The House Lost at Sea

by R. J. Blain

  “The house isn’t hers by right. It is mine.” I lifted my chin and stared down my nose at Lester, fighting my desire to clack my teeth together and scowl. “My name is Catalina de la Corona, and I was once known as the Pirate Princess of the Seven Seas. I was the first mate of the Calico. Before the Black Scourge betrayed us, it was to be our house. She has no claim.”

  Lester sucked in a breath. “That’s impossible.”

  Could he truly be so stupid? I pointed at my face. “Do you not remember how this happened?”

  “Naidoo shot you. It must have grazed.”

  Him again? It was well enough he was dead; it saved me the effort of having to kill him myself. Rising to my feet, I turned around, parted my hair, and showed him the back of my skull. “Yes, it grazed right through and exited here.”

  Of all the things I expected, Lester lurching to his feet, running out of the cabin, and throwing up over the rail wasn’t one of them. At least he hadn’t thrown himself overboard. I followed, grabbed the back of his shirt, and waited for him to finish retching his guts out. “So, Naidoo was the one who pulled the trigger, huh? Where’s the Lady of the Lake?”

  I gave Naidoo credit; he talked the talk with the best of them, and I hadn’t pegged him as the ruthless type, although I was more than willing to view him as greedy and happy to dirty his hands for a profit. He had lacked the edge I associated with most coldblooded killers.

  Lester gasped for air, and once he regained control of his stomach, he slumped over the rail. “The captain scuttled her.”

  That explained Naidoo’s willingness to pull the trigger. Abrahan likely hadn’t been the target at all; if my ship had been scuttled and the reason for it stood in front of me, I’d likely shoot, too. “Know why?”

  “The captain was pissed. Hired him to do a job, and he botched it.”

  I dragged my hostage back into the cabin and sat him down before fetching him a glass of water. “He didn’t botch it. I merely decided I didn’t like being set adrift on a life raft in the middle of the ocean, so I left. Shame about the ship. The Lady of the Lake was lovely.”

  If Lester’s eyes widened any more, they’d pop out of his head. “You’re the one my captain wanted?”

  “I suspect that was only because Benny and Bensen recognized the design of my pocket watch, cutlass, and flintlock, told your captain, and wanted to get their hands on it badly enough to trash my home to do it. Makes a sick amount of sense, if their loyalty was to her before they had met me. It was probably your crew who did the actual deed. Benny wouldn’t condone it, neither would Bensen. They would have tried to find some other way to sucker me out of my property.”

  The betrayal still stung, but I accepted it with a shrug. I’d done far worse for my captain. How could I blame either one of them?

  I would remain rather unhappy over their involvement in my home’s destruction and the loss of my possessions, but I’d move on as always. I’d have to think long and hard on how best to handle the situation.

  When I got my revenge, it’d have to cost them, but I didn’t want to hurt them too much. Before they had shown their true colors, I’d appreciated their friendship well enough, even when they had annoyed me.

  I really did make a terrible pirate at times.

  Abrahan shoved the tuna into the oven and parked on the chair beside me. “Those two men seemed pretty upset when they realized you’d been shot. And the one who’d shot Naidoo, too. They weren’t happy I’d lied to them, either. Then they realized you were the one giving me the orders, and they got a little too interested in me for my liking. That’s how I ended up locked in that room. They were trying to figure out what to do with me, since I’m part of your crew.”

  Our hostage flinched and stared down at his glass of water. “The one who shot Captain Naidoo is our navigator.”

  I hated history. Why did history always have to repeat itself? I didn’t want anything to do with a rival crew’s navigator. I’d walked that path once, and I refused to subject myself to such loss again.

  “Lester, did they tell you what they were looking for in the house?”

  “They weren’t looking for anything—it’s a part of my captain’s heritage. She calls it her family’s legacy.”

  Why did history have to repeat itself so often? Why couldn’t the dead sleep? Why did time have to march, steady and relentless? In a way, Lucretta did have a partial claim on the House Lost at Sea, but I was in no mood to offer her any concessions.

