The Captain's Lady

by Jo Goodman

  He laughed. “That will be easier than finding Peach, Captain.”

  When he was gone Alexis examined the cargo manifest, checking off the list with sharp strokes of her quill. As she finished, there was a hesitant knock at the door.

  “Your water, Captain,” the voice announced timidly.

  “Bring it in, Peach,” she answered. “Fill up the tub, then take this manifest to Mr. Jordan and ask him to verify it. If it is satisfactory, slip it under my door. I do not want to be disturbed until we reach London.”

  Peach filled the tub quickly, in spite of the heaviness of the buckets he had to carry from the companionway. Peach, at twelve, all arms and legs, was a little in awe of his captain and his hurried pace was due as much to his anxiousness to please her as it was to remove himself from her presence. He took the paper Alexis held out to him and almost ran from the cabin, missing her murmured thank you.

  Smiling to herself over Peach’s actions, Alexis unfastened her dress and hung it in her wardrobe. Tossing her other garments aside, she slipped into the tub. When tepid water greeted her, she noted it was time to have a talk with her new cabin boy about hot baths.

  She leaned her head against the edge of the large copper tub and shut her eyes. The full weight of the responsibility she carried for her men and her ship consumed her for a second. She shuddered involuntarily. The end had been so close today when they had been boarded.

  The British were anxious to call a halt to her activities, but this afternoon had been the closest they had come—and they’d left, never knowing they had been face to face with Captain Danty. The Sea Jewel matched the general description of the vessel that sunk a British sloop six weeks earlier. Of course Flying Tempest, Wicked Lady, and Ariel—the other names of her ship—also matched the description. Dark Lady, the name under which the search had begun, had flown with just as many different flags and the safe was full of documents proving ownership to different shipping lines—Garnet Shipping among them.

  Alexis sighed, lathering her shoulders and face. She had managed to fool them today because they were looking for a scarred man, not a scarred woman. But how long would she be able to keep the secret? Her men would never tell; they had as much to lose as she did. The crew of Hamilton? No, they had wished her well. And Lafitte? She laughed lightly. Lafitte would never speak a word.

  Her mind went back to the day of her escape from the Hamilton and from Cloud….

  She had held out her arms and allowed the men to pull her out of the rescue boat and onto the deck of the ship. Then they had pulled their arms away suddenly, as if they had no right to touch something they could not explain. And a woman, half drowned from the torturous swim she had just finished, was beyond their comprehension.

  Alexis, swaying at the loss of support for her tired, aching limbs, would have fallen if other strong arms had not reached out to stop her descent. She thanked the man, who was regarding her more curiously than the others; then she gently released herself from his secure grip and edged toward the railing, leaning against it until she could catch her breath. She observed the startled faces, especially that of the man who had broken her fall. He seemed to be mildly amused. His narrow lips were set in a taunting half-grin as if he had already accepted her being aboard and was merely waiting for some sort of explanation. His blue-green eyes sparkled mischievously, holding some secret he was not ready to share. Alexis’s gaze wandered past his handsome face in search of the captain of her vessel.

  “I would like to talk to the captain,” she said when she finally caught her breath. Most of the men continued to stare at her blankly. Alexis persisted. “Thank you for bringing me aboard, but I would like to explain my presence to your captain. It is Mr. Samuels, I believe. May I see him?”

  There was a murmur of confusion before the man with the taunting smile stepped forward to ease Alexis’s bewilderment. “I am the captain, demoiselle. Je m’appelle Jean Lafitte.” He made a low bow but looked up quickly to watch Alexis’s reaction.

  Alexis was unperturbed. She smiled, holding out her hand. Lafitte took it and kissed it lightly. “Monsieur Lafitte, may I inquire what you are doing aboard my ship?” she asked.

  For the first time she read surprise on his sun darkened face, but he masked it quickly, breaking into a wide grin and laughing heartily. “Demoiselle, that was my question to you. Perhaps you read minds?”

