Once a Scoundrel

by Mary Jo Putney

  “Of course he would! I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Seize the day, cousin, and seize the man!” Rory’s mouth tightened. “For the next week or so, we can call our bodies are own if we’re careful enough not to be caught.”

  Constance drew a deep breath. “Perhaps . . . perhaps I’ll have the courage to proposition him tomorrow when we’re visiting the menagerie.”

  Remembering the funeral service, Rory said, “You may have to make your visit later than usual. Gabriel said that tomorrow morning the soldiers who died will be buried at sea. I asked if we might come, and he thought it would be allowed.”

  Constance made a small sound of distress. “I hadn’t really thought about the fate of the men who died, but of course it’s necessary. I hope we can go to pay our respects.”

  “Not to mention that it will be interesting. Fodder for our adventure tales!” Rory gave a twisted smile in the darkness. “We’re incorrigible, aren’t we?”

  “I prefer to think of it as creative,” Constance said with dignity. “We’ve collected a great deal of material on this journey, haven’t we? It’s a silver lining.”

  “So it is.” Rory stood, yawning again before climbing up to her bunk. A silver lining to a very dark cloud. But better than no light at all.

  Chapter 19

  Rory woke from a sleep filled with too vivid dreams to find Constance already dressed and reading a note. “This was just delivered,” her cousin said. “Your captain says that we may attend the funeral service and our presence will be appreciated.”

  Rory yawned and swung down from the upper bunk. “How soon?”

  “Very, I think. The service will be announced by the tolling of the ship’s bell.”

  “I’d better get dressed, then.”

  As Constance curled up on her bunk to give space, Rory pulled on a dark blue gown and added a sober shawl. She wrapped the head scarf with particular care so that nothing but her eyes and a bit of brow were visible. Constance had done the same.

  As Constance drew on gloves, she said, “I regret the deaths of three brave men, but I do think this will be interesting.”

  “We both have too much curiosity, which is why we’re here,” Rory said with a chuckle, remembering how Gabriel had teasingly called her a little ghoul in a voice that made it an intimate endearment. “Time to ascend to the top deck.”

  The seas were rough, and they needed to use the railing as they left their cabin and walked to the companionway. “It feels like a storm is moving in.”

  “I suppose we’re overdue for one,” Constance said without enthusiasm. “I hope it’s just an average storm, not like the one that hit when we were crossing the Indian Ocean. I was saying my final prayers that time.”

  “That was a pretty dreadful storm,” Rory agreed. “But we survived.” The Zephyr lurched heavily to port and she grabbed the railing again.

  Constance asked, “Do you think the service might be postponed?”

  “The captain said the custom is to bury the deceased as soon as possible. I gather the ceremony isn’t too long, so it might be over before the storm hits.”

  As they started up to the main deck, the ship’s bell began tolling with the slow solemnity of an ancient church. At the top of the stairs, they were greeted with overcast skies and a sharp wind that carried a spattering of raindrops.

  Gabriel was on the quarterdeck studying the sky. Frowning, he gave orders to his second officer. The second officer relayed more orders, and sailors began climbing the rigging and reefing sails.

  Rory had spent enough time at sea to know that taking in sails was the best way to deal with foul weather. Doing it now not only would prepare the Zephyr for the coming storm, but would steady the ship for the solemn ceremony that was about to begin.

  Jason Landers saw them and came over with a special smile for Constance. “Ladies, allow me to escort you to the overhang of the quarterdeck. You’ll have a good view of the ceremony and be more protected from the weather that’s coming in.”

  They’d also be fairly unobtrusive in case some of Malek’s men were disturbed by the scandalous sight of females. They followed Jason to the area he’d suggested. As he’d said, they were protected from the wind. He stayed near them, probably under orders from Gabriel to make sure nothing untoward happened.

  A section of the starboard railing had been removed, and judging by the low voices Rory heard from the helm, the ship was altering its course so that the burial zone faced Mecca. Members of the Zephyr crew who weren’t on active duty were gathering on the deck in formal lines, faces sober.

