Mr.
Daniels calmly reigned in the horses.
“What are ye doin’, scarin’ my horses?” he growled.
The man looked at the horses, who
were placidly waiting for Mr. Daniels’ signal to move on. “I’m sorry; I didn’t see them,” he said. When he looked up at Cordelia he started a
little. “Of course, you must continue,”
he said. “I shan’t be the one to stop a
lady’s business.” He bowed deeply.
“Thank you,” said Cordelia
cheerily. “If you were going our way, I
would ask if you wanted a ride, but seeing as you are not, I suppose that we
had better say our goodbyes now.”
“Now, now, who says I’m not going
your way?” said the man. He lifted a
sailor’s cap from his thick shock of greyish-white hair. “The name is Ira Bournton,” he said grandly.
“I am Miss Cordelia Gaskey,” said
she. “Mr. Daniels, you wouldn’t mind,
would you?” she asked, turning on him with a dazzling smile to which he was
oblivious.
“I don’t care,” replied Mr.
Daniels. “Like I says, ten dollars is
good for a lot of things.”
Ira Bournton tossed a sack he was
carrying into the back of the buckboard and climbed up beside it. “A lady as fine as you must be going to
Boston,” he said to Cordelia.
“Yes, that is very observant of
you,” she replied, rather amused by his gallantry. “I am coming from Nanrantsouak Harbor, and if
you can say that without stumbling over it the first few times, you must be very
clever indeed. You should have heard my
little brothers and sisters trying to say it!”
Ira Bournton smiled to himself. “Nanrantsouak Harbor, Miss Gaskey? I haven’t heard of the place in years.”
“Oh, you know it?” she asked.
“Yes, I grew up there before I went
away to sea, and I…” He trailed off
uncertainly.
“Mr. Bournton, what a strange
happenstance!” Cordelia exclaimed. “I
feel as if I know you already!”
Ira Bournton in that moment had
turned from the gallant old gentleman to a silent, brooding creature. Nanrantsouak Harbor! The name awakened many memories, and not all
of them were pleasant. 