by Tamara Gill
“The first symptoms of what, precisely?” It was best he didn’t give anything away prematurely. His pacing grew more agitated while his mind visited every possible corner of the ship where she could have legitimately gone. Would she have defied his order and visited the crew quarters? His heart squeezed. Surely she didn’t see one of his crew behind his back? He slammed his gaze back to the surgeon. “Speak, man.”
“Love, of course.”
“Bite your tongue, Doctor. I’m not that far gone.” Am I?
The smirk deepened on the doctor’s leathery face. “A woman’s heart is like an ocean.”
Good God, spare me from poetic prattle. “What the hell does that mean?” Though he’d likened her moods to the sea, he didn’t understand what the good doctor tried to say. Neither did he believe he was in love with Sarah. He enjoyed the carnality of claiming her body and looked forward to talking to her each day, but love? Yet hadn’t he just suspected the same thing earlier on his rounds?
“It means don’t try to see what’s in her heart by asking pointless questions regarding her plans for the future when you already know the answers.”
“Why? The only thing I know about Sarah is she has not pledged to remain with me on this ship. Perhaps this life is not for her.” He cringed as his chest tightened again, for a very different reason than that fact she might be in peril. “Perhaps she sees me as too much of a monster for companionship.”
“Perhaps, but further questions will raise doubt in your heart about her. Accept what she gives you and be grateful. She must do the same with you. Quite frankly, I believe that she has.”
Adrian ignored that point. Sarah’s absence remained uppermost in his mind. “She wouldn’t leave me without telling me goodbye or at least hurling an accusation at me.” He slowed his pacing. “I am never wrong.” A chill passed over his body. The more he talked, the more he was certain she hadn’t gone missing by choice. The fact that Tommy hadn’t raced in to sound the alarm confirmed it.
“Not about life on the ship, this is true, but where women are concerned, when your heart has been engaged, your knowledge can fit into my little finger.”
“Enough, Doctor. I can handle one woman.” He needed to think in quiet, to puzzle out what the hell might have happened to her.
“Can you?” As Adrian fumed, the doctor continued. “Let me put it to you a different way, in terms you’ll understand. In every ocean there are sharks. Of course you don’t swim there for fear of the danger. A woman’s soul is the same way. If you poke around too much there is bound to be something you will not like one hundred percent, just like the sharks, and navigating her heart will become a dangerous prospect. On the other hand, you are no different. I think Sarah knows this.”
Enough of chitchat I have neither the time nor mental capacities to spare. “I hope you’re correct.” He gained the open doorway. “If you happen upon Miss Covington, please let her know I wish to speak with her.” Give her a tongue lashing. Protect her, bundle her off to the islands or America and tell her… how much she means. He shook his head and marveled that he actually worried about her and wished to have the right to do so for the rest of his life.
“I will, Captain.” The doctor hid a yawn behind his hand. “Now, if you will excuse me, I wish to return to slumber. It is the only place some of us can be with a woman.”
Despite his worry and mental anguish, Adrian smiled. “Pleasant dreams, Doctor.” He exited the cabin and once more walked the decks. Sarah had to be somewhere, so where the hell was she, and why would she go off without a word to anyone? And where the devil had Tommy gotten off to?
What the deuce is happening right under my nose?
*****
“Take your dirty hands off me.” Sarah wrenched out of the pirate’s hold. Though slightly foggy from the drugging, she still had enough presence of mind to fight—if only her head would stop aching. When he shoved her farther into the cell, she stumbled against the wall. In the corner, Tommy was slowly coming to, as he had also been treated to several inhalations of an opiate.
She swallowed and wished for water or even a swig of rum to remove the bitter aftertaste of the drug. She should have known better than to trust at face value the patient with the hangnail. He had inquired about opiates used during major surgeries to dull pain and render a patient unconscious, yet she’d paid it no mind, thinking the man must have been naturally curious. The doctor had launched into a long-winded explanation regarding opium-related drugs that would do the trick while she’d tended to his hangnail. The warning signs had been there, and she’d missed them: his curiosity, his agitated movements, his shifty eyes that wouldn’t meet hers when she’d inquired about the rest of his health.