  Gabriel joined them in his navy-blue full-dress uniform. None of Malek’s men were present until a slow, mournful drumbeat began. Led by Malek, a double line of soldiers marched up the companionway to the deck, the three shrouded bodies carried on their shoulders. Rory held her breath, hoping the motion of the ship didn’t cause trouble, but the soldiers managed to keep their balance.

  The bodies were set gently on the deck. Malek’s troops surrounded them and sang a funeral prayer. Then the first body was lifted and transferred to the edge of the deck that was open to the sea. The imam, Hajji Asad, a dignified older man, nodded to Malek.

  First Malek, then Gabriel spoke brief tributes to the courage and honor of the fallen warriors. The imam intoned a short prayer and the first body was consigned to the sea, falling swiftly because of the weights that had been wrapped in the shroud. The ship’s crew saluted, and several Catholics among them crossed themselves.

  The second body was accorded the same somber ritual. The wind was getting stronger and so were the gusts of rain.

  Almost everyone was watching the service, but concerned by the weather, Rory scanned the sea. On the port side of the vessel, a strange black circle of water was spiraling. Wondering if it was a whirlpool forming, she said in a low voice, “Mr. Landers, is that water formation to port normal?”

  Jason looked in the direction she indicated and sucked in his breath. Then he moved forward and spoke to Gabriel in a low, tense voice. Gabriel frowned and looked to port.

  The third body had been brought forth to the edge of the deck and the imam was saying his prayers when disaster struck. A blast of wind and water caused the Zephyr to roll so violently to starboard that men and objects were flung across the deck.

  Rory and Constance were both knocked off their feet, and Rory was sliding toward the open section of the railing.

  “Rory!” Constance managed to clamp a secure handhold with one hand while hurling herself across the deck to catch Rory’s wrist with the other. The jerk almost dislocated Rory’s shoulder, but she barely noticed as delayed panic at what might have happened flooded her body.

  As she crawled back toward her cousin, the third shrouded corpse shot precipitously over the edge of the deck and into the sea. And the imam tumbled after him.

  Gabriel lunged toward the gap in the railing shouting, “Hajji Asad!”

  Rory’s heart almost stopped when she saw him going after the imam. Barely in time, he caught a corner of the holy man’s flowing robe and pulled him back toward safety, but their position was still precarious. A half-dozen strides behind Gabriel, Malek added his muscle and a secure grip on the railing to help drag Gabriel and the imam back to safe territory.

  The rescue had taken only seconds, but screams and cries said there was other damage. Two crewmen raced to the section of railing that had been displaced and slammed it back where it belonged just in time to save one of Malek’s soldiers from sliding overboard.

  The ship was rolling back to port and no one else seemed to be in danger of being lost. As Rory stumbled to her feet, her gaze returned to the disturbance in the water. Aghast, she saw that the viciously swirling waterspout had spun up to connect with the bottom of a low, dark storm cloud. Another spout was forming beyond it. Rory had seen waterspouts before, but they’d been small and harmless compared to these monsters.

  Gabriel’s hat had vanished overboard and his hair was blowing in the fier
ce wind, but there was no question who was the captain when he bellowed, “Men aloft, down to the deck quick as bedamned! Malek, get your men to safety below! Landers, take the ladies to their cabin, then down to the hold and pump out the water from the hippo pool!”

  Having given his orders, Gabriel pivoted and raced to the helm. The ship was pitching so violently that the helmsman was unable to control the wheel and the Zephyr was dangerously close to foundering. When Gabriel reached the helm, he added his strength and between them the two men were able to force the wheel to port. The Zephyr sluggishly came around to a more stable course.

  Obeying his captain’s orders, Jason Landers latched on to Constance and Rory. “Below decks now!”

  He hauled them to the nearest companionway through the chaos that reigned all around them. Everything had happened so quickly!

