His face squinted with the most humorous look of confusion.
“Captain Bentley’s your father?” He was analyzing my features, and I watched his eyes light up when he drew the connection.
“Aye, Mason Bentley is my father and Sterling Bentley is my brother. So, if you want, you can go track them down and let them know that you took my virginity while you were married, and see how they feel about you wanting to marry me now.”
The look on his face assured me that he was feeling just as foolish as I’d felt that day my father took me to his shop to return the knife. Though I somewhat enjoyed the vengeance, I still liked him too much to leave him on bad terms. “We can still be friends, Jackson. I did enjoy my time with you, and I will tell the world about your wonderful work.”
With a chuckle, he scratched his head. “You’re something else, woman.”
“I’ll never forget you, Jackson Hawke.” I attempted to back away, but he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me close.
“If you ever change your mind, you know where to find me, my beautiful rain cloud.” He slammed his lips against mine, giving me a warm, wild kiss, full of passion and heartfelt emotion.
After letting me go, he insisted on walking me to the harbor. The way we talked like friends along the way had me thinking I should stay with him. But the moment I laid eyes on my father pacing the planks, looking white as a ghost, I forgot all about love and romance.
“Father. Father. Wait. Don’t leave without me!” I rushed towards him, with Jackson keeping pace beside me.
“Remington!” Father ran towards us. Wrapping me up in his long arms, he squeezed me tighter than he ever had, then looked at Jackson. “Where was she?”
“I saw her on the way here and wanted to be sure she got to you safely, sir.” Jackson nodded.
“Oh, Thank you, Mister Hawke. Thank you,” he said to Jackson as he rocked me in his arms. “I had the townsmen searching for her and her mother, and I, oh, I just can’t thank you enough for bringing her back. Here,” Father reached in his pocket and tried to hand Jackson a bag of money.
Jackson refused the offer. “Tis payment enough for me to know she’s all right.”
He shook Father’s hand. From where my father wouldn’t see me do it, I blew Jackson a kiss before he walked away.
“What a good man he is,” Father said as he finally let go of me. Grabbing my cheeks, he stared into my eyes. “Now, where in the world have you been?”
“I was with Mother. I am fine, though.”
“Where is she?” He removed my hat and looked over my disguise with disgust.
“She is fine, too. She got her own place and found her old lover. She is going to be fine.”
“Her old lover?” His face contorted.
“Yes. The one who has been writing her those letters. She is happy with him and I want to stay with you. I am going with you back to London.”
He looked around nervously. “This is terrible. Mister Gordon passed away and left his portion of the business to me. I must get to London as soon as I can to get things under control, but I cannot just leave her here, Remington.”
My heart rate picked up. So many bad things could happen if he went after her. But what could I do to stop him without exposing those deadly secrets? While I fretted over the fearsome possibilities of my father coming face to face with Mason Bentley, Uncle Lloyd came over to say farewell to us. After offering me a heartfelt hug and thanking the Lord that I was fine and well, he pulled my father aside to talk with him. Though I could not hear their words, it was plain to see the degree of distress my mother’s running away had inflicted upon my father. Maybe he didn’t cheat. Perhaps he still loved her after all she had done wrong…
Full of guilt, I watched my father sweat and stutter as he expressed his woes to his brother, but there was nothing I could do about it at this point. Both of my parents would be better off without each other, and we had to get the hell out of here before my buccaneer parents came after me. Just as I began to panic about what would happen if Midnight and Mason showed up, Captain Kirkland informed Father that his Iris was ready to make sail.
After Father hugged his brother goodbye, he looked to be in a better mood. Leading me up the gangway, he laid his arm over my shoulder and kissed my forehead. “Everything will be all right, my sunshine.”
Yes it would, I thought to myself as the sailors scurried about, preparing to get underway.
Watching the magnificent sight of the misty evening air filling the heavy canvas sails, I let out a sigh of relief. Not only were we going to escape on time, but Father looked to be feeling much better about our departure. It was just me and him now, and that made me happy. But wait. “What about Dinah, Father? Is she coming with us?”
