She smiled. “That is all I need.”
His heart turned over at the trust and confidence in her eyes. He could only pray it wasn’t misplaced. “All right. Let’s get dressed. There’s no time to waste.”
The hack was still approximately a half mile from the warehouse when Philip inhaled and frowned. “I smell smoke.”
Meredith nodded. “Yes, I do, too.”
They exchanged a look, and Philip could tell that she felt the same sense of foreboding that crept through him. But several minutes later his fears were put to rest when they arrived at the warehouse. Whatever was burning, it wasn’t the warehouse.
As there was no sign of his carriage, he said to the hackney, “Wait for us here.” He assisted Meredith from the vehicle, then they quickly entered the warehouse and made their way through the labyrinth of rows to Philip’s cache of crates. The area was empty, but a note was affixed to the outside of one of the crates. Philip scanned the brief missive:
We finished going through the crates here. Nothing regarding the missing piece of stone was found. Have proceeded to docks to await Sea Raven‘s arrival.
The fact that these crates had failed to yield the missing piece of stone felt like a noose tightening around his neck. And he had less than forty-eight hours to solve the puzzle before he stepped off the scaffold. Taking Meredith’s hand, he led her toward the exit. When they opened the door, the stench of acrid smoke, stronger than before, filled his nostrils. The hackney jerked his thumb toward a dark plume of smoke rising in the air.
“Looks to be comin‘ from the docks, it does,” the man said, his voice grave.
Again, that tingle of foreboding slithered down Philip’s spine. “Take us there, posthaste,” he instructed, handing Meredith into the interior.
He clasped her hand tightly as the hack moved swiftly along the narrow streets. “How is the headache?”
“Better.”
“But it still hurts?”
She regarded him through serious eyes. “Yes.”
She was clearly trying to put on a brave front, but shadows of fear lurked in her eyes. He desperately wanted to comfort her, but he didn’t know what to say. Only a fortnight ago, he hadn’t even known this woman existed. Now she held his heart in her hands. And he held her future, her life, in his. Her very life depended on his ability to solve the curse.
Unable to keep from touching her, he moved from the seat opposite to sit beside her. Then he wrapped his arms around her and hauled her onto his lap. She looped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder. Squeezing his eyes shut, he held her tightly against him, absorbing the feel of her in his arms, her warm breath touching his neck, her soft hair against his jaw. I will not lose her. I cannot lose her.
A deafening boom rent the air, and the vehicle jerked to a halt. Meredith sat upright, her eyes round. “What was that?”
Philip’s stomach dropped. “It sounded like gunpowder exploding.” Setting Meredith on the seat, he jumped from the carriage. Thick plumes of black smoke billowed in the distance behind the building directly in front of them. The horse whinnied loudly, and Philip heard the driver trying to soothe the animal.
“Won’t be able to take ye any farther, sir,” the driver said. “Me horse got spooked by that noise, and she’s caught wind of the fire wot’s burning. ‘Fraid she won’t budge.”
“We’ll walk the rest of the way,” Meredith said from directly behind him.
Unease prickling along his nerve endings, Philip jerked his head in a nod. Reaching into his pocket, he tossed several coins up to the driver. Then, tightly clasping hands, they quickly skirted around the building.
The instant they turned the corner, Philip skidded to a halt. Flames and smoke engulfed a burning ship. The vessel drifted in the middle of the river, obviously untied from the dock so as not to allow the fire to spread to the wharf and beyond. Men ran frantically about on the dock, hoisting buckets of water to put out small fires erupting from burning embers landing on the surrounding docks.
Meredith clutched his arm. “How awful.”
“Yes.” But Philip suspected she hadn’t yet realized just how awful. For the ship that was ablaze was the Sea Raven.
Squinting through the puffs of black smoke, he saw a familiar figure. “Come. I see Andrew.”
Keeping close together, they made their way across the cobblestones. When they reached the dock, Philip touched Andrew on the shoulder. His friend turned, nodded a greeting to Meredith, then looked at him with a grim expression.
“How did this happen?” Philip asked.
“I don’t know. After we finished cataloging the last crate at the warehouse, we came here. The ship was just being secured. There were people everywhere, and Bakari, Edward, and I became separated. The ship somehow caught fire, then there was an explosion.”
“Gunpowder,” Philip murmured. “There were a dozen barrels on board.”
“Yes. I cannot fathom that the cargo traveled safely all the way from Egypt without mishap, only to be destroyed upon its arrival.”
“Was anyone injured?”
“Some minor burns, one crewman suffered a broken leg. But no fatalities, thank God. If the gunpowder had exploded sooner, before the crew was able to disembark, it would have been a different story.” Their eyes met. “Unfortunately, none of the cargo was saved. All the artifacts on board are lost.”
“Where are Edward and Bakari now?”
“I don’t know.” He made a vague, sweeping gesture with his hand. “Around somewhere, I’m sure.”
Philip felt a pressure on his arm. Turning, he met Meredith’s distressed-filled gaze. “Artifacts?” she whispered. “Dear God, was that ship the Sea Raven?”
“I’m afraid so.” His insides clenched at the fear and resignation that filled her eyes.
“So that’s it, then,” she said, her voice utterly devoid of expression. “There’s no hope of finding the missing piece of stone. Which means that in less than forty-eight hours I’m going to die.”
“What’s that you say, Miss Chilton-Grizedale?” Andrew asked in a perplexed voice. “What is she talking about, Philip?”
Before Philip could reply, Edward and Bakari joined them. Like Andrew, both men’s clothing bore black, sooty streaks. “Horrible tragedy,” Edward murmured, shaking his head. “Thank God no one was killed.” He turned to Andrew. “Where did you disappear to? I haven’t seen you since the moment we arrived at the docks.”
Andrew raised his brows. “I could say the same about you.”
“Many people, much confusion,” Bakari said. He then pointed toward the water. “Look.”
They all turned toward the ship, and for the next few minutes watched in silence as the burning Sea Raven slowly slipped beneath me surface, until it disappeared completely from sight.
“All that work, all those artifacts…” Edward shook his head, then clapped a sympathetic hand on Philip’s shoulder. “A terrible loss for you, Philip.”
“None of that matters. All that matters is finding a way to break the curse. Before it’s too late.” His gaze shifted between his three friends. “Meredith has been affected by the curse.”
“What do you mean?” asked Andrew, his voice sharp.
“I mean that the wrath of this bloody curse has befallen her.”
“But how?” Edward asked. “You did not marry her.”
“No, but I asked her to marry me. And moments after I did so, she fell down, then developed a painful headache.”
Andrew, Edward, and Bakari’s gazes all shifted to Meredith, their expressions ranging from pity to dread. Not one of them suggested that perhaps her fall and the onset of the headache were merely coincidence.