The River Queen by Stephenia H. McGee

Author:Stephenia H. McGee [Stephenia H. McGee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: By The Vine Press
Published: 2023-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

Emmett rose before the sun, having hardly slept during the five hours he’d tossed in his bunk. Worries that Jacob would smuggle who knew what aboard had made him jump at every sound, and twice he’d considered camping outside his brother’s door to be certain he stayed put. But with the entire crew locked away, what could Jacob really do?

Unless of course Jacob used everyone thinking the entire crew was contained as a cover. Emmett rubbed his temples. If Jacob had orchestrated that level of deception, then he was far craftier than Emmett had given him credit for. The notion didn’t help the state of his stomach. He laced his boots and headed out into the predawn light.

He found the bar removed from outside the dining room door. He hesitated. Surely they hadn’t allowed people to be sick all over themselves all night. He must have misunderstood what had happened. No sane person would create such torture. Not for those sick or those who needed to clean it. He held his breath and eased the door open.

The captain and Stephen both stood at the rear, watching the crew members. Their eyes looked sharp enough to shave with. As soon as Emmett widened the door, both men noticed him. Stephen dipped a greeting nod, then went back to observing the crew. A crew which, Emmett had to say, didn’t look like people who’d eaten bad food. For one thing, many of them ate their early breakfast with gusto, and most of them were smiling and laughing. A couple appeared pale and tired, but Emmett would guess at least eight of the ten men present had recovered from their ailment.

So why did Stephen and the captain maintain such a rigid observational post? He strode over battered wooden flooring to the men. “Everything all right?”

The captain huffed. “Be at least another day before we can pull out of here. I wouldn’t even trust old Tom to be of any use today.”

“I suppose talking to them won’t do much good either, but we’re going to spend the day trying.” Stephen harrumphed. “Everyone cleared is to go look for the missing crate.”

Anola’s crate? Emmett edged closer to Stephen and lowered his voice. “What happened while I was in Memphis?”

Silence lingered for so long Emmett almost thought Stephen wouldn’t answer. “The bag of ‘herbs’ Anola gave Cook weren’t herbs at all. Made a fine mess of my crew.”

“I wondered about that.” As soon as the words escaped his lips, both men’s eyes widened, and they snapped their heads in his direction. Emmett turned out his palms. “I wasn’t sure what it was, but it seemed suspicious. Had I known she’d kept out one of the bags, I would have said something. I thought it had all disappeared.” He met each man’s gaze. “I had nothing to do with any of it, in case you are wondering.”

Father and son studied him before Stephen nodded, and the captain bobbed his head. Not sure what else to do, Emmett settled beside them.

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