Categories > Original > Romance > TAKEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Mr. Levit rowed me ashore. During the trip, I noticed a second small wooden boat off to our right. The darkness prevented my seeing more than its presence. At the dock, Walks Softly greeted my escort. Levit asked after Mr. Street and it pleased me we could make a happy report on his continued health. After Mr. Levit departed and Walks Softly asked, “Will you sleep aboard this night?”
“Nay, I shall return to Jasmine’s.”
“Let us see you there.”
I shook my head. “I have my own ship. I shall walk free as any man.” I hugged him tightly. “Thank you for the use of your strong shoulder, my friend. I have leaned upon it enough for one night.”
“Lili, there is no reason to risk some rutting buck’s lust.”
I sighed. “Ever do you balk at firsts for me, save when it meets with your agenda. I have had my first battle, my first wound. Let this be a first as well.”
He nodded slowly.
I pointed my finger at him. “I know your red man’s stealthy ways. Do not seek to follow undetected.”
I thought I saw a flash of white teeth as he turned. It amused him when I spoke to him thusly, more like a sister than captain.
The waning moon provided little light during the walk. However, to help insure patrons’ safety, Jasmine had seen to the installation of tall posts rigged with hanging lanterns along the crushed shell road to her establishment. I had not yet reached the halfway mark when something made me listen more closely. Behind me somewhere, ground crunched underfoot.
Someone followed me. Not my friend. He would never have given himself away.
Instead of stopping, I carried on as if I had heard nothing. In a few moments more, I became convinced a number of entities followed me, moving on either side of the road. A thrill of warning swept me. I followed instinct and dropped to a crouch. A boarding ax flipped end over end passed me. As if conjured close by some sorcerer’s spell, mayhaps a score men swarmed about me. I drew my sword and pistol. Only one shot, and I made it count, taking one man and flipping him backward into two. I wove a web of steel about myself, my mind going clear and cold.
The vibration of contact reverberated up my arm. I twisted, parried, thrust, hacked and slashed. I saw faces. Yet, could not know them for men. A pack of wolves attacked me. Wolves armed with cutlass, ax, gun, saber and knife. Screams and grunts. A large bore pistol appeared before my face and I used my blade to send it skyward. A harsh blow to the back of my head sent me on hand and knee. Vision dimmed. I rolled, came to my feet. Knowing my life depended upon it, I forced myself to fight. Vicious hands scratched and grabbed. I felt my flesh part under slicing edges.
I heard a voice I knew well. James.
Even as the darkness closed over me in an irresistible liquid wave, I rebelled and defied my death.
#
Pain.
With a violent jerk, I came awake.
“Easy, sweet.”
James’ voice sent me spiraling into aggressive panic. I battled the hands that sought to return me to a reclined position. My muscles burned. My skin felt raw, stiff and stretched too taut. I blinked to attempt clearing my vision. Candles. Or was it fire? Then, suddenly Walks Softly and Etienne joined me in Hell and I had champions to protect me.
“Lili,” Walks Softly said, “You are safe at Jasmine’s.”
“He tried to have me killed.” My voice quavered. I could not seem to make my limbs respond further.
“Nay,” Etienne soothed, “he saved you.”
“Do not leave me alone with him. I beg of you.” Darkness beckoned again.
“She’s broken the stitches in her back,” I heard James say. How could he sound so concerned when he had attempted to murder me with his pack of assassins?
#
My lids seemed weighted as I struggled to lift them. I recognized my bedchamber at Jasmine’s. I lie propped at an angle against the headboard. Early morning light made the butter-colored moiré walls glow. Cautiously, I lifted my hands and examined the bandages I felt. Dark rusty-looking stains showed through over my knuckles.
A keen awareness pricked me and I turned my head sharply. Pain streaked through my skull as I saw James seated in a chair next to the bed. “Why are you here? What happened to me?” My voice sounded rough and dry as my throat felt.
