by Shana Galen
Rissa found her still sitting near the pond a half hour later. Ashley had dressed in her now dry clothing and was attempting to free the snarls from her hair with a borrowed comb. It was late afternoon and rather warm and sticky. The monkeys had been hooting and screeching all afternoon, and she was sick of hearing them. She was almost glad for Rissa’s appearance as the little girl would chatter so much it would drown out the apes. Rissa’s cheeks were rosy pink from running in the heat.
“They are leaving on the tide in the morning,” she stated without even a hello.
Ashley nodded. She had suspected as much. “Then we have to figure out a way to get on the ship before morning. They’ll be ferrying supplies back and forth all night. We sneak on one of the longboats, hide under a canvas, and then—”
Rissa was shaking her head. “They will find us.”
Ashley gave her a skeptical look, and Rissa explained, “I tried that when I was four.”
Ashley frowned. So the girl thought her idea only worthy of a four-year-old. But it was all she had. “I don’t have any other ideas,” Ashley admitted.
“I do. Follow me.” And the girl started through the jungle without even looking to see if Ashley followed.
“Where are we going?” Ashley finally asked after she’d been scratched on the arm and the cheek by tree limbs. Rissa, being short, had an easier time avoiding the tree branches and spiky leaves. Ashley just knew the monkeys were watching them and waiting for an opportunity to throw rotten food or something worse.
“To the cave where we hid. It's just up here.”
Ashley had a sense of the island’s layout now, a rough map of it in her mind. She knew the cave where the women and children had hidden was just past the village, up high, so it overlooked the beach below. It was hidden from view by dense shrubbery. One of the pirates had pointed it out to her, and she had stared at the spot for a long time before she had been able to see the opening to a cave. She realized Rissa must have taken the long way around to avoid the village. They would have reached the cave much more quickly if they’d gone through the village.
The sailors on the beach, including Nick, might have also seen them too has they taken the village route. The advantage of this path was that they came upon the cave from the back of the hill and could enter unobserved.
Once inside, Ashley paused. She’d never been in a cave before, and the sudden darkness and silence surprised her. She wanted light. “We don’t have a torch.”
“I know the way,” Rissa said, her high voice echoing. “There’s an opening in the rock here, and you can see. Come on.”
I am not afraid, Ashley told herself as she moved inward, bending over to avoid hitting her head, but she was glad when she spotted a shaft of light ahead and could make out Rissa’s little form moving toward it. Ashley stood under the shaft of light and looked up. Above was the blue sky of the island. Earlier in the day, the sun might have been directly overhead. Looking down, she could see evidence of inhabitation. There were signs of a cooking fire and rocks and old logs had been brought in as seating. A tattered piece of canvas had been left, forgotten
“Is this where you hid?”
The little girl nodded and looked down. “They couldn’t find us here.”
Ashley could see the tears in the little girl’s eyes. The poor child had lost her mother, countless friends, everything she had known. What did one say to soothe a pain like that? What did one say to comfort a child? Ashley didn’t know the words, so she pulled the little girl into an awkward embrace. “You are safe now.”
“I don’t want to stay here,” the little girl said against her shoulder. Her small arms were wrapped around Ashley’s neck, and the child’s embrace was not quite as terrifying as Ashley had imagined. She could feel the little girl’s fear in her rigid form and the way she trembled. How could Ashley ease her fear? Yussef could come back. The little girl had a right to be afraid.
“You won’t stay here. We’ll find a way to get on board,” she finally said.
“Look at this!” The little girl moved out of Ashley’s arms and pulled at the old piece of canvas. Beneath it, she revealed a chest like the ones Ashley had seen in the great cabin on board the Robin Hood. The little girl struggled to open the chest, and Ashley caught the latch and helped her lift the heavy lid. Inside was a blue coat. Ashley pulled it out, recognizing it as the sort naval officers wore. On the sleeve were two gold stripes, and one had a loop. She did not know much about rank in the navy. Two of her older brothers had joined the Hussars, but none of the five seemed interested in a position in the navy. They could talk about horses until her ears bled, but ships and shipboard officers were a less common topic of conversation.
She pulled out several other articles of clothing, and beneath them, she found a sheaf of papers tied with a thin cord. She lifted it and spotted several medals below. Why would medals such as those be left in an old trunk in a forgotten cave? She scanned the documents she held, feeling her jaw drop open.
