Arnie’s head bobbed up and down as he struggled to sort out the confusion of having two persons on hand who could not view the captain, and one who could. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but I sure can’t spot ye, Cap’n. Not so much as a hair on yer head.”
“Oh, come now,” Eden declared warily, the nape of her neck starting to tingle. “What manner of prank is this? What do you hope to gain by such farce? You’ll find no foolish audience with me, sirs!”
“ ’Tis no joke we’re playing,” Devlin assured her solemnly, anxiously. “My men cannot see me. Truth be told, in the last couple of weeks, out of a hundred people, not one has viewed me—until you. Tell me honestly now. Look upon me and describe my person.”
Why she complied was beyond her, but her eyes and tongue seemed to have acquired a will of their own, and she found herself studying him and replying, “You are tall, wide of shoulder, and broad of chest. You are wearing boots, dark breeches, and a white shirt, with a scarlet sash about your middle and a gold earring in your left lobe. No hat. Your hair is shaggy, in need of barbering but not unbecoming, blond with lighter streaks in it. Your eyes are dark-brown—no, black. Never have I seen eyes as black as yours. Your chin is cleft, in a strong jaw ...”
“Enough,” Devlin broke in, surprised to find himself somewhat embarrassed by her assessment of him. Still and all, she’d related his features correctly enough that he could not doubt that she saw him quite well.
“So you do see me,” he murmured half to himself, a wide smile curving his lips. “By God! You surely do!” he announced joyously, wonder still pulsing through him. “How this can be, when no one else is capable of doing so, eludes me, but I’ve never been so grateful for anything in my score and seven years! Oh, lady! If you only knew what a trial I’ve been through these past days, living the life of a ghost, when I know beyond doubt that I am still an earth-bound man.”
The tingle at her nape had spread down her spine, raising chill bumps. It was only now that she recalled Finster commenting on the two pirates in her office. Two, he’d said. Not three, as stood before her, plain as the nose on her face. “Please,” she begged. “Tell me you jest. Tell me this is not—”
“ ’Tis so,” Nate answered. “Sad, but true. Ye ken, several days ago, we had us a hellacious storm.” At the shove Devlin gave to his shoulder, Nate said, “Beggin’ yer pardon, ma’am, but ’twas. Then we had this bolt of Saint Elmo’s fire strike the mast, and it come down and encircled the captain here. And afore ye could spit, he’d disappeared—him an’ the bird with him.”
“Saint Elmo’s fire?” she repeated stupidly. “And a bird?”
“Aye. ’Tis a lightnin’ of sorts, I suppose, though not really. An’ the cap’n has a trained falcon he keeps aboard ship with ’im,” Arnie put in helpfully.
“Oh.” Eden nodded, completely befuddled. Certain now that she was caught up in a bad dream, the result of something she’d eaten which had not agreed with her, she longed only to put it to a quick resolution. With that single goal in mind, she rose and started for the door. “Sirs, I must ask you to excuse me, please. I simply cannot sit here and participate in this nightmare any longer. I am going to walk outdoors, where I pray that this will end at last and I will awaken snug in my own bed, and this entire, disastrous day will never have been.”
Devlin could not let her go, could not allow the only person who could see him to walk away. As she sidled past him, he caught her arm. When he did so, another miraculous thing happened. With no more warning than an odd, warm tremor tripping through him, Devlin became visible to his two crewmen. They cried out in shock upon his sudden appearance before their startled gazes.
“Dev!”
“Cap’n! Ye’re back!”
“Just look at ye, Devlin! Why, I never knew how much I missed that ugly puss of yers till just this minute!”
“What?” Devlin gasped in delight. “You can see me, too? Both of you?”
“Aye! Ain’t it glorious?”
Without thinking, Devlin released Eden’s arm. Immediately, he began to fade from sight. Strangely, this time he could actually feel himself doing so. And the dismal looks on Arnie’s and Nate’s faces told him it was so.
“Devlin! Do somethin’!” Nate implored anxiously. “Ye’re vanishin’ on us!”
