said. “The river is running low today, but that shouldn’t be a problem.” He waved and strode toward the steamboat company’s building.

“Shouldn’t?” Robert repeated with a raised brow. “What does he mean by that?”

“Yesterday, he mentioned that some sternwheelers have run aground,” Amanda said, “but they wouldn’t let us get on if they thought there would be a problem, right?”

“I am not so sure,” Robert said. “Should you abandon this plan, Nathan?”

Nathan hesitated. Mitch had been a bit ominous the previous day regarding the future of sternwheeling, but he had not taken his words seriously. Sternwheeling had continued into the twenty-first century, so it clearly was not abandoned as “dangerous.” He looked down on Amanda’s hopeful face. No, he could not break his promise. The steamboat company would certainly not allow the sternwheeler to ply the river at present if it were unsafe.

“I am certain we shall be fine, Robert. Mr. Cunningham reported only been a few groundings on this river over the past few years. We have more train derailments than that.”

Robert nodded. “Thank you for that reminder,” he said sardonically. “Very well. Travel safely. I shall pick you up in Seattle three days from now.”

“Thank you, Robert. We will see you then.”

They said their goodbyes and boarded the Cascades where a crewmember directed them to their cabin. Upon entering, Nathan eyed the single bed.

“Thankfully, we will reach Brewster in twelve hours and will not need to sleep on the boat. We can find a hotel at that location.” He settled their bags on the end of the bed.

“Let’s go outside!” Amanda exclaimed. “I want to watch us pull away.”

Nathan smiled at her enthusiasm, delighted to see her face light up. She had worn an expression of confusion so often over the last few days that he wondered if he would ever see her truly happy again.

“Yes, let’s.”

They stepped out onto the deck and looked down at the dock below. Robert stood there watching. He raised a hand in farewell, and they waved back. The sternwheeler blew its whistle once again, and the rhythmic sound of the paddles slapping the water, reminiscent of the wheels of a train on tracks, echoed between the hills on either side of the river valley. Voices shouted from the pilot deck above and the cargo deck below them as the boat’s crew threw off lines.

“This is exciting! Isn’t it great?” Amanda breathed. Her face glowed, and Nathan knew he had made the right decision to continue with the excursion despite vague references to sternwheeler disasters. She looked so happy, as happy as the day she had accepted his proposal so long ago.

“Yes, wonderful,” Nathan agreed. He laced his fingers around the rail in order to keep his hands from touching her rosy cheek.

The sternwheeler moved on down the river with a last toot of her whistle. They watched the river for a while until a crewmember announced that it was time for lunch. Given that Amanda had eaten very little the night before and almost nothing for breakfast, Nathan encouraged her to join him for a meal in the dining room. Fortunately, the fresh air had invigorated her, and she had regained her appetite. At the conclusion of the meal, they returned outside to stand at the stern of the ship where the steel paddle wheel plied the water with a hypnotizing display of circular motion.

They remained on deck for several hours, travelling from one side of the deck to the other as Amanda searched out all possible views. They had returned to the front of the passenger deck when Amanda pointed to the river beyond.

“Are those rapids? As in whitewater?” She looked up at Nathan with wide eyes. “Are we seriously going through that?”

Nathan shaded his eyes and followed her gesture. A gentle swell of rapids lay in front of them, suggesting that the river was much more shallow than it had been. He looked around but no one seemed unduly concerned. A crewmember passed, and he waylaid the man.

“Is there any cause for alarm given the rapids just ahead?”

The crewmember also shaded his eyes and followed Nathan’s eyes. “Oh, the Entiat Rapids? No, sir, I shouldn’t think so. Mind you, rapids are always a problem for the sternwheelers because of rocks and such, but we just came through here yesterday and the pilot maneuvered us right around them...just like he always does. Don’t you folks worry.” He nodded and moved away.

“There you are,” said Nathan faintly. He wasn’t entirely convinced that the sternwheeler would pass through what looked like a solid band of rapids, but he assumed that pilot knew his business.

