Her period didn't come for the next two months. Her appetite changed and every morning she was sick. Sara noticed a change inside Autumn. She decided to talk to her. She found her in her cabin.
Autumn looked up as Sara came in. "Hello, Sara," she said. "What brings you here?"
"I have noticed changes in you," Sara said. "Are you pregnant?"
Autumn burst into tears. "Yes," she sobbed. "I'm pregnant."
"You have to go back to Daniel," Sara said. "You have to tell him that you are with child. He has a right to know."
"I can't possibly tell him," Autumn said. "I couldn't face him."
"Think of your baby," Sara said. "It needs it's father."
"I can't," Autumn said. "I just can't."
"All right then," Sara said. She handed a book to Autumn. "Robert found this. I thought you would want to read it. It's Daniel's journal." She left.
Autumn stared at the book. She knew she couldn't read it. She picked it up. She foudn herself opening it. It talked about his family getting sick and dying.
January 15th, it read. I just finished burying Maria. She was so young. Why did God decide to take my family away from this earth? I feel so weak and tired. I wonder if I am getting the disease. I do not want to die, journal. I want to live.
Daniel didn't write in it again until a month later. February 17th, he wrote. God decided to let me live. Mary Ann cared for me while I was sick. I still feel weak. I have decided that once I have my strength back, I am leaving McDuff Manor. There is nothing left for me here. My family is dead. Maybe I will find a job on a pirate ship. I can be a cabin boy.
Autumn skimmed the journal. She stopped when she got to the day she arrived on the ship for the first time. Journal, you will not believe what happened today, he wrote. Jim and I found a stowaway aboard the ship. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and she was wearing the strangest clothing I have ever seen. Her name is Autumn Maxwell. She's the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.
We talked and she told me she was from the future. Women can dress like a man and people ride in things called an automobile. She is fascinating. The crew members came into her cabin and wanted to touch her. I told them that she was my fiancee. I told that lie to protect her. They had her kiss me and she did! It was my first kiss ever. It felt like Heaven. I wasn't sure what to do, but once we started, suddenly I knew. I think I am in love with her.
Tears filled Autumn's eyes. Oh, Daniel, she thought longingly. Her eyes caught the entry on the day she was attacked.
I am so angry, journal, she read. John tried to rape Autumn. I managed to be there before he took her virginity. I shot him. Captain MacDarren warned him. To make matters worse, he damanged her vocal cords. Now she cannot speak. I wish I could kill that bastard all over again. I am afraid that she will be afraid of intimacy. When I came into her cabin after I shot John, she did not recognize me at first. She threw things at my head. A book she threw got me at the temple. But she does not know that. After I kissed her, she recognized me. I was glad. The only man that she will let touch her is me. It only makes me love her more.
It was the last entry he had written. I must have forgotten to pack it when we left the ship, she thought. She closed the book and clutched it to her chest. She knew that she needed to get back to Daniel. She needed to tell him that she was pregnant with his child.
She went to Robert's cabin and told him the news. He agreed to put her on a carriage as soon as they reached port. She went to her cabin and packed. She made sure she put his journal in her trunk. She knew he would want it.
They arrived at port a month later. Autumn's stomach was starting to round itself. She knew she was at least three months pregnant. Maybe more, she thought. She got on a carriage and rode it to Jackson.
Nighttime was falling as the carriage neared Daniel's home. Suddenly, she saw smoke rising into the sky. Soon she saw a fire. Slowly she realized that McDuff Manor was on fire. She gasped. She made the driver stop. She got down from the carriage and ran toward the house. She had to get Daniel out of there.
Flames consumed the entire house. She could feel the heat. She tried to find the front door. She saw Mary Ann. She ran over to her.
"Where's Daniel?" she asked.
"Still inside," Mary Ann said. "He will not come out. He said that without you, he did not find a reason to live."
Tears filled Autumn's eyes. Suddenly she realized that without him, she couldn't find a reason to live. She realized that she loved him. She had found her soulmate and she realized it too late. She moved closer to the house.
"Daniel!" she screamed. "Daniel, it's me, Autumn! I came back. I love you! Please come out!"
The seconds ticked away slowly. Suddenly, she saw a figure. They stumbled toward her. It wasn't until they got closer until she saw who it was.
"Daniel!" she cried.
She ran to him. She threw her arms around him. His arms came around her.
"Autumn," he said. "Is it you?"
"Yes, my love," she said. "Yes."
Her joy was cut short. Suddenly, Mary Ann shouted at them. They turned and saw a horse running toward them. The horse knocked them to the ground. Daniel's grip on her loosened. The world went black.
A sound of something beeping woke her up. At first Autumn didn't recognize the room. When her eyes came into focus, she saw white walls. She was lying in a bed. Her arm was hooked to an IV. A heart monitor beeped beside her. Her heart jolted when she realized where she was.
She was in a hospital room.
