The Captain's Pearl by Jo Ann Ferguson Page A

silenced her. She saw his lips were pursed beneath his mustache.
    Weakly, Davis ordered, “Bryce, stop intimidating her. You speak your mind to me. Why shouldn’t Lian?”
    â€œI’m sorry, Captain.”
    Lian saw fury flash in his eyes. The familiar shudder cramped along her. Bryce Trevarian would be a formidable enemy. Without her brother to protect her …
    â€œWhat were you going to say, little sister?” Davis whispered.
    She lifted his cold hand. She had seen death many times and recognized the hollow-eyed resignation in her brother’s eyes. “ Ngoi oy nee .”
    â€œI love you, too, little sister. We have found each other just in time to be parted again.”
    â€œWe shall be together longer in the next world.” Hearing a breathy curse, she did not look at Bryce. Let him be angry at her. She owed her brother honesty.
    â€œI wish I could see Father’s face when he meets you.”
    â€œI shall tell you of it when next we meet.”
    A laugh nearly sapped him. He had to take several deep breaths before he could murmur, “I’m sure you will. Lian, promise me one thing.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAmerica will be strange to you. You need someone to take care of you.” Each word was punctured by a rasp. “Bryce is watching over the ship. Let him watch over you, too.”
    She glanced back. When Bryce’s eyes met hers, sorrow clamped around her chest, stopping her heart for one anguished beat. The torture of watching her brother die was diminished by Bryce’s agony, for he was unable to help his friend.
    When she did not reply, Davis whispered, “Will you heed Bryce as you would me?”
    â€œYes.” She wondered if Davis realized what she was pledging. She would have to submit her will to Bryce’s. She glanced again at Bryce. The curl of his lip into a smile warned that he knew exactly what she vowed.
    â€œTake as good care of Lian as you will the China Shadow, ” Davis continued, but to his friend.
    â€œI promise, Captain,” Bryce said. “I shall see her safely home to your father. You can depend on me.”
    â€œI know I can.”
    Bryce lifted Lian’s fingers out of her brother’s suddenly lax grip. He enfolded them between his hands which were as cold as Davis’s. Her eyes blurred as she looked from her brother’s face to his first mate’s grim expression.
    â€œHe’s gone,” Bryce murmured.
    â€œNo!”
    â€œDammit, you little fool! You can’t halt death!” Recoiling from his rage, Lian took a deep breath. She rose and slowly drew Davis’s eyelids down. Pressing her hands together, she whispered a prayer. Bryce reached past her and lifted the bloodstained blanket over her brother’s face.
    When Bryce turned her toward the door, she shook her head. “He must not be alone. We must—”
    â€œYou know nothing about what we must do.”
    â€œHe is my brother.”
    â€œMaybe.”
    â€œHe believed so.”
    With a curse, he herded her out into the narrow corridor. He spoke to the men waiting there and their faces paled. When they began to talk—all at once—she edged back toward Davis’s quarters. She must be with her brother. Her prayers would guide him to Mother’s Father in the next world.
    Bryce caught her arm. Reaching past her, he opened the door to the room across from Davis’s. He pulled her inside and, closing the door, scowled. “If you stick your nose out of this room, you little fool, I will make you wish you had never heard the name Catherwood.”
    â€œI wish I never had!” Tears flooded her eyes, blurring his hard face. She stared at the window that was the twin to the one in Davis’s quarters. Davis ! He had believed Mother when he had no reason to and had given his life for a sister he had not known a week ago. Such a good man was dead because of a promise he had not broken.
    When broad