He poured water into a mug and brought it to me. I fought the urge to cringe as he sat on the bed’s edge. Taking the vessel from him, I sipped the cool liquid.
“Last night,” he said, “as you returned here, a group of men attacked you.”
Disjointed memories skittered just beyond full recall. “I heard your voice," I accused. “You were there.”
“I rowed ashore when you and Mr. Levit did.” His gaze moved over my face. “I intended to follow and see where you slept.”
“I am to believe that?”
His gaze met mine and I steeled myself against the earnestness and gentleness there. “Whatever I may have spoken in spirit- and pain-induced lunacy, Lili, I could never hurt you.”
I shifted to more easily drink and a white-hot knife of pain stabbed my back above my right shoulder blade. “How am I wounded?”
“You suffered a blow to the head and a nasty cut on your back. The rest you may examine yourself.” He reached for the bedclothes and hesitated as my impulse to draw back won out. “I swear on the souls of my family, you need never fear harm at my hands.”
I let him draw back the covers and help me sit up straighter. I wore an oversized shirt that surely belonged to one of my male companions, several bandages and nothing else. Having James so close caused me to tremble. I inventoried my cuts, bruises and abrasions finding them uncomfortable, yet minor. The jabbing agony in my skull had subsided to a throbbing ache. I reached back, finding the knot and five stitches in my scalp. “Where are Etienne and Walks Softly? This offense must be answered.”
“It shall.” Leashed ferocity colored his tone. “They and Gamboa have taken the bodies by wagon to the docks to display in warning.”
“Who is responsible? Aguia?” I finished the water and set the mug on the bedside table.
“He is not in port and the dead are not recognized as being among his crew or confederates.”
Rage flooded me. I grit my teeth as I turned from him and swung my legs off the bed. “I shall show any lingering back-attacking bastards that I do not die easily.”
“You must remain abed. Walks Softly-“
“Walks Softly thinks of healing. I think of retribution.” I stood, weaving a bit on my feet.
James hurried around to steady me. Concern filled his voice. “Please, Lili. Let us handle this.”
“I will not!” Raising my voice threatened to split my head. “If you wish to aid me, then help me to dress.”
We stared at each other a long moment. Then, he went to the armoire, gathered the needed garments and returned. He laced the half-corset over the shirt as I stepped into pantilettes. I donned breeches with a great deal of assistance, then he fastened a leather jack over the shirt. Pulling on my boots caused my vision to tunnel briefly. I stood clutching the bedpost, beating back dizziness and nausea as he buckled on my sword and hung the pistol in its loop. To my surprise, he took its mate from his own waist and placed it at mine.
“They are a pair,” he said. “They belong together.”
I managed to brush and braid my hair. I caught him watching and realized what he must think. “I cut it,” I said about my tresses. The locks hung half as long as before I left his island.
“It made it wavier,” he observed.
Walking proved arduous. Every step jarred my back. The sun beat down upon my head until I thought the pain might blind me. Heads turned and murmurs rippled as we walked the street leading to the harbor. I clenched my jaw and bore my pains. Etienne, Walks Softly and Diego stood beside the gruesomely burdened wagon talking with a small group of men. Surprise and concern flashed in their faces. My mission seemed to dawn upon them and they schooled themselves, behaving as if they had expected me to arrive.
“What do we know?” I braced my feet apart, made eye contact with each of the strangers.
Etienne replied, “This man,” he nodded to a small wiry man, “says he recognizes one of the dead as Francesco the Red. A man who claimed himself Aguia’s bastard.”
The splitting of my skull made logic more difficult. “I was to be a gift?”
“Perhaps.” Etienne spoke to the little man in Spanish, then added, “I think if he had ever had contact with Aguia, he would have known his sire wanted you alive. We have likely learned all we shall.”
“Very well. Where is Christopher?”
Diego answered, “When he knew you had passed beyond danger, he put himself to the task of combing taverns for information. In the humor he departed, those questioned may soon further fill this conveyance.”