  “Not at all,” she answered easily. “My name is Alexis Danty Quinton and this vessel belongs to me. If I may see the real captain, the one my father put in charge, he will be able to verify my identity.”

  “That is not necessary even though your request is impossible for the moment. Captain Samuels is aboard my own ship. Quite safe, as is the crew.” He thought he detected a hint of relief in her champagne eyes. She was most unusual. Beneath her wet and tangled hair, beyond her dripping men’s attire, there stood a singularly beautiful young woman. In addition to her physical attributes she seemed to have an aura of strength and sense of challenge about her. He could hardly believe she was standing in front of him quite calmly, demanding to see Samuels.

  “Je pense, Mademoiselle Quinton—”

  “I would prefer Alex, Monsieur.”

  “Alex, then. I think you will have to answer some of my questions first; then we will make a determination as to whether you will see Samuels. Would you like drier clothes?”

  Alexis looked down at herself and laughed. “C’est une bonne idée. I am afraid my rather unusual appearance has done little to confirm my identity.”

  Lafitte nodded amiably and led Alexis to Samuels’s cabin. “You might be able to find something suitable among his things until your own clothes dry. I will return shortly and we can trade explanations, though I assure you that mine is very simple.” He started to leave but stopped, remembering something. “The ship you left sent us a signal to pick you up. Is there a return message?”

  Alexis was silent. She thought of Cloud lying unconscious on the floor of his cabin and of Landis and Harry and all her other friends aboard Hamilton. They would want to know. She shook her head. This was a new beginning, and they had to be forgotten for the time being. “No,” she said softly. “There is no message. I’m sure they know I was pulled aboard. They will know I survived.” She paused. “And, Monsieur Lafitte, it would be best if you got under way immediately. I was warned before I jumped ship that you might be in possession of this one. Someone on board may change his mind and come after you.”

  Lafitte smiled brightly and bowed his head. “I am honored that even though you knew I might be here you still came.” Then, with the slightest edge of mockery in his tone, he added, “But somehow I have the impression that if the USS Hamilton were to follow it would not be me they were after.” He turned and left her alone, but not before he was able to catch surprise in her eyes.

  Alexis searched through Samuels’s wardrobe and found nothing that would do. She finally gave up and stripped off her wet clothes, wrapping a sheet around her shivering form. She had just finished when she heard Lafitte at the door. “Come in,” she answered, laying her clothes on the wide window bench.

  “Ah, Alex,” he murmured appreciatively at the sight of her profile outlined by the sun’s rays through her white covering. “Most suitable attire indeed.” Only thirty, Lafitte had a discerning eye for objects of value.

  Alexis turned quickly and saw he was only teasing her. His dark eyebrows were raised and they matched his mocking tone. His eyes gleamed brightly, but not rudely, alternating from blue to green as the light caught them. He was not much taller than she and slightly built, making Alexis think this could hardly be the man who was such a terror in the Caribbean. She thought of her own goal and realized she would make an equally unlikely terror. It amused her and she laughed.

  “I did not mean to be amusing. Rather complimentary.”

  “You are not quite what I expected, Monsieur,” Alexis explained, taking a seat.

  “And you are hardly the sort of fish one usuall
y finds in these waters.” He took a seat opposite her, folding his arms across his chest. “I believe it is time you begin your story. There is much I do not understand.” He watched her face carefully as she began her explanation. The amber eyes captivated him as did her tale. There was a common ground in the revenge each of them sought.

  Alexis told Lafitte briefly about her home on Tortola and how she arrived there. She explained the deaths of her parents and Pauley and Travers’s part in all of it. His face was grim as she mentioned being whipped by the captain. She misunderstood his look and offered to show him her back.

  Lafitte was genuinely angered by her suggestion. “That will not be necessary,” he said coldly. “I am quite capable of determining the truth without absolute proof.”

  “Then you are an exceptional man.”

