‘So our chances of escaping are slender. Do you think she will sink us?’ whispered Cassandra.
Stuart cast her a sharp glance. ‘Not if she knows who we have on board,’ he replied drily. ‘Drum O’Leary would not fire on Nathaniel Wylde’s daughter. But fear not. I have no doubt her guns will be aimed high to bring down what is left of our masts and cause havoc in the rigging. It is not her intention to sink us—at least, not until we have been ransacked from stem to stern and relieved of our cargo.’
James Randell came to stand beside them, deeply worried about the whole situation. ‘She’s a pirate. She means trouble.’
‘I know. Raise the flag of truce, James. We’re in no position to fight. Have her come alongside for a parley.’
‘And if she refuses? Is it your intention to surrender?’
‘No,’ Stuart replied firmly, watching the three ships bearing down on them. His mind was running clear and sharp, but after battling throughout the night against the storm, like every other bleary-eyed man on board he was overwhelmed by weariness. But to surrender at this point was out of the question. ‘If she doesn’t agree to parley, then there’s nothing else for it. We will have to fight. Stand by to hoist the red flag just in case. Load the guns and have them run out—and instruct every man to be sure not to waste a shot.’
By now small figures could be seen scurrying about the Dolphin’s decks. The ships accompanying her sailed away from her in opposite directions, taking a wide arc, their intention clearly being to come at the crippled merchantman from all sides. The Sea Hawk hoisted the flag of truce, but the Dolphin had ideas of her own. When she was just within range, with a puff of white smoke she put a shot across the Sea Hawk’s bows, splintering the bowsprit, and leaving everyone on board in no doubt as to her intentions.
Orders rang out and, as everyone scrambled to, it was clear they were in for a desperate fight. Ports on the two gun decks were opened as shot and buckets of powder were brought for the guns. Eager to be of help, Cassandra assisted the young boys of the crew, carrying powder up from the magazine in the bowels of the ship, which was strenuous work for it involved clambering up and down innumerable ladders between the decks, but she was glad to have something useful to do.
‘She means to have us, James,’ Stuart said grimly, standing beside his first mate on the poop deck. ‘And I fear she may do just that.’
James looked at him seriously. This was James’s first voyage on the Sea Hawk, but he knew all about Stuart’s previous run in with the threatening vessel, and his dealings with her one-time captain, Nathaniel Wylde.
‘I agree with you. I don’t think much of our prospects either. I understand this is not the first time you have encountered the Dolphin. You’ve had dealings with her in the past, I believe.’
Without taking his eyes off the fast-approaching ship, Stuart nodded slowly. ‘We’re old friends, the Dolphin and I. Although in those days she sailed under a different captain—Captain Nathaniel Wylde. You’ve heard of him?’
His expression grim, James nodded.
‘No doubt Mr Drum O’Leary, its present captain, is just as ruthless. After our last encounter I prayed never to set eyes on that ship again.’
‘Wylde acquired the reputation as being something of a gentleman, owing to the fact that he treated his victims with courtesy. I know you were the man responsible for his capture—and subsequent execution.’
‘I was—but he was no gentleman, I can assure you, James. He was a vicious, murdering barbarian, as ruthless and cruel as any other sea rover who chooses to live by infamous means.’
‘But how can you be sure this O’Leary you speak of is the captain of the Dolphin?’
‘I can’t.’ Stuart’s face set in grim lines as he turned away to inspect the loading of the guns. ‘But I sure as hell hope that for my wife’s sake he is.’ He spoke these words to himself, not intending them to be heard, but James had sharp ears and heard them clearly, and although they puzzled him he did not query them.
The Dolphin had retreated just out of range of the Sea Hawk’s guns, leaving it up to the other two ships to fire on her, which they did, their first rounds falling wide of their mark and plunging into the sea. The Sea Hawk responded immediately, making the whole ship shudder violently as a huge broadside was delivered at the ship closest to her, finding her target with superb accuracy.
