by Merry Farmer
After all, this was by no means as simple as their ship going off course.
They continued through the crowd and kept to rowdy talk of bidding. The pleasure of claiming such a prize. Which was a flat out lie, of course. The life of piracy suited them well enough, but they steered clear of slave trading. It was a dirty business, and there were plenty more opportunities elsewhere. Or at least there had been after Queen Anne’s War first ended and piracy thrived. Over the past few months, though, things had started changing. The Royal Navy was bearing down, and their way of life was coming to an end.
Something, quite frankly, they were ready for.
“We're goin' to see ‘er, aye?” Charles said when they stopped off for a tankard of rum at the tavern. “Worth the sight alone. Bound to fetch a good price.”
“Like a ray o’ sunshine she is,” a random pirate slurred.
“Think she’s as sunny between those soft thighs of hers?” another grunted.
Thomas clenched his mug and took a hearty swig before he said something he regretted.
“What say ye, Brother?” Luke gestured at a woman’s trunk being carried by the door. “Should we go enjoy the show? See what sort of fine lady owns that?”
He nodded, spying the familiar crest on the trunk. One that verified the rumors were true.
The McCullen sisters had been captured.
“I would not miss it.” He downed his rum then got another. “Let us go see Blackbeard’s latest treasure.”
They made their way through a thickening crowd of rambunctious pirates stirred up by what was coming. Better yet, who was coming.
“We hang back,” he murmured out of the corner of his mouth to Luke and Charles. “Lest she spy us.”
As it were, he and his brother were taller than most and tended to stand out in a crowd. More so, tended to draw a woman’s eye. So they stopped at the fringes and leaned against the overhang of a building that shielded them from the dais.
Moments later, a woman was dragged onto it and held on display.
“Rose,” he nearly whispered, stunned by the sight of her.
If possible, she was even more beautiful now than she was at sixteen. She wore a pale blue linen dress, and light petticoat, her petite figure as trim as it ever was. With long hair the color of spun gold and big violet soulful eyes, she was exceptional.
As he often did, he recalled their many walks together. Their interesting discussions. She had a sharp mind. A contemplative soul. He had valued their conversations and understood that unlike her sister, she needed time alone to read. Her books were an important part of her life. Who she was. Some called her mousy, but he’d always loved her genteel, reserved nature. But then she’d often honored him with the lively, interesting mind she more often than not kept to herself.
Now there she was, at the mercy of monsters who only meant her harm.
They would crush her spirit in little time. Ruin the beauty of her lovely soul. He clenched his fists and nearly started her way, but thankfully, his brother put a staying hand on his arm to remind him why they were there.
“She’s a beauty all right,” Charles exclaimed, hollering his approval along with everyone else.
“Yes, she is,” Thomas murmured, trying to figure out how to handle this. He had hoped to simply purchase her, but the bidding was already higher than what he had on hand.
“Where’s the other one?” Though he was supposed to be playing a role, Luke scanned the windows of the brothel with far too much relish. “Has Blackbeard let anyone at ‘er yet?”
“Not yet, don’t think.” Charles licked his lips. “Rumor has it she’s tied up and waitin’ for her first customer.”
Luke’s brow crept up, his grin far too devious. “Is that right?”
Thomas shot his brother a warning look reminding him that they had a mission. He better not get distracted when the time came. He had to get her out of there.
If he faltered, it would cost them both their lives.
They had talked at length about this with the crew members they could trust. Everyone knew what was on the line, and all understood the various things that could go wrong. Luke getting hung up on finally having Hannah at his disposal on a bed could put a serious kink in their plan in more ways than one.
The brothers had spent six formative years in Yorktown, Virginia during which they came to know the sisters quite well. While Thomas had enjoyed one sort of relationship with Rose, Luke and Hannah had gone down another road altogether. From what he could tell, their connection was more often a battle of wills than anything else. Somewhat of a love, hate relationship really.
Which made him wonder, should Luke be the one to save Hannah?
Or would she be safer in Thomas’s hands?
While logic told him one thing, his heart told him another when he looked at Rose. He would not trust her safety to anyone but himself.
Men called out various prices, overbidding each other until one grumbled loudly, “’Tis a high price for a wench who cannot speak or even see straight.”
“Who needs her to talk?” another called out. “Just her pretty little mouth around my cock is worth the price!”
“And no need to see straight,” another whooped. “I’ll steer her along just fine.” He thrust his hips and grabbed his crotch. “Right onto my main mast!”
Many chuckled, others outright laughed, but all kept their eyes on Rose, their filthy gazes just imagining the possibilities. Meanwhile, Rose remained aloof, an almost daft expression on her face. What was she up to? For surely she was playing at something. She must be.
“Sometimes I wish I could be one of the characters from my books,” he recalled her saying softly one quiet evening. They sat beneath an old oak behind her uncle’s tobacco plantation, watching the vibrant sunset. “If only for a bit of adventure…and escape.”
Well aware of the sort of man her uncle was, he kept with what might make her smile.
“What sort of adventure?” He had wanted to hold her hand. To finally tell her how he felt about her. “And what sort of character would you be?”