  “And you are an exceptional woman, Alex. I do not believe you lie.”

  Alexis smiled at the statement. “I do not want to disappoint you, but I have been known to shade the truth.” He seemed satisfied with her remark. As Alexis continued her story she began to understand how this man, different from Cloud in many ways, was capable of commanding his men with the same ease. “I was taken aboard the Hamilton by Captain Cloud and the first officer, John Landis. Their intention was to take me to Washington and give me medical attention for my wounds, but I managed to do well on my own under their care. I asked to be returned to Tortola but I was refused.” Alexis went on to explain how she had worked for Cloud. The incident when she had climbed the rigging in her dress was not left out and she saw it amused him. She mentioned the mishap while she was fencing and how Harry and Mike had taught her to use a pistol. “The captain of the Hamilton was aware I wanted to leave and he knew I would escape if given the chance. His crew was a bit more encouraging than he—that is why no one stopped me when they saw I was ready to jump.”

  Lafitte nodded in understanding. “And where was Captain Cloud when you made your escape? Surely he did not change his mind?”

  “No, the captain did not change his mind. I had to persuade him.”

  “Shading the truth?” he asked slowly, bright eyes narrowing slightly.

  “I knocked him out.” Her voice was soft, but her eyes were hard.

  “You are very determined, Alex,” he noted when her expression gave nothing away except that fact. Still, he thought, there was something she was not saying. He could only guess as to what it was but the next few minutes gave him his answer.

  “I have been told that before,” she stated flatly.

  “By your captain?”

  Alexis’s eyes flashed gold ice for a second, then she composed herself. “By Captain Cloud and a few others. You imply in your question there was something between the captain and myself. I do not know where you got that impression.”

  “He would not let you go, you told me that much.” His mouth formed the slanted half-grin, delicately taunting her.

  “Because he thought it was too dangerous and that I did not know my own mind when I said I wanted to kill Travers,” she said quickly.

  “If that is what he told you, then he is also guilty of shading the truth. For if he did not realize you know exactly what you want then he must have been a fool.” He saw her eyebrows rise slightly. “Or,” he continued, “he must have loved you very much.”

  “Captain Cloud loved me, Monsieur Lafitte. He was not a fool.” She lowered her voice to hide the trembling as she spoke. “In the end he proved his love in the only way I could have accepted it. He allowed me to hit him and gave me my chance to escape.”

  “You know this?”

  Alexis nodded. “I am sure he knew what I intended.”

  “And you did not hesitate?” Lafitte asked quietly.

  “Only afterward. Only for a moment. Just to say goodbye.” She waited to see if he would comment, but he said nothing as he continued to observe her. The mocking grin was gone and she saw he understood. She pressed on to her present problem. “There is nothing more to say except I have escaped one ship and seem to have found myself in a similar predicament on this vessel.”

  “In what way, Alex? I do not intend to hold you prisoner. You are my guest. I would not have picked you up otherwise.”

  “Then you will return me to the island?” She could not hide the hope that crept into her voice.

  “Naturellement. It is not far out of our way.”

  “And my ship, this ship, you will return it also?”

  Lafitte chuckled. “You ask a great deal.”

  “Only what is mine. You may have the cargo. It appears you have transferred some of it to the other ship anyway. You were making too great a speed to be heavily loaded. I want the original crew returned to this vessel as soon as you are safe from being spotted by American Naval ships.”

  The taunting grin returned. “You are most kind, Alex, to be thinking of our safety.”

  Alexis curled her lips in the exact image of Lafitte’s smile, and she did not alter it when he broke into laughter, seeing the expression and realizing it was his. “I was thinking of my own safety, Monsieur,” she said. “I have no desire to be captured with your men and thrown into a prison or perhaps hanged.”

  “Always practical.”

  “Always.”

  Lafitte stood and walked toward the door. “This Captain Travers, Alex. Do you think you can accomplish what you plan?”