But as the ship began to roll there was no cheering from the crew of the Sea Hawk for by now the Dolphin, back in range, and the other ship opened up a withering fire upon the Sea Hawk, most of the rounds falling wide of their mark but coming closer with each fresh outburst of fire.
When fired the Sea Hawk’s guns recoiled violently, kicking backwards from the open ports. Cassandra had never seen guns used on a ship before and was unprepared for the acrid smoke that belched into the air, choking her and making her eyes stream with tears.
One shot from the Dolphin splintered what remained of the bowsprit and another hit the mainmast with accurate precision, causing it to crack and splinter. With a great crashing of timber it tumbled on to the deck, bringing with it her cordage and canvas and flinging men from her rigging into the sea.
Crushed beneath the massive weight, men screamed out in pain as others fought to drag them free, carrying them to the surgeon’s quarters. Cassandra went to help Mr Patterson tend them as best she could. Blood was everywhere, the stench unbearable, but she worked diligently, trying to shut the noise of the thundering guns from her mind, until what seemed like hours later Stuart found her and pulled her outside.
The guns were still pounding and the crew’s movements were impeded by cordage, which littered the decks. The two undamaged ships were almost upon them, the other still rolling slightly but managing to edge closer. Cassandra could see men with gaudy-coloured scarves knotted around their heads, barefoot and armed to the teeth with cutlasses and pistols, swarming about their decks.
The pirate ships had showered round after round at the Sea Hawk with shattering effect, piercing her hull in several places. But surprisingly she had responded, managing with great difficulty to slightly alter what tack was left in her desperate struggle to stave off the inevitable and fire back. But the nimble, easily manoeuvrable Dolphin remained virtually unscathed. Nathaniel Wylde would have been proud of her performance.
The sight of Cassandra appalled Stuart. Her clothes were torn and covered with the blood of the wounded, her face smudged with powder and grime from the guns. But he admired the way she had found something useful to do and had not gone to pieces at the first sound of cannon fire, as most women would have done. He had not seen her for several hours, and he had sought her out to reassure himself that she was unharmed—although his features revealed none of his concern and were set hard, refusing to let her soft appealing eyes weaken him even at this moment of crisis.
Cassandra looked up at her husband in consternation, knowing he had come to tell her the battle was almost over. With powder marks on his face and shirt, his dark eyes, looking out of his strained features, stared down into hers. Her fingers ached to reach up and push a rebellious lock of hair that dipped over his eyes back, but she checked herself, knowing he would not welcome the intimacy. The lack of warmth in his voice when he spoke confirmed this.
‘All is lost,’ he said gravely. ‘It is only a matter of minutes before we are boarded. My intention is to surrender—they leave me with little choice. There are those who wish to fight to the bitter end, but I think enough lives have been lost. However, there may be fighting so I want you to go below, out of the way until it’s over.’
‘No,’ Cassandra cried in sudden alarm. ‘Please don’t send me from you, Stuart—not now.’
‘I must,’ he said, his tone sounding harder than he intended, but his instinct was to protect her, and he could not do that if she remained in full glare of the pirate ships. ‘If you stay on deck, you will only be in the way.’
‘And what if you are killed?’ she asked in desperation, having d
ifficulty in suppressing her tears, for she knew that if she went from him now she might never see him alive again.
It was a question Stuart was unable to answer, for in all probability that was exactly what might happen.
‘I won’t leave you, Stuart. Whatever happens I want to stay here—to share your fate,’ she protested passionately, thrusting herself forward and clinging to him, oblivious to the looming, menacing presence of the Dolphin edging her way closer, with men clinging to the rigging ready to jump on to the Sea Hawk’s decks at the first opportunity. The only thing that mattered to her at that moment was this man, her husband, whom she loved above anything and anyone. ‘For pity’s sake, must you reject me even now when we might both be killed?’
