The Bride and the Buccaneer

by Darlene Marshall

  "So you are not a ladies' maid?"

  Betsy smiled weakly. "No, ma'am, I'm a Indian. I can skin a deer and make leggings from its hide, but I don't know nothing 'bout working for white ladies. That Crosby, he lies like the day is long. He put shoe blacking in the hair of some of those men he was selling today, make 'em look younger so he could get more money for 'em."

  "Who beat you, Betsy?" Jack asked softly.

  Betsy looked at him, anger flushing color into her high cheekbones. "I got sold over the border into Georgia. Reuben couldn't come for me, or they catch him, too. Planter buy me, say I work for him, and he leave me alone at first. But then he comes sniffin' round the quarters. I tell

  him I'm a married woman, but he say now I belong to him, got to do as he say. He try to make me put my mouth where I don't want it to go. So I bite him."

  Jack flinched and shifted in his seat, and Sophia clapped her hand over her own mouth to hide her smile. But Betsy's next words took away the impulse to smile.

  "Next morning they drag me out to the whipping post and start in on me, and that man, his overseer kill me if the missus hadn't stopped him. She said I too valuable to kill, better to sell me instead."

  "I'm surprised Crosby brought you back to Florida," Jack said.

  "He had Africans to pick up in Fernandina. Figured he'd sell some of us here, whoever's left, he take up to Virginia."

  She grimaced when she shifted too quickly, and Sophia encouraged her to lie down again.

  "I be ready to travel in two, three days, ma'am,"

  "You will take as long as you need to heal, Betsy!"

  But the woman just shook her head. She'd taken off her kerchief, and her hair fell around her face in long curled strands falling down to her shoulders.

  "No, ma'am. You been good to me, but I got to get back to my man and my family."

  "Reuben said your clan is moving south, Betsy. Going farther into the woods."

  "We got to, Cap'n. Settlers, army, they won't leave us be. Long as we within a ride of Georgia, we never going to be able to live without raiders. That's why I got to get back. We need to find land and get our corn in before summer storms come."

  "You rest now," Sophia said, patting Betsy's hand. "Mrs. Alvarez will be by in the morning to start the fires and cook, but she knows you are here and will not bother you."

  When Sophia joined Jack after getting Betsy settled, he'd taken his banjo and was sitting on the balcony off the bedroom, feet propped on the railing, playing some soft tunes as the moon rose over the city. Sophia took a lamp out and did some mending until the moths attracted by the light became too bothersome. Then she blew out the lamp and sat with Jack, enjoying the night with its sounds of his music, some revelers at a tavern a few streets over, and the sounds of the alcade's guards patrolling the town.

  "Where will you live if you do not return to Georgia?"

  iJack's fingers slowed down to a melody that was simple, but compelling. "Georgia will still be my home, long as my family's in Savannah. If I have my ships, though, I can sail where I want and see new places. I've always wanted to make the China run."

  "Ships? Is that what you intend to do with your share of the gold, buy more ships?"

  He looked sideways at her and the music stopped. "Are we still talking about 'my share' and 'your share,' Sophia? I'd rather hoped we'd now moved beyond that point, to talking about our gold."

  Sophia pulled her shawl closer around her. She was trying to think of an answer that would disarm Lucky Jack, but he beat her to it.

  "Do not try to answer that, Sophia," he said with a grim smile. "I don't want you to tax your conscience too much, trying to figure out what words you can offer me that will be close enough to the truth that I would blithely accept them."

  He stood up and looked down at her. "Coming to bed?"

  Sophia looked out over the balcony and swallowed. There was a thickness in her throat, and a stinging in her eyes, and she didn't look at him. "I will be in shortly, Captain. I would like to sit out here a while longer."

  He looked at her for a few moments more, and she stared out over the street. When she joined him in bed, he was asleep, or pretending to be.

  Next morning Sophia tended to Betsy while Luisa took care of the cooking and house. Betsy already looked far better than she had the day before, and seemed to be fulfilling her promise to heal quickly so she could join Reuben.

  "You may be right, Betsy. I think if you continue to mend as you are now we could be on the road in three days. I'll let Captain Burrell know."

