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e m ov e too qu i ck l y , sh e ’d cl a ng lik e th e b e lls of S t . Pa ul’s .
    Fa th e r sn a rl e d out an o a th as h e thr e w up a h a nd a nd turn e d awa y fro m h e r to p a c e. W hich , am ong oth e r things , mea nt h e fu ll y e xp e ct e d h e r to continu e st ea ling . S o e v e n h e did not fu ll y b e li e v e in his curr e nt luck . Pe rh a ps h e wa s l ea rning .
    S h e ought not h a v e b a it e d hi m. I t wa s h e r f a ult th e y w e r e poor . And sh e o we d hi m m uch th a t h e h a dn’t toss e d h e r out on h e r ear y ea rs ago. I t wou l d be easier to r e fr a in fro m doing so if Fa th e r wou l d si m ply t e ll h e r wh e r e h e ’d gott e n th e m on e y . But sh e wou l d not ruin this n e w h a ppin e ss . W h a t did it hurt to pl a c a t e hi m ? Soon sh e wou l d be w ith Ma rtin . S h e wou l d be a w if e. A p a rtn e r .
    She s t ood and f o r ced a sm il e. “ We ll done, Fa t he r . I w i sh you g r ea t success. ” And she d i d. Mo r e t han he wou l d eve r know.
    He g a v e h e r a tight nod b e for e rubbing th e b a ck of his n e ck . “ T his is our ch a nc e, M ir a nd a. ” T h e gl eam wa s b a ck in his e y e s , f am ili a r a nd f e v e r e d . S h e tri e d to t e ll h e rs e lf it wou l d not l ea d to troubl e as it h a d don e b e for e.
    “ When w ill you have t he sh i p r eady? ”
    “ T h e e nd of Ma y , ” s a id Fa th e r . “ I ’d lik e it to go soon e r but th e r e is too m uch to do. Any l a t e r a nd th e cr ew w ill f a c e d a ng e rous s ea s . ” I n truth , th e y f a c e d d a ng e rous s ea s by going in Ma y , for th e ship wou l d be skirting th e hurric a n e
     
    season when it came upon t he sou t he r n coas t of Ame ri ca.
    M ir anda t ook ano t he r deep b r ea t h and s t ood. “ We ll t hen, ” he r mou t h cou l dn ’t qu it e f o r m a sm il e, “if you w ill excuse me, I wou l d li ke t o fr eshen up be f o r e d i nne r . ” She paused. “ Who i s cook i ng it , by t he way? ”
    He r f a t he r sm il ed. “ I h ir ed a girl t o do t he cook i ng and c l ean i ng. ” He moved t o t ouch M ir anda ’ s cheek bu t s t opped as t hough t h i nk i ng be tt e r of it . “ So t ha t you may f ocus on o t he r t h i ngs. ”
    O t he r t h i ngs. Those o t he r t h i ngs cu rr en tl y ma rr ed t he li ne of he r sk irt s. A bemused sm il e fi na ll y pu ll ed at he r li ps. “ I see. ”
    “ T his v e ntur e w ill be th e ma king of me, ” h e r f a th e r s a id w ith sudd e n ea rn e stn e ss .
    U nfortun a t e l y , h e h a d s a id it a ll b e for e.

Chapter 4
S o m e w h e r e i n C e n t r a l M e x i c o , M a r c h 16 , 188 1
    D r u m s beat i n c e ss a n t l y , a n d t h e c h a n t i n g — a s o n g Arch e r could not gr a sp — puls e d ov e r hi m, ma king hi m sw a y . T h e sh ama n , a s ma ll ma n w ith w ea th e r e d skin th e color of am b e r , d a nc e d at a str a ng e p a c e, whil e sh a king th e bow in his h a nd .
    S udd e n l y , Arch e r f e lt foolish . F oolish a nd a lon e. H o w could th e s ma ll button - sh a p e d disks of this subst a nc e th e y c a ll e d p e yot e possibly cur e hi m ? T h e pl a nt wa s b e yond bitt e r in t a st e. He h a d been giv e n a subst a nti a l am ount , m uch m or e th a n a ny of th e oth e rs . N o w his gut convuls e d , th e urg e to vo m it high on his list of co m pl a ints . H is e ntir e body shudd e r e d just th e n .
    Bu t t h i s was no t a cu r e, was it ? The shaman had fi na ll y exp l a i ned t he p r ocess. A r che r wou l d no t be cu r ed. The d r ug w o u l d t a k e h i m t o a n o t h er r ea l i t y , a cc o r d i n g t o S m i t h ’ s tr ans l a ti on. Once t he r e, A r che r s i mp l y had t o ask f o r t he answe r s. Ask f o r wha t he wan t ed.
    He suppr e ss e d a sigh a nd look e d up at th e bl a ck v e l v e t clo a k of th e night sky . S o ma ny st a rs h e r e, lik e cryst a llin e b ea ding