By some instinct that she had, Marie had arrived at Nesshaven. She was waiting with the women, staring at Watters through moist eyes. "I thought you were dead," she said.
He looked at her for a long minute before replying. "No," he said, "I"m alive."
She helped him out of the boat, her hands warm and secure on his arm. "I thought you were dead," she repeated. "I was told you were drowned."
Watters winced as the blows from blackjack and baton took painful effect. "Not quite. How are you?"
"I"m all right. How did you get here? What happened?" As Marie became more used to his company, her voice raised. "You disappear for days, and then step out of a fishing boat as if nothing had happened!" Sudden anger had replaced Marie"s concern, but Watters could not spare time for explanations.
Stoo