Later that afternoon Doctor Anderson had asked for a relief and the man left the sick bay. She hadn’t felt any sort of danger and had turned her attention to tidying the area, but when the pirate returned a scant ten minutes later and pointed a pistol at her, demanding she ready the opium for smoking, she knew she’d made a grave error. She’d given someone her care when there’d been no foundation for it. Belatedly, she understood why Adrian’s trust rarely extended past his officers. She’d fought, cried out once, which had brought Tommy running, but by that time it was too late. The pirate had overpowered her with his wily strength and wild determination. He’d pressed the drug upon her, forcing her to breathe it in, and in the haze before losing consciousness and her grip on reality, she’d watched him do the same to Tommy.
The stink of the dank, musty hold recalled her attention to the task at hand. She narrowed her eyes and fought to focus her bleary vision. “Once Captain Westerbrooke is apprised of this treachery, he’ll punish you within an inch of your life.” How the man had gotten both her and Tommy down into the bowels of the ship without raising the suspicions of the crew remained a mystery, but oh how she hoped Adrian would investigate. Somehow there must be a conspiracy afoot if this could—and did—happen. Her heart went out to Adrian. His rage upon finding he’d been betrayed would be legendary, and woe to anyone who got in his way.
The pirate’s laugh creaked like a rusty gate. “It’ll be awhile afore the cap’n thinks of you. When ‘is cock starts achin’, then ‘e’ll remember, not afore. It’s all yer good fer after all.”
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “That’s not true.” Surely Adrian didn’t keep her on the ship simply as a convenient way to relieve his sexual urges.
“Whether it be true or jest what I be seein’ ain’t me business.” He leveled his pistol at her, which kept her wary. In the faint lantern light, his dark eyes glittered with malevolence. “Since the cap’n took ye aboard, he ain’t been the same. Ye gots to go, overboard most like, but it be too crowded on deck yet to do the deed.”
“I’ll scream until someone comes down here.”
“Go ahead. This here’s called the hell fer a reason. Ye hear that?” He cocked his head and cupped an ear with his free hand. “That crashin’ be the waves smashin’ into the hull. It drives a man crazy after an hour, plus the pitchin’ makes even the strongest sick. Ain’t no one comin’ here to look—not without a direct order from Cap’n.”
Now that he’d brought attention to it, the environment seeped into her consciousness. The waves echoed much like what the inside of a shell must sound like if magnified by a thousand. It filled her ears. Infected her brain with the constant sound and movement. Combined with the sensation of fighting those said waves to keep her footing as the ship moved through the water as well as her already pounding head, her hope for rescue began to fade. Her stomach churned as fear clawed at her insides. “My absence will not go unnoticed.” Please God let Adrian think of me before… For that matter, what time is it? How long have I been here or out from the drug? She fought back the rising hysteria. There had to be a way to solve the problem.
“Maybe so, miss, but by then, ye’ll be dead, wit’ yer little protector there.” He gestured at Tommy, who had just staggered to his feet, blinkin
g.
“You leave Miss Covington alone. Cap’n put me in charge of ‘er, so you have to fight me first.” Tommy pulled himself up to his full four-and-a-half feet and clenched his fists. He darted at the pirate.
The man shoved Tommy backward with a growl. The boy stumbled but recovered to rush at him. Again, the fiend flung Tommy away. This time he leveled the pistol. Before Sarah could move, or even scream to warn the boy, the pirate squeezed the trigger. The noise from the hell swallowed the pistol’s report. A white cloud of smoke from the firing spread through the cell and left the acrid odor of gunpowder behind. Tommy crumpled to the straw in one corner. He didn’t move.
Shock rolled through her body. Bile shot into her throat, vile and bitter. A good chunk of the left side of the boy’s skull was gone, torn asunder by the short-range pistol blast. Blood and bits of brain matter had splattered onto the back wall. Dark redness wetted the hay beneath his body.
Dear Lord, no! She looked quickly away as hot tears stung her eyes. “You monster. He was just a boy!” Panic welled in her chest followed quickly by a wave of guilt. It’s my fault. If he hadn’t kept following me, if I hadn’t let him… Oh, God, poor Tommy.