I had endured all I could and maintain my façade of invulnerability. “I must see to the Lilith. Walks Softly, will you accompany me?”
We took one of the Lilith’s small wooden boats and my friend manned the oars. I sat heavily upon the seat. Assured of privacy, I queried, “How indebted am I to James?”
“He saved your life.”
“What is the proper payment?”
He made a sound that might have been mirth or disgust. “He will accept nothing.”
“I am hardly the fighter I believed myself.”
“James states the opposite,” he countered. “You had killed all but five when he reached you. And even sinking from consciousness, you continued to fight.”
I rubbed the butt of my new pistol, recalling what James remarked upon gifting me with it. I could not concentrate without causing a piercing pain. Considering his meaning must wait for another time.
CHAPTER FORTY
I met with Keely Pete again the next day. His experienced eyes assessed me and I felt certain he knew what I endured to maintain the appearance I had come through my attack no worse for wear. James came to Jasmine’s while I was out. He left me a note stating his intent to call that evening. I spoke to Jasmine, made my farewells and returned to the Lilith. I knew fresh water and provisions had loaded yesterday. Runners went to Etienne, Diego and Christopher with dispatches and we sailed within three hours.
As we caught the wind, I reached for my glass and gazed back at the harbor. James stood at the dock watching my sails fill and carry me from his reach. I caught myself touching the butt of my pistols and stopped at once. Walks Softly’s gaze snagged mine. For not a moment did I try to tell myself he did not know what had sent me to sea a day ahead of our original schedule and still compromised by injury.
In a patch of water where I often crossed wakes with slavers, I put a shot across a Dutch slave ship’s bow and they surrendered without incident. Conditions in the hold proved worse than the usual hellish horror. Less than a half dozen yet lived, their dead and rotting fellows still chained among them. Walks Softly and Mr. Street carried the living to the Lilith. I challenged the captain to a duel. When he refused, I beat him within an inch of death and carved an ‘L’ in his chest. Afterward I shook and nearly surrendered to the lurching within my head. I went to my cabin and not long after, Diego knocked and entered unbidden.
I rolled up from the bed, pistol primed and aimed. Gato hissed, then rumbled a complaint at having his nap disturbed.
“It is me,” he said quietly. The Folly must have just halted alongside.
“What right have you to enter without permission?”
He sat beside me, studying me. “The right of a friend.”
My anger departed. I took his hand when he offered it. Gazing at the large, tanned attractiveness of it, I wondered why I remained so unmoved by his beauty and sensuality. “I have wronged you.”
“I knew what I volunteered for, Lili. I decided I would rather have you briefly and suffer the loss, rather than always love you from afar.”
He caressed my brow. I closed my eyes. “How cold and cruel you must think me.”
“On the contrary, mi alma. I think you are warm and compassionate. Few whites would risk making an enemy of a government sanctioned slaver to avenge a meager hold of dead and dying Africans.” He ran his finger lightly over my lips. “Roll onto your side. It would be a marvel if you haven’t opened your wound again.”
Luckily, I had not. I let him turn me onto my belly and rub my neck to ease the ache in my skull.
#
Just off the Florida coast we encountered a Spanish galleon run areef. We relieved them of their gold stores, forty barrels of rum and ale and a small king’s ransom in spices, then freed the ship and sent them on their way. The castillio came into sight as the sun sank. Flush with fresh gain, the crews anticipated drinking and sleeping to their content.
Walks Softly insisted I go and rest rather than oversee the unloading and stocking of our stores. Chore rotations for trapping lobsters and crabs, shooting fowl and boar fell to Etienne. Diego and his crew handled patrolling the area and then assigning guard duty shifts for the wall around the fort. Eza came with Gato and I. We helped each other have a bath and hair washing. I asked her many questions about her pregnancy and she glowed as she answered.
Moved, I hugged her tightly. “You are making me an aunt.”