Stuart saw the anguish on her face, how her mouth softened as she pleaded with him, and how her eyes misted with tears, begging for forgiveness, like an animal punished through no fault of its own. With an iron force of will he took her arms and held her away from him, looking hard but with compassion into her eyes and willing her to be strong.
‘I am not rejecting you, Cassandra,’ he said fiercely. ‘You must believe that, but you seem to be too ready to forget that I had a brother I adored, whom your father killed. Yes, I’ve reproached myself for making you my wife, as if it is a crime against his spirit. But, at this moment, above all else I want you to be safe.
‘Can’t you see they are stronger than we are? We none of us know what they have in store for us, but one thing is certain—if Drum O’Leary is not on board the Dolphin, then from past experience, where sea rovers are concerned, the unenviable treatment of females who fall into their hands fills me with alarm. As a precaution I want you out of the way when they come on board, and with any luck I might be able to reason with them.’
Hope began to beat a steady rhythm in Cassandra’s heart, and a light entered her eyes. ‘But if Drum is on board—perhaps when he sees me I will be able to speak to him. He can be reasoned with. I know he can.’
‘Maybe. But I doubt his leniency will extend to me. To my crew, perhaps—especially those with specialist skills who can be of use to him. In exchange for their lives, others may decide to join the pirates—but do not forget that he has a score to settle with me. I was the one who sent Nathaniel Wylde to the gallows. Drum O’Leary will not deal with me lightly.’
‘But if he has never seen you then there is little chance he will know who you are.’
‘If you think that then you are a fool. I would wager the price of the cargo that he already knows who he’s been up against for the past few hours. It was no secret that the name of the ship that hounded Nathaniel Wylde across the Atlantic was the Sea Hawk. The name will be emblazoned on his soul and will have been staring at him ever since he came within range of the ship.’
‘But when he knows you are my husband he will—’
Stuart’s face darkened. ‘No, Cassandra,’ he interrupted fiercely, his eyes blazing with fury. ‘I don’t need any woman using her favours to help me. I will not have you plead with that barbarian on my behalf.’
‘I will if I have to,’ she cried brokenly, holding out her hands to him in desperation, gripping his arms in an effort to get close to him, to communicate the fever that possessed her and to penetrate the armour he had built around himself against her. As tears she could no longer suppress began to flow uncontrollably over her lashes, it was clear to her by the tormented look that ravaged his face that this was the only thing that could save them all. But his stupid arrogance and pride continued to stand in the way as he refused to humble himself.
‘Listen to me,’ she implored, almost choking on her tears. ‘Please, Stuart. In spite of everything I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone—and even if I am to die my soul will go on loving you. I will go down on my knees to Drum if I have to so he will not harm you. Please let me help you. Just give me one single chance to speak to him. I beg of you.’
‘No,’ he said with blunt cruelty, trying hard to remain unmoved by her tears, by the pain he saw behind the defiance in her eyes, and by the sincerity of the words she spoke, which had the power to break him. ‘Don’t make it harder than it already is.’
‘How can it possibly be harder?’ Cassandra protested desolately. ‘I love you. Don’t push me away.’ She wished he would say it back to her, even though he didn’t mean it.
Stuart tried to distance himself from her, loosing the hands that gripped his arms and pushing her from him, when all the time he secretly asked for nothing more than to hold her, to crush her to him and bury his face in her beautiful mane of sweet-smelling hair and protect her from harm. He turned his head away wretchedly, angered by these feelings that threatened to weaken him at a time when he needed to be strong, when so many lives depended on his ability to remain calm and in complete control of his senses.
‘For God’s love, Cassandra,’ he rasped, combing his hair back from his brow. ‘Don’t torture either of us like this.’
‘Why not?’ she demanded wretchedly. ‘If we are to be parted, then help me to understand why you will not let me help you.’
‘Stop it. I insist that you go below and give some thought to the seriousness of your own situation.’
In the agony of her grief over the critical nature of Stuart’s plight, his words barely penetrated Cassandra’s mind. She stared at him in bewilderment. ‘Why—what are you saying?’