“No. She isn’t. It’s only me and you now, my little flower.” He brushed my cheek with his clammy hand and smiled at me.
Though my mind ran wild with dreadful images of what could have happened to the maid my mother was so jealous of, Midnight had taught me that some questions were better left unanswered. So, I didn’t ask.
Sailing away from the Island of Jamaica—under my father’s arm—I eyed the sloppy little town of Port Royal and thought about my life there. It was not a pleasant visit by any means, but I had made some friends and memories that would stay with me forever. Maybe one day I would regret missing my chance to meet Sterling and Mason, and I knew for certain that I would miss my crazy little mother, but even though I was losing her, I found great peace in knowing that she was finally where she had always wanted to be. My final visual of her would be one of honor and respect. There, under the arm of her true love, I would remember her as the one woman who Mason Bentley loved. Midnight, the mysterious artist of the sea.
As for me, I had come to the New World as a girl who knew not her place in life, and I was now on my way back to my old world as a woman well aware of whom I was. I was the daughter of the Ocean Eyed Witch and the notorious king of the sea. I could slink through the shadows in the night, I could curtsy like a proper lady in the day, and I could stomp on heartbreak like a nattering fly. Like the rebel souls who brought me into this wicked world, I could do whatever I needed to do to survive it. Though I was leaving them behind, I would never forget the things they taught me, and I would remember this life changing experience every time it rained.
X
Epilogue
Never Surrender
As told by Mason Bentley
“Take a look at these beauties.” I threw my cards down on the table.
“Chicken shit and horse shit and dog shit.” Torrence laughed as she showed me her terrible cards.
“Looks like I’m staying for free tonight.” I leaned back in my chair and looked around the fancy room she’d moved me into since I’d destroyed the other.
“Just for tonight.” A wicked grin lit her pretty face. “Tomorrow night you are paying because I now know better than to bet against you.”
“Ah, you should have learned that years ago, sweetheart.” I winked.
Putting her hat on, she giggled, “I’m going to bed where I will plot your death for defeating me at my own game in my own house.”
“Dream up something with rope and lace,” I growled as she stood up.
“Ah, but this is my dream, not yours, my fine buccaneer. It is mine and I prefer steel and leather.” She tickled my goatee.
“Works for me.” I lit another cigarro. “You know, Torrence, one day I’m going to retire, and when I do, I’m going to claim this room as my own. Except for the nights that I’ll sneak over to yours and show you what you been missing all these years.”
Like I knew she would, she rolled her eyes. “I already have my one wild boy, and you have yours. If we ever made a child together the world would surely pay for the hell our spawn would wreak upon it. That would not be fair to society.”
“There you go, always caring more for others than you do for yourself.” Exhaling my smoke, I watched it twirl around the room.
>
Leaning against the doorway, she said, “You are not going to tell me?”
Knowing plenty well what she meant, I laughed. “Tell you what?”
“You can start by explaining what happened with that woman who maddened you into destroying my room.”
“That woman…” I shook my head.
“Yes, Mason. You know I don’t normally pry, but I came across something today that has piqued my interest.”
I rolled my hand, suggesting she go on, but sitting back down, she insisted. “You are going first, mate.”
Since I first laid eyes on that Ocean Eyed Witch, I hadn’t told a soul her true story, but sitting here with one of my only friends in the world, I decided it was time to share the tale. “You best pour some more rum and light a cigarro, for this story isn’t short and it certainly isn’t pretty.”
Over a couple bottles and uncountable cigarros, I shared all the details I usually kept to myself. Torrence asked a million questions, laughing and even tearing up a few times along the way. Inhaling the flavor of my five-hundredth cigarro, I finally concluded, “I thought I was going to be all right after she left, but no more than a week after that full moon night, I lost my damned mind. Listing to the sound of my boy crying for his mother, I tore the place to shreds and returned to the sea to keep what little sanity I had left.”
With tears in her eyes, Torrence reached for my hand. “You are one hell of a man, Mason Bentley.”
