“She already kens that,” said Gavina, surprising Tristan even more.
“What? Nairnie knows and she didn’t say anything to me?” he asked, thinking the one person he should be able to trust over anyone else would be his grandmother. Now he realized it wasn’t true.
“Why would Nairnie tell ye?” asked Gavina.
“Why wouldn’t she?” rallied Tristan. “After all, I’m her grandson and also captain of this ship.”
“I told you, wenches always lie,” mumbled Aaron, crossing his arms over his chest, sounding so sure of himself.
“Come on, Gavina,” said Ramble, taking her by the arm.
“God’s eyes, Ramble!” spat Tristan. “Don’t call her Gavina out loud. We all need to keep it a secret for now from the rest of the crew that she’s a girl.”
“Of course, Cap’n. Sorry about that. Let’s go . . . Gavin.” Ramble led her out of the cabin and closed the door behind them.
“Well, what are we going to do about this?” asked Mardon once they’d left.
“We can’t just drop her off at shore when she’s probably lying and knows exactly where the map is,” said Aaron.
“Leave it to me, Brothers.” Mardon smoothed back his hair. “I’ve got a way with women. I’ll woo the wench and while we’re making love, she’ll spill all her precious secrets to me.”
“Nay, you won’t,” growled Tristan, not wanting his brothers near Gavina.
“Then I’ll shake her down and make sure she’s not hiding the map under her clothes,” suggested Aaron. “If she is, I’ll steal it from her before she even knows what happened.”
“Nay, you won’t,” said Tristan once again. “Birk already showed us that she didn’t have the map. Neither of you will touch her or give her trouble of any kind or you’ll have to deal with me.”
“So, you’re just going to do nothing about finding the map then?” asked Mardon in confusion.
“She told us her story,” answered Tristan. “She doesn’t have it.”
“If you believe her, you’re a fool.” Aaron waved a hand through the air and released a puff of air from his mouth.
“I told you both, I’ll handle this,” Tristan repeated. “Now, once again, leave her alone and don’t tell a single man aboard this ship that she’s a girl.”
“You really think Ramble is going to keep his mouth shut?” asked Mardon.
“Bid the devil,” said Tristan, pacing and running his hand through his hair once again. Ramble couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it. Tristan was in trouble. “I just need to think. Now leave me alone so I can figure out what to do.”
“We need that map to find the treasure,” said Mardon, heading to the door.
“Aye. The crew is getting restless lately,” Aaron joined in. “We’ve had a dry spell lately where booty is concerned. If we don’t give the crew something worthwhile soon, they’re all going to be threatening to jump ship and go join Nereus’ crew.”
“Nereus,” Tristan ground out, speaking of his nemesis who was also a pirate. “He always seems to be one step ahead of us.”
“Then this time, let’s get to the treasure before he does,” said Mardon. “Tristan, our only hope to keep our crew and keep our reign of the sea is to do away with Nereus.”
“In order to do that, we need to find that treasure,” said Aaron. “Once the crew is motivated, we’ll be able to overtake Nereus and we’ll gain another ship and crew along the way.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll find that damned map and we’ll get to the treasure before Nereus does, no matter what I have to do to make it happen.” Tristan made the promise, hoping he could keep it. However, things were starting to look grim.
“Bed the girl and find out where it is,” suggested Mardon.
“Nay, strip her and check inside the lining of her clothes,” Aaron gave his opinion next.
“Leave me be,” Tristan grumbled, walking back to his hanging bed and plopping down in it as his brothers left the cabin. He closed his eyes, feeling his emotions calming as he rocked back and forth in his bed as the ship swayed. Trying to forget about Gavina, he listened to the melodic rhythm of the waves hitting against the sides of the ship, bringing him back to his normally controlled state.
He needed to find out the truth about what Gavina knew about the map before she left the ship. She claimed to know nothing, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that it was a lie. His brothers were right. Gavina knew something, or Birk never would have given his life trying to protect her. He knew that, too, but just didn’t want to believe it. Part of him wanted Gavina far away from this ship and also far away from him. He’d taken an odd liking to the girl, and this was only going to cause him trouble.