‘Think, Cassandra,’ he said fiercely. ‘When it is revealed who you are, you will have more than Drum O’Leary to contend with. I cannot vouch for the conduct of my crew—because when the men realise they have been harbouring the infamous Captain Wylde’s daughter on board, their treatment of you will be as severe as any you will receive from the pirates—should O’Leary not be there to save you.’
His words sounded hard and cruel, he knew, but, fearful for her safety, his instinct being to protect her the only way he knew how, Stuart was trying to inspire into her some of the indomitable spirit she had possessed when she had sailed on the Dolphin, and which had served her when she had colluded with O’Leary to steal it from under the very noses of the Admiralty and have her father’s body cut down from the gallows, before travelling to the Caribbean and braving all the odds.
His words brought home to Cassandra the seriousness of her situation and a trickle of cold sweat ran down her spine. Her voice trembled with fear and from the depth of her hurt when she spoke. ‘You are right. I have given little thought to my own situation—to the effect of who I am will have on others. Dear Lord,’ she cried in an agony of sheer frustration, ‘am I never to be free of it? Am I to be trapped forever more by a past inflicted on me by others?’
‘A past you were willing to adopt,’ he reminded her harshly, cruelly. ‘A past you cannot blame others for regarding with abhorrence. A past which created in you an illusion that all pirates are misunderstood beings who never really mean any harm. I suppose you can be forgiven because of your youth and naïvety—but you really must try to understand that forgiveness for such crimes as your father committed is impossible to achieve for those who were unfortunate enough to have been his victims. Now, do as I say and go below.’ His dismissal was as cold in this final moment they were together as the way he had conducted himself throughout the days of their marriage.
Cassandra felt as if he’d slapped her, but her pride brought her chin up. If he could speak to her like this, then all was lost between them. Despite his earlier insistence to the contrary, he did continue to reject her and could not wait to be rid of her—even at the moment of death. She drew herself up, showing him that she too could be hard and cold.
‘Very well. I shall go below before I make an even bigger fool of myself. Go and do your duty, Stuart.’ She left him then without another word, treading carefully over and around the many obstacles barring her path with as much dignity as she could muster, unable to shake off the burden of doom.
Stuart watched her go, deeply shaken by her passionate outburst of love, and he r
ealised that his own feelings were not so very different. Only now, when it was too late, did he realise how deeply he had come to feel for her. She had succeeded in finding a way into his heart and mind as no woman had done before. He had never felt this way about anything or anybody, except his ship and the sea. Not even his mother, whom he revered greatly, or his dear departed father and brother had commanded the love he felt for his wife. But his inability to accept her because of who she was continued to divide them—although never would he be strong enough to reject her completely.
The thud of a grappling iron thrown from the Dolphin landed at his feet, splintering the boards of the deck and bringing a savage oath to his lips. He turned his attention to what was happening all around him. The Dolphin was alongside, and the fearsome-looking pirates that crowded her decks were armed to the teeth and poised to jump on board the Sea Hawk.
After a volley of musketry, the pirates swarmed over the bulwarks, armed with short swords and cutlasses. Panic-stricken, some of the crew jumped into the sea in the hope of escaping the vicious onslaught by this murderous, fiendish band of men. With a pistol in one hand and a sword in the other, suffused with an indomitable spirit and determination, Stuart entered the fray, thrusting and sinking his blade into the heart of one of the pirates who wielded a cutlass above his head with such lightning speed that the man was dead before he hit the deck.
Confusion reigned as fighting broke out, with men ferociously hacking and chopping with their cutlasses at anything that confronted them. Pistol shots, a profanation of yells and the clash of steel on steel resounded throughout the ship, and then Stuart was confronted by a hideous-looking specimen of a man. Recognition came to each man simultaneously. It was Drum O’Leary and Stuart knew he meant to kill him.
The Pirate's Daughter Page 17