She whispered, “Aunt to a child of mixed race.”
“Aunt to a child whose beauty will reflect that of its parents,” I corrected. “Put that from your mind, Eza. We live in the world we have made. Not that of society.” I stepped back. “Have you told him?”
She blushed. “Tonight, if he will stop kissing me long enough.”
That night, I made rounds, my cat at my side, speaking to my crew and letting them see me ‘hale and hearty’. Their belief in me had grown since the attack and I wished to solidify that trust. I carried a tankard, raised it and pretended to drink rum, when it contained willow bark tea. Afterward, I repaired to my rooms. Diego waited outside.
Sadness marked the handsome lines of his face. “May I come in?”
“Of course.”
I closed and locked the door behind us. Every inch of me ached and I welcomed the chance to drop pretense otherwise. Gato stretched and fell into his bed of deer hides beside my bed. Diego helped me from my clothes, touching me without passion or intent, and helped me apply the poultice Walks Softly made. It smelled far better than the willow bark tea. It did sting. I kept silent and knew Diego’s gentle hands lessened the bite. He put on a fresh bandage and helped me into a pair of silk lounging clothes I bought from Jasmine’s Chinese cook.
“May I stay tonight?”
His question surprised me. “Why?”
“I believe this the last night I will have the chance to hold you through the dark watches.” He spoke without bitterness or blame. “I would hate to miss it.”
The idea of lying in his strong, sheltering arms appealed to me in my weakened state. “As would I.” I looked into his bright brown eyes and knew as surely as he our time had ended.
#
I woke early to an uneasy sensation, rose and went to the window. The view of the harbor represented a large part of the reason I chose this room. In the still-dark water of our little port, the Dangerous Beauty. swayed on the swells. Something deep within me surged with lightning-like force.
He had followed me.
I turned from the view. Diego already stood dressing. I followed suit and not long after we descended.
Bleary-eyed sailors rushed to answer summons from Etienne and Christopher. Diego and I walked to the harbor. James stood with Walks Softly and Mr. Street.
“Captain,” James greeted, his pale tropical eyes fixing upon me. “We have unfinished business and I have yet to lay in supplies. Will you extend the courtesy of your harbor?”
I could not deny him. “Of course, captain. Your ship and crew are welcome.” I addressed Etienne and Walks Softly, “Please make certain our guests have everything they require.” I could not help noticing something about James seemed different. I did not care to learn what. My heart had suffered all the abuse I wished to subject it to.
That evening I had Eza organize a grand affair to reunite the men. James’ crew had served with many of mine. I saw in their faces the joy coming together again granted. These men risked their lives, shed their blood as we sought wealth. They deserved every consideration in my reckonings. A tentative peace between James and I had occurred by chance. I hoped, despite my personal concerns, that we could negotiate a solid alliance.
Once again, I made rounds, speaking and ‘drinking’ with my men. My head throbbed and I wanted no more than a bath and sleep. Gato leapt onto my bed and gazed at me with those topaz eyes. I went to sit beside him, rubbing his ears until he lolled and purred like a tabby. I bent to kiss his forehead, inhaling his wild, yet clean scent. I kept him bathed in a special soap Walks Softly made to combat the musk without harming his skin. Gato’s plush hide invited petting and cuddling. I indulged him, smiling.
A knock at the door made me rise. “Who is there?”
“Mr. Levit.”
I crossed, slid back the bolt and opened the portal. “Welcome, Mr. Levit. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“I bring a gift of peace and confederacy from Captain Garrett.”
I schooled my reaction. First impulse bid me slam the door and hide as a child might. “Your captain saved my life. He needn’t send a gift.”
He spoke with great formality. “Will you accept this gift, or decline?”
I thought of the crews. Even as I stood here wriggling upon the hook, they savored their reunion. “Aye, I accept.”
Mr. Levit stepped back and departed.
James stepped into the doorway, shackled and chained.