  As the three of them half fell down the steps, Rory was struck by several flying objects. Fish! Small fish that must have been sucked up in the waterspout and hurled onto the ship. A little wildly, she wondered whether they would be served for dinner if the ship was still afloat by then.

  Dodging a silvery minnow, she asked, “Mr. Landers, is the weight of the hippo pond unbalancing the ship?”

  “Yes.” His expression was grim. “Giant waterspouts are rare, but they can sink a ship without a trace. The captain and I were concerned that the weight of all that water in the pool could be trouble in a bad storm so we have a pump rigged next to it. With the sails reefed, we should be able to ride this out.”

  “Do waterspouts last long?” Constance asked in an unsteady voice.

  “Luckily, no. All we have to do is stay afloat until they fall apart. Now I have to go down to the hold and get that water pumped out before the ship founders,” he said briskly. “You two go to your cabin and hang on until the sea is back to normal.”

  Not waiting for acknowledgment, he spun about and plunged down the next flight of steps, skimming his hand along the railing to keep from breaking his neck.

  The ship was still pitching so Rory and Constance hung on to the railing at the side of the landing while soldiers and sailors stamped about overhead and passed them on the steps as they sought refuge below decks. They could hear the banging of objects being tossed around, but the noise diminished as loose items were secured.

  Rory took a deep breath, telling herself that the worst was over. Probably. “Thank you for catching me! Even a harem is preferable to feeding the fishes.”

  Constance smiled crookedly. “If I hadn’t caught you, your captain would. He’s impressive in action, isn’t he?”

  “Indeed. How are you doing? I’ve acquired numerous bruises in unmentionable places, but nothing serious.”

  “The same here. I’m more padded than you, so I probably bounce better.”

  Now that she was taking time to breathe, Rory heard the bleats and cries of frantic animals coming from the hold. “I’m going down to the menagerie. Maybe I can help quiet the animals. They must be terrified.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Constance said firmly. “I’m almost as good with them as you are. Not to mention that I have no desire to sit alone in our cabin and terrify myself about what might happen.”

  “Doing something useful should help keep fear at bay,” Rory agreed. “Down we go, and hang on to the railings! We don’t need broken bones.”

  Constance flashed a swift, dimpled smile. “Maybe that would diminish our market value.”

  Rory smiled as she started down the steps, her right hand firmly gripping the railing. The possibility of breaking bones was no joke. Several of Malek’s soldiers were nursing injured arms and legs and heads as they made their way below.

  She had a moment of panic as she imagined the ship sinking with the two of them trapped below decks, drowning. She drew a deep breath and reminded herself that even if they were on the top deck, they’d still drown. The exact place and time would be merely a detail.

  More steps, and the closer they got to the menagerie, the louder the complaints from the animals. They reached the hold only a couple of minutes behind Jason Landers, but already he and some of the animal keepers were setting up the pump to drain the water from the violently sloshing pool. The hippos were making frantic noises, and while they might be pygmies, they were still very large and heavy as they pitched about in their pool. She hoped they wouldn’t be injured.

  Keeping out of the way of Jason and the animal handlers, Rory and Constance darted by the hippo tank and into the aisle that ran between the other animal enclosures. “I’ll visit the goats,” Constance said. “They’ve always been favorites of mine.”

  She unlatched the door and slipped inside, latching it behind her again. Then she sank into the hay and opened her arms. The little goats pressed into her, bleating pitifully as she put her arms around them. “Come to mama,” she crooned. “You’re safe here.”

  Her cousin made a lovely Madonna of the Goats. Smiling, Rory moved along. Unable to stand in the pitching vessel, the ostriches were huddled together in a corner of their pen. They were mighty mounds of black feathers and they looked seriously annoyed, but there were no apparent injuries.

  The lion was pacing back and forth and periodically roared with shivering menace. Rory flinched back. Ghazi was one beast that should be left to the experts!

  The little donkeys were not happy, but they weren’t as upset as the miniature horses, who churned around their enclosure, sweating and frantic. One was limping.