He considered both Mardon and Aaron’s suggestions but, unfortunately, neither of them felt right. The girl had been through so much lately that he didn’t want to hurt her. Instead of taking her and using her for his own needs, something inside him made him want to protect her from the rest of his lusty crew. Mayhap it was because Gavina was about his sister’s age and reminded him a little of Gwen. Or mayhap it was because since he’d seen his father’s ship and found Nairnie, it was bothering him more than he wanted to admit that he’d chosen piracy over staying with his sister after all.
That was all a long time ago, he told himself. He needed to push this from his thoughts. He and his brothers made a choice, and there was no going back after the things they’d done. They were pirates now. They could never be mere fishermen ever again and neither did he want to. He liked his life and decided he was never going back to working so hard for a living and still ending up so poor.
Tristan swung his feet over the side of the bed and got up. He knew what he had to do now. He needed to get that information out of Gavina, no matter what it took. Tonight, he decided, he would convince the girl to tell him everything he wanted to know, and then mayhap even more. He would do whatever it took to get this information, even if he had to act like the pirate he truly was, in order to get his answers.
Chapter 6
“I told ye it wouldna be long before Tristan figured out ye were a lass.” Nairnie stirred the contents of a large iron pot hanging on a tripod over a small fire outside on the deck. The fire was contained in a metal box filled with sand. The smoke rose up into the air with the scent of root vegetables, fish and spices, as well as some kind of meat.
“Shhh, dinna say that so loud, Nairnie.” Gavina glanced over her shoulder but thankfully none of the pirates seemed to have heard. “Besides ye, only Tristan, his brathairs, and Ramble ken my secret. I dinna want the rest of the men to find out.”
“Ye are no’ safe on this ship, lass. Ye need to get off of it as soon as possible. Mayhap since Tristan kens yer secret, he’ll take ye to shore now.”
“I dinna believe so. He thinks I ken somethin’ about that map that Birk stole.”
Nairnie stopped stirring the pot and cocked her head. “Do ye?”
“Can I tell ye somethin’ that is for yer ears only?” She glanced around, hoping that if she told Nairnie about the map on her back, the old woman would help her to read it. If Gavina had a copy of it that she could see, then mayhap she could convince Tristan to drop her off at shore and she could hire someone to take her to find the treasure.
“Aye, of course, lass. Ye can tell me anythin’. What is it?”
“Well, ye see, Birk burned the original map,” she started.
“Burned it? Nay! That isna guid. That map was supposed to be for my grandsons. Now they’ll never find the treasure.”
“Nairnie, ye mentioned the map once belonged to yer son. Who was he?”
“His name was Cato.”
“He was a pirate, then?”
“He was. However, I didna ken it. I never even kent him, really. He was taken away from me as a child by the bastard that spawned him. I never saw Cato again.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“I dinna agree with piracy, but it is a shame the map is gone,” s
aid Nairnie, waddling over and picking up a stack of wooden bowls, placing them down atop a wooden board that made up a table. “That map was supposed to bring my grandsons the ultimate treasure. I wish they would have found it.”
“Ultimate treasure?” Gavina blinked, not believing her ears. She started to see Nairnie in a whole new light. She was going to tell her about the map on her back, but now she wasn’t sure she could trust her. “Nairnie, ye almost sound like a pirate yerself. I’m surprised ye are no’ happy the map was stolen and that yer grandsons canna go after it.”
“I just want them to be happy, that’s all.” She picked up a stack of spoons and placed them down next to the bowls. Then she picked up her ladle and the lid from a pot and started banging them together, making a loud clanking noise. “Come get yer food,” she called out to the pirates, and then looked back over to Gavina. “So, what was it ye wanted to tell me?”
“Nothin’ that canna wait,” said Gavina, stepping aside as the men stampeded over to the food table. Nairnie held up a big, oversized ladle and stood behind the pot.
“No pushin’,” she called out. “There’s enough for all of ye.”
The men pushed anyway, scrambling to grab a bowl and a spoon. Nairnie reached back and grabbed a sack, pulling it up next to her. “Gavin, come here and break off pieces of bread for the men or they’ll kill each other tryin’ to get some.”
