Free Blood Bond by Michael Green Page B

sailed from Cape Town, the mood aboard grew increasingly tense. Mark fretted about the lack of stores. He knew he should have stayed longer and gathered more food, but he’d felt pressure to leave Cape Town — not only from Steven, but also from Robert and Luke. He was also annoyed that having to leave in such a rush had not given him the hoped-for opportunity to spend some time alone with Allison. With the loss of Adam, at least there would only be the two of them on the twelve-to-four watch. In the early hours of the morning, when everyone else was asleep, they would at last have time alone together.
    During the day, Allison was spending much of her time with Luke and Robert, who had become quiet and withdrawn since the death of their father. She shared in their grief; Adam had been her brother.
    â€˜Why didn’t you come when you heard us fire the four shots?’ Robert asked Mark angrily on the second morning out from Cape Town.
    â€˜It wasn’t safe.’
    â€˜What was the point of arranging a warning signal if you didn’t have the guts to come and help us?’
    â€˜Your father was told to be back before dark.’
    â€˜He was just doing his job, finding food for everyone else. You should have come for us.’
    â€˜It wouldn’t have made any difference,’ said Fergus quietly. ‘Your father was already dead.’
    â€˜How do you know?’
    Fergus shook his head. The piercing scream and deathly silence that followed had been proof enough for him.
    â€˜If we had come for you in the dark there could have been further fatalities — probably would have been,’ Steven said.
    Robert, followed by his sad-faced brother, stomped below with a scowl on his face.
    â€˜You shouldn’t be so harsh on them,’ Allison rebuked the others. ‘They’re only fourteen and fifteen, for heaven’s sake, and they’ve just lost their father.’
    Mark felt hurt. Once again she hadn’t supported him. It seemed that her family loyalties really were stronger than her loyalty to him.
    The happiest couple aboard were undoubtedly Fergus and Jessica. It was like they were treating the voyage as a game, with the purpose of seeing how often and in how many places they could make love, under the noses of their relatives and out of sight of the ever-inquisitive Tommy and Lee.
    Steven and Penny’s lovemaking was more restrained. Despite that, they shared a deeper, more mature love than Fergus and Jessica — a love that kept Penny awake at night listening to Steven calling to his sister Jane; a love that had her ready to comfort him and coax him back to sleep when he awoke from the nightmares.
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    She had thought it was the nightmares that were causing him to sweat so profusely on the third night of their onward voyage, but it wasn’t. By the time dawn broke she was sweating herself. And, like several others aboard, they were both coughing.
    Uncharacteristically, Steven was reluctant to get up for the eight-to-twelve watch. He had a headache and appeared to have afever. It was sheer willpower that drove him to drag himself up the companionway into the cockpit. He found his father and Allison hunched together there. They looked terrible.
    â€˜What’s happening?’ Steven asked.
    Mark shook his head. His nose was bleeding slightly. ‘How do you feel?’
    â€˜Weak.’
    â€˜We do too. Get everyone who’s able to get up on deck. Let’s get the sails down while we still have the strength.’
    Mark was already too ill to work himself. Only Robert and Jessica were able to help Steven. Five-year-old Lee, who unlike his cousin Tommy had also come on deck, was given the helm and told to hold the boat steady. It took the three adults over an hour to get the sails down and secured.
    â€˜What do you think it is?’ Steven asked Allison.
    â€˜Heaven knows. Obviously some sort of fever. I’ve got no idea.’
    Mark sneezed