“Aye, we be a rotten bunch when we needs to.” The pirate shrugged and backed out of the cell. He swung the iron barred-door closed. A resolute clang echoed. He turned a key in the rusty lock. “That be yer fate as well, miss, and if luck be wit’ us, the cap’n’ll join ye. He’s damaged now that he took up wit’ ye.”
She stared at the man, too shocked to form a response. They planned mutiny. How many? The whole crew? Just a select few? Poor Adrian. “Please, let me out. I won’t say a word.”
As much as she hated looking at the murderous bastard, she didn’t want to be alone in this forsaken part of the ship, with the recent dead body of a boy she’d come to rely on and care for. She wanted Adrian and to feel his strong arms around her. He’d know what to do and how to handle the problem.
“I don’t fall fer a woman’s wiles.” The pirate’s rusty laugh sent a shudder down her spine. “I’ll be back in the wee sma’s to send ye to yer reward.” The pirate took his lantern from its hook and departed.
As the light faded into complete and utter blackness, Sarah lost her composure. She vomited into the corner opposite Tommy. When the contents of her stomach were spent, she stumbled to the bars of the cell and sank onto her knees in the rotting hay.
Tears slid down her cheeks. Her stomach heaved from the motion of the ship, but she managed to keep another bout of retching at bay. Only now did she fully understand what Adrian had shielded her from. Only now did she realize why he never wanted her to walk the ship alone. Human nature, even on a vessel run with his iron hand, still went afoul with vices and the motivation of evil men.
All men were not like Adrian; some were worse in many ways.
He’d done his best to protect her, without her knowledge. Behind the scenes, he’d made certain she’d be cared for at every hour of the day and night. Perhaps he’d been placed in her life by God’s own hand for her protection, but then, wouldn’t He have known that Tommy would die and that she’d be in such dire straits? Never had her faith been so cloudy. She couldn’t bring herself to glance at Tommy’s body. No wonder the boy had been her constant companion. Adrian had undoubtedly told him to hound her every step. Guilt lay even heavier on her shoulders. If it wasn’t for her, he would still be alive. If it wasn’t for her, Adrian’s crewmembers wouldn’t be planning to overthrow his command.
Her folly of independence put her into grave danger. If it was true what the pirate had said, and Adrian only came searching for her when his sexual appetite reared its head, she’d be dead soon, perhaps hours, minutes from now. Even if it wasn’t true, the likelihood that Adrian would realize she was missing dwindled as time marched onward. She knew his schedule, for hadn’t she become accustomed to him in her time onboard? He’d come off his shift near half-past midnight wherein he’d stroll the decks, personally checking on things. After that, he’d report to his cabin and wash up. Sometimes he sought her out for sexual pleasure. Sometimes he succumbed to sleep. There was every possibility he wouldn’t know she’d gone missing until morning.
Panic surged strong. Nausea threatened. She and Tommy had no doubt been drugged and hidden for hours already, and no one except their kidnapper even knew of their location. More tears wet her cheeks, hot in the chill of the air. The scratch and skittering sound of rat claws among the hay added to her fear. She did the one thing she could that would bring peace and perhaps results if God listened—she prayed.
After all, if she let faith die, then hope would soon follow.
*****
Adrian stared at the ceiling in his cabin. He’d watched the infinitely shifting patterns of the reflected moonlight for the past two hours. Sarah hadn’t returned. Neither had Tommy. He’d searched the decks and inquired after her whereabouts. Answers weren’t forthcoming. He’d come back to his cabin on the off chance he’d missed her and she’d checked in. She hadn’t, and he’d decided to wait. Perhaps she’d found a quiet spot and decided to take a nap unobserved and unfettered. He trusted she’d come back. Again, she hadn’t and now a sense of helplessness enveloped him. Worries about the disgruntled crewmen he’d talked about at the last officers’ meeting chased about his mind. Was it possible men in his own employ plotted against him?
This is stupid. I’m the fucking captain of this ship, and if I want answers, someone had damn well better offer them.
