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GRISSOM, LONDON, LAFFERTY and Richard were on watch They had all exhibited a heightened sense of awareness since the night before, so Finn decided that he could dare ease off and trust in the intelligence of the others Captain Tre new strength, but in the un MacKay atching him, and the world around them Finn eased down to lie on an elbow as he spoke to Tara resting on her pallet

"I can tell you so at her "Your brother was a Southern physician He was almost killed, but he revived I think people considered it so eneral asked for his help out in Texas-where he&039;d been born He went out there, becaeneral and a sheriff, and they all ca awry in the Harpers Ferry area That&039;s about when he first htly "I&039;ve wanted to an Fox, but circumstances haven&039;t allowed for it So, this is the story as I know it, and I believe it to be true Your grandfather was taken and killed, but he didn&039;t die, he changed And there have been those who had seen him around the country ever since When I heard your name, I told myself there were plenty of Foxes in the world, but then I&039;d realized your ability to disappear at will, and I had a pretty good feeling I knew exactly who you were"

"My father never married my mother," Tara told him "But he did insist that I have his name, said it would be important in the future? Will I be able to meet them? Are they friends with each other? Were they Are their hearts with the North or the South?"

"Now? Neither Like most of us, they see the travesty Half the country is stripped and beaten Great cities are burned-out ruins They want the war over," Finn said

"How do you know so much about them if you haven&039;t met the one another But we&039;ve been called to serve the same leader"

"And that is?"

"Lincoln"

She rolled on an elbow to face hiently over her face and hair, casting a glow of beauty on each Her eyes were such an unusual hazel-although, a their kind, hazel was not a rare color Still, hers seem to radiate in so many shades and hues

"I wish I kneay to make you believe My passion has been to reach Abraha in my mind that&039;s so real, I believe he has to know of it I feel that he&039;s spoken withto warn hie to be near hier," she told hiently "Most of us see that Atlanta was destroyed, and that Savannah had no hope but to surrender Soon, there will be no young men in the South-they&039;ll all be dead on the altar of sacrifice they once so nobly thought of as &039;the cause&039;"

She paused "Finn,people in the South are bitter, and they know that the punishment the South will experience will be severe when this is all done I know that you fear for Lincoln&039;s life constantly-honestly, I do, too"

She was so earnest He wanted to believe her

Or forget the war The endless years of bloodshed The , or with a pinned sleeve where a healthy arm should have been There would always be monsters in the world, and when he had chosen to becoent, he&039;d known he&039;d seek out monsters But a here families killed families, where sons died on their father&039;s land, where brothers ht die in one another&039;s arms, went beyond all cruelty in the human mind

He was startled when she reached out and touched hi his cheek

She flushed "I&039;m sorry-you seemed a million miles away for a moment," she told him

A million miles away, and yet, I sense you here so acutely that it&039;s painful, and still so seductive that I don&039;t want to be anywhere else in the world

"No, I&039; about the war," he said

"What about you?" she asked hiht?" She smiled as she asked the question

He nodded "My father was taken in an Indian fray in Illinois My h him, I was born with vampire blood, which is, of course, the same way you became this way My mother did save my dad-thankfully, since that&039;s why I am here now Years later, however, they were both killed by a rogue band of vampires I was a boy at the time Later, I was introduced to Allan Pinkerton He started off as a detective in Chicago when he was being fleeced and cheated He began to grow the agency, and with the war, ht on to protect the president-and ferret out those ere trying to kill hiht those who e to kill your father?" she asked

He looked away He could still visualize the day as he told her the story His father had becoer, including outlaws, murderers and thieves-those who preyed upon the farmers and ranchers on the frontier When the vampires had descended upon their town, Andre Dunne had led the ht the their leader But in his pitched sword battle with the leader, he&039;d lost his own life Finn had been there to take part in the battle, even at the age of twelve And when his father had lain dying, he had sent him back to care for his mother Except that when he reached their house, he found that she had been e and pain had nearly killed hi but murder But his uncle had arrived, and told him he&039;d die himself if he didn&039;t learn control-and his oer And that he needed to head into a field of higher learning so that he could best understand the world, and all the dangers within it And so, he had gone with his uncle to grow up in Chicago, and there he had met Pinkerton, and first heard of Abrahaain, the tone of her voice was sincere Her hazel eyes gazed upon hio now," he told her

"You knew them both You obviously loved them I believe that my father is out there somewhere I hope that I can find him and meet him My mother believed in hi on She said that their tiether was brief, but that she&039;d have rather been with him for a short time than with any other man for a lifetime She loved him very much And, of course, ere in Key West Not that there aren&039;t those there who believe theht of society, but still" She smiled "We are isolated, and we have a population from all over the Caribbean, so it&039;s easier to live and let live"

"And here we are," Finn ood to be close to her To rest And yet, they weren&039;t out of danger They still didn&039;t know exactly where the danger to the island had begun A rogue vampire aboard the Union ship when it had left Key West? Or so out on the water?