  Jack was out in the morning doing business with his shipping contacts in Florida. When he returned to the house for dinner, he listened to Sophia's account of Betsy's health.

  "I'll go ahead and make plans to head back inland, and if we have to change them if Betsy takes a turn for the worse, we will."

  He looked preoccupied and Sophia asked him if the morning's business had gone well.

  "Not as well as I expected," Jack said, his usual smile missing from his lean face. "Purchasing Betsy was an unanticipated expense. I hope you're right and this treasure exists, Mrs. Burrell, because right now I could use an infusion of money."

  He left again after dinner and Sophia sat out on the patio with her needlework, but she wasn't sewing. Instead she looked at her lap, and wondered what would happen if she didn't betray Jack and run off with Lord Whitfield. Was the life she wanted a life as Mrs. Burrell, or did she want to be free—and rich—not answerable to anyone for her actions?

  It was a life that had a great deal of appeal to her, even now. Funny how the person who kept coming to mind was Lady Rileston. The wealthy widow was a frequent guest at the Deford's house parties, arriving with a revolving entourage of young men in tow, her gallants who accompanied her on her travels, catering to her, sleeping with her, letting her spend her money on them.

  When Sophia was younger she'd been dazzled by the sophisticated gambler, but now she could look back and see that none of Lady R's companions were companions of her heart, but were more in the way of hired help, entertaining her for a fee.

  Already past her youth when Sophia first met her, Lady R's nights of drinking, opium use, and gambling aged her quickly and it was no surprise that one morning she failed to rise from her bed in one of the guest rooms at the Deford house. Her companion of the moment took off before the body was cold, Lady Rileston's jewels in his pockets. Only Sophia could be bothered to send for the women from town who would lay out the body, and only Sophia cared to make arrangements with the vicar for burial since the dead woman had no family who would claim her.

  Funny, she hadn't thought about poor Lady R in years.

  A noise from the doorway made her look up. Betsy was standing there, holding onto the doorframe, but standing.

  "Betsy, you should still be abed!"

  "Don't go scolding me, missus," Betsy said. "Can't stand being cooped up all day, and some air and sun might do me good."

  She maneuvered her way slowly to a bench against the garden wall, dappled with sunlight and shadow. She eased herself down, and then carefully leaned her back against the sun-warmed garden wall.

  "Ahhh..." she said with a sigh. "That do feel good."

  "Have you always been so stubborn?"

  "Yes'm." Betsy smiled without opening her eyes, her face turned toward the sun. "Got me plenty of trouble growing up. But 'stubborn' also got me that man of mine, 'cause Lord knows he don't know his own mind!

  "He came to where we camped, and he was worn out, hungry, and wearing rags. He'd been on the run since leavin' Cap'n Jack. Some of the clan wanted to take and sell Reuben back to the whites, but we'd lost some men in a raid, and he was big 'n' strong, so he stay.

  "I was a girl when he came, but as I grew I saw him watchin' me but not watchin', and I was watchin' him right back. And he'd get all stammery when he try to talk to me. Well, I wasn't having none of that, so I told my mama I was going to marry him, and she said I could, and I just walk up to him an
d say, 'Reuben Factor, you need a wife,' and that was that."

  Betsy smiled to herself at the memory, and Sophia thought about it.

  "Is it so simple, Betsy? You see the man you want and you get him?"

  "Was that simple for me and Reuben." She chuckled. "You white folks always make everything so hard—who owns the land, who owns the people, who owns the creeks and animals. If you live like the Indians, you be happier."

  "Captain Burrell tells me the Indians own people, too," Sophia said tartly. "Not quite the perfect paradise you make it seem."

  "Nothing's perfect," Betsy said. "Crops bum, people get sick and die, whites come and take the land. But it's still better. Ask Reuben Factor if you don't believe me."

  Sophia took up her sewing again and the two women enjoyed the sunshine until Jack returned and they sat down to dinner. Betsy ate in the kitchen since Luisa Alvarez was in the house and they wanted to maintain the appearance of the master and slave relationship.

