Ann had followed the doctor inside the cabin and now stood behind him. “She complained of being sore.”

“Aching in her joints?” Joseph pressed a hand to Sarah’s forehead.

“Guess so,” Ann replied. “That and being tired.”

Joseph slipped his arms underneath Sarah. “I’m taking her to my cabin so I can examine her more thoroughly and administer something to help bring her fever under control.”

Mercy nodded.

As Joseph stood with the girl, she opened the door for him. And as he stepped out onto the deck and started striding away, she remained where she was in the doorway. She was torn between wanting to be with Sarah and needing to keep her distance from Joseph.

“You ought to accompany her, Mercy,” he said over his shoulder without breaking his stride. “She’ll want you by her side.”

Mercy let out a sigh, turned and grabbed her cloak, and wrapped it around her nightgown. Joseph was right. No matter the rules, she had to stay with Sarah. Besides, she could be back in her cabin before Mr. Scott or Mrs. Robb became any wiser.

Not bothering with her shoes, Mercy raced after Joseph. The deck beneath her bare feet was frigid, the night air blowing off the open sea freezing. Sometimes she forgot they were still near the bottom of the world, where the weather was winter-like.

Once inside Joseph’s cabin, she helped him lay Sarah out on the bed. Then for some time she worked with him at trying to bring Sarah’s fever down. Finally, the medicine he’d given Sarah began to calm her thrashing.

As the girl rested more peacefully, the light of dawn brightened the porthole and cabin. “I must go,” Mercy whispered.

Joseph stood at his counter, the lantern illuminating his medicines as he worked to mix another concoction. At her quiet declaration, his movements stilled along with the clinking of glass.

“I’ll take Sarah with me,” she said, not wanting to burden Joseph any longer with the girl’s care.

Joseph pivoted, a small glass bottle in one hand and a stirring stick in his other. “She cannot leave here, Mercy.” His grave expression sent a shiver through Mercy.

“I have to get back to my cabin before Mr. Scott figures out I’ve been gone.”

He shook his head. “I’m quarantining Sarah here until I’m certain she’s not contagious.”

“Contagious, sir?”

“It’s quite possible she has smallpox.”

Mercy pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

“Her symptoms point to the disease. But I shan’t know for certain until I see if she develops a rash.”

Outbreaks of smallpox happened regularly in London. The disease spread rapidly, leaving both children and adults dead or disfigured with blister scars. The afflicted were always shunned, fear rising up to take the place of common decency.

“Have you experienced smallpox,” Joseph asked, “or perhaps been inoculated?”

She shook her head.