Mr. Levit rowed me ashore. During the trip, I noticed a second small wooden boat off to our right. The darkness prevented my seeing more than its presence. At the dock, Walks Softly greeted my escort. Levit asked after Mr. Street and it pleased me we could make a happy report on his continued health. After Mr. Levit departed and Walks Softly asked, “Will you sleep aboard this night?”
“Nay, I shall return to Jasmine’s.”
“Let us see you there.”
I shook my head. “I have my own ship. I shall walk free as any man.” I hugged him tightly. “Thank you for the use of your strong shoulder, my friend. I have leaned upon it enough for one night.”
“Lili, there is no reason to risk some rutting buck’s lust.”
I sighed. “Ever do you balk at firsts for me, save when it meets with your agenda. I have had my first battle, my first wound. Let this be a first as well.”
He nodded slowly.
I pointed my finger at him. “I know your red man’s stealthy ways. Do not seek to follow undetected.”
I thought I saw a flash of white teeth as he turned. It amused him when I spoke to him thusly, more like a sister than captain.
The waning moon provided little light during the walk. However, to help insure patrons’ safety, Jasmine had seen to the installation of tall posts rigged with hanging lanterns along the crushed shell road to her establishment. I had not yet reached the halfway mark when something made me listen more closely. Behind me somewhere, ground crunched underfoot.
Someone followed me. Not my friend. He would never have given himself away.
Instead of stopping, I carried on as if I had heard nothing. In a few moments more, I became convinced a number of entities followed me, moving on either side of the road. A thrill of warning swept me. I followed instinct and dropped to a crouch. A boarding ax flipped end over end passed me. As if conjured close by some sorcerer’s spell, mayhaps a score men swarmed about me. I drew my sword and pistol. Only one shot, and I made it count, taking one man and flipping him backward into two. I wove a web of steel about myself, my mind going clear and cold.
The vibration of contact reverberated up my arm. I twisted, parried, thrust, hacked and slashed. I saw faces. Yet, could not know them for men. A pack of wolves attacked me. Wolves armed with cutlass, ax, gun, saber and knife. Screams and grunts. A large bore pistol appeared before my face and I used my blade to send it skyward. A harsh blow to the back of my head sent me on hand and knee. Vision dimmed. I rolled, came to my feet. Knowing my life depended upon it, I forced myself to fight. Vicious hands scratched and grabbed. I felt my flesh part under slicing edges.
I heard a voice I knew well. James.
Even as the darkness closed over me in an irresistible liquid wave, I rebelled and defied my death.
#
Pain.
With a violent jerk, I came awake.
“Easy, sweet.”
James’ voice sent me spiraling into aggressive panic. I battled the hands that sought to return me to a reclined position. My muscles burned. My skin felt raw, stiff and stretched too taut. I blinked to attempt clearing my vision. Candles. Or was it fire? Then, suddenly Walks Softly and Etienne joined me in Hell and I had champions to protect me.
“Lili,” Walks Softly said, “You are safe at Jasmine’s.”
“He tried to have me killed.” My voice quavered. I could not seem to make my limbs respond further.
“Nay,” Etienne soothed, “he saved you.”
“Do not leave me alone with him. I beg of you.” Darkness beckoned again.
“She’s broken the stitches in her back,” I heard James say. How could he sound so concerned when he had attempted to murder me with his pack of assassins?
#
My lids seemed weighted as I struggled to lift them. I recognized my bedchamber at Jasmine’s. I lie propped at an angle against the headboard. Early morning light made the butter-colored moiré walls glow. Cautiously, I lifted my hands and examined the bandages I felt. Dark rusty-looking stains showed through over my knuckles.
A keen awareness pricked me and I turned my head sharply. Pain streaked through my skull as I saw James seated in a chair next to the bed. “Why are you here? What happened to me?” My voice sounded rough and dry as my throat felt.