“Oh, something exciting!” Her eyes lit up. “A great warrior destined to save his kingdom.” Her gaze grew sly. “Or maybe a pirate set to plunder a ship!”
“One so honorable,” he grinned, “and one quite the opposite.”
“Well, of course.” She met his grin. “If I am to truly adventure, I must be willing to try everything.” She fluffed her skirt, thinking it over. “I could be anything, anyone.” She shrugged. “I could be more outgoing, like my sister.”
“I quite prefer the way you are,” he’d murmured.
Their gazes had lingered on each other for a telling moment before she cleared her throat and broke the moment by crossing her eyes. “I could even be daft!”
“She’s acting,” he whispered, biting back a grin when he figured it out.
“What’s that?” Charles said.
Thomas shook his head and watched Rose with well-hidden amusement. She was acting like one of the characters from her books, and it was keeping her out of the brothel. It would not keep her untouched for long once she was sold though.
“Anyone set to outbid Big Devil and his rats?” Blackbeard called out. He stroked his beard and considered the crowd. “Anyone?”
Thomas’s gut clenched at the idea of Big Devil getting his meaty paws anywhere near her but knew the moment Blackbeard uttered the question, nobody would dare outbid the vicious pirate. With a bulging belly to match his flabby jowls, Big Devil was notorious for two things.
Demented cruelty and excessive drinking.
If he weren’t daunting enough, his crew known as the rats were named appropriately. More filthy than most, they were Big Devil’s eyes and ears, infesting darkened corners most would not go. Even worse, known for their ability to sniff out opportunity.
Not good when he and Luke needed to get the sisters out of here discreetly.
“Sold,” Blackbeard declared. He gestured at hi
s man to collect payment and then handed her over. “She’s all yours Big Devil.”
“Of all the bloody luck,” Luke muttered, eyeing Big Devil and his rats.
Thomas watched Rose until she was out of sight then gestured that they follow him back to the tavern.
“Big Devil’s a lucky man,” Thomas said, talking in code, telling Charles and Luke they would proceed forward as planned. ‘Luck’ meant he still saw it as the best course of action.
Luke grinned at Charles. “We will have to celebrate with him tonight!”
That meant Charles would buy Big Devil plenty of rum and get him as drunk as possible. Anything to buy Thomas and Luke time. The key was not only to get the sisters out of here but to do so without anyone knowing who took them.
They would get the sisters, rendezvous at their holding where one of their ships would be waiting, and then go from there. Though more of an oversized shanty, their holding suited him and his brother when they were here. It also had the added benefit of being located on a more secluded part of the island. They were set to sail the following morning anyway, so their absence should go relatively unnoticed.
“Ah, smells good.” A pirate inhaled the scent of a woman’s undergarments from one of the sisters’ trunks. “Somebody’s gettin’ their money’s worth with those two.”
“There are bound to be plenty of baubles in there,” one of Big Devil's rats grunted, peering inside with beady, cunning eyes.
“Hey, ain’t ye part of their crew?” someone called out to the rat. “Seen ‘em safely into Blackbeard’s hands?” He half snorted, half chuckled. “Such as that is.”
Naturally, Big Devil would have had a man keeping an eye on things. No doubt with Blackbeard's permission as the two seemed to get along well enough. Thomas and Luke glanced at each other before his brother downed some rum and nonchalantly began rummaging through the trunk as well.
“Aye, I was part of the crew,” the rat confirmed, still eyeing the contents, not overly interested by most of what men were making off with. Yet he was quick to take notice when Luke looted one of several scrolls with an all-too-familiar seal on it. Bloody hell. Luckily no one here recognized their family crest.
“Blackbeard said all is to be spread a little more evenly,” a man declared upon entering. He and another shut the trunk before anything else was taken and hauled it out of there.
Meanwhile, Charles snapped his fingers in front of Luke’s face, trying to pull him out of his stupor. Namely, the faraway look in his eyes as he read the letter. “Are ye with us, friend?”
Luke blinked several times and nodded then waved over some more rum. “Just thirsty is all.”
Thirsty his arse. Where Thomas had exchanged a few letters with Rose after he left years ago, their correspondences by no means matched the number of scrolls he’d spied in that trunk.
“You wrote Hannah?” he nearly muttered when he saw the handwriting and to whom it was addressed. Luke. He knew as he’d done with Rose that his brother had found ways to keep an eye on Hannah over the years but had no idea they’d corresponded.
“What’s it say?” someone called out.
Luke squinted at the letter and shook his head before he shrugged and tossed it aside. “Can’t make out a bloody word.”
He’d certainly made out every word but played his part well. Unfortunately, the warning look he shot Thomas a short while later told him something unforeseen had happened. Whatever those scrolls had said made their plan a whole lot riskier. Especially considering, having sniffed out an opportunity, Big Devil's rat had followed in the wake of that trunk.
Chapter 2
The moment ‘Big Devil’s’ minion left, Rose leaned her head back against the cage she’d been shoved into and bit back a sob. Then another. Then one more before tears finally fell. She clenched the bauble she had managed to keep hidden and prayed for strength.