“Can you read?” the little girl asked.
“Yes.” Yes, she could read very well. She turned to another paper, and her eyes widened further. “I don’t believe it.” She turned to another paper. “No!”
“What’s wrong?” the little girl asked.
Ashley allowed the papers to drop into her lap. “Your father was a commissioned officer in the royal navy. He was a lieutenant.” She had known he’d been part of the navy but not his rank. She lifted one of the medals. “And he was decorated for bravery.”
“That’s very bad!”
Ashley smiled at the little girl. “No. It’s not bad at all. It’s very good, but it surprised me.”
The little girl took one of the medals and held it to her hair as though it were some sort of ribbon or hair ornament. Ashley laughed. “Did you know this was your father’s?”
“Yes. He doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“I imagine he doesn’t.”
“I can hide in it.” The little girl scrambled inside the trunk. There was plenty of room for her. “And you can take it on the ship.”
Ashley nodded. It was a crude plan, but it might work. She could tell one of the men Nick had asked her to see the trunk delivered to his great cabin personally. He’d say his farewells tonight and sleep on board in order to be ready to depart on the tide. The men would assume Nick wanted her as his companion for the night. Once on board, she could hide, and Rissa would be taken to the great cabin in the trunk, which would probably be overlooked during the preparations. If they both managed to stay hidden until the ship was well away from the island, Nick would have to take both of them with him.
While Rissa practiced getting in and out of the trunk—and in and out again—Ashley perused the documents in her hand. The medal for bravery had apparently been in a battle against Yussef. Nick’s ship had suffered heavy losses against the pirate and his small fleet of ships, but Nick had fought bravely.
Was that when his hatred of Yussef began? Was he angry Yussef had escaped? A letter fell free, and Ashley opened it.
Dear Lord Nicholas,
Thank you for our kind letter of condolence. We are bearing the news of Ralph as well as can be expected. You need not apologize for not saving him. You were a good friend to him. He wrote of you often…
“That’s it,” she murmured to herself. Rissa was climbing out of the trunk yet again. “That’s where this desire for revenge started.” Nick had distinguished himself in the battle against Yussef, but the Barbary pirate had managed to escape. The blow stung even more because Nick’s friend had been killed during the battle, and he blamed himself.
Quite suddenly, Ashley understood why and how Nick had become a pirate. He’d wanted vengeance against Yussef, but the royal navy would never have allowed Nick the freedom to pursue the pirate as he wished. So he’d left to avenge his friend, and in the process became a pirate himself. She stood and moved back through the blackness to the cave’s opening. She peered out at the small group
of survivors on the beach. Just below she could see patches of the burned ground where the village had once been. Now Nick had more than simply his friend Ralph to avenge.
“Rissa,” she called as she made her way back into the cave. She replaced the medals and papers and arranged the coat so Rissa might pull it over herself once inside. “We’d better go down before we’re missed. I’ll ask Mr. Fellowes to carry this trunk down to the beach. After we say our farewells to your father, you hide inside, and I’ll make sure we are taken aboard.”
Rissa smiled. “I’m so happy you are my new mother! You are much braver than any other woman I know.”
Ashley nodded. Was she brave? Sneaking onto a vessel intent upon attack and a sea battle to the death? Her mother had always said what the Brittany children called bravery was but a mere shade from foolishness.
Nick had expected more tears when he said farewell to Rissa and Ashley. He hadn’t expected them from Ashley, but certainly Rissa need not stand with eyes so dry. Perhaps she truly believed him when he said he would come back for her, when he said no harm would come to her. He lifted her and gave her a hug, but she barely returned the embrace. “Goodbye!” she said with a wave and ran off to play with some of the other children.
He turned his attention to Ashley, who seemed to find Rissa’s perfunctory dismissal rather amusing. “I know she’s not yours,” he said when she looked back at him. “But I’d ask you to watch over her until I return.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” she said, her voice pitched low, but not low enough. Several pirates glanced their way. “I can’t believe you’re leaving me here.”
“I’ll be back.”
“Good, because when we return to England, I’m sending my brothers after you with sticks, rope, and a blindfold.”
Nick did not want to consider what strange invented punishment this was. Everyone knew the Brittany men were wild and unpredictable. “Then I had better do this now, while I still can.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back, but it was not the molten kiss she’d given him earlier. He released her when he became aware of his men’s whistles and calls. With a deep bow, he walked away, striding to the longboat that would take him on board.