At their initial shouts, Eden had turned back and stared. At the moment when the pirates claimed to glimpse their captain, she realized that she, too, could see the man more vividly, as if what she’d viewed before had been slightly shadowed, not quite as clear as he should have been, though she’d not realized it then. Now, not having the slightest notion what motivated her to do so, she reached out and touched his shoulder. Just that small contact, and Devlin Kane reappeared to one and all.
“’Tis her!” Nate announced in jubilant wonder. “Not only does she see ye when none else can, but when she touches ye, ye become visible. ’Tis the queerest damned thing I ever seen, other than you fadin’ away to start with!”
Devlin had to agree. He also knew without a doubt that he was going to keep this woman no more than an arm’s length away from him, if he had to lash her to his wrist to keep her there—for the rest of his life, or however long it took to regain his normal state permanently. Still, the thought of being chained to an unwilling captive for an undetermined length of time, with her ranting and raving the whole while, left something to be improved upon. Far better if he could convince her to go with him of her own volition. And he had just the thing to persuade her, thanks to her unwanted suitor.
Never one to waste time or opportunity, Devlin said, “Miss Winters—that is your name, is it not?”
She nodded dumbly, still shaken, not at all sure her mind hadn’t come unhinged. Is this what trying to balance accounts could do to a woman’s brain? No wonder men kept warning their ladies away from too much figuring! Was there a cure for what ailed her? Should she consult a physician? Or dare she admit the problem to anyone, lest they lock her away in an asylum, declaring her hopelessly afflicted?
“Miss Winters,” she heard the captain saying, “you’re not attending my words.” Mutely she stared up at him as he clasped warm fingers about her chin and tilted her face toward his. “Now, pay attention, please.” Again she gave a stiff nod, her chin bobbing within his large palm. “I ... I’m listening.”
“I want you to come with me.”
“Where?” she croaked.
“Back to my ship. Wherever I go.”
“Why?”
“Good God, woman! Need I explain, after all that has happened? You are the one person who can see me, who can make it possible for others to do so. Who can give my life some semblance of normalcy, as long as you are within the distance of a touch. I need you with me.”
“Nay.”
“Aye. You must.”
“I won’t,” she maintained, turning suddenly stubborn and, to her vast relief, feeling stronger and more herself by the minute.
“I wouldn’t hurt you, or allow any harm to come to you,” he assured her.
“You don’t understand. I have a business to run, and an invalid mother at home. Even if I wished to go with you, which I do not, I could not leave her alone and helpless.”
Devlin considered his options, which were few. “Then I’ll simply have to stay with you.”
“That’s impossible. I couldn’t allow it. Why, just to do business with you would be risking ostracism by my fellow townspeople. To have you walking about with me, visible or otherwise, would be unthinkable.”
“But you will do business with me, Miss Winters,” he assured her gravely. “And I with you. I shall strike a bargain with you. In return for your companionship, I’ll pay off your loan to that puny pup who is sniffing after your skirts. Your warehouse will be yours, free and clear of any debts; and for as long as I stay, it will continue to be so. For your part, you will accompany me wherever I need to go and be seen.
“If that is not agreeable to you, I could very well abduct yo
u now, put a gag between your teeth, and a-sailing we will go. Together.” Only Devlin and his mates knew that this threat was a bluff, that unless there was no other recourse, Devlin would never risk his beloved ship by allowing a woman aboard and bringing disaster down upon them all. Miss Winters did not know this, however, and Devlin was not about to enlighten her.
“Or, if you’d prefer,” he continued, “I could haunt your home and your business until you relent. I’ve yet to attempt a haunting, but it shouldn’t be too difficult. And I do so love a challenge.” He ended his speech with a rakish grin.
“That’s blackmail!” she accused hotly.
“Did you expect less?” he taunted. “I am, after all, a pirate of some repute, and need to maintain my good standing with my fellow buccaneers.”