And there was still thethe identity of Gator

He turned to look at Tara again, but her eyes had closed She was sleeping It was the sleep of one who needed the healing of time

He rose and walked over to Captain Tremblay&039;s pallet Dr MacKay sat at the captain&039;s side, honing his sword

"How is he doing?" Finn asked

MacKay nodded "Well His color is returning, his pulse is strong He has made a complete turnabout"

Finn walked out back, where Richard and Billy were keeping watch by the fire All see," Finn told him

Richard nodded

Finn headed out to the front of the ca watch on the sea

"Anything?" Finn asked

"The night is quiet," Lafferty told him

He returned to the pallet next to Tara&039;s He eased himself down, and knew that he was exhausted, too He had to trust in the others for a few hours Feeling the heat of her body so close to his, he basked in the warain that night

She should have thought of it as a dream, but it wasn&039;t a dream It was as if a part of her traveled, and was, in truth, walking the corridors of the White House

She stood in the room Lincoln was at his desk He looked up and sood to see you, sir," she told hi with a number of papers on his desk "I take heart I still watch the casualty lists coural address" He hesitated, looking at her "I fear for ht She feels the pain of fighting her own family so deeply And she cannot bear the loss of our Willieso h down upon us all And, of course, you are here to warn ain that I must take care of ood of you to say so I have such strange dreams Of course, this is one of them, because here you are, and yet, you are not I don&039;t know you, but I feel that I will"

"Yes, I want to be near you, sir I want to protect you"

He s to protect a worn-out ive ht to hout the hard and bitter years I will see you soon?"

"God willing," Tara assured hih a field of mist

And then she was on her pallet on the little island

She blinked, awakening slowly She could hear birds chirping Beyond the tarp, she could see palht, and smiled Richard, ever faithful, was beside her

She turned to her left and flushed; she had been sleeping curled against Finn&039;s back She rabbed her arm suddenly as he looked at her

"I&039;m sorry!" she whispered

He flushed, as well "No, no, I&039;m sorry I don&039;t usually sleep so deeply"

He rose then, and she followed him He walked out to the beach and looked out to the sea; the ship still awaited the out at the ship with a spyglass

"Tiotten the enemy off the ship, so I&039;ve been told?"

"So we believe, but this ain take care," Finn said

"Aye, as you say So, I shall have you move out with the saet pulleys and levers going to reload, and our ship&039;s carpenter instructing us all as to repairing the broken mast It&039;s time, indeed, that we head out!"

"Apparently, sir, you are feeling chipper this ?" Finn asked

Tremblay smiled "Thanks to you all," he said He looked at Tara with the affection a hter "Thanks to you, so Dr MacKay tells me Child, you&039;ve saved my life I am in your debt"

Tara dropped a little curtsy to him "Captain, it was my pleasure"

"And you have suffered no ill effects?" he asked her

"None whatsoever, sir Despite our situation last night, I slept deeply"

"Well, good, then," Treic! I feel far more hale and hearty than I have in years So, onward to the day&039;s work We&039;ll fix ourThat rateful ent Dunne, and get you where you need to be"

Finn hesitated "We can&039;t head north, not directly," he said "A few of these men must return to Fort Zachary Taylor Someone must be there to warn the people of Key West, and to see that they&039;re arainst those inflicted with the disease I believe we&039;ve got the majority of the poor souls, but we don&039;t kno the infection caent Dunne," Tremblay said "The men at the fort will not take kindly to the citizens with their Southern sy heavily armed"

"If you describe the situation-you and Lafferty, Captain-the people will believe you," Finn said

Tara spoke up "The people on the island are not going to rise up and kill the soldiers Perhaps once" she said, her voice trailing away "Sir, you can&039;t let this infection get to Key West"

Tremblay rubbed his cheek and looked at Finn "Aye, it will but cost us another day"

"A meal-and on to the ship," Finn said

He took Tara&039;s ar her over to the fire There was oatmeal; she was touched to see that thesure no bugs had co offered her She drank coffee, talking with Billy The captain had announced to the o back to Key West and Billy was relieved "I&039;ve so many friends there They are coht about See shift in the wind-the arrival of so that isn&039;t quite human"

"Hoill he know-until after half the island is consus There is no explanation"

She saw that Finn was beckoning to her "I believe I&039;m with the crew to head back to the ship first," she told Billy

"You should not be," heat Finn

"Don&039;t worry, Billy," she told hireith Seminole Pete, remember? So sailor looking after her, and hurried to catch up with Finn, Richard, Lafferty, Grissom and London They headed to the ship, where it was much easier to board, as they had left the ladder down last night They repeated the efforts they had gone through the h search of the ship, they found no bodies-alive, dead or in between

Fro the others know that they could begin the laborious duty of returning their goods to the ship and breaking down the caan their journey out beyond the reefs to the ship at anchor, and pulleys and winches were set and the boarding began Billy seee supply of coconuts He grinned and told her, "Since I came to Florida, I discovered the sweet meat of the coconut Delicious And add some of the milk with lime to your portion of ru the coconuts up, laughed "Ah, well, our pretty girlie drink for our young lady, Billy Seabold A man takes his rum as he takes his rum," he said

"Well, the lime does a lot to stop the scurvy," Dr MacKay said "It&039;s just a seareater sweetness I&039;ll be happy to try one, Billy"

As the day went on, Tara discovered that she could be the greatest help by shi up the mast with London, as the ship&039;s carpenter London was adept ood and nails, and she was quite cohts In a h to set sail if the steaine before they&039;d even begun their work on the sails and hout the day And finally, just as the sun lowered in the sky, the crew let out a cry of pleasure and triuht had picked up a steady breeze, and Tremblay decided to coht to return to Key West There, they would likely be assigned another ship, as this one needed yet greater repairs

As they left the island behind, Tara stood at the boatching She felt Finn&039;s presence as he ca ht that everything I felt and knew about e in a matter of days on an island," she said at last

He was quiet