  "I believe Betsy is correct when she says she will be ready to travel tomorrow, Jack."

  Jack looked up from where he appeared to be debating with himself whether he could eat another of Luisa's pecan tarts, decided he could, and popped one into his mouth. He chewed for a moment, then nodded.

  "We'll try it. It won't take us too long to get to the Reavers' store and we'll know then if Betsy's up to continuing the trip on the river. And pack some of these tarts to take with us. You know, Mrs. Burrell," he said offhandedly, "it might not be a bad thing to learn how to do some cooking and baking while you're here."

  Sophia put down her coffee cup and gave Jack a smile that made him twitch.

  "Captain Burrell, when we find Garvey's Gold I intend to hire the finest French chef I can find. Barring that, I will hire the finest cook

  available, no matter what his or her background. But I assure you, taking over in the kitchen is not in my plans for my future."

  Having settled that issue, Sophia went back to her coffee, adding a drop more cream. If she was going to be away from civilization, she intended to enjoy as many comforts as she could before traveling through the piney woods again.

  CHAPTER 20Martha Reaver said she was "pleased as could be" to see Jack and Sophia again, and took it in stride they now had a slave with them. They'd left St. Augustine early enough to get to the river, join the Reavers for an early dinner, and make arrangements to take the boat back up to the old mission's ruins.

  Betsy ate in the kitchen again, but afterward Martha joined her while Sophia washed the dishes with Betsy drying. Martha and Betsy had kin in common from their Indian clans and spent a cozy time catching up on marriages, births, deaths, and gossip while Sophia found herself entertaining little Katie, who climbed into her lap, babbled nonstop in her nonsensical language as she showed Sophia her rag doll and wooden animals carved by her papa.

  Katie's babbling finally wound down and she fell asleep on Sophia's lap, and Martha picked the toddler up and put her in her cot. Sophia stood and stretched legs gone numb, then went out to their mules to fetch what she'd brought for her hostess.

  "Well, I declare," Martha said, turning the china teacup decorated with blue flowers over in her hands.

  "I brought one for Katie, too, for you ladies to use when she's older. Sometimes it is nice to have something pretty and special that is just for mothers and daughters."

  Martha blinked rapidly, then cleared her throat. "You are a thoughtful lady, Mrs. Burrell. I will keep these cups for me and Katie, and when we use them, we'll think of you."

  Sophia fidgeted with the carved horse Katie'd left on the floor.

  "Really, it was nothing, Mrs. Reaver."

  "Don't sell yourself short, Mrs. Burrell. You didn't have to think of something nice to do for Katie and me. Captain Burrell said you were a fine lady, and I can tell he's attracted to you like the iron to the lodestone."

  "You think that?"

  "I don't just think that, I can see it with two good eyes." Martha gathered up her new treasures and arranged them on a shelf under her kitchen window. "You been married a while, you notice things about people. That man is crazy about you."

  Her words made Sophia ache and she wanted to jump up and flee the room, but even if she did, the words would linger in her mind and

  haunt her. There were some things she couldn't run from.

  * * *

  This time when they headed out the wind wasn't as cooperative. Jack spent a good part of the trip demonstrating how to coax the boat along, seeking out stray puffs to fill the sails. By the time they made landfall near the mission it was close to full dark, Sophia was feeling sun roasted and cranky, and Betsy was looking wan. But she eagerly scanned the bluffs hoping for a glimpse of her man.

  "Betsy, do you feel up to climbing to the mission?" Jack peered at her intently in the gloom. "It will be better if you can, there's fresh water and some shelter there. But we have to leave now."

  "I can make it," Betsy said, and though it looked like the effort cost her a great deal, she straightened her back and followed behind Jack and Sophia.

  "Sophia, do you have your pistol with you?"

  "I always have my pistol with me."

  Jack looked at her over his shoulder. "Always?"

  "You hold that thought, Captain."

  She thought she heard Betsy snigger behind her, but didn't turn around to look. She was focused on keeping her feet on the path, which was getting harder to see. Jack called a halt to their progress and paused to light a small lantern.

