Blood & Salt by Hubert L. Mullins

Author:Hubert L. Mullins [Mullins, Hubert L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-07T00:00:00+00:00

Assistant Doctors’ Cabins

4:00 p.m.

For the second time in as many days, Fiona was cleaning ash from her body and hair. When the woman—who she later found out was named Elizabeth Campbell—exploded in a shower of white ash, the inertia carried it to the door. Fiona had been laid low early in the scuffle and had fallen between the fold-out chair and the bottom bunk. Most of the ash missed her.

She didn’t know the plan, other than wait for Ben to return and put them somewhere safe. Although he didn’t say it, Fiona made an eerie realization: The creatures had known where to look for the stake. They sniffed it out as sure as a bloodhound. Even now with it wrapped in a heavy cloth, she didn’t like having it so close. The only saving grace was that Ben’s quarters were in the middle of the ship, so there weren’t any portholes for the monsters to enter.

Fiona and Reid took hot baths, never once leaving the lavatory until they were done. Afterward, they dressed in clean clothes and returned, wet, to Ben’s cabin. A stewardess and a pair of passengers going for a spell in the library all stared at them. It was a small fortune that Reid was too young to understand their disgusted looks.

It wasn’t the best thing for Doctor York to harbor a pair of third-class passengers. And even worse, one of them was a woman. Men of Ben’s stature required good standing, and a poor Irish girl and her son sitting on his bunk surely sent the wrong message.

He didn’t tell her when he’d be back, only that the ship’s top people were meeting to discuss current events. The voyage was becoming twice as long, at least that’s how it felt. This was supposed to be an enjoyable trip, now one that Reid would remember against the backdrop of all the horrible things he’d endured.

His books kept him company. This morning, after breakfast had been delivered thanks to Ben, Reid picked up his current read and engrossed himself between its pages. She hadn’t seen him this enamored in a long time, but that was simply a testament to how traumatic his time on the ship had been.

People were in the hallway, loud footsteps that woke her from her dozing. She sat in the chair while Reid spread across the bed and each time her chin touched her chest, something jarred her. Finally, she stood and joined him on the bed, patting his legs so that he would sit up.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded.

“I’m not,” she said. “That was . . . awful to see. Are you sure you’re alright?”

He shrugged, softening a little, but finally nodded again.

“I saw you put the stake in Ben’s hand.”

Reid seemed embarrassed by this and he looked down, then nodded reverently. He tried to go back to his book but Fiona stopped him.

“Did you know? The stake, I mean. Did you know what would happen to her?”

Again, the curt nod.

“How?”

He tapped Fiona’s chest with his palm.

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