“I just do what needs to be done.” I smirked.
“She found you here last night?”
“Aye. She came to my door like a ghost in the night and attacked me with her years of pent up passion. As far as I knew, she was happy with that bloke she left me for, but throughout the night she made it clear he wasn’t giving her what she wanted in the bedroom, or anywhere else for that matter.” Remembering the way it felt to be with her that way again, I hooted. “I’ve had wenches all over the world, Torrence, but not a one of them has ever worked me over like that one does.”
“And you simply let her back in your bed after all the ways she’s done you wrong?” She looked appalled.
“Though I wish I could tell you otherwise, I can’t. That wench casts a wicked spell on my soul, she does. When she was mine I never believed she was a witch, but looking back on the things she’s done to my life and my mind, I reckon there’s a bit of truth behind those rumors that sent her into my arms.” I shook the ash off my cigarro.
“All right, all right, so now I know she keeps your dick in a jewel box, but what did she do that made you destroy the best room in my house?”
After laughing at her comment, I took an enormous shot of rum and belched. “After having all the fun she wanted to have with me, she let me know that when she left me years ago, she’d gone with another child of mine growing in her womb.” Still hardly able to believe the wicked riddles that woman wove, I shook my head. “The fact she robbed me of knowing my own my daughter drove me to destroying your place. Better than throwing that girl’s mother out the window like I wanted to, I guess.” I laughed and took another shot of rum.
“Hell, I would have been fine with you throwing her out knowing all that. Shit, I might go do it myself for good measure.” She lit another candle between us.
“Ah, Torennce, after all this, I’m half tempted to tell you to go on ahead, but honestly, I still don’t even know if the girl’s mine. I’ve yet to meet her and can’t believe a crazy word that falls off of Hannah’s pretty lips.” I rubbed my face.
“I know Remington is yours, Mason. I met her. I talked with her. She looks just like you and Sterling. I began drawing the connection as she told me her story, and I had planned on talking to you about it, but after you left and threw that kid she’d tied up out the window, I figured you had it all under control.” She started laughing like a loon.
Remembering the earlier scene—that had at the time made me so angry—the rum in my blood led me to join in on my friend’s laughing fit. “You saw that?”
“Aye! The whole damn town saw that!” She slapped her hand on the table as she busted with laughter. “Now, tell me what the hell happened in there.”
Hardly able to regain my sense, I tried to pull through my humor. Finally catching my breath, I replayed the ridiculous scene. “All right. All right. After Hannah cried and pleaded for me to take her back, I told her to show me this girl afore I made up my mind. So, she took me to the inn where she supposedly had her locked up tight. Instead of finding this possible daughter of mine, we found Hannah’s sixteen-year-old servant boy tied to a chair. Naked as a newborn.”
Remembering the desperate look on his face, I laughed some more before I went on.
“He instantly started crying to Hannah, blaming Remington for seducing him and tying him up. I guess he knew who I was, so as soon as Hannah yelled at him for letting Mason Bentley’s daughter loose, he screamed like a scared little lassie and started jumping in the chair he was tied to. It was all too much for me and someone had to suffer.”
Torrence wiped her eyes that were full of tears. “Oh, good Lord, Mason, I know this isn’t funny, but I can’t stop laughing. I was outside sweeping my porch when I heard the crash. Looking up I saw him strike the roof of the first floor while still in the chair, and when he hit the ground, the wood shattered around him. Still wrapped in the rope, he hopped to his feet and ran off into the crowd as you cursed him from the broken window.”
Regaining my focus on how serious this was, I sneered, “Too bad the fall didn’t break his scrawny little legs. And I reckon I’ll break more than a limb if I ever see him again. It’s because he failed at his duty that she’s gone off to London with that other man who raised her.”
Her laughter halted, as well. “She’s gone?”
“Aye. Hannah figured Remington loved that damned Thomas Wilshire so much, she’d probably run after him. So, we went to the harbor, hoping to catch her afore she fled, but it was too late.”
