Liberty Hill (Western Tide Series) by Sonja Heisinger Read Free Book Online Page A

with lush, womanly hues, the necklines of her evening gowns had plummeted, and she now possessed a matching hat or bonnet for every new shade of fabric.
    She smoothed her skirt.
    “What do miners know of fashion?” she asked rhetorically. “In the style of a maid, I shall wear my lightest colored dresses and leave my head uncovered when the sun is not too unbearable. I doubt any man should know the difference.”
    Lucius shook his head and chuckled.
    “Aye, that may be so. Take my hand once more, Miss Brennan. Let us seal this most favorable agreement.”
     

Chapter Six
     
    Lucius’ heart pounded as he gazed upon the Steam Rose for the first time. He was no stranger to ships. Throughout his lifetime of exposure to their complexity and grandeur, he had developed a fraternal affection for them. The Steam Rose was not unlike the ships he sent to and from the Orient and India, though she represented the sort of freedom for which Lucius had always yearned. He was no longer a slave to his father’s dynasty. Today, Lucius Flynn was a free man, and the Steam Rose was the embodiment of that liberty.
    He had never wanted to kiss a beautiful thing so badly in his life.
    She bore two masts, each equipped with three square sails, and a steam stack rose black and looming between them. Her beam, the widest part of her body, stretched fifty feet, and from stern to stem she ran two hundred and thirty feet in length. A good size, Lucius noted with approval. He was excited to pass the following weeks sunning on her decks, drinking from her store of ale (which was hopefully stocked well enough to supply three hundred thirsty men), and gambling in her drawing room.
    Contrarily, Evelyn Brennan’s heart sank as she watched the deckhands and passengers scurry about. There was not another woman in sight. Since news struck of California gold, Evelyn had heard that ships like the Steam Rose were over-maximizing their passenger capacity and she worried that she might be forced to share a stateroom with a handful of stinking, bawdy men, many of whom she noticed were drawing rectangles on the deck with chalk.
    “What are they doing, Mr. Flynn?” she asked pointedly.
    “Why, what does it look like, Miss Brennan? They are setting up their quarters.”
    “You mean to say there are no rooms for these men?”
    “The rooms are full, lass.”
    “But surely…” Evelyn gulped, “you secured a room for us?”
    Lucius looked away and shook his head, no, and Evelyn went rigid with indignation.
    “I will not sleep in the open air!” she insisted.
    Lucius, however, was thrilled.
    “Thus our adventure begins!” he exclaimed, setting his bag upon the hard planks.
    Evelyn stamped her foot.
    “Mr. Flynn!” she cried. “You must do something to alter our situation. Look at these men! They shall rob us blind! Did you not think to acquire a stateroom?”
    Lucius waved her off.
    “Aw, chin up, lass. You can’t see the stars from a stateroom, can you?”
    “The stars! We shall catch our deaths in this March air!”
    “Nonsense! We shall be sailing in warmer seas soon enough. I hear we are to make berth in Havana, Cuba. Did you ever dream of seeing Havana, Cuba, Miss Brennan?”
    “I dream only of Ireland, Mr. Flynn,” she replied venomously.
    Lucius grandly placed his hands upon his hips and took a large, exultant breath.
    “Now, if you will be so kind to watch our things, Miss Brennan, I think I shall take a turn about the ship.”
    Evelyn was aghast. Lucius was just going to leave her, like this ? What was she to do ?
    “But Lucius-”
    “Thank you!”
Lucius leaped over a fellow passenger’s belongings and disappeared behind a throng of travelers. Evelyn gaped after him.
    “Mr. Flynn!”
    He was gone, and Evelyn stood alone amidst a sea of excited men. None seemed bothered by the prospect of sleeping on deck, though the wind was like ice and the sun was hidden behind a thick blanket of cloud. Evelyn tugged the ribbons of her bonnet and