  She had taken too much from me, just as her ancestor had. It was so easy to hate them both for it.

  “What does she intend to do with the manor?”

  “Keep it, I think? She was talking about setting up docks to better protect the ship while here and building a proper path up the hill. They weren’t expecting the museum, and I think it bothered them—especially the picture of your ancestor.”

  I hoped it had cost them a lot of pain and time finding a way up to the manor. I snorted at the fact Lester could accept the hole in my face and my cursed form, but he couldn’t believe the truth of my past. “No, the picture of me. Not my ancestor. That’s me.”

  “That was three hundred years ago. Impossible.”

  Abrahan pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

  “Hey, kid? Please tell me she has smarter men on her crew. I think I want to return this one and get a different one. I’m not sure I can deal with this level of stupidity an entire voyage.”

  “If that doesn’t teach you to think a little further ahead, nothing will.”

  “Don’t you get smart with me, Abrahan.”

  “Someone has to.”

  When glaring didn’t inspire fear or bring forth an apology of any sort, I reached over, grabbed the kid’s ear, and twisted until he begged for mercy. “Do you want to be swabbing the decks for the next month?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  I released him. “So, Lester. Why do you serve O’Malley?”

  “She’s my aunt.”

  I smiled despite the pain. “Well, well, well. This just got really interesting.”

  Twenty-Seven

  There was no room on my ship for even more damned ghosts.

  I looked forward to making Lucretta O’Malley regret her efforts to take what was mine, and I’d use her nephew to accomplish my goals. And, in a nod to Abrahan’s cleverness, I’d do it his way and take my time with it.

  For a few moments, I would allow the rival captain and her crew to think they’d won. In reality, I moved my pieces into place, held them captive to my whims, and bided my time. When I acted, I would make it clear they all belonged to me.

  The tides would shift in my favor, and when they did, I would take everything back. I would have my flintlock, my watch, and my cutlass, and I would take the loyalties of O’Malley’s crew and make them my own.

  I had a problem with navigators, though, so I’d probably send that one on his way.

  There was no room on my ship for even more damned ghosts.

  The first step of my plan involved the Serendipity. If I left the ship intact, the marooned crew might escape my islands and return to civilization. I couldn’t allow that. Until I finished with them, the House Lost at Sea would become their home, their prison, and the grounds for the perfect revenge.

  I would use Captain Maritza's ambitions against her, and since I couldn’t reach the dead, I’d enjoy ensnaring her descendant. I would turn the tables, and while history would repeat itself, the story wouldn’t end the same way, not this time.

  There’d be no love lost. There’d be no love. There wouldn’t be two crews. There’d be one: mine. I would destroy Lucretta O’Malley and her ambitions, and I’d make the woman lick my feet for the mess she’d made of my life.

  But first, I needed to pry every bit of information I could out of O’Malley’s nephew, especially in terms of his lineage. While some pirates didn’t care, others took matters of family seriously, and I numbered among them, as had my captain—and Captain M
aritza. “You’re going to do three things for me, Lester O’Malley. Should you do as ordered, you’ll return to your captain safe and sound, with only that one nip to show for your trouble. Understand?”

  The boy gulped and nodded.

  “Good. First, I need to know her—your—lineage. All of it. Your family obviously takes such matters seriously. Start talking, and begin with Grace O’Malley.”

  “Grace O’Malley’s youngest son, Hubert, married Almira, the daughter of a prideful family of merchants. They had a son, Thaddeus. Captain Maritza took Thaddeus as part of a raid on Ireland several years before the sinking of the Terrier. She liked his looks and decided she wanted a daughter to inherit her legacy, so she used him for that purpose.”

  Damn it. That matched the story I’d heard already, with the exception of Captain Maritza securing a daughter for herself.

  That made sense, as Captain Maritza hadn’t valued men as highly as she’d valued women.

