by Regina Darcy
The moment he said those words was the moment Lucy realised that she really and truly did. It was a mad, suicidal plan, but she did trust him.
So she stood in silence, as the Golden Griffin swung closer to shore. She stayed by the side of the captain and watched, feeling the darkness of the massive, fortress-like Delight creeping up swiftly behind them.
“Can you swim?” Preston asked Lucy, once the shore loomed so close that one might simply jump out of the ship and land in the beautiful, luminous sand.
She raised her eyebrows. “Did it seem as if I could swim when I nearly drowned in the ocean the other day?”
“Quite right…” Much to her surprise, Preston hooked one arm around her waist. “Kick your legs and try to keep your face above water.”
And with that, he tipped both of them into the bright, sparkling water.
As they hit the surface, Lucy felt a familiar sinking feeling, but quickly regained her confidence as Captain Preston helped pull her back to air.
Sputtering, they began to kick toward land. It was quite a long way off, despite looking so close from the deck of the ship. The greenish, powerful waves rolled and battered them as they moved closer and closer to shore.
Finally, Lucy’s feet were able to touch the bottom, and she staggered out of the surf, breathing heavily. Together, they scrambled across the pale sand and bolted for the treeline. Before she entered the wild tangle of vines and trees, Lucy looked back at the sea once more. She saw the floundering Golden Griffin, with the large, predatory Delight circling about it like a dark bird of prey.
“Come, Miss Madison,” Captain Preston said, beckoning her forward.
***
Preston sat beside a cool pond with his head in his hands. Running through the jungle, they had followed a small freshwater stream to this minimal body of water. It had stopped raining, but the pond still looked a bit swollen. All around them, strange, foreign sounds were emitted from the belly of the jungle.
Now, Lucy and Preston rested, attempting to recover and plan their strategy for getting off the island and finding help.
“How ironic,” Preston muttered. Lucy let her gaze drift towards him. He looked better than he had over the entire course of their sea voyage. Some colour was returning to his sallow countenance, and their plunge into the sea had given his hair a messy but (in Lucy’s mind) appealing texture. He had lost his oversized jacket and hat, which made him look younger.
“Ironic?” Lucy asked, leaning against a palm tree. The hem of her navy gown had been hopelessly torn in all the excitement. If her mother could see her, she would be horrified. Lucy frowned. At this rate, it seemed rather unlikely that she would ever even see any of her family members again. “What do you mean?”
Preston laughed bitterly. “One of the only reasons I have stuck with this miserable career is to find the Blue Devil and bring him to justice for my brother’s sake. And now, the moment I encounter him again, I am completely unprepared. I was too inattentive to realise that I was sailing straight into a trap.”
“He has not won yet,” Lucy said. “We are still here.”
“For now. This island is not large. They will find us soon enough.”
“Perhaps a friendly ship will pass by and render us some help.”
He smiled at her. “You are eternally sunny in your disposition.”
“Honestly, I am not. You are just so gloomy that I feel the need to counter you. I am simply a contrarian, I suppose.” Suddenly, Lucy noticed something unusual about the way the captain was sitting. He seemed to be holding his arm.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Nothing. Do not worry about it.”
Lucy moved closer. “You are hurt,” she exclaimed, kneeling beside him. Beneath the ripped fabric of his sleeve, there was a nasty, bleeding gash in his arm.
“Not much.” He shook his head. “It really is nothing.”
Lucy frowned and touched his arm. He immediately flinched. “It does not look like nothing, Captain Preston.”
“Well, when you jab at it so, it is bound to hurt,” he huffed.
Lucy shook her head. She had dealt with her younger siblings’ injuries over the years. She knew that, although the bleeding was not terrible now, it had to be stopped and bound up, lest it become infected or leave the man woozy from blood loss.
Lucy grasped the hem of her dress and tore off a swath of navy fabric. It was by no means an appropriate bandage, but they had clearly found themselves in an incredibly dire situation. It would have to do.
Captain Preston raised his eyebrows, as she tied the fabric around his cut. She could feel that his lean arms were quite strong, probably from his years on the sea. “Are you normally this hardy, Miss Madison? How does growing up in what I can only assume is a gentry family in Newhart prepare one for this sort of life?”
“What do you mean?”
“You just…seem to be adapting rather well to these circumstances. I am surprised. You have hidden depth.”
“Oh, nonsense. I just want to be of assistance, Captain Preston.”
“Why should you want to help me? I am the one who locked you in the cabin for all this time. I am the one who has gotten us into this mess. I never should have trusted this crew. Most of all, I should have been more wary about sailing these parts. Especially since I have experienced the Blue Devil’s attack first-hand once before.” He leaned over the pond and looked at his reflection. “I really am a hopeless case.”
“I do not think that is true in the least,” Lucy said with passion.
“Mark my words, Captain Preston.” He looked at her, startled by her forceful tone. “We are going to survive this together. You must believe me. A few days ago, I was condemned to wed a madman…There was no telling what my fate might have been had I chosen to obey my parents and go through with the horrible match. I took my fortunes into my own hands and left. That is what we must do. We can sit here and wait to be taken by this band of pirates. Or we can start trying to figure out a way to survive this situation.”