He sprang from the bed, buckled his weapon’s belt around his waist and slammed out. Three cabins down, he pounded on Brax’s door. “Emergency meeting. Summon the crew onto the middle decks. Now!” He did the same with Elmwood, Little Jim and the rest of his officers.
In a span of mere minutes, activity erupted throughout the ship. Shouts rang through the ranks of men who’d been abruptly awakened. Gruff orders were given from his staff. The men already on shift helped in the herding effort. Doctor Anderson stood on the fringe of the crowd. When Adrian received the nod from Brax, he pushed his way onto the waist and propped a booted foot on a large coil of rope.
“We have a problem aboard the Lady Catherine, boys.” He made certain his glance swept through the assembled on the upper deck before he dropped it to encompass the men waiting below on the orlop deck. “Our guest and Doc’s assistant, Miss Covington, is missing, along with the youngest of our cabin boys. Now, if any of you know their whereabouts, I want to hear it this instant. I demand they both be returned to me at once.”
A few low-pitched murmurs cycled through the crowd, but no one came forward. Many of the crew seemed as shocked as he felt that Sarah and the boy were gone.
Annoyance gave way to anger in Adrian’s gut. “Damn it, men, I just need information. Did she become sick yesterday? Did anyone see her after she left the surgery? Perhaps she collapsed in a cabin? Did she fall overboard?” That would explain his inability to locate her. His heart tremored. He rested a hand on his dagger’s hilt that hung from his belt. A dagger. Sarah. His chest tightened. I have to find her. “If you tell me now that you’ve had a hand in their disappearance, there will be no punishment.”
No one moved, nor did they say a word. Elmwood and Brax talked quietly among themselves, putting out a few theories, but no definitive answers came forth.
Adrian’s patience snapped in the face of unnamed fear. “Very well. You all have chosen your fate. Every one of you will receive twenty lashes on the hour until Miss Covington and Tommy are returned.” He sought out Little Jim.
The big man inclined his chin.
“Assemble your most trusted men. Keep the crew on these two decks until I return. If I do not find Miss Covington, I’ll give you the same punishment myself.” No one would rest until he had answers.
“Aye, Cap’n.” The burly man began plucking men from the ring around them.
“Brax!”
“Cap’n?” His second-in-command shoved his way through the assembled.
“You’re with me. I intend to sweep this ship. If any man resists, shoot him. Someone has answers. She cannot have vanished.” He strode down into the orlop deck. No cabin would be safe. No bunk unchecked. He’d turn over every piece of furniture, check every crate and barrel, and unbind every rolled sail and bundle of laundry. Unless she’d truly gone overboard with Tommy after her, she had to be on the damned ship.
“Cap’n?” Brax’s heavy footfalls echoed behind him.
“What?” He went through the steward’s cabin and then moved on to the galley. He yanked open cupboards. Pots and pans clattered onto the floorboards as he frantically searched the dark depths. He overturned carefully folded piles of linens from the shelves.
“We will find ‘er, sir. Jest hold tight to yer faith.”
Adrian glanced back. “Thank you.” He nodded, not knowing what to say in the face of Brax’s complete trust in something he couldn’t possibly know. In that, his officer reminded him of Sarah. Apparently he’d also reckoned the good and bad of being a pirate enough to find personal peace. “I’m glad you’re so certain.” He made a sound of agreement and continued to move through cabins.
Have faith. When was the last time he’d prayed? Had he ever done so? Even in England, his life had been everything he’d hoped it would be. There’d been no reason to thank a God he didn’t know if he believed in. When he’d been kidnapped and put aboard his first ship, he refused to acknowledge God or any deity for the mess he’d landed in. Later, once he’d brought the Lady Catherine under his command, he’d been too full of pride and himself to think that his victory had been because of divine interference.
Well, God can show me a pile of signs and wonders, if He wants me to believe. I only want Sarah back.
“Moving on to the hold, Brax.” In his heart of hearts, a tiny flare of hope bloomed. If there was ever a time for redemption, it was now. Surely he’d done something of value in the course of his life that would warrant him finding Sarah alive.