Buccaneers Series
Page 110
Emerald grabbed a pillow and rushed to beat down the fire.
Baret went after Levasseur. He was heading toward the quarterdeck steps.
“He flees like a rabbit!” Baret announced, seeing some of his men.
“Har!” shouted Hob gleefully. “Behold the dawcock fleein’ like a scurvy rat for his hole.”
The Regale crewmen mocked Rafael with their laughter and jeers.
Baret caught up with him on the steps, and here Levasseur, his eyes flaring renewed rage, stood his ground. Then he sprang, his blade whipping past Baret’s chest and drawing blood.
“Ah!” Levasseur shouted, as though the sight spurred him on to new levels of energy.
“Come back, then, dog!” Baret invited and drove him furiously again. “You shall soon meet your Maker. Are you ready? I think not!”
“I shall see you in hades first!” Levasseur came at him, beating back Baret’s sword in a frenzy. “Ha! Beware, Capitaine!”
Baret sensed that Emerald and his father had come running from the round room. He glimpsed her clutching the upper deck rail and looking down, fear written on her white face.
Levasseur’s energy now flowed like spewing lava. His lips were drawn back in hatred.
Baret remained dangerously cool, his concentration sharpening as the intensity of their duel mounted. There was the sound of steel clashing against steel—and then Levasseur was retreating down the steps to the lower deck.
The crew moved back, watching gravely. All wordplay died into silence as Baret stalked his enemy.
They circled on the deck. Levasseur lunged. Baret parried. The duel grew more careful, each man resorting to fencing tactics known only to the most skilled instructors.
Levasseur shook the sweat from his eyes. “You are dead, Monsieur!” and he rushed him.
“Ah! Vain hope!” Once more Baret parried skillfully, then turned his blade. His sword slipped past Rafael’s defenses, and he thrust him through.
Levasseur stumbled back against the ship’s rail.
Baret tipped him backward over the side of the Regale to splash into the dark, forbidding Caribbean.
“Alas, Rafael … a final adieu. You should not have played the game of treachery with me.”
23
THE DAWN
Baret saw his beloved waiting for him on the steps of the quarterdeck. The wind was tossing her skirt and blowing her dark lustrous hair. She came toward him, and he walked to meet her. They met in a crushing embrace. For some time they held one another as though afraid some new enemy would emerge to tear them asunder.
At last, with arms about each other, they walked to the rail to watch the flaring dawn break with new hope and sweet promise.
His father and Zeddie had been cut free, Levasseur’s crewmen were safely confined in the hold, the treasure was secure, and a boat was on the way to bring Carlotta and the Indian to the ship.
Baret asked Emerald, “Ready for England?”
Her eyes, reflecting her happiness, gave a ready answer, and together in heart they watched the dawn brighten with splendor, the sky deepen into royal blue.
Their new life was beginning. Only God knew where it would eventually lead them. But they possessed the greatest of treasures: they had one another, they had their freedom, and they had Him.
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