Preston looked away for a moment. Then an inspired smile lit his face. “You have just given me a brilliant idea, Miss Madison.”
SIX
“Your idea is to return to the ship?” Lucy whispered. “That is your plan?”
They were currently hidden behind a thick, winding tree, whose branches hung down, resplendent in blossoming vines.
“Yes,” Preston said, sounding a bit too proud of himself, considering the circumstances and the weak premise of his idea.
“Are you certain that this is not simply an outgrowth of some suicidal tendency that you have been concealing from me?”
“Not at all. Listen, Miss Madison. We need to get off this island if we are going to live. If we stay, we will either become marooned here, or we shall be captured by these ruffian pirates. We must leave as quickly as possible.”
“And you intend to do so on the Golden Griffin?” Lucy nodded at the ship, which appeared wedged upon a sandbar. There was no way that ship could move anytime soon. As of right now, sailors milled about the ship, lowering cargo into rowboats and transporting it all to The Delight. In the distance, they looked like ants crawling up and down a dropped sweet. Once they were finished looting the Golden Griffin, the pirates would likely torch it.
“The Golden Griffin? No. I intend to do so on The Delight. We can stow away…just as you did.”
“That is a mad plan, Captain Preston, and very weak, all things considered.”
“Yes. I know it is.” For the first time in their entire conversation, the captain’s confidence appeared shaken.
“But I have faith it will work.”
“Then I suppose it is what we must do.” Suddenly, a twig snapped somewhere behind them. Lucy whirled around to see a group of sailors walking towards them. They had not yet spotted them.
“We need to hide,” she whispered to Captain Preston.
“Lie down,” he told her, and she did so.
She
could feel her heart beating, threatening to thrash straight out of her chest. “What are you doing?”
“Hiding you,” he said, ripping few large leaves from some low-hanging bushes and plants. He placed them over her prone form.
“Captain Preston, you must hide yourself, as well.”
“You are one argumentative young woman. For once in your life do as you are told. Do not move,” he whispered, ignoring her frantic plea.
Lucy lay there, practically quivering with fear.
“Captain Preston, you must hide yourself, too,” she repeated.
“I will, I will. Now, be still.”
“Captain Preston…please. Save yourself.”
“My dear Miss Madison, if they catch you, there is no telling what they will do. I must at least try to lead them off course.”
Before she could catch his hand and beg for him to stay, he ran off into the jungle. Lucy held her breath as she heard the posse of pirates thump after him. Then the jungle was silent once more, aside from the screech of the jungle birds and the whistling wind in the canopy above.
She lay there in agony for several minutes. Then her heart sank as she heard gleeful cries echoing through the forest.
“We have the captain!”
That could only mean one thing — Captain Preston had been caught. His plan to lure the pirates away from her had succeeded.
He had sacrificed himself for her. Lucy felt hot tears slip down her face. She was truly alone on this horrible island. But even worse, she had just lost the person most dear to her. She could feel her heart break into little pieces.
***
After remaining in her hiding place until the loud, rowdy pirates stormed by, Lucy finally sat up. The day was still hot, but the light overhead was sinking lower and lower in the sky. She followed the distant noise until she reached the beach. A large group of people stood there.
She could see Preston, looking defiant despite the fact that he had been forced to his knees in the sand. A group of his former crewmates stood around him, swords and pistols drawn.
But the most truly remarkable sight stood before them all. The man who faced them was almost supernaturally tall, sporting tasteful, refined blue garments, from his shoes to his plumed, old-fashioned hat. A thick blue cloth-mask concealed his identity.
The Blue Devil himself was merely standing there, emitting a cackling, terrifying laugh—it was the laugh of a madman.
Lucy continued to stare. What on Earth was happening?
“Your brother, Captain Preston, was at least a worthy adversary,” the Blue Devil began. “He strove to capture me, to rid the seas of lawlessness. You are just a common sea rat. Disposing of you was far too easy.”
Preston said nothing. He just continued to glare up at the pirate.
“No last words?” the Blue Devil asked, brandishing his long, gleaming sword. “Very well.” He raised his arm, preparing to dispatch the kneeling captain.
Lucy felt white-hot fear rip through her heart. Without hesitating, she burst out of the jungle and began to run towards the execution.
“Stop it!” Lucy said, holding up her hand to shield her sore eyes from the glare of the sun. “Please, for the love of everything that is holy – STOP!”
The Blue Devil held up a hand, signalling his crewmembers to stop. Then he strode over to Lucy. She set her mouth in a firm line, determined to not let his towering physique and concealed face intimidate her. Her mind was racing frantically. What had she done? Preston’s sacrifice would be for naught. But she just couldn’t watch him be killed. She couldn’t.
“Is that little Miss Madison?” he asked in a rather familiar voice. With that, he reached behind his head and untied his blue mask. It fluttered to the sand, revealing his face.
Lucy gasped. The Blue Devil was none other than Richard Armistead.
“Mr Armistead!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”
He let out a bellowing laugh. “What am I doing here? I might ask you the same question, my dearest Miss Madison.”
“You’re the Blue Devil?”
“That is what some call me, it is true.”