Eden wanted to scream. What a preposterous predicament! She was caught like a juicy bone between two hungry dogs! On the one hand, a priggish moneylender proposing lifelong misery. On the other, a mad pirate promising havoc and hauntings! Not a lot of choice there! Still, of the two, perhaps Devlin Kane presented the better bargain. She’d have the warehouse back, with no mortgage hanging over her head. And there was always the chance he’d soon regain his body and be out of her life much faster than Finster would. After witnessing today’s spectacles, surely even that was possible, and it might be worth the risk after all. Besides, if she had to have a man around, why not a handsome almost-ghost instead of a bony accountant?
“I’d want more,” she demanded haughtily, thinking to lessen her disadvantage.
“Oh?” Kane raised an arrogant brow.
“Aye. If I were to have you constantly underfoot, I’d need your pledge to discover the reason my business is failing. If the fault lies with me, I want you to teach me how to correct the problem, or hire someone who can. In that way, once you are gone, I can get my life back in order and not have to constantly worry about supporting myself and my mother. And if the fault lies elsewhere, you must help me find a means of resolving the problem once and for all.”
“Done.”
“What?”
“Are you hard of hearing? I said, I agree. We have a bargain, Miss Winters.”
Chapter 4
Struck a deal with the Devil! That’s what she’d done, Eden thought in wondrous panic, mere minutes after the fact. What in heaven or hell had possessed her to agree to such an asinine bargain? Or had she? She rather suspected she’d been neatly outmaneuvered, caught in a tangle of her own words and confusion, only to find herself bound to a pact with a man—nay, a pirate specter—she knew nothing about. How did she know she could trust him? That he wouldn’t attack her in her bed, or slit her throat in broad daylight? Why, next to him, Finster might seem a piddling bully!
Already, Kane was setting into motion aspects of their agreement to which she’d given little thought, hadn’t truly suspected would be part of the plan. Why, the man actually intended to move into her house! With his invisible falcon!
“Absolutely not!” she announced, aghast. “Captain Kane, I can only imagine the type of women you consort with, but I assure you, I am no lightskirt!”
He perused her person most thoroughly, raking his glowing black eyes over her with disturbing familiarity. His intent gaze assessed her stylish lilac day dress, trimmed in contrasting violet lace. The front of the hooped skirt was split and drawn aside, draped over bolsters at the hips and back to reveal the frilled petticoat beneath. At her small waist, the gown was close-fitted, giving way to a snug square-cut bodice, the low décolletage modestly filled with a pleated tucker that rose to band her swanlike neck. She wore no jewelry, save a single brooch at her throat, and no artifice upon her face, though many ladies of the day wore powders and paint, as well as beauty patches, to enhance their features.
“Nay, mistress,” he agreed with a brash grin. “You be no tart. Though you do have possibilities. I fail to see how you have remained unwed all these years. Are the men of Charles Town blind to your charms? Or do you hold them at bay with a shrewish tongue?”
Eden blinked up at him owlishly, momentarily dumbstruck. Even while she knew she should be offended, she was also unwittingly flattered. That this handsome, brawny man should think her attractive was beyond belief! Why, it was practically laughable! For years she’d been well aware of her own gawkish looks, feeling much like an overgrown beanstalk stuck amid a garden of pretty primroses.
Oh, she was neat enough in her appearance, and tried to dress fashionably, if not in a manner that would openly invite critical attention. And she’d long since given up hope of attempting an elaborate coiffure, for it invariably emphasized her height, even should she manage to tame her flyaway tresses into something other than a frizzy puff of curls. She’d had to settle for more sedate styles—usually a thick bun, or a fat braid twisted into a coronet or knotted at her nape, or occasionally gathered into a decorative snood, which was the only way she could control the unwieldy mass and wear it more loosely at the same time.
Consequently, she remained eternally conscious of the limitations which set her apart from others. Now, here was this outlandish pirate tossing glib praise about and likely expecting her to swoon at his feet in abject appreciation! No doubt his objective from the start, the reason behind his pretty lies, had been to worm his way into her home!
“You are no gentleman!” she declared indignantly.