“Well, this is going to be fun,” Amanda said in a hushed voice, “or something anyway.” She did not sound as if she thought “fun” was quite the correct word.

They reached the edge of the rapids, and the sternwheeler plowed through them fearlessly. Nathan loosened his grip on the railing. Apparently, the pilot was confident, as he slowed not one bit. Nathan felt a small hand creep over his own, and he looked down to see Amanda clutching his hand. Nathan smiled and covered it with his own. The boat shifted direction as they steered toward smoother water near the middle of the river, and Nathan breathed a sigh of relief. This looked more promising.

A loud thud and a screeching noise deafened them, and Nathan instinctively pulled Amanda into his arms as the boat lurched. Screams erupted from nearby passengers as some fell and others grabbed the railings.

“What happened?!” Amanda screamed as she clung to Nathan. “What was that?”

“I think we must have hit something!” Nathan shouted above the din. The screeching continued, and he looked over his shoulder to the rear of the boat to see the paddle wheel, locked in place, but continuing to attempt to spin. The source of the screeching. People shouted everywhere, and Nathan scanned the deck to find a crewmember. None could be found without letting go of the railing, and he had no intention of doing that. The sternwheeler had begun to list, and Nathan thought with a sickening sense of dread that the ship was sinking.

He fought against panic and tried to reason. The rapids suggested shallow water. If they sunk, they would not go far.

“What do we do?” Amanda cried out. Tears ran down her face, and a sob escaped her.

“Calm down, my love. We’re going to be all right. The river is shallow at this point. You see it yourself. The upper decks of the boat will not sink beneath the water.”

The sternwheeler shuddered and tilted as if it were capsizing.

Amanda screamed, and Nathan hugged her to him with his free hand while hanging onto the railing with the other. Fortunately, they had been standing on the starboard side of the sternwheeler which was on the opposite side of the listing of the ship. As the port side slid down into the water, the starboard side rose higher.

“Here,” Amanda panted, “let me hang onto the rail. Don’t let go of me,” she shouted over the sound of rushing water and the commotion on the decks. “You can’t hold us both in this position. Just please hang onto me with one hand. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I won’t lose you,” Nathan shouted. “I won’t lose you, Amanda!”

A scraping sound caught his attention, and he turned to see a lifeboat slipping into the water on the port side. No one was aboard, and he suspected it had slipped its ropes and fallen off. The lifeboat sailed off on the rapids, and he turned away. No help would come from that direction, neither was he certain he wanted to field the rapids in a lifeboat without an experienced crewmember.

Amanda had laced her arms around the railing, and she clung to it. Nathan continued to keep his free arm around her.

“The boat feels as if it has settled into position, my love. I think this must be the worst of it. Hopefully, the crew can manage to load us onto lifeboats.”

“This is the Titanic all over again,” Amanda shouted. She pressed her lips together and looked around wildly.

Nathan did not understand her reference, but he could see that she fought for control of her emotions.

“We have not come this far only to face disaster, Amanda. I love you. I will not lose you again.” Nathan didn’t care whether the time was appropriate or not. He only knew he needed to say the words to her once again.

Amanda turned her face to his and kissed him.

“I love you, too, Nathan. I know I always have, but at least I know it now.” She attempted a watery grin.

“Oh, my love, I am the happiest man in the world.” With his free hand, Nathan pulled her face back to his for a long overdue kiss.

Amanda pulled away and almost laughed, though the sound came out like a croak. “Lucky we aren’t, Nathan.” She looked beyond him with hope, and he turned to follow her eyes. Another sternwheeler approached them from upriver.

“We’re rescued!” Nathan cried.

A sudden lurch in the boat startled him, and he lost his grip. He clawed at the floorboards as he slid down the deck toward the water line, but could grasp nothing. Searing pain shot through his fingertips, and he threw a look over his shoulder towards the swirling whitewater caught between the deck and the river. Something painful smacked against his head as he fell into the water. Nathan felt himself sucked underneath the boat. The sound of Amanda’s screaming was the last thing he heard before blackness.