Free The Sea Between by Carol Thomas

my saddlebags.’
    She laughed again and fell into step with him as he started to walk across the grass towards the fence marking the perimeter of the garden. ‘Are you looking forward to being back at sea?’ she enquired casually.
    ‘In some ways I am,’ he replied, then with a smile added, ‘but in other ways, I’d much sooner stay here. What will you be doing over the next few months, while I’m at sea? How do you normally occupy yourself during the springtime?’ Reaching the fence, he turned aroundand leaned against the fence post, so that he was facing her.
    She gave an indifferent shrug. ‘I’ll go out riding whenever I can find the time, and when Sarah gives birth to her next child I’ll help to look after Matthew and Arthur. And I’ll probably visit George and Ann for a few days when the weather is more settled.’
    ‘In between riding, looking after your young nephews and visiting, would you have time to pen a letter to me?’
    ‘I think I could probably fit one in,’ she said.
    The next thing she knew he was handing her a piece of paper. ‘This is where to address it to—care of the shipping office. They’ll hold it for me and I’ll collect it when we call into port.’
    She slipped it into the pocket of her dress. ‘Where will you spend Christmas?’ she asked, aware that he wouldn’t be spending it in New Zealand.
    ‘At sea, probably,’ he replied.
    ‘Is that where you usually spend Christmas?’
    ‘Sometimes. Last year I spent Christmas in Southampton.’
    ‘How often do you spend Christmas with your family?’ she quizzed. Not often by the sound of it.
    His reply confirmed her suspicions. ‘In the last ten years, I’ve sat down to Christmas dinner with my parents twice. My parents would prefer it to be more often, of course, but they understand.’
    Well, if you want a wife who understands, you’d better look elsewhere, Charlotte thought. She wasn’t prepared to eat cold turkey on her own eight Christmases out of ten.
    She tugged her thoughts back to the present. ‘You’ve a long ride ahead of you. Will your cargo be loaded and your ship ready to leave when you reach Lyttelton?’
    ‘I hope so,’ he said with feeling. Twisting his head, he looked down the valley in the direction of Christchurch and the port of Lyttelton, then with a sigh pulled his fob watch out of his pocket. The sun wasshining on his face, catching his eyes. They were the same deep blue as the cornflowers that would soon be adding a splash of colour to Sarah’s garden.
    ‘Time to go?’ she asked quietly.
    He nodded and dropped the watch back into his pocket. ‘I’m afraid so. I’ve a lot of ground to cover.’ Smiling, he took her in his arms.
    She glanced over his shoulder towards the house. The garden wasn’t the most private place. If someone was standing beside the window in the parlour, they would have a bird’s-eye view of the two of them.
    ‘Does it matter if someone sees us?’ Richard asked, reading her mind. Evidently he didn’t think so, and leaned forward to kiss her. ‘I’ll miss you, Charlotte,’ he said softly.
    I hope you do, she thought. She was hoping he would miss her a great deal.
    ‘I’ll miss you, too,’ she returned honestly and, slipping her arms around his neck, made the most of their last kiss, well aware that it would be more than six months before Richard kissed her again.

Chapter 6
    T hey that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because