The Dreamer Read Online Free PDF Page A

released him and quickly stepped back.
    He watched me, and then his eyes widened and suddenly became afraid.
    Quickly, I moved forward again and yanked his arm with all my might. “Captain!”
    He jerked awake and sat up with a start. He was damp with perspiration and trembling, finally waking from his dream. He put an unsteady hand on his head. I gently pushed him back against his pillow and pulled his blanket up over him. He submitted to me.
    I moved stiffly, the wound at my side, though not serious, causing me pain. I gave him water, and he gulped down the liquid but didn’t seem satisfied. His hand was hot when he handed me the cup. He looked up.
    My hair fell down around my face, swinging freely like a cape when I carefully bent down to take the cup from him. He caught a lock with his hand when it swept towards him, looking at it in his fingers as though he didn’t quite know what to make of it. He held it tenderly, feeling it between his fingers before letting it go. Silent and watchful, he seemed to be trying to make sense of his surroundings.
    I gingerly sat on the edge of the warm bed. “Why do you sleep on the floor?”
    He shook his head as though to clear it. “I am going mad,” he muttered under his breath. His eyes went to my bare feet, his face suddenly impassive. “There is no other option,” he answered.
    “There’s not another cabin for you?” I asked. I was very, very interested.
    “No, Miss Madera.” He said my name oddly, like he was assuring himself. He shifted as he became more awake, his voice slightly aggressive suddenly, “I won’t touch you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    I looked at him, examining him critically as I did specimens through a microscope. “I’m afraid I detected a fever. You should not be on the floor with a fever.”
    He seemed surprised momentarily. I wondered why. He shook his head. “Forget it.”
    “Really, Captain ….”
    “Don’t let it concern you.”
    “But ….”
    “I told you there’s nowhere else.” All the tenderness and confusion might have never happened. He was back to normal. Angry.
    I didn’t argue with him, though he looked at me as though he expected me to.
    “Aren’t you at least worried I’ll try to take advantage of you?” he suddenly exclaimed.
    I looked at him in surprise. “Should I be?”
    “Any normal woman would be.”
    “After all you’ve done to help me?”
    “Maybe I was just saving you for myself.”
    I watched him silently. “Why are you trying to make me afraid?”
    “Why not? You ought to be. A young woman stuck on board a ship full of hardened sailors. You wake up in the middle of the night to find me in your room. It is only the two of us, you know. And this is my cabin. If you scream, no one will come to help, I assure you. You ought to at least have the sense to be afraid.”
    “I have been afraid,” I answered.
    He did not respond and there was silence. Then he sighed. “Forgive me. Of course you have. I shouldn’t have said that.”
    There were sounds in the distance, the scraping of metal on wood, the murmur of voices. There were always noises on the ship, I realized. It was never totally silent, always someone up, someone working, someone watching.
    Understanding suddenly dawned. “Ah. The invented relationship. I see.”
    “What?”
    “You want everyone to believe we share a room. That’s why you’re here. Another cabin, though it may have an available bed, is not an option.”
    “Brilliantly done. Even for a woman.” He began to roll over so he could go back to sleep.
    “Then you should take the bed,” I told him. I began to rise.
    “Stay where you are,” he demanded.
    “But Captain ….”
    “I said stay. Before you open up that gash and get it bleeding again.”
    “But what about you?”
    “I’m fine where I am,” he muttered.
    I was quiet.
    “Did you sleep there last night?” I asked suddenly.
    He looked at me pointedly.
    “That’s strange. I didn’t know