She had sworn she would not do this, that she would remain a character from her book as Hannah advised, but it was much harder than one would think. Especially considering the sheer terror she’d felt since she and her sister were taken. She was tossed over one shoulder and her sister another until they were plunked down in a skiff and brought ashore.
Hannah being Hannah, hardly remained quiet the whole way, telling them precisely what she thought of their predicament. When that did no good, she promptly began bartering for Rose’s safety. That, of course, was the last thing on these barbarian’s minds so Rose continued playing dumb. Literally. As daft as a poor fool in one of her latest books.
Yet she wished she had played a more courageous part.
That she had fought for Hannah as her sister had done for her.
In truth, she nearly had, and Hannah knew it.
“Do not do it, Sister,” she had warned Rose on a hissing whisper. “Play your part and survive.”
While she understood the logic, it was the hardest thing she had ever done. Almost more than she was capable of when Hannah was dragged away. Her head might have been held high, but pride did little for the ultimate fate her sister faced in the brothel. Then again, it seemed their fates weren’t all that different in the end.
Both were at the mercy of monsters.
“Control yourself, Rose,” she whispered into the darkness, trying for calm when she felt only fear. “What good will tears do you?”
She rolled her shoulders and tried to make things out, but it was so blasted dark her eyes weren’t adjusting. Therefore, paying attention to details coming in so she could get out had been a moot point. She had listened though and heard the snap of a padlock on her cage door.
Best to start there.
She felt around until she put her hands on it. Embracing the persona of a stealthy spy, she pulled a pin from her hair and started fiddling with the lock. And fiddling. Then fiddling some more. They made it sound so easy in her books, but nothing seemed to be happening.
“It’s not quite as easy as that,” came a voice from her past. “You have to move it just right.”
She blinked, not overly surprised she’d think of him right now.
That he would be her voice of reason.
“Right,” she muttered, recalling how he had bent her hairpin just so and showed her. “Usually, if you turn it slowly, you will find the catch and free it.”
So Rose did as he had said and by the Lord's almighty grace, it unlocked. She nearly whooped with joy but instead flew from the cage only to run smack into someone. Before she could scream, a strong hand clamped over her mouth, and she was pulled against a hard body. If that weren’t jarring enough, the voice in her head actually spoke, British accent and all.
“Shh, Rose, it’s me,” he whispered. “Thomas.”
Thomas? Truly?
It could not be.
She must be going mad.
When she struggled, he gripped her tighter. “It is me, Rose. We met in Yorktown when we were ten, shared our first kiss beneath the old oak at fourteen and were secretly betrothed by sixteen.”
She froze, stunned.
It really was Thomas.
“My quartermaster can only keep your captor off for so long,” he murmured, his breath warm against her cheek, his scent not all that different than it had been in their youth. Spicy and masculine.
“We must go.” He paused. “Do you trust me? Can I remove my hand?”
She barely heard him over her pounding heart but nodded.
“Thomas?” she gasped the moment he removed his hand. She tried to see him in the dark but had no luck. “I don’t understand. How are you here?”
“I will explain later,” he said gruffly. “Once I get you to safety.” He put a finger to her lips, evidently seeing more clearly than her. “Until then, you must be quiet.”
“All right,” she whispered against his finger, trying to gather her thoughts. Trying to make sense of him being here. Real. Not lost to her as she thought he was.
“Big Devil has men posted out front, so we will have to go another wa
y.” He pulled her after him through an exit hidden behind a tapestry of some sort based on the scratchy material. Though she could see a little better outside, she was still unable to make out his features as they traveled down a narrow set of stairs to a dark pathway between buildings. Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder rumbled.
“We need to get my sister,” she whispered. “They have her too.”
“We know,” he whispered back. “We’re getting her.”
They zigzagged in and out of several dark alleyways before he yanked her between two buildings right before several men rushed by heading in the direction they had just come. It was impossible to make out their frantic hushed words until a man behind them talked a little louder.
“Big Devil will have our hide if we don’t have her ready to talk quick-like,” he grumbled. “His rum ain’t going to last long.”
“He’ll be rewardin’ us not punishin’ us after he talks to her,” another assured, in swift pursuit. “After all, it was our quick thinkin’ that followed those scrolls and learned what we did.”
“Bloody hell,” Thomas whispered. He shifted in the darkness as though seeing if that was the last of them then pulled Rose after him. They continued between buildings before they left everything behind and made their way through trees. The ocean crashed nearby, but she couldn’t actually see it. Warm wind gusted and a heavy raindrop hit her cheek.
Though tempted to speak, she sensed silence was best until Thomas said otherwise. As it turned out, that was a short time later when they broke free of the vegetation and came upon a small, stone dwelling near the shore. Free of the trees and cloying darkness, she finally got a few glimpses of him in the lightning flashes.
A man who by no means looked like the boy from her youth.
If possible, he seemed even taller than the last time she saw him, his shoulders broader, his dark brown hair longer, now interwoven with small braids and beads. He wore a waist coat, black breeches and black boots with several weapons tucked on his person.