  "For heaven's sake, Jack, why didn't you light that sooner?"

  Jack looked at her and said, "Because, if I can use this lantern to see, then someone can use the lantern to see us. And it ruins my night vision. I'd rather not light it, but I don't want to take a chance on you

  stumbling."

  "Oh."

  Betsy was lagging behind, so Sophia fell back with her.

  "The trail's too narrow for you to lean on me, but if we need to stop we can."

  "Don' stop," Betsy said, exhaustion slurring her words. "Need to get to Reuben."

  She doggedly walked on, putting one bare foot in front of the other, hardly stirring the dust of the trail. By the time they reached the bluff overlooking the mission the moon was high and Jack put out the lantern, using the moonlight to keep to the path.

  They looked down at the ruins, but no smoke rose from inside the tumbled walls.

  "He's not here," Sophia said, disappointed.

  "Yes, he is," Betsy said with a warm smile. "You can come out now, Reuben Factor."

  Sophia would have sworn she was looking at nothing but pine trees and palmetto, but it seemed between one moment and the next there was nothing, then a shadow, then Reuben stepping out into the moonlight.

  "Like I say, noisy as a flock of turkeys," Reuben said, but his eyes were all for his wife. He leaned his musket against a rock and went to embrace her, and Sophia said, "Be careful of her back!"

  Reuben stopped, his face like a black thundercloud. "Someone whip you?"

  Betsy walked over to him, put her arms around his neck and leaned against him. Reuben's huge hand lifted over her back, hovered there, and then settled on her hair, light as a wren landing on a twig.

  "Don' none of that matter now, Reuben," Betsy whispered. "I'm home."

  Reuben whispered something in her ear, and his shoulders shook as emotion took him.

  Sophia looked away from the tender moment to where Jack stood at the edge of the bluff.

  "Let's go down to the ruins, Sophia. They'll join us there."

  He held her arm as they navigated the steep path in the dark, Jack in front with his rifle. When they were at the bottom Sophia saw a small, nearly smokeless fire and Reuben's campsite, tucked away where it wouldn't be visible from the top of the bluff. Jack took the bag Sophia carried slung across her shoulder and she stretched luxuriously, putting her hands at the small of her back and feeling overworked muscles relax.

  "I'll get the rest
of our gear in the morning. We should be fine here for the night."

  He'd only brought enough bedding for them to share on the ground, not wanting to overburden Sophia, and she was grateful for that now. After using the bushes at the edge of the grove she returned to see Reuben and Betsy had joined them, and Reuben was fixing a palmetto lean-to for them to sleep under.

  "Do you know how to do that?" she asked Jack.

  "Not as well or as fast as Reuben can lash it together."

  "Don't worry, Miz Burrell, when I finish here I make you one, too," Reuben said in a voice deep enough to rattle the palm fronds.

  Betsy lowered herself gingerly to a spot in front of the fire and drooped forward, hands loose in her lap. Sophia fetched her water from the well, and Betsy took the cup and drank thirstily. Half of her face was shadowed, the other half glowed cinnamon in the firelight, and her smile lit up the night. Her eyes followed her husband's every move, as if watching him would ensure he wouldn't be separated from her again.

  Jack gave Reuben a hand with the palmettos and soon there were two shelters, erected at discreet distances on opposite sides of the fire.

  "We need to take care of some business in the morning, Reuben, but for now you make sure your wife gets rest."

  "Oh, wait!" Sophia jumped up. "Here's some salve for Betsy's back. It will help keep the skin from pulling."

  She put the pot in Reuben's hand, and he held onto hers.

  "You took care of my Betsy, a fine English lady like you? I think you worth at least three possums. Maybe even a deer." He smiled, and it did amazing things to his face.

  Sophia smiled back, and he wished her a good night and turned back to his lean-to.

  "Did you hear that, Jack? Reuben thinks I am worth a deer!"

  "Don't go getting full of yourself now, Mrs. Burrell. That's just one man's opinion."

  "An Indian probably knows this area better than you do, Captain Burrell," she said musingly, looking over at the other lean-to. "He is large and looks extremely hardy."