Abandoned Memories (16 page)

Helpless to move, helpless to fight, Angeline allowed the swift current to carry her away. Terror had long since abandoned her, leaving a numb submission behind. Her only fear now was for Stowy. Somehow he had managed to hang on to her neck, his sharp claws digging into her skin.
Hang on, precious one. Hang on
. Maybe he could find a tree to leap onto and save himself.

Tumbling, twisting, turning, the angry river flung her onto rocks, bashed her against tree trunks, scraped her against branches until every inch of her screamed in pain. She prayed for mercy. She prayed she would drown. But every time her head went under the water and she almost lost consciousness, the river shoved her back into the air, forcing her to gasp for a breath. And Stowy to screech in terror. How long could this go on? If each bruise and cut were punishment for her sins, it was going to be a long night. Rain lashed the top of her head. Shadows rushed toward her like ghouls. She closed her eyes.

And heard her name. “Angeline!”

God?
No, probably the other guy. She wouldn’t answer him. She’d meet him soon enough.

“Angeline!”

She opened her eyes. The dark outline of a patch of trees rushed toward her like soldiers in a demonic army. A branch swung low from one in the middle. A man’s arm extended. Water filled her mouth. Gasping, she choked it out and tried to focus. She struck the first tree. Pain seared across her side. Dipping beneath the surface, she bobbed up again and shook water from her eyes. The hand was definitely there. Unless she was dreaming. If not, she’d have one chance to grab it.

And once chance only.

“Angeline! Grab ahold!” Desperation screeched in the voice—a voice she knew.

Oh, God. Please help. I really don’t want to die. I am not ready to be judged
.

Lightning flashed, flickering over the lowered hand. Large and strong. She slammed into the tree’s buttress. Water gushed over the top, shoving her over with it, legs and arms flailing. The hand flashed in her vision. She reached for it. The current pushed her under again.
No!
Gathering what little strength remained, she shoved her feet against the buttress and lunged back up. She hacked up water. Stowy uttered a deathly wail. Angeline reached once more.

Fingers met fingers. Palms met palms. And a grip tighter than a corset fastened around her hand.

Water sped past her, bubbling in defiance of losing its prey. She glanced up. James looked down upon her. “Hang on! I’ve got you!”

HAPTER
14

I
t was a miracle. That was the only explanation for Angeline’s appearance beneath the very tree James had climbed in the hope of spotting her in the frothing waters. Now that he had a grip on her, he would never let go. Ever. He growled as he gathered every ounce of strength to pull her up toward him. Desperately, she clutched his arm. He reached down with his other hand, grabbed the belt around her waist, and hoisted her the rest of the way onto the wide branch where he sat. She fell against his chest, their heavy breaths mingling in the misty air as the river raged beneath them. A shiver wracked her body, and he thought he heard her whimper. Wrapping his arms around her, he leaned back against the trunk, encasing her in what little warmth he had left through his soaked garments.

A sandpaper tongue licked his cheek. Jerking back, he squinted in the darkness, smiling when he realized it was Stowy. How the cat had survived, James had no idea, but he was sure Angeline would have sacrificed her own life for her feline companion.

Lightning flashed, giving him a brief glimpse of the tree. A kapok tree, if he remembered Thiago’s lessons on Brazilian flora. Thick branches reached up toward the angry sky like hairy dragon claws, their tips swaying in the wind. A sturdy tree, James hoped. The tree God had led James to after he’d done the only thing he knew in order to find Angeline—plunge into the mad, chaotic water, grab onto a piece of wood, and pray with everything in him.

Angeline shivered again and he gripped her tighter, squeezing her between his thighs to let her know he wasn’t letting go. Wind fluted an eerie tune through branches, stirring leaves into applause. Rain squeezed through the canopy above and drip-dropped on their heads.

Another blast of thunder shook the sky—farther away this time. Good. Perhaps the storm was passing. Perhaps the rain would finally stop and the river would recede. But what would be left of their homes? Their town? Their crops? He couldn’t think of that now. Couldn’t think of the watery beast just yards beneath their dangling feet, gobbling everything in its path. For now, he and Angeline were safe. And Stowy too. Whispering a prayer for the rest of the colonists, he leaned his head back on the rough bark and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, Angeline relaxed in his arms and snuggled against his chest. Stowy began purring.