He poured water into a mug and brought it to me. I fought the urge to cringe as he sat on the bed’s edge. Taking the vessel from him, I sipped the cool liquid.
“Last night,” he said, “as you returned here, a group of men attacked you.”
Disjointed memories skittered just beyond full recall. “I heard your voice," I accused. “You were there.”
“I rowed ashore when you and Mr. Levit did.” His gaze moved over my face. “I intended to follow and see where you slept.”
“I am to believe that?”
His gaze met mine and I steeled myself against the earnestness and gentleness there. “Whatever I may have spoken in spirit- and pain-induced lunacy, Lili, I could never hurt you.”
I shifted to more easily drink and a white-hot knife of pain stabbed my back above my right shoulder blade. “How am I wounded?”
“You suffered a blow to the head and a nasty cut on your back. The rest you may examine yourself.” He reached for the bedclothes and hesitated as my impulse to draw back won out. “I swear on the souls of my family, you need never fear harm at my hands.”
I let him draw back the covers and help me sit up straighter. I wore an oversized shirt that surely belonged to one of my male companions, several bandages and nothing else. Having James so close caused me to tremble. I inventoried my cuts, bruises and abrasions finding them uncomfortable, yet minor. The jabbing agony in my skull had subsided to a throbbing ache. I reached back, finding the knot and five stitches in my scalp. “Where are Etienne and Walks Softly? This offense must be answered.”
“It shall.” Leashed ferocity colored his tone. “They and Gamboa have taken the bodies by wagon to the docks to display in warning.”
“Who is responsible? Aguia?” I finished the water and set the mug on the bedside table.
“He is not in port and the dead are not recognized as being among his crew or confederates.”
Rage flooded me. I grit my teeth as I turned from him and swung my legs off the bed. “I shall show any lingering back-attacking bastards that I do not die easily.”
“You must remain abed. Walks Softly-“
“Walks Softly thinks of healing. I think of retribution.” I stood, weaving a bit on my feet.
James hurried around to steady me. Concern filled his voice. “Please, Lili. Let us handle this.”
“I will not!” Raising my voice threatened to split my head. “If you wish to aid me, then help me to dress.”
We stared at each other a long moment. Then, he went to the armoire, gathered the needed garments and returned. He laced the half-corset over the shirt as I stepped into pantilettes. I donned breeches with a great deal of assistance, then he fastened a leather jack over the shirt. Pulling on my boots caused my vision to tunnel briefly. I stood clutching the bedpost, beating back dizziness and nausea as he buckled on my sword and hung the pistol in its loop. To my surprise, he took its mate from his own waist and placed it at mine.
“They are a pair,” he said. “They belong together.”
I managed to brush and braid my hair. I caught him watching and realized what he must think. “I cut it,” I said about my tresses. The locks hung half as long as before I left his island.
“It made it wavier,” he observed.
Walking proved arduous. Every step jarred my back. The sun beat down upon my head until I thought the pain might blind me. Heads turned and murmurs rippled as we walked the street leading to the harbor. I clenched my jaw and bore my pains. Etienne, Walks Softly and Diego stood beside the gruesomely burdened wagon talking with a small group of men. Surprise and concern flashed in their faces. My mission seemed to dawn upon them and they schooled themselves, behaving as if they had expected me to arrive.
“What do we know?” I braced my feet apart, made eye contact with each of the strangers.
Etienne replied, “This man,” he nodded to a small wiry man, “says he recognizes one of the dead as Francesco the Red. A man who claimed himself Aguia’s bastard.”
The splitting of my skull made logic more difficult. “I was to be a gift?”
“Perhaps.” Etienne spoke to the little man in Spanish, then added, “I think if he had ever had contact with Aguia, he would have known his sire wanted you alive. We have likely learned all we shall.”
“Very well. Where is Christopher?”
Diego answered, “When he knew you had passed beyond danger, he put himself to the task of combing taverns for information. In the humor he departed, those questioned may soon further fill this conveyance.”