He merely nodded, his smile growing ever more bold.
“You may quit your misplaced flattery, for ’twill gain you naught! You’ll not step so much as one boot across my threshold!”
“Come now, my haughty duchess. Think but a moment. Who would know if I did, for who would behold my presence?” he argued. “Also, how do you intend to prevent my doing so? Will you go to the constable and have him arrest me? The man would believe you’d gone simple, would he not, when he came to investigate your claim and found no sign of me in your house?”
“What of my mother?” she countered weakly, his logic fast defeating her. “Surely she would sense that a stranger was abiding in her home. Even should she not see you, would she not hear you? And ponder this, sir pirate. While Jane Winters has not the use of her legs, her mind is as sharp as her ears. Neither is she entirely bedridden. Many a day, with the aid of a servant to help her down the stairs, Mother spends her hours in the parlor, where she entertains friends who come to visit. And what of those friends, and our housemaid?”
Devlin gave an eloquent shrug. “If I take care to be quiet, no great problems should arise. At least nothing that cannot readily be explained. Timbers creak; floorboards squeak. ’Tis natural to expect a few odd noises now and again.” .
“True,” she conceded, with a condemning glare. “However, when the furniture takes on a voice and deigns to speak, I’ll be at a loss to account for such a queer happenstance. So, if you insist on moving in, kindly keep your lips buttoned within anyone’s hearing. Or they’ll fast be proclaiming me a witch. I’ll be of little use to you, or any other, once I’ve been burned at the stake.”
“O woman of little faith!” he mocked, sketching a low bow. “Don’t you know that I would gallantly rescue you from any harm which might befall you, my beauty?”
She sniffed. “And likely gain me even more trouble in the process. Why must you plague me so?” she lamented.
“Better to ask why the sun must rise or the rain fall,” he answered. “Or why I have become a vapor to all but you.”
It was decided that the cargo from the Gai Mer would be off-loaded the following day, to be stored in Winters Warehouse after all. Immediately thereafter, Nate and Arnie left to relate this news to the crew and see to making things ready aboard ship.
Before departing for home, Eden, with Devlin at her side, went in search of her manager, to inform him of the impending transaction. To her dismay, John Tilton was unaware of Devlin’s presence the whole while, dashing her hopes that his invisibility was some elaborate hoax. Apparently, her prayers were not to be so easily answered.
The nightmare continued.
As was customarily proper, Devlin took charge of the reins after assisting Eden into her buggy, neither of them remembering at that moment that no one else could see him. Off they rode, side by side, Eden doing her best to keep even the hem of her skirt from touching him. A slight defiance, at best, but enough to make him aware of her pique.
They’d traversed several blocks when Eden suddenly became aware that she was garnering strange looks along the route, and it was several seconds before she could fathom the reason. When it came clear to her at last, she uttered a strangled gasp and grabbed for the reins.
Diverted from his own mental fog, Devlin held tight. “What’s the matter with you, wench?” he growled. “Cease this fit before you spook the horses!”
Still she battled to strip the thongs from his grasp. “No! Don’t you see how people are staring?” Her anxious wail was but a hiss, her lips barely moving in her stiff white face. “Sweet heaven, Captain Kane, leave loose! Turn the team over to me! And do hush! God forbid anyone should hear you! ’Tis bad enough they’ve witnessed me driving blithely down the street with no one in control of the horses and the reins flapping in midair!”
“Oh.” Nonplussed, he did as she suggested, berating himself for his oversight. Damn! After a lifetime of being visible, was he supposed to become suddenly accustomed to having it otherwise? Weren’t a few lapses to be expected, even excused?
Still and all, he allowed he owed Miss Winters an apology, which he tendered in a rumbling whisper. “I beg your pardon, Miss Winters. I was caught up in my own musings, and caution went by the wayside.”
“You buffoon!” she fumed through her teeth. “Your forgetfulness has made a spectacle of me! Already! I can scarcely wait to see what might further develop from our unfortunate alliance.”
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