James fell into a semiconscious slumber and dreamed he was on a ship full of cats pouncing over a sunny deck in pursuit of mice. Above him, bloated white sails sped them to some unknown destination. The gurgle and rush of the sea against the hull tickled his ears while voices clambered up hatches from passengers below. Yet no one but James was on deck. No captain, no first mate, no helmsman. Wind whipped his hair. The ship bucked over a swell, and he steadied his feet on the deck when he caught a glimpse of darkness in the distance. Not the type of darkness when a huge cloud covered the sun or when night approached, but a vast wall of black spanning the horizon. Flames burst through the ebony slate in a savage, frightening pattern. Like lightning…yet more ominous, more threatening…as if the jagged flares had a mind of their own.

James froze. A thousand needles punctured his heart. He leapt up the ladder onto the foredeck for a better look. The ship sped on a course straight for the dark menace. And somehow he knew that if he didn’t stop it, everyone on board would die. His glance took in the sails, the wheel spinning out of control. He had no idea what to do! Even if he did, how could he lower sails and turn the ship all by himself?

The smell of coconut tickled his nose. The sweet scent filled his lungs and tantalized his memories. A bird squawked.

James snapped his eyes open with a start.

Angeline was staring at him. Sitting as far away from him as possible on the branch, she petted Stowy in her lap. Morning sun cut through branches and leaves and set her damp hair aglitter like liquid fire. A drop from above splattered on her shoulder, soaking into the fabric of her blouse. For a moment they simply stared into each other’s eyes as if they were both lost in dreams they didn’t want to end.

Finally she lowered her gaze. “You saved my life. Again.”

A bird chirped above them and Stowy leapt from Angeline’s arms in hot pursuit. She reached after the cat and lost her balance. James lunged to grab her waist and settle her. Their gazes met again, just inches apart this time. An emotion he couldn’t name brewed within her violet eyes, but whatever it was, it made him never want to look away. His heart ached all over again from the loss of her.

She shoved his hands away as if he had leprosy.

“If you want me to apologize for coming to your rescue, I fear I cannot.” James glanced down to see what his ears already told him. The waters had receded. Well, most of them. A shallow stream trickled over the land, shoving tangled nests of branches, twigs, and leaves through the mud, some bunching in knots to form beaver dams. The
tap, tap
of water from the canopy provided a cheerful accompaniment to the warble of birds. A pleasant tune so different from the mighty roar of the storm the night before.

But how could James possibly keep his focus on muddy water, birds, or storms when Angeline’s lips were so close to his face he could feel her breath on his cheek?

“No, I…” she began and James leaned back against the trunk, lest he do what every impulse within him drove him to do—kiss her.

“I…” She lowered her chin. “How did you know where I would be?”

James shrugged, trying not to notice the way her damp blouse clung to her curves. “I didn’t. When I saw you weren’t with the others, I jumped in the river and prayed I would find you.”

“You did?” Tiny brows collided above her freckled nose as her eyes searched his.

“Of course. I knew you must be out there somewhere. Either in the water or clinging to a tree.”

“But the chances…” Moisture covered her eyes and she looked away.

“Are good with God.” He smiled. When she didn’t respond, he swung his leg over the branch and gripped the bark on either side. Angeline sat inches from him, one hand pressed on the branch beneath her, one nervously fiddling with her tangled hair. Yet she seemed so distant and cold she might as well have been miles away.

A flock of orioles, plumed in brilliant yellow and black, landed in branches above them and began their morning serenade as if all was right with the world. Totally oblivious, it would seem, to Stowy who flattened himself, his ears back, his tail jerking as he slunk toward them. Yet were they oblivious? Were they too busy praising God to notice the danger lurking all around? Or did they simply trust Him to care for them? As God had cared for James and Angeline through the storm.

“You shouldn’t have come after me, James. You could have died.” Angeline’s tone turned petulant as if he had dipped her hair in ink or put a frog in her stew.