  Many legends and speculations surrounded Grace O’Malley and her ventures as a pirate, and one of them included some raunchier tales of her dalliances. I had paid it no mind; I didn’t hold faith in the superstitions about women on board ships, although I found it interesting two people from the same crew had had children who had gone on to get married.

  It didn’t surprise me in the slightest Captain Maritza would take a man of her choosing to secure a daughter. “And Thaddeus?”

  “Their first child was a son, and unsatisfied she didn’t have a daughter, she decided to try again.” Lester scowled, and I couldn’t blame him for disliking that portion of his family history.

  “With Thaddeus?”

  Lester shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. The Black Scourge and her crew disappeared when the Terrier sank. Thaddeus O’Malley, by that point, had returned to his home with their son. My aunt intends to find every part of our heritage and reclaim it.”

  Lucretta must have been a child born from that son.

  “Except the Terrier is in a museum.”

  “Permitted by our family, of course.”

  I wanted a pin so I could pop Lester’s egotistical little bubble. A few minutes talking to him erased any guilt I’d have over marooning him, his crew, and his captain on my islands. I’d have to make certain to block access to my hoard in case any of them decided to go for a swim.

  A few minutes as a shark and some rocks would bar the entry enough for my needs.

  “Of course. For your second task, you will deliver a message to your captain and her crew.” I got up, dug through the drawers in the cabin until I found some paper and a pen, and went to work writing a little letter informing Lucretta O’Malley she would be a guest along with her crew at my home until I saw fit to allow them to leave.

  I signed it, smirking at the thought of Benny and Bensen recognizing my handwriting. I would have fun with them all. It took me a few minutes to locate an envelope, and after stuffing my letter inside, I sealed it and slapped it onto the table. “Your third task is to torch the Serendipity. Leave nothing but smoldering planks when you’re finished. I’ll even provide you with enough gasoline to make certain she burns.”

  Lester paled. “You mean to maroon us.”

  Clapping slow and loud, I smiled at my hostage. He blanched. “You figured it out. Well done. Since I’m not a complete monster—yet—I’ll even be nice enough to return and bring you supplies. It wouldn’t be very nice of me if I left you here on your own to die on this tiny little island so, so far away from civilization. If you’re lucky, I’ll only leave you here for a month or two in time out. Accidents do happen, you know. And sometimes, some nice, loyal friend who hears a few people she knows were lost at sea might go out searching. Serendipitous fortune isn’t unheard of. It’ll make such a lovely story for a dull news day, won’t it?”

  Abrahan laughed and got up to check on dinner. “You’re a terrible person, Corona.”

  “Revenge is like a fine wine. It tastes better once it has aged.”

  Fear did funny things to people, and I used Lester’s against him, forcing him to do my bidding. With haunted eyes, O’Malley’s nephew set the Serendipity ablaze, and I left him on the sandbar to find his own way to shore, watching from the bow of the Wanderer, a safe distance from the embers swirling up on the winds to rain down on the surf.

  It took her a long time to burn down to nothing and sink, and long before the flames died away, I spotted those on shore watching their hope of escape creak and break apart.

  Abrahan watched with me, leaning on the rail. “Now what, Captain?”

  “We’re going to go on a little voyage. I think we’ll come up with a good cover story about how I was kidnapped, left for dead, and was helped by a nice Brazilian-American lad who found me—an orphan, as far as he knows. You’ll come with me back to America, and we’ll deal with the fallout of my horrible luck on a much-needed vacation. Since I quit my old job, I’ll even make it look like I’m looking for something new. My boss even said she’d try to give me a better offer. Maybe I’ll humor her. It’ll be a pain in my ass dealing with all the paperwork if Benny reported me as dead, but we’ll see. I don’t know what he’ll have done with my phone.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I fully intend to. We’ll have to play it by ear; it all depends on what Benny told people—if he told anyone anything. He might not have. It would look bad for him if he was too involved with my potential disappearance. If he was wise, he’d file a missing person report with my last known location as somewhere in Brazil. I won’t know until we reach the United States. We have time to figure something out and make some plans. As long as our story stays straight, it’ll be fine. When we can, we should stick to the truth as much as possible.”

