Wings of the Morning,
Kensington Chronicles #2
Lori Wick
During the nineteenth century, the palace at Kensington represented
the noble heritage of Britain's young queen and the simple
elegance of a never-to-be-forgotten era. The Victorian Age was the
pinnacle of England's dreams, a time of sweeping adventure and
gentle love. It is during this time, when hope was bright with
promise, that this series is set.
8 maine coastline
1828
the two little boys ran up the sandy beach, fiercely
brandishing their sticks as swords. As the older boy at the rear
drew close, the smaller boy dashed up into the rocks to
escape. He turned and shouted to his brother from his lofty
position.
"It's my turn to be Clancy for a while. You can be the
pirate."
"No, I'm bigger, and that makes me a better Clancy."
"But you're always Clancy," the younger boy complained.
"That's because he always wins," his brother told him
logically.
The younger boy flopped down on the rock, his "sword"
lying forgotten at his side. His brother climbed up to join him,
their gazes stretching out over the Atlantic Ocean.
"Do you suppose Clancy really did all those things we
hear about, the races and stashing the ship's hold with gold
and jewels?"
"Of course," the older boy spoke with assurance, although
he had no proof. "He was the best sailor in all the world."
"His ship," the younger lad had caught the fever now.
9"Please tell me about his ship."
The older boy's chest swelled "None faster in all the
Atlantic. Why, his ship was the fastest ship in all the world."
The younger boy let out a gusty sigh, as his gaze went to the
sea once again.
"Do you suppose he's still alive?"
"Alive? Don't be ridiculous," his brother scoffed "Why,
he'd probably be over a hundred years old if he were alive
today!"
The younger boy looked so crestfallen, the older boy took
pity on him.
"It doesn't matter. We know he was the greatest sailor to
ever live. It's enough to know that he was born and raised in
Maine and that there will never be another Clancy..."
"What's this, Papa?" the tiny moppet in the tub asked her
attentive father.
He tickled her tummy before answering. "Why, that's your
navel, Smokey."
The small three-year-old giggled and stood, dripping wet,
to leave the tub. Her father, Clancy Simmons, was waiting
with a piece of toweling. He wrapped her snugly and took the
chair by the stove in his cabin, placing Smokey in his lap to
keep her warm.
"I have five toes, Papa," she told him proudly, as she
examined the foot that protruded from the edge of the towel.
"You forgot a foot," Clancy told her. "You have ten toes."
qr t"Po you have ten toes?" Smokey wanted to know. Her
***i;smokey gray eyes stared with rapt attention into his
fc*4face.
ped, I do. It's how God made all of us."
Bitted away, and within minutes Smokey was in her
d back in her father's lap. The warmth of the
sntle rocking of the ship lulled her to sleep just
moments later. Clancy was standing over her bunk, watching
her still form, when his first mate, Darsey, joined him.
Darsey stood quietly watching the bent, graying head of
his captain and wondered at his thoughts.
"It's hard to believe she'll be four this summer," Clancy
spoke softly.
"Aye, Captain," Darsey agreed. "My sister says they grow
up before your eyes, but that it happens so fast you still feel as
though it's been a magician's trick."
"Vicky would have loved her to distraction," Clancy went
on softly. His mate had no reply.
"Well, now," Clancy spoke bracingly after a short pause,
obviously needing to pull his mind away from painful times.
"Here I am getting all soppy and putting Smokey in a wedding
dress when she's barely out of wet drawers. I've got my God,
my ship, my men, and years to enjoy my daughter. I would ask
for nothing more..."
* * *
"I'm not asking you, Smokey; I'm telling you. Mr. Tucker is joining us this voyage, and you are going to study with him."
"I don't need this Mr. Tucker. I like studying with Darsey."
Her small arms were folded across her thin chest, and her
small chin was tilted aggressively.
"You're eight years old, Smokey--" Clancy's voice was
gentle, "long past the time you should know how to read and
cipher. You've got Darsey wrapped around your finger, and
whenever you don't feel the need to study, you talk your way
out of it. It will be different with Mr. TUcker."
Smokey made no reply, and Clancy sternly held her eyes
with his own. He expected her to yield at any time and
admit that she needed training, but if anything her chin
rose yet again, and Clancy knew that stern measures were
needed.
"You'll not set foot in the galley, climb on the rigging, or
10
11
spend more than two hours on deck each day until you can
read two pages to me from a book."
All arrogance deserted Smokey, and her small shoulders
drooped. Darsey had joined them to speak to the captain, but
stayed silent when he heard Clancy's ultimatum.
"Do you mean that?" Smokey asked, her voice small.
