Saved By The Pirate (Book One)

32. Silence And A Dress

Anne

I wanted to cry. My situation was terrible, and I made it this way. I shouldn't have gone into that house just as I shouldn't have gone into those woods. If only I weren't so stupid.

But I set myself up for failure and now I had to face my problem.

Christopher came out and closed the door behind him. I immediately noticed his behavior and how unusually calm he was, but I held my breath. He could be setting me up—the silence before the storm.

I hugged myself tighter. I don't know if it was because I was cold or because I felt scared and guilty. Maybe both. But at that moment, I just hoped we could take this lecture inside the carriage where it was warm to cower.

Christopher took one look at me and thinned his lips. "You're shivering," he said. He took off his coat, and without me saying anything, he wrapped it around my shoulders. I held it close to me.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked in a weak voice, too scared to say anything else. He shook his head and sighed.

"Come, let's get you back in the carriage."

I nodded and followed him to the carriage. He opened the door for me, and I slid in, moving over to the other side. After getting in, Christopher closed the door and hit the roof, and the carriage began to move.

I glanced out the window at the empty night. It felt lonely at this time, and I wondered what would happen if I said anything. I was waiting for the scolding, but it never came. I could hear him breathing, and I felt his eyes on me. Maybe he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He was as silent as the night.

I couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"I'm sorry," I said, still looking out the window. I didn't want to turn my head with the fear of crying. I didn't want to look into that man's eyes and see the anger in them.

"You had no right to go into that house," he said, his voice just as tight as mine.

"I know," I said.

He was silent for a moment, but I still felt his eyes on me. I was scared to move, even to breathe, but at last, he spoke. "Anne," he said calmly. "What do you think of me?"

The question struck me down to my very core. What was I supposed to do, lie? Tell the truth? It came so fast, and I felt the need to answer it the same way.

"You killed someone," I said, my voice shaky. "You steal, and you kidnapped me. I don't know how else to look at you. You're a monster."

I glanced at him through the reflection from the window. He looked back at me, his brows furrowed and his lips tight. I didn't know what else to do but stare.

"I am. And I can't change what I've done. But you should know that that man I killed in America stole something very precious to me."

I didn't say anything, nor did I want too because I didn't know what to say. Christopher was telling me something that I still couldn't decide was true or not, but he told me, didn't he? He looked honest enough, but was what he said real? I think after a while of me not saying anything, Christopher gave up, and we road the rest of the way in complete silence.

After some time, the carriage rocking calmed my shaking nerves enough to make me fall asleep. I remember resting my head on something warm, something soft, and I felt comfortable. I inched closer to it, and it welcomed me, rewarding my actions by wrapping itself around me and pulling me closer.

I breathed in its scent. It was earthly, like the woods, the sea, and the wind all in one. I couldn't get enough of it. It smelled like home.

I stayed like that until the carriage stopped, and there was movement. I didn't want to move, so I snuggled closer to the strange warm something. The warm something didn't seem to mind, not even when I rested my head against the square of it where I heard the noise of something that went bump, bump, bump.