“Of course,” she said, hurrying over to Nairnie and peeking into the bag. There were at least a dozen loaves of freshly baked bread. “Nairnie, how did ye bake this on a ship?”
“I didna,” she said as the men lined up in front of her. “My grandsons stole that from the tavern today. Usually they eat hardtack.”
“Hardtack?” she asked, not knowing what that was.
“Aye, it’s a hard, flat biscuit that keeps a long time. That is, as long as it’s stored in a covered container and kept away from maggots.”
“Fill it up to the top, Nairnie, I’m starved,” said Goldtooth, holding out his bowl. He’d out-muscled the rest of the men to get to the front of the line.
“Ye ken if I serve ye before my grandsons and the higher rankin’ men, they’ll have my head,” scoffed Nairnie, not doing a thing to serve them.
Goldtooth leaned over and whispered. “Just a little taste until they get here? I’ll give ye a nice, big, juicy kiss if ye do.” He leaned in closer and puckered up his lips.
Nairnie reached out with the large, heavy ladle and smacked Goldtooth across the knuckles.
“Argh, what was that for?” griped the man.
“Ye ever try to kiss me and next it’ll be my foot kickin’ ye in yer blasted doup,” she warned him. It was amusing to see how courageous Nairnie was against these cutthroat men of the sea. She didn’t allow them to intimidate her. Instead, she ended up making them feel insecure. Gavina held back a chuckle, but Goldtooth noticed.
“What are ye laughin’ at, Boy?” he sneered.
“I-I’m no’ laughin’,” she stuttered.
“That scallywag was laughin’. I heard him, too,” shouted another of the crew.
“Why is that landlubber up here by the food?”
“He must have hornswaggled the old hag to be at the front of the line,” called out another man. “Let’s show him where newcomers are supposed to be.”
They all started laughing, making Gavina very nervous. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out where newcomers were supposed to be.
Suddenly, all the pirates started closing in around Gavina and grabbing for her. She dropped the bag and stepped behind Nairnie who was now hitting all of them with the ladle, trying to keep them away.
“Back! Get back, all of ye!” shouted Nairnie.
“What the hell is going on here?” Tristan’s voice raged as he and his brothers came forward, followed by Peg Leg Pate and Stitch.
“That scurvy dog needs to go to the back of the line,” shouted one of the pirates.
“He’s such a milksop that I think we need to toughen him up a little,” said another.
“I say we do it now,” yelled someone else.
Gavina was starting to worry until Tristan stepped to the front of the line and held up his hand. “No one gives that sort of command on my ship but me or my brothers. Goldtooth, I’m surprised you are a part of this. I thought I could count on you.”
“I’m sorry, Cap’n,” apologized Goldtooth. “It just seems that some of the crew think ye’re givin’ that new runt special treatment.”
“Gavin is not a runt and I don’t want to hear anyone refer to him in that manner again. However I treat a crewmember is not for you, or any of you to judge,” Tristan told them. “I warn you all, if any of you so much as touches Gavin, I’ll have your heads.”
Grumbles came from the crew who were all glaring at Gavina now, making her feel like she wanted to jump overboard just to get away from them.
“Did you hear me?” Tristan bellowed.
“Aye, Cap’n.”
“We heard ye.”
“We understand, Cap’n,” came the answers from Tristan’s crew.
“Goldtooth, you and the dozen men around you will go to the back of the line,” instructed Mardon.
“What? Nay, I’m hungry,” complained Goldtooth.
“We all are,” said Aaron. “Now, you heard him – move!”
“All right, we’re goin’,” said Goldtooth sluggishly moving to the back of the line, followed by the dozen others.
Tristan picked up a bowl and came over and looked into the pot. “What’s that, Nairnie?”
“It’s pottage I made up. I used some of the food from the tavern and added some spices.”
“It’s hot!” said Aaron, looking over Tristan’s shoulder, grasping his bowl and spoon.
“We haven’t had a hot meal in months now,” remarked Mardon pushing his way in front of Aaron.