The more I thought about how shitty all this was, the angrier I became. Kicking over the chair next to me, I growled, “I hate that bitch sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Torrence let out a sarcastic laugh. “I think you should let me handle her while you and Sterling go after Remington, but I have a feeling you’re not going to let me do that.”
“No. I’m not.” I glared at her.
“All right, all right, so where the hell is Hannah now and what are you going to do with her?”
“Ah, you might be happy to hear I currently have her locked up like the prisoner she always thought she was. I’ve got too much shit on my mind to be worrying about her running around causing more trouble for me. Plus, I don’t want her anywhere near Sterling until I figure everything out. She might have cast a wicked spell on me, but I’m never going to let her get her hooks in him. He’s volatile enough without her unstable shit messing with his head.”
“I do like that.” Torrence raised her glass to meet mine. “What’s next?”
“Well, I don’t think you’ll like this part of my plan. But here it is. As you know, I’ve done everything I can for Sterling since the day he first landed in my arms. It was these two deadlights of mine that first took in the sight of him, and it was my cutlass blade that cut him loose from his mother’s body, but I wasn’t so fortunate with that girl. And seeing what I saw today and hearing what you told me, I can only imagine Hannah’s messed her up in more ways than one. But that shit’s over. Remington Rain is my daughter. Not Thomas Wilshire’s. So, I’ll be sailing to London to claim her as my own.
Hannah’s coming with me whether she likes it or not. She might’ve got away clean from mothering my boy, but I’ll be damned to hell afore I let that woman abandon another one of my children.
Plus, I’m getting old, mate, and retirement’s been heavy on my mind. I’ve also been trying to tell that boy of mine to find himself a solid trade afore this one takes his head, so I’m thinking it’ll be better for both my children to be at home in one plac
e with their mother and their father.”
She let out a deep exhale that blew her hair out of her face. “As much as I don’t like Hannah, I can’t fault you for choosing that route. You are a man who will do anything for his children, and knowing my story like you do, I am sure you know why I respect that.”
“Aye.” I stood up. “Well, I guess this is it. Get the witch, tell the boy, seize the girl. How’s that for a happy ending to a shitty story?”
“Any story with you in it is a good one, Mason Bentley. She blew me a kiss and fanned me towards the door.
Walking down the hall, sobered by the daunting details of my newfound reality, I thought about the possibilities. Hannah would be all right as long as she had a good time in bed and had an animal to talk to, but how the hell was Sterling going to take to hearing that his long lost mother had returned? Hell, he hardly knew more than her name, and he never seemed to care much that she was missing from his life, so it’d be interesting to see how he’d take to the thought of me settling down with her.
But the girl. Remington Rain. Upon finding out that I was her father, she escaped me under the wing of the man who raised her, and this made me think I should leave Hannah locked up like this for the rest of her days. It was her fault my daughter didn’t know me, and it was her fault she didn’t want me. Hearing that she looked just like me made me think of my twin sister, Lace. Which angered me more. Shit.
That girl of mine was on a damned ship in the middle of the ocean with no one but a proper gentleman to protect her. Thinking of the storms, the sailors, and the pirates roaming free across the seas, London suddenly seemed much further than an ocean away. If I left tonight, I might be able to catch them by morning…
Opening the door to the room where I held the Ocean Eyed Witch captive, I took a long, slow inhale to calm my weary nerves. “Somehow, everything’s going to be all right,” I huffed under my breath, but the sight before me clearly displayed otherwise.
The only movement in the empty room was that of the lacy curtains blowing in the breeze, and the only sound I heard in the mocking silence was that of my own infuriated heartbeat. With neither Hannah nor Aaron, the man I trusted to keep watch over her, anywhere to be found, I rushed towards the window and looked out. The rooftops were empty but the city streets below were crowded with unfamiliar faces. The hum of the crowd seemed extra loud, overpowering my worried thoughts, and the dark of the night surrounding the hopeless scene began to suffocate me.
Every Time It Rains (Uncharted Secrets, Book 3): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories Page 12