Lucy’s blood ran cold. This would explain exactly how Armistead had managed to amass such an impressive fortune in such a short amount of time. “You have been disguising yourself as a Barbary corsair in order to rob and kill other merchants! You send men out on these voyages and then steal the goods for yourself!”
“You say all that as if it is a bad thing. I will say, in my defence, that it is quite an amusing way of amassing a fortune. Now that you have discovered my secret, I will ask you a few quick questions, my lovely runaway bride. What on Earth are you doing here?”
“I…I sleep-walked into a barrel. Then it was loaded onto the Golden Griffin.”
“You what?” Armistead did not look convinced.
“I sleepwalked into a barrel and ended up on this ship.” Saying it aloud a second time made it sound even weaker, as far as excuses were concerned. “By accident, of course.”
“Are you sure you were not just running away from me? From our wedding?”
“No, of course not!” Lucy shrugged. “I was…excited for that.” She smiled at him. “I am even more excited for it now that I have had to live for some time with that scoundrel.” She pointed an accusing finger at Preston.
“You did not get along with poor Captain Preston, then?”
“Not in the least. He kept me locked in the cabin and forced me to mend,” she snapped, pointedly not returning Preston’s surprised expression.
“So, then, you should not be too upset if we lob the head off the good old captain here,” the ginger-haired pirate snapped. “Can we get on with the execution?”
“Now, now,” the Blue Devil said, raising his hands. “No need to do something so unpleasant in front of the lady.”
Lucy moved closer to Armistead, speaking in a low voice, so that only he could hear. “I also think that it might be in your best interest to keep this one alive…just for now, at least.”
He tilted his head and scrutinised her with an unfathomable stare. “Intriguing.” He flipped a silver pocket watch out of his waistcoat to check the time.
“It is nearly dinnertime, Miss Madison. Would you perhaps care to join me this evening?”
She nodded. “I would very much like that, Mr Armistead.”
***
Somewhere deep in the bowels of The Delight, Lucy managed to squeeze herself into the lovely, luminous white gown that Armistead had provided for her to wear to their dinner. She shuddered to think where he might have gotten it (hopefully not off a living person, at least). The creamy colour complemented her light hair, while the shape of the gown showed off her narrow waist.
This whole series of events had been so surreal. Just the mere thought of her meeting a pirate would have seemed rather ridiculous only days ago, let alone the fact that she was technically engaged to one — and a ruthless pirate, at that.
An aggressive knock came on the door of her tiny cabin. She opened the door and peered out. The ginger-haired pirate glowered at her. “The captain wishes to see you now, for dinner.”
Meekly, she nodded and followed the man to the captain’s quarters. The room was spacious and practically dripping with all assortments of stolen loot, from caskets of wine to strings of gems to overflowing bags of bright gold. Armistead was like a murderous magpie.
In the centre of the room, there was a rich, mahogany dining table. Armistead sat on one side, and he beckoned for Lucy to sit on the opposite side. She complied.
“What will we be having tonight?” she asked, trying to sound as if she thought this whole situation were perfectly ordinary.
“Fish. As usual.” As if on cue, a group of pirates carried in their dishes. The Blue Devil began to eat in silence. Lucy poked at her meal, but did not feel much like eating at all.
“May I ask you a personal question, Mr Armistead?” she asked, struggling to keep her tone light.
He looked up from his fish. “Yes. By all means, Miss Madison.”
“Have you ever killed anyone?”
“Many times. And, if I had to guess, I will kill many more times until I myself am killed.” He raised his goblet in a toast. “To survival.”
She copied his gesture and sipped some of the sweet wine in her cup. “To survival.” She held her cup to her lips longer than she actually drank. “Mr Armistead, what will become of me?”
“That all depends. No one’s fate is certain, Miss Madison.”
“Yes, but will you kill me?”
“We shall see. I do not think that outcome is necessarily guaranteed, though. You could be my queen.”
“Like your other two wives? Tell me, Mr Armistead, were they your queens, before you murdered them?”
At that, Armistead stood up from the table and walked over to where Lucy was sitting. For a moment, she feared that he might be moving to harm her already.
“No. You aren’t like them.” Armistead took her hand, dipped his head, and kissed her wrist. Lucy felt a chill ripple across her flesh. Armistead looked up and gave her a knowing grin. “You’ve a darkness about you, Miss Madison.”
Lucy smiled. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean. But it had given her an idea…a way to keep Preston alive for just a little longer.
“To have survived weeks as the only woman on a male ship, must have required ingenuity.” Armistead was caressing her wrist in a suggestive manner. She had to stop herself from recoiling.
“I wonder how pure you still are,” he muttered.
“As pure as a lily,” she replied with a forced smile.
“We shall see,” he replied and let go of her. “Now what is this business you want to tell me about?”
“Mr Armistead, would you care to hear of a dark secret that I have found out?”
“I would like nothing more, my sweet.”
“This Captain Preston person has uncovered the secrets to a treasure. One of the clues is concealed somewhere on this very island. That is why he rammed his ship here. It was not simply to escape from you; it was to continue his hunt. The man is mad with greed. It must be quite a fortune.”