Daniel led Autumn to the cabin next to Robert's. He opened the door. He let her go into the room first. She looked around. A bed was bolted to the wall on the right side of the room. A small table with a basin on top of it stood by the opposite wall. A closet was by the wall she was facing. She guessed that was where the dresses were. She turned to Daniel.
"This room is nice," she said. "Thank you for taking me here. The big man holding me scared me."
"That is Jim," he said. "He frightens me also."
"Who is the black haired man?" she asked.
"That is the captain, Robert MacDarren," Daniel said. "I am Daniel McDuff."
"What ocean are we in?" she asked.
"Indian Ocean," he said. "This ship is called Lily.
"Oh," she said. "Did Mr. MacDarren name it after his wife?"
Daniel shook his head. "His mother," he said.
She nodded. She wondered why she felt relieved. She shook her head.
"Do you truly do not know how you got on this ship?" he asked.
She nodded. "The last thing I remember is being in a car accident and flying out of the windshield," she said.
"What is a 'car'?" he asked.
"It is also called an automobile," she said.
Daniel looked at her in confusion. "I do not know what an 'automobile' is," he said.
She looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise. "Do you know what a buggy pulled by a horse is?" she asked.
He nodded.
"Well, an automobile is like a buggy," she said. "Only without the horses."
"How does it move?" he asked..
"With a motor," she said. "It also has a roof and windows in front, sides, and back."
"What is a 'motor'?" he asked.
"It's an engine," she said. "Like a train has. Only smaller."
He nodded. "I think I can picture an automobile now," he said. "And the accident will explain the gash on your temple."
Her hand threw to her head. She winced as she lightly touched it. So that is why my head hurt when Mr. MacDarren touched me, she thought.
"Do you have a bathroom where I can wash the blood?" she asked.
"Bathroom?" he said.
"This ship doesn't have a bathroom?" she asked, alarmed. "Where do you suppose to... You know."
He blushed. "You use a chamber pot," he said, pointing to the table.
She groaned. On the floor by the table was a chamber pot. She recognized it from a museum. People used to use it to pee in before there were toilets.
"What year is it?" she asked.
"Why, it is seventeen seventeen," he said.
"Oh," she said. Then she fainted.
Daniel felt panic rise in his throat. He wasn't sure if he wanted to get the captain. The captain would probably just yell at him again. No matter what Daniel did, he never seemed to please the man he idolized. He decided instead to lay her on the bed.
He bent down. He put one arm behind her and the other arm under her knees. He slowly picked her up. He was afraid that he would drop her. He walked to the bed. He gently put her on it. He took a bucket and went outside to take water from the sea. He filled the bucket. He walked back to Autumn's cabin. He took his handkerchief out of his pocket. He got it wet. He touched it to her face. He bathed her face. Soon, her eyelids flickered open.
"What happened?" she asked.
"You fainted, Ms. Maxwell," he said.
She took his hand. "Please call me Autumn," she said.
He blushed. She looked up at him. He had short blond hair and green eyes. He was also tall, almost as tall as Robert. His face was gentle. He also had hight-cheekbones and well-shaped lips. His rolled up sleeves showed bronze colored skin. He was also muscular.
"How old are you, Daniel?" she asked.
A shiver went down his spine at the sound of his name on her lips. "Twenty-one," he said.
She raised an eyebrow in surprise. When she first saw him, she thought him a boy. She looked at him harder. Now she could see that he was a man.
"Why did you faint, Ms. Max-I mean Autumn?" he asked.
"Because you said that I was in the year seventeen seventeen," she said. "The last time I looked, it was the year two thousand."
His eyes widened. "Are you trying to tell me that you-" he started.
"Traveled through time," she finished for him. "I'm from the future. That's why I drive an automobile and dress like a man."
Now he looked like he was going to faint. She quickly sat up and pulled him down next to her. She took his hand again. She looked at him worriedly.
"Daniel," she said, "are you all right?"
"I-I find it hard to believe," he said.
"I know," she said, patting his hand with her free one. "I find it hard to believe, too."
He looked at her. "May I ask how old you are?" he asked.
"I'm nineteen."
"So young to be far from home."
"Not really. I've been far from home before. Once when I was ten."
"You will be homesick."
"I guess so. What about you? Don't you miss your home?"
"I have no home," he said bitterly. "My family is dead."
"Oh, Daniel," she said softly. She laid her head against his shoulder. "It must be awful for you."
He didn't say anything. She could tell he was upset. She rubbed his arm. He felt his tenson mngelt under her stroking. He shivered at the sensation that ran up his arm. He found that he liked having her touch him. He also liked her head lying against his shoulder.
"How long have you been on this ship?" she asked.
"Six years," he said. "I was fifteen and my family had just died. I was in town looking for work when I overheard Captain MacDarren saying he needed a cabin boy. I went up to him and said I would be interested in the job. Now here I am."
"That was brave of you," she said. "I wouldn't have been able to do that."
"But it doesn't matter anymore," he said. "Nothing I say or do pleases Captain MacDarren. I am worthless. Just like the crew says."
Her hand tightened around his. "No, Daniel," she said. "No. Don't ever think that. You are worth something. If Captain MacDarren can't see how good you are, then he's a stupid man."