  “And what about them? And that house? And your pistol. They’re all important to you, aren’t they?”

  I stepped away from the railing and went to work preparing to unfurl the sails. The jolly roger, improvised with shreds of cloth sewn together, already flew high and proud on the mast, large enough for those on shore to see.

  The next time they saw it, it’d be a much different flag. Unlike my captain or O’Malley’s distant ancestor, my skull and crossed bones wouldn’t feature a mermaid or a sea serpent, but a shark.

  My curse would become my symbol, and when I set sail for new waters, it would be as a true pirate, complete with a crew of my own, built of men and a woman who had tried to best me at my own game. My day would come, and soon.

  Twenty-Eight

  Who else was brave enough to beat sense into me?

  Three days after leaving the House Lost at Sea, we reached a port with an embassy, and I was regretting my decision to maroon Benny and Bensen with Captain Lucretta O’Malley and her crew. While I enjoyed the thought of Lucretta trapped where she’d no hope of escape, I worried for the pair I’d once held in high esteem. Their treachery had cost me greatly, but my traitorous heart hurt.

  I loved neither as I had loved Ricardo, my crew, or my captain, but I couldn’t deny the truth anymore. I did love them.

  Damn it. I’d crossed the line I’d sworn I’d never cross again. I’d crossed it with them, and I had crossed it with Abrahan, too. I’d wielded my need for wit and intellect as a shield and sword to defend myself, too high a standard for most to overcome, but the three of them had slipped through my defenses.

  With shore in sight, I’d run out of time to change my plans and second-guess myself. For better or worse, I needed to return to civilization, undo the damage O’Malley and her crew had done to my life, and come up with a better plan for dealing with the rival crew—and the two men I’d been foolish enough to trust.

  I turned to Abrahan, lifting my chin and staring down my nose at him. “How’s my face?”

  My cabin boy turned cook and First Mate snorted. “Your lip’s split, but it’s a normal split now, rather than that jaw-displaying monstrosity of a hole. You’re bruised, but it’s not too bad. For the hundredth time, you fit your part, Captain. Stop yo
ur bellyaching already. I know what to do, so go bunk up and look sickly or something. I’ve got this.”

  How had the brat I’d kidnapped in Brazil gone from a mewling weakling to bossy in such a short period? I couldn’t tell if I was to blame—or if I wanted him to change. No, on second thought, I didn’t want him to change. I wanted to keep him.

  Who else was brave enough to beat sense into me?

  I was in too deep again, and I began to understand, a little, why Captain Maritza had created so many problems for me—and taken Ricardo. I’d served a different purpose to her, and the fault had been with me. Abrahan now stood in my shoes, but I had one thing my captain hadn’t.

  Abrahan didn’t love me, not like a man loved a woman. No, he’d found a different mistress, a new love, and one I swore I would help him chase. I’d seen him staring out over the rolling waves with his soul in his eyes.

  Captain Maritza had resented I’d stolen her navigator’s attentions from her and the sea.

  Abrahan’s heart now belonged to the sea, for which I was grateful. It happened from time to time. All it took was the first real storm, the first real glimpse of the ocean’s fury, and the damage was done. The thrill of the chase, the lure of the sea-whipped wind, and the whispers of waves would forever mark my young companion’s heart, a curse as deep and robust as mine.

  I would be content coming a close second in his affections, for it would bind me to him far more than wealth, prestige, or the promise of adventure. With me, he’d see the world and all her seas.

  It would change my plans and force me to the water more than I’d intended, but it was a small price to pay. I’d already lost that war. For as long as he breathed, I would take him where he wished to go. But first, there was the matter of revenge.

  Grumbling curses, most of them in rusty, antiquated Spanish, I headed into the cabin so Abrahan could sail into port and begin the next phase of our plan, our game against Lucretta O’Malley and her crew. Everything hinged on him. From my mugging, which had been reported as lethal, to my disappearance at sea, Abrahan had concocted a simple story to explain it all.