  She was particularly fond of the miniature horses, so she entered their pen and settled down with her back to the wooden grid that made up the front wall. “Come to me, my beauties,” she said coaxingly. “This will be over soon, so you mustn’t hurt yourselves.”

  She continued talking softly. First to come was the limping horse. She guessed his fetlock was strained, but nothing seemed broken. He was trembling, but as she stroked his muzzle and mane, he relaxed and folded down against her.

  Another horse came over enviously and gave her a solid head butt. “Of course you’re worried, little friend,” she murmured as she scratched between his pointed ears. “It’s been a very difficult morning.”

  He soon settled down, and it wasn’t long until all four of the miniature horses surrounded her. They were safer lying in the straw than standing. The Zephyr was still pitching, but perhaps not as badly as it had been.

  The men talking by the hippo enclosure sounded less upset now. They must have pumped the water out so that it was no longer destabilizing the ship. She leaned back against the wall and relaxed as she continued to pet the horses. If she had a chance to write more stories, she’d have plenty of new material to draw from!

  Chapter 20

  The sea was as violent and dangerous as Gabriel had ever seen it, so he stayed at the wheel until the swift, ferocious storm had passed, the waterspouts had collapsed, and the Zephyr was steady on her course again. By then, it was midafternoon, but he needed to inspect his ship before he ate or rested.

  Since it was still raining and he was already saturated to the skin, he didn’t bother to change, though he briefly visited his quarters to get another hat. He found The Spook burrowed into his bed, unhappy but safe. He was glad to see that; he was fond of the beast.

  When he started his inspection, he found that one of the smaller sails had been ripped beyond repair, but reefing early had spared the other sails and no masts were seriously damaged. A cage of chickens lashed to the deck has been swept away along with an assortment of small objects, but it was a tribute to his crew’s knot-tying abilities that more objects hadn’t been lost overboard. The fish that had rained down had been collected, and the top deck was on its way to being shipshape again.

  Methodically, he worked his way down the lower decks, with a side trip to the cabin shared by the ladies. He frowned when there was no response to his knock. They must be all right, though; he’d seen Jason escort them below decks. Since these particular ladies were curious as cats, he guessed they’d gone explo
ring after the worst of the storm had passed.

  He stopped by the galley and appropriated a chunk of cheese, then continued his inspection. He talked to Malek and his officers and checked out damage, but still no ladies. He reminded himself that a ship had many stray corners, and descended to the hold. There, he found Jason Landers and most of the animal keepers working to repair the hippo pen, which had suffered serious damage.

  “Good work, Mr. Landers,” he said formally. “I could feel the ship stabilizing as you pumped the water out. We might not have survived if that hadn’t been done so quickly.”

  Jason was as saturated as Gabriel. Dripping quietly, he said, “I’m glad we’d prepared for the worst so the pump was ready to go.” He gestured to the pen. “As you can see, the hippo enclosure needs repairs. The poor beasts kept getting thrown against the walls like battering rams. Hard on them, harder on the walls.”

  “Did they come through safely?”

  “Their keepers say so, but they seem upset As you can see, they’re huddling in their pen.”

  The head animal keeper came up to Gabriel, gesturing and talking so quickly that Gabriel had to ask him to slow down. After listening and asking a couple of questions, he said to Landers, “The hippos need water to survive. They can accept a certain amount of seawater, but it should be mixed with fresh water to keep them healthy.”

  Landers sighed. “A good thing our water supplies are in reasonable shape. Tell him we can do that, and as soon as the pen walls are repaired we can start bringing buckets of water down to splash over the beasts until the pool is full again.” He looked over at the large, huddled hippos. “The poor critters didn’t ask for this.”

  “Nor did we,” Gabriel said rather dourly. “Do you have any idea where the ladies are? Not in their cabin.”

  Landers grinned. “They came down here to help calm the animals, and they did a good job.” He waved a hand down the aisle toward the stern of the ship, then returned to supervising repairs to the pen.