"I'm afraid I do," Clancy's voice was kind "Your schooling
is important, and I love you too much to ignore it."
"All right," Smokey spoke after just a moment, her chin
tilted once again, this time with determination. "I'll study
with Mr. Ibcker. I'll learn to read and write and do my numbers.
You just see if I don't!"
Both men watched her walk away, one with admiration
and one consumed with worry.
"Doesn't it bother you, Captain," Darsey asked, "that with
Smokey you don't take her toys away, but instead forbid her to
climb in the rigging?"
Clancy laughed and clapped the younger man on the back.
"Darsey, you're a young man, much too young to be such a
worrier. She's never cared for dolls. And as you can see, my
words did the trick. She'll learn to read, and that's what I
wanted"
Clancy, well satisfied with the passage of events, went on
his way. Darsey, wanting to trust his legendary captain, continued
with his work...
* * *
frS^Z^"*'**"**'01* '*
pounds SXtrConW --"* SJ8hed
Dreading this old journal, the onelpicked up in the
l^^7ere1inportPeoPlethinky u'realegend1'
KudM ;? contems of h* daughter's hands wuiea the pages.
"Smokey," he began after a moment of silence, hoping
none of his men would need him just now, "people love to
create heroes
and worship the legends of their own imaginations.
They also love to exaggerate," he added softly.
"What do you mean?" Smokey's sweet, ten-year-old face
studied her father intently.
"I mean that the escapades IVe pulled have been stretched
until they are of monumental proportions. Why, to do all of the
things they claim Clancy has done, I'd have to be 200 years
old."
"But you have done some great things, haven't you?"
"Yes, I have," he admitted honestly. "I've always sailed fast
ships, and in my younger days I would never pass up a wager
or a dare. My father taught me well, and I've sailed into port
more than once with a holdful of valuables, sometimes worth
a small fortune. But there was no magic in it. I work hard, and
I'm a man who keeps my word Put simply, the merchants trust
me. I deliver, and quickly I might add When something special
comes their way, they send word to me.
"And don't forget that I was named after my father. He was
a sailor too, not as foolhardy as I've been at times, but a sailor
nevertheless. The name Clancy has been on the seas far
longer than my 60 years."
Smokey stared at her father as though seeing him for the
first time. The look did not please the older man.
"I'm still your father, Smokey." Clancy spoke with his heart
in his eyes. "I'm still the man who loves you to distraction. I've
never wanted to be a hero or a legend to you, just a good
father, bringing you up God's way."
Smokey moved from her chair then, her young arms going
around his neck. They embraced, and the young girl's anxious
thoughts melted away. It mattered not what they said about
him, truth or fiction. He was the most wonderful father a girl
could have. His words had eliminated all doubts and fears.
12
"I'm afraid, Papa," Smokey cried from her bunk as the
waves tossed their craft as though it were a toy, high and low
over the sea.
"There's nothing to fear, Smokey," the older man's face
was calm as he sat on the edge of her bunk and took her in his
arms. "You were only nine when you trusted Christ to save you
from your sins, and now you must trust Him again in this
storm. If our ship is going down, then it's His time."
A moment passed, and Smokey began to pray out loud as
she had done so many times before. When she finished talking
to the Lord, Clancy added his own prayers with quiet confidence.
When he had finished, he waited for the question. She
asked it every time there was a storm, and Gancy could never
deny her.
"Will you tell me about Mama?"
"She loved you," Clancy told her without preamble. "And
she wanted you for years. We weren't married until I was
nearly 40, and she thought she'd always be a spinster schoolarm,
without a husband or children of her own."
"But you came along," Smokey prodded him.
"That's right, and it was love at first sight. She gave notice
to the school board, and we were married that summer. We
both assumed we would have children right away, but it wasn't
to be. We waited years, and had actually given up. Then God
gifted us with you."
"And you named me after Mama."
"That's right. She didn't want it, but I love the name
Victoria, so she gave in."
Then she died," Smokey added on a soft, somber note.
"Yes. It was God's time, and I know she's with Him,"
ocy's voice was equally quiet. "She wasn't a young woman,
fr body just seemed so worn out after the birth. She had
(erly aunt and a sister who offered to take you, but I
ft leave you. I knew your place was with me. If only
feer could see you now. Twelve years old." Clancy
e until that moment that she'd finally fallen
13
asleep. The storm still raged without, but Smokey was now in
dreamland.
Clancy rose, balancing himself with the ease of an experienced
sailor and repeated softly to himself once again, "If
only she could see you now..."
* * *
"When can I see her?"