I had endured all I could and maintain my façade of invulnerability. “I must see to the Lilith. Walks Softly, will you accompany me?”
We took one of the Lilith’s small wooden boats and my friend manned the oars. I sat heavily upon the seat. Assured of privacy, I queried, “How indebted am I to James?”
“He saved your life.”
“What is the proper payment?”
He made a sound that might have been mirth or disgust. “He will accept nothing.”
“I am hardly the fighter I believed myself.”
“James states the opposite,” he countered. “You had killed all but five when he reached you. And even sinking from consciousness, you continued to fight.”
I rubbed the butt of my new pistol, recalling what James remarked upon gifting me with it. I could not concentrate without causing a piercing pain. Considering his meaning must wait for another time.
CHAPTER FORTY
I met with Keely Pete again the next day. His experienced eyes assessed me and I felt certain he knew what I endured to maintain the appearance I had come through my attack no worse for wear. James came to Jasmine’s while I was out. He left me a note stating his intent to call that evening. I spoke to Jasmine, made my farewells and returned to the Lilith. I knew fresh water and provisions had loaded yesterday. Runners went to Etienne, Diego and Christopher with dispatches and we sailed within three hours.
As we caught the wind, I reached for my glass and gazed back at the harbor. James stood at the dock watching my sails fill and carry me from his reach. I caught myself touching the butt of my pistols and stopped at once. Walks Softly’s gaze snagged mine. For not a moment did I try to tell myself he did not know what had sent me to sea a day ahead of our original schedule and still compromised by injury.
In a patch of water where I often crossed wakes with slavers, I put a shot across a Dutch slave ship’s bow and they surrendered without incident. Conditions in the hold proved worse than the usual hellish horror. Less than a half dozen yet lived, their dead and rotting fellows still chained among them. Walks Softly and Mr. Street carried the living to the Lilith. I challenged the captain to a duel. When he refused, I beat him within an inch of death and carved an ‘L’ in his chest. Afterward I shook and nearly surrendered to the lurching within my head. I went to my cabin and not long after, Diego knocked and entered unbidden.
I rolled up from the bed, pistol primed and aimed. Gato hissed, then rumbled a complaint at having his nap disturbed.
“It is me,” he said quietly. The Folly must have just halted alongside.
“What right have you to enter without permission?”
He sat beside me, studying me. “The right of a friend.”
My anger departed. I took his hand when he offered it. Gazing at the large, tanned attractiveness of it, I wondered why I remained so unmoved by his beauty and sensuality. “I have wronged you.”
“I knew what I volunteered for, Lili. I decided I would rather have you briefly and suffer the loss, rather than always love you from afar.”
He caressed my brow. I closed my eyes. “How cold and cruel you must think me.”
“On the contrary, mi alma. I think you are warm and compassionate. Few whites would risk making an enemy of a government sanctioned slaver to avenge a meager hold of dead and dying Africans.” He ran his finger lightly over my lips. “Roll onto your side. It would be a marvel if you haven’t opened your wound again.”
Luckily, I had not. I let him turn me onto my belly and rub my neck to ease the ache in my skull.
#
Just off the Florida coast we encountered a Spanish galleon run areef. We relieved them of their gold stores, forty barrels of rum and ale and a small king’s ransom in spices, then freed the ship and sent them on their way. The castillio came into sight as the sun sank. Flush with fresh gain, the crews anticipated drinking and sleeping to their content.
Walks Softly insisted I go and rest rather than oversee the unloading and stocking of our stores. Chore rotations for trapping lobsters and crabs, shooting fowl and boar fell to Etienne. Diego and his crew handled patrolling the area and then assigning guard duty shifts for the wall around the fort. Eza came with Gato and I. We helped each other have a bath and hair washing. I asked her many questions about her pregnancy and she glowed as she answered.
Moved, I hugged her tightly. “You are making me an aunt.”