“It smells good,” said Ramble, looking on. “A lot better than any of the food Blade ever made for us.”
“Was Blade yer cook who died?” asked Gavina.
“Aye,” said Tristan. “He died over the winter. From food poisoning.”
“Och!” said Gavina, wondering how a man could die from eating food he cooked.
“Nairnie, it’s not safe to start a fire aboard the ship,” Tristan told her. “You need to be careful and keep the flames low and contained. And no fires if the sea is not calm.”
“Ye dinna have to worry, Tristan. I promised ye hot food and that is what ye’re goin’ to get.” Nairnie held out her hand. “Now give me yer bowl. These men are wantin’ to eat and ye are holdin’ up the line.”
Tristan handed her his bowl. “Well, just don’t make a habit of it,” Tristan told her. “I don’t fancy the thought of my ship going up in flames just because you were trying to give us a hot meal, although I appreciate it.”
“I’ll leave the sailin’ to ye and ye just leave the cookin’ to me.” Nairnie handed back the bowl, half-filled with pottage.
“Fill the bowl to the rim,” he told her with a nod.
“To the rim?” she asked. “Tristan, I ken ye’re the captain, but this pot of food has to feed the entire crew.”
“Do it,” he said still holding out the bowl.
“Aye, Cap’n,” said Nairnie, begrudgingly doing as told.
“Ramble, get up here,” Tristan called out.
“Me?” Ramble pushed his way through the crowd, snatched up an empty bowl and ran over, holding it out to Nairnie. “Thanks, Cap’n. I’ve never been at the front of the food line before.”
“Put the bowl down, Ramble,” Tristan told him.
“Put it down? I don’t understand.” Ramble’s look of hope started to fade. He still held on to the bowl tightly, holding it out to Nairnie.
“You’re taking Gavin’s place handing out bread.”
“Oh,” said Ramble, his smile fading as he dragged his feet, walking over to take Gavina’s place.
“I dinna mind doin’ this,” said Gavina. She
reached back into the bag and Tristan’s fingers closed around her arm.
“Don’t even think of disobeying me, or you’ll wish you hadn’t,” he said in a low voice. “Now grab a loaf of bread and come with me.”
Gavina looked over to Nairnie for guidance. Nairnie slowly nodded. Taking a loaf out of the bag, she snuck around Ramble and followed Tristan as he headed toward his cabin. Still not being used to the way the ship rolled on the water, and finding it hard to walk with just one shoe, she had to stop several times to gain her footing.
“I’ll take that,” said Tristan, snatching a bottle of whisky away from Noll who was about to take a swig.
Noll didn’t dare protest, probably because he was afraid he’d be whipped again.
“Where are we goin’?” she asked, as Tristan tucked the bottle under his arm and opened the door to the cabin.
“Where no one can see you,” he said, walking inside. She followed. “Out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully,” he mumbled, setting the bowl down on the table and raising the bottle to his lips.
Gavina watched Tristan swallow, her eyes fastened to his sun-kissed throat. He licked his lips and let out a satisfied sigh. The scent of alcohol filled the air. Her eyes traveled up to his mouth next and she found herself wondering what it would feel like to kiss his lips.
“Quit looking at me like that, or you’re going to end up under me.”
She jerked back, afraid he had somehow read her thoughts. Thoughts that she had no business thinking and no idea from where they’d come. “Under ye?” she asked in confusion, then noticed his eyes dart over to his bed.
“Oh,” she said, her eyes fastening to the loaf of bread in her hands instead. It was a dark loaf that looked to be made from rye rather than oats like she normally ate in Scotland. Dark bread was for peasants, whereas white bread was only eaten by the nobles.
“Sit down,” he commanded, crossing the room and slamming the door, leaving them once again alone in his quarters.
She slowly sat at the table and put the bread down in front of her, running her hand over the smooth surface of it, trying to use it like a worry stone to ease her mind. Without meaning to do it, her eyes once more traveled upward to his face. Dark stubble that covered his face, and his long hair that almost reached to his waist made him look more rugged than either of his brothers.
Tristan (Pirate Lords Series Book 1) Page 11