'Our cargo is here. Get it loaded,' he ordered Hennesey.

'Skelly. Get it done,' the mate passed the command on to the young deckhand.

'Sir,' the girl acknowledged him and jumped lightly across to the dock. Big Eider moved to help her. Leftrin remained where he was, watching his passengers approach. They reached the end of the dock and the man visibly recoiled at the sight of the long, low barge that awaited them. Leftrin chuckled quietly as the fellow looked about, obviously hoping there was some other vessel waiting to convey them upriver. Lace. The dandy had lace at the neck of his shirt and showing at the cuffs of his jacket. Then the man looked directly up at Leftrin and he composed his face.

'Is this the Tarman?' he asked, almost desperately.

'It is indeed. And I'm Captain Leftrin. I assume you're my passengers, in need of swift transport to Cassarick. Welcome aboard.'

The man once more cast a wild glance about. 'But— I thought—' He watched in horror as one of their heavy cases teetered on the Tarman's railing before sliding with a thump to land safely on the deck. He turned to his female companion, 'Alise, this isn't wise. This ship isn't a proper place for a lady. We'll just have to wait. It can't hurt for us to take a day or two in Trehaug. I've always been curious about this city, and we've scarcely glimpsed it.'

'We've no choice, Sedric. Paragon will stay here at Trehaug for ten days at most. The journey from here to Cassarick will take two days, and we have to allot two more days to travel back and meet Paragon before he sails. That gives us only six days in Cassarick, at most.' The woman's voice was calm and throaty, with a hint of sadness in it. The veiling on her hat concealed most of her face, but Leftrin glimpsed a small determined chin and a wide mouth.

'But, well, but Alise, six days should be more than ample, if what Captain Trell told us about the dragons is true. So we can wait here a day, or even two if need be, and find more appropriate transport up the river.'

Skelly was not paying any attention to the quibbling passengers. She had her orders from the mate and that was who she obeyed. She was waving to Hennesey who had swung a small cargo derrick over the side. Hennesey released the line and the girl deftly caught the swinging hook and began making it fast to the wardrobe trunk. Eider and Bellin were standing by to bring it aboard. Leftrin's crew was good; they'd have the passenger's luggage loaded while the man was still chewing on his lip. Best find out their intentions now rather than to have to offload it all.

'You can wait,' Leftrin told the man. 'But I don't think you'll find anything else going upriver in the next few days. Not much traffic between Trehaug and Cassarick right now. And what there is will be a lot smaller than I, am. Still, it's your choice. But you'll need to make it quickly. I've already waited longer than I should have. I've appointments of my own to keep.'

And that was true. The urgently-worded missive from the Traders' Council at Cassarick sounded as if it could mean a nice little profit for him, if he undertook their rather dubious mission. Leftrin grinned. He already knew he'd take on the task. He'd taken on most of the supplies he'd need for the journey here in Trehaug. But leaving the Traders' Council in doubt until the last possible minute was one way to push the price up. By the time he reached Cassarick, they'd be ready to promise him the moon. So delaying for these passengers was not really that much of an annoyance. He leaned on the railing to ask, 'You aboard or not?'

He was waiting for the man to respond to his words, so he was surprised when the woman replied to him. She tipped her head back to speak to him, and the sun reached through her gauzy veil to reveal her features. Her stance reminded him of a flower turning its face to the sun. She had large grey eyes set wide apart in a heart-shaped face. She had bundled her hair out of the way, but what he could see of it was dark-red and curling. Freckles sprinkled her nose and cheeks generously. Another man might have seen her mouth as too generous for her face, but not Leftrin. The single darting glance she gave him seemed to look, not into his eyes but into his heart. And then she looked aside, too proper to meet a strange man's eyes.

'. . . no choice, really,' she was saying, and he wondered what words he had missed. 'We'll be happy to go with you, sir. I'm sure your boat will suit us admirably.' A rueful smile twitched at her lips and as she turned her attention to her companion, Leftrin felt a pang of loss as she tilted her head and apologized to him sweetly. 'Sedric, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you were dragged into this whole mess with me, and ashamed that I must drag you from one boat to the next without even a cup of tea or a few hours on dry land to settle you. But you see how it is. We must go.'

'Well, if it's a cup of tea you'd like, that's something I can brew up for you here in the galley. And if it was dry land you were after, well, there's little of that in Trehaug, or anywhere else in the Rain Wilds. So you haven't missed it, it was never there. Come on aboard and welcome.'

That brought her eyes back to his. 'Why, Captain Leftrin, how kind of you,' she exclaimed, and the sincere relief in her voice warmed him. She lifted the veiling on her hat to look at him directly, and he nearly lost his breath.

He seized the railing and swung over it, dropping lightly to the dock. He sketched a bow to her. Surprised, she took two small steps backward. Young Skelly made a small sound that might have been a giggle. Her captain shot her a glare and she quickly went back to work. Leftrin turned his attention back to the woman.

'Tarman may not look as fancy as some of the other ships you've seen, but he'll carry you safely upriver where few vessels as large as he is can manage to go. Shallow draught, you know. And a crew that knows how to find the best channel when the current takes to wandering. You wouldn't want to wait for one of those little toy boats to carry you. They might look a bit fancier than my Tarman, but they rock like a bird cage in the wind and their crews battle to push them against the current. You'll be far more comfortable with us. May I assist you in boarding, ma'am?' He grinned at her and dared to stick out his arm for her to take. She glanced at it uncertainly, then at her disapproving companion. The man merely folded his lips. He was no husband of hers, or Leftrin was certain he would have objected. Better and better.

'Please,' Leftrin urged her, and it was only when she set her smooth white glove on the rough, stained fabric of his shirt sleeve that he was recalled to the obvious difference in their stations. She glanced down as he looked at her, and he admired her lashes against her freckled cheeks. 'This way,' he told her, and led her to the rough planks that served as a gangway for the Tarman. The ramp creaked and shifted as they trod it, and she gave a small involuntary gasp and gripped his arm tighter. There was a bit of a jump down from the end of the plank to the barge deck. He wished he dared set his hands to her waist and lift her down. Instead, he offered his arm again for her to steady herself on. She leaned heavily on his arm and then gamely hopped. He saw a flash of white petticoat before she landed safely beside him.

'And here we are,' he said genially.

A moment later, the man landed with a thud beside them. He glanced at the trunks that Skelly was lashing down with the other deck cargo. 'Here, we'll be needing those brought to our cabins,' he exclaimed.

'No private cabins on the Tarman, I'm afraid. 'Course, I'll be happy to give up my stateroom to the lady for the trip to Cassarick. You and me will have to bunk with the crew in the deckhouse. Not roomy, but as it's only for a couple of days, I'm sure we can manage.'