  “Yes.”

  “But you want this ship to aid you.”

  “Yes, but I will do it with or without this ship. It would only save me time if you would return what belongs to me.”

  “Do you have something you would like to offer in trade for the ship?” He scanned her slender figure, wrapped tightly in the sheet.

  Alexis chuckled softly. “I made that offer to Captain Cloud for my return to the island. He refused. I think you would do the same.”

  Lafitte sighed. “But you are not sure.”

  “No. I am not sure. Therefore, I will not even suggest it.”

  “Bien, because I am not sure either, demoiselle.” His eyes sparkled brightly at a game played and lost. “I have already said I would take you to Tortola, but we shall not discuss the return of your ship again.”

  “That is fine. I do insist upon working for you, however,” she said with finality.

  Lafitte suddenly realized all that Cloud had been up against but he was already prepared to help her. “Of course. But wait until your things dry. I would be as angry as Captain Cloud if you chose to climb the rigging in that sheet and I cannot vouch for your safekeeping among my men.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “That,” Lafitte said firmly, “I never doubted for one moment.”

  During the time it took to reach Tortola, Alexis proved Lafitte’s judgment correct again and again. He continued the fencing instructions until he declared she was as good as many of his men and better than some. He refused, however, to allow her to fire a pistol, telling her he had seen too many misfire. Alexis wondered if that was the complete truth. She thought it was possible he feared her taking back her ship by force. She let it pass and concentrated on the other things he could teach her. Because he seemed to understand her need for the kind of justice she had chosen, he encouraged her to learn methods of deception that would enable her to board a ship before her intent was made clear.

  It was in the Roadtown harbor that he revealed his wish to return her ship.

  “Why are you so surprised, Alex?” he asked when her eyebrows arched in an astonished curve. “As you pointed out so quickly when we first met, the ship does indeed belong to you.”

  “I was not aware it made a difference in your profession,” she answered.

  “It usually does not. You, Mademoiselle Danty, are an exception.”

  “Merci.” She thanked him for seeing her as an exception, not for her ship.

  “I will hear from you?”

  “You will hear of me, Monsieur. You can be sure of it.”

  They parted then, q
uiet au revoirs sealing their friendship and leaving the possibility of meeting again to chance.

  After she left the man with the mocking grin and taunting eyes, the real preparations for her quest began. Samuels and his crew were returned to the ship and the townspeople welcomed them home. Alexis made herself comfortable in the Quinton Shipping Line offices instead of staying in the home that held such painful memories for her.

  She visited her home on the hill, though, and oddly felt nothing. She looked at the graves of George and Francine and Pauley and felt a passing sadness. It was not until she sat in her worn spot of earth, her crow’s nest, that all the events of the past weeks fused into a hard, cold cancer in her belly and she wept for all she had lost.

  She did not resist the tortured sobs that sounded foreign to her own ears. She welcomed them as the symbol of the relief and release she deserved. She thought the tears cleansed her body and her mind, and when she heaved the last gasp she was ready to begin again. It would be Captain Alex Danty from now on.

  From her new home Alexis directed the outfitting of her ship. It was gone over from bowsprit to taffrail to make it seaworthy for the long months ahead. Extra guns were placed on board and carefully disguised so the vessel maintained the illusion of being no more than a merchant.

  Alexis relied on Frank Grendon, George’s secretary, to make arrangements for cargo to be taken on board. He was the one who saw to it that she had the necessary documents to protect her in the event of being boarded. His wife, Sally, along with other women in the settlement who were grateful to Alexis for bringing their husbands home after an encounter with Lafitte, sewed flags of different countries which would enable Alexis to disguise the purpose of her ship even further.

  After more than four months of intensive labor and intricate planning Alexis decided she was ready to begin her search. She chose Grendon to run the line while she was gone and together they devised a system which allowed either one of them to have messages taken to various ports by the remaining Quinton merchants.