She whispered, “Aunt to a child of mixed race.”
“Aunt to a child whose beauty will reflect that of its parents,” I corrected. “Put that from your mind, Eza. We live in the world we have made. Not that of society.” I stepped back. “Have you told him?”
She blushed. “Tonight, if he will stop kissing me long enough.”
That night, I made rounds, my cat at my side, speaking to my crew and letting them see me ‘hale and hearty’. Their belief in me had grown since the attack and I wished to solidify that trust. I carried a tankard, raised it and pretended to drink rum, when it contained willow bark tea. Afterward, I repaired to my rooms. Diego waited outside.
Sadness marked the handsome lines of his face. “May I come in?”
“Of course.”
I closed and locked the door behind us. Every inch of me ached and I welcomed the chance to drop pretense otherwise. Gato stretched and fell into his bed of deer hides beside my bed. Diego helped me from my clothes, touching me without passion or intent, and helped me apply the poultice Walks Softly made. It smelled far better than the willow bark tea. It did sting. I kept silent and knew Diego’s gentle hands lessened the bite. He put on a fresh bandage and helped me into a pair of silk lounging clothes I bought from Jasmine’s Chinese cook.
“May I stay tonight?”
His question surprised me. “Why?”
“I believe this the last night I will have the chance to hold you through the dark watches.” He spoke without bitterness or blame. “I would hate to miss it.”
The idea of lying in his strong, sheltering arms appealed to me in my weakened state. “As would I.” I looked into his bright brown eyes and knew as surely as he our time had ended.
#
I woke early to an uneasy sensation, rose and went to the window. The view of the harbor represented a large part of the reason I chose this room. In the still-dark water of our little port, the Dangerous Beauty. swayed on the swells. Something deep within me surged with lightning-like force.
He had followed me.
I turned from the view. Diego already stood dressing. I followed suit and not long after we descended.
Bleary-eyed sailors rushed to answer summons from Etienne and Christopher. Diego and I walked to the harbor. James stood with Walks Softly and Mr. Street.
“Captain,” James greeted, his pale tropical eyes fixing upon me. “We have unfinished business and I have yet to lay in supplies. Will you extend the courtesy of your harbor?”
I could not deny him. “Of course, captain. Your ship and crew are welcome.” I addressed Etienne and Walks Softly, “Please make certain our guests have everything they require.” I could not help noticing something about James seemed different. I did not care to learn what. My heart had suffered all the abuse I wished to subject it to.
That evening I had Eza organize a grand affair to reunite the men. James’ crew had served with many of mine. I saw in their faces the joy coming together again granted. These men risked their lives, shed their blood as we sought wealth. They deserved every consideration in my reckonings. A tentative peace between James and I had occurred by chance. I hoped, despite my personal concerns, that we could negotiate a solid alliance.
Once again, I made rounds, speaking and ‘drinking’ with my men. My head throbbed and I wanted no more than a bath and sleep. Gato leapt onto my bed and gazed at me with those topaz eyes. I went to sit beside him, rubbing his ears until he lolled and purred like a tabby. I bent to kiss his forehead, inhaling his wild, yet clean scent. I kept him bathed in a special soap Walks Softly made to combat the musk without harming his skin. Gato’s plush hide invited petting and cuddling. I indulged him, smiling.
A knock at the door made me rise. “Who is there?”
“Mr. Levit.”
I crossed, slid back the bolt and opened the portal. “Welcome, Mr. Levit. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“I bring a gift of peace and confederacy from Captain Garrett.”
I schooled my reaction. First impulse bid me slam the door and hide as a child might. “Your captain saved my life. He needn’t send a gift.”
He spoke with great formality. “Will you accept this gift, or decline?”
I thought of the crews. Even as I stood here wriggling upon the hook, they savored their reunion. “Aye, I accept.”
Mr. Levit stepped back and departed.
James stepped into the doorway, shackled and chained.
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