Which completely baffled him. He knew he should be angry at her for her ungrateful attitude, but he couldn’t find it within him. “I’m sorry for saving your life, your dragonship.”

A smile peeked from her lips. “You said you weren’t going to apologize.”

“Force of habit, I suppose.” His chuckle fell limp when he noticed her torn sleeves and the cuts and bruises marring her arms. “You’re hurt.” He reached for her, but she grabbed her arm and drew it close, wincing.

“I guess I hit a few trees.”

James studied her, not able to imagine the horror she must have endured being helplessly carried away by the current. For him, he’d been more concerned about finding her. But she must have believed she would die. His gaze landed on the scar on her arm.

“But this”—he gestured toward it—“is old. What is it from?”

Her body stiffened. She attempted to cover it with shreds of her sleeve.

“Forgive me. I shouldn’t have asked.”

She raised a brow. “Another apology, Doctor? It does, indeed, appear to be a habit with you.”

“Only when I’m with you, for I seem to constantly cross some invisible boundary that awakes the sleeping dragon.”

She looked away but not before he saw her smile.

“Nevertheless, when we get back, have Eliza look at your wounds.” Since it was obvious she wouldn’t allow James to touch her.

She nodded, and James stretched the aches from his back and ran hands down his still-damp trousers, longing for her to understand the depth of his feelings, but she wouldn’t look at him. Instead she peered through the lattice of shifting leaves and drew in a deep breath of air scented with sodden earth and salt.

“We are near the sea,” she finally said before looking down and wobbling slightly, her face blanching.

“The river pushed us toward it. Here, grab this branch and don’t look down.” James guided her hand to a bough angling beside her shoulder then reached over to pull a scrap from her hair.

She snapped her eyes to his.

“Just a twig.” He held it up before her horrified gaze. “I assure you, I wasn’t taking liberties.” Though he wouldn’t mind coiling his finger around the lustrous curl he’d just briefly grazed.

Moments passed in silence. Surely she wasn’t angry at him for saving her life! He’d never met such a puzzling woman. He longed for the camaraderie, the friendship they had formed the last time they’d been in a tree together, but that had drifted out to sea with the raging river.

“I cannot believe what happened,” she finally said. “The river came up so quickly.”

A breeze gusted through the leaves and chilled his wet shirt. He adjusted his position on the branch. “Too quickly. It doesn’t make sense. It was as if someone broke a dam upstream.” Yet he had his suspicions—suspicions that had nothing to do with natural causes.

“You don’t suppose there’s anything left of our town?” She bit her lip, her voice vacant of hope. “And the others. They are safe?”

“Yes. They all made it up the hill in time.” He wanted to tell her all would be well. He wanted to kiss the worry from the freckles tightening on her pert nose, but he truly wasn’t sure anymore. Not after all the disasters they’d suffered. “I don’t know about our huts. Or our crops.”

She faced him again, staring at him with sad eyes. Wind eased a curl across her cheek, and reaching up, he brushed it behind her ear. She took in a quick breath.

So he
did
have some effect on her.

Fear sped across her eyes before she attempted to scoot farther away from him. “We should go find out.”

“We should wait until the water is gone. If the town is destroyed, there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

When another branch blocked her progress, she let out a huff of displeasure. What in the surefire blazes had James done to deserve such aversion? Whatever the reason, it wouldn’t dull the pain lancing through his heart at the moment. She’d made it plain she didn’t want a courtship. What he hadn’t realized was that she also found him repulsive.

Moments passed in silence. Stowy sent another flock of birds scattering before he began pouncing on leaves instead. Finally Angeline attempted a smile. “How odd that we are stuck in a tree again. I wonder if this will become a regular occurrence?”

“I hope so. Apparently it’s the only time you’ll talk to me.”

“I
talk
to you.”

“Not since you told me our relationship was over.”

“Not over. Just different.” She stared down at the muddy ground. “I’ve been busy. And it’s been raining.”

He wished those were the only reasons. But he knew better. Regardless, he would cherish the time they had now. Even if she wished she were anywhere else but with him.