"Be patient. You're supposed to have developed some
patience at your age."
"You make me sound ancient."
"Sixteen," Clancy stated with a twinkle in his eye. "Most
girls are married and raising a family at your age."
"I'd be all for that, if he wanted to live aboard ship."
Clancy laughed, but Smokey didn't hear him. She'd finally
spotted the other ship, and Clancy stood back and watched
the look of delight on her face.
"Oh, Papa," she breathed in soft reverence as she gazed at
the neat, sparkling ship floating opposite them. "She's beautiful.
What's her name?"
"TheAmmfc."
"Are you really going to buy her?" Smokey had yet to look
at her father as she talked
"I already have."
These words were enough to bring Smokey's head around
She gave a whoop of delight over the look on his face. Her arms
came around him for a quick hug before she dashed to the
railing for a better look at their new ship. Darsey was already
there.
"Isn't she something, Darsey? I'm going to sail her someday."
Darsey ruffled her dark cap of curls with real affection. "A
little thing like you? Why, you can't even see over the wheel,"
he teased her.
19
'Just you wait/' Smokey teased right back. "I'll be tall
enough--someday I'll be a regular giant..."
* * *
"You said I'd be taller," Smokey good-naturedly told her
father the morning of her eighteenth birthday.
Clancy smiled and kissed her brow. "Happy birthday,
Smokey."
Smokey smiled in return, and Clancy studied her for a
moment.
"You're not really bothered by your size, are you?"
Smokey shrugged. "Sometimes. I don't really care to look
like a little girl my whole life."
Clancy slowly shook his head. His eyes took in the huge
gray eyes in a heart-shaped face, the mass of shining black
waves that fell from her head, and her slim form, knowing how
shapely it was beneath her baggy, practical garments.
"You might not be very big, but you don't look like a little
girl. If you don't believe me, ask Russell."
Smokey grinned. Russell was the son of another sea captain.
He was two years younger than Smokey and quite in love
with her. She had no interest in him beyond that of a friend,
but it was nice to be reminded that she was attractive in
someone's eyes, even if she never dressed in a feminine way.
Dresses and skirts were simply not sensible aboard ship,
and there were times when Smokey didn't feel the least bit like
a woman. Of course, to give up the boy's garb would mean to 0tve up her jobs aboard ship--no climbing the rigging, no
dtefictag on deck with Darsey, and no helping when coming
''port or casting off.
a surprise gift for you." Clancy cut into Smokey's
I thoughts, and she glanced around the room.
te
* Clancy spoke as he led the way out of the room.
^topped by the wheel. He turned and looked
15
expectantly at his daughter, but Smokey saw nothing out of
the ordinary. The only thing on deck that wasn't normally
there was a wooden box, about 18 inches high and sitting right
in front of the wheel. Smokey put a foot out to touch it.
"It won't shift. I had Darsey nail it down," her father said
"Why?"
"Because that's your birthday present."
Smokey could only stare at him and then at the box. When
she raised her eyes once again, Clancy continued
"If you're going to captain this ship on our next voyage,
you have to be able to see over the wheel."
"I'm going to captain?" Smokey asked, not quite able to believe
her ears.
"That's right. I've word that there's a load of perfect wool
to be had in Australia. If you want it, you'll have to go after
it."
"And you?"
"I'll serve as mate and take orders with everyone else."
Smokey's grin nearly split her face. She rose on tiptoe and
kissed his cheek before turning to speak to "her" men.
"Lay up stores," she told them. "We're headed out, and it'll
be a long time before we're home..."
* * *
"Do you ever wish we could stay here longer, Smokey? I
mean live here and have a real home?"
Smokey stared at her father across their small parlor in
disbelief. He was 70 now, but had changed little. Smokey never
thought of him as old
"I've never known anything but the sea, Papa, I realize 20 is not very old, but we've never really tried to make this a
home, and I much prefer my cabin on the Aramis to my room
in this house."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure," she told him with a loving smile.
20
"What about after I'm gone?" Gancy went on, surprising
her again.
Realizing how little they'd spoken of this, Smokey hesitated
"Well, I don't expect to have to face that for a good 20
years, so I guess I won't worry about it now."
Clancy nodded and watched as his lovely daughter went
back to her writing.
She's never had anyone but me and the crew, he thought
to himself as he studied her bent head I'll have to bring it up
again sometime. We can't pretend I'll be here forever. And
when I go, then what will she do?...
"What will I do, Darsey?" Smokey asked, as her father's
carefully wrapped body was lowered into the Atlantic waves
on August 16,1848.
"He was 73, and had a wonderful, full life, but I've had him