Over the Horizon ~ Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Dani stood, watching as a large silver moon slipped over the horizon. It had been a long tiring day of running here to there and listening to Mrs Davis talk on and on about nothing in particular. But all that was better than going back to sitting in that damp, stinky hole she had been forced to endure that past week.

Not long after Nate had left, she had been given a bath and a new dress. It had felt wonderful to be clean again and not smell. The next thing Mrs Williams had done was tell Dani that she to call her Hanna instead of Mrs Williams. She claimed it was far too formal.

Then Dani had been shown to the tiny cabin where she would sleep. And she was pleasantly surprised to find that the few things she had brought were already there waiting for her. Among them was the small leather bound journal Papa had given her for her twelfth birthday. The last gift her father had given her.

Once she had been given a few minutes to ‘settle in’, she was shown what her responsibilities would be. They were things like keeping the Williams’ cabin clean, tending to Mrs Williams if she was feeling poorly or fetching things that she needed.

The reason she was needed, Dani had found out, was because Hanna was pregnant and the constant rocking of the ship often made her quite sick. It was her first child and she, and her husband, wanted to do everything they could to make sure it would be heathy.

~

The night breeze pulled at the hair around Dani’s face. It felt so good to just stand there in the moonlight and watch the small, silver waves roll over the water then disappear. There was something enchanting about it, like the moon had the world below under some sort of spell.

She was so enchanted by the beauty it’s that she did not notice that anyone had come up behind her. That is, until she heard them let out a soft sigh. Whirling around, she found Nate standing there, gazing up at the moon; just as she had been doing.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” He said as he looked from the moon to her. A smile from his mouth to his eyes, lit up his face.

“Yes, it is.” Dani answered, before turning back to the delectable light of the moon.

The two of them stood there for a minute in total silence. It wasn’t a weird or awkward silence but a beautiful, peaceful one. Somehow it didn’t seem strange to stand there and share the moon with him, as it would have been with anyone else. Then, looking over at her, Nate’s expression turned serious and thoughtful.

“What did you do?” he asked softly, afraid he would upset her, but wanting to know.

Dani instantly knew what he meant.

“I stole some food.” she answered just as softly, “We were starving and there was nothing else I could do. So I stole food.”

Her eyes started to water as she thought of her younger brother. She missed him so. She hoped and prayed with her whole heart that he was alright.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” Nate apologized.

Pulling herself together, she turned to face him. A sad sigh escaped her lips.

“No, it’s alright. I’m just tired.” she said giving him a small smile, “I think I will turn in. Goodnight.”

And with that she turned and made her way to her cabin. It was not too far from Hanna’s, in case she might ever need her in the night.

As Dani closed the door behind her, she felt her pride melt away. She was back in reality. Sitting down on her small bed, she thought about her little brother, Davie. She had this nagging feeling that he was in trouble. Where was he? Oh, how she hoped he was safe. She would not be able to bare it if something had happened to him. Please, let him be alright. She prayed inwardly.

As she got up and changed for bed, all sorts of ideas flashed through her mind. She imagined him sitting in prison, his stomach growling with hunger. The thought was not pretty. Shaking her head to clear it of such things, she climbed into bed. Resting her head against her pillow, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her away.

~

Nate was still sanding on deck, watching the moon make its way across the night sky. But his thoughts were not on the moon or anything else in his view. Instead his thoughts were on Dani. She was no stranger to him, even though it seemed she could not remember him. He could remember them both as little children, running around her parents’ small estate playing all sorts of childish games. But that was before she had been shipped off to boarding school, and before his parents had died of the fever.

It seemed a lot of things had changed between then and now. But he was not entirely sure what. It was hard to believe goody-two-shoes Danielle Took had managed to get herself sent to Australia.

Resting his elbows on the railing, he watched the silver waves ripple across the water. Then his eyes fell on the barely visible horizon line. And his thoughts turned to the new land they were sailing to.