Once onboard, he focused on overseeing the preparations for their sail. If he’d spent any time in his cabin, he might have missed Ashley, might have thought of her more. Perhaps that was why he avoided his cabin. Instead, he inspected the preparations for battle and slept in the foc’s’l with the men. In the morning, before dawn, the Robin Hood set sail for Gibraltar where they would replenish their stores of powder and food stuffs and where Nick thought he could obtain reliable information as to Yussef’s whereabouts.
The men were ready for a battle and so was he.
On the second day at sea, he was conferring with Mr. Chante on the quarterdeck when Mr. Carey, his carpenter, called his name. “Captain! Captain!”
Nick turned quickly, his heart thudding. Had one of the foretopmen spotted Yussef’s ship already? The Snake, as Yussef’s ship was called in English, could certainly be nearby. Nick would have preferred to restock his supplies, but he would not run from a fight if The Snake had been spotted.
“What is it, Mr. Carey?” Nick asked, striding to his carpenter.
“I found something you won’t like, Captain.”
Nick scowled. “Are the repairs to the hull not holding up?”
“No, Captain. That’s not it at all. We have a stowaway.”
He knew immediately it was Rissa. He should have guessed her plans when she did not seem distressed to see him go. He should have realized she would try, once again, to sneak on board his ship. This time he’d been distracted enough not to catch her. He entered his cabin and immediately spotted her sitting on top of a trunk. “Rissa!” he bellowed, his gaze going again to the trunk. It was strangely familiar. Rissa, ignoring his bellow, rushed into his arms. Nick closed his eyes and lifted her. Now what was he to do? How could he take a child into battle?
In the open doorway, he spotted Mr. Chante, who smiled at Rissa’s enthusiams. The quartermaster loved Rissa as much as the rest of the men, but if they returned to the island now, they’d lose time and precious momentum. The men were dreaming of the riches they’d take from Yussef, of how they’d spend the money when they took The Snake as a prize. They would not take kindly to being told they would have to return to the island.
“I found her, Cap’n,” his cabin boy said. “I were cleaning your room and heard her moving about. Thought she was a rat, but when I opened the lid, she jumped out. Almost hit her with my boot, I did.”
So she’d been hiding in his trunk, except that wasn’t a trunk he kept in his cabin. It was a trunk he had not seen in a long, long time. He set Rissa down. “Where did this trunk come from?”
“It’s yours, Papa,” Rissa said. “You showed it to me once in the cave.”
“Why is it on my ship?”
Chante moved into the room. “It were on one of da boats. One of the men said you asked for it to be brought to your room.”
“Who?”
The cabin boy stepped forward. “I’ll find out, Cap’n, but he were just taking his orders from Mrs. Cap’n.”
Nick’s throat seized and he had to cough to catch his breath. “Ashley?” He looked down at Rissa, who was suddenly quite interested in the fabric on her sleeve. He knelt. “Rissa, is Ashley on board? Did she stowaway too?”
The little girl shrugged. It was as good as a yes. Nick’s gaze met Chante’s. His quartermaster looked as though he might strangle someone—the sailor who’d fallen for Ashley’s lie was probably at the top of his list, though Ashley might have surpassed him.
“Find her,” he told Chante. “Now.”
FIFTEEN
Ashley was actually relieved to have been discovered. She had been hiding in the hold and was not certain how much time had passed. They’d found her on the lowest tier of the hold, near the large puncheons of water. She’d been brought, squinting and stumbling, into the bright sunlight and she’d all but fell into Nick. He stood with arms crossed, and she was glad she caught herself because he did not appear as though he meant to.
Behind him, Rissa peeked out, and Ashley sighed with relief at seeing the little girl was well.
“You are smiling, madam,” Nick said, his voice low with menace.
She glanced up at him. The sun was behind him, making him look even taller, his hair even blacker, than usual. In his black boots, tight breeches, and loose lawn shirt, he looked as handsome as she could remember. Of course, she looked a complete fright. She wondered how soon she could ask for a bath. Poor Mr. Fellowes would be stuck with her again. “You would be smiling too, if you’d been stuck in that smelly hold for…” She looked about, but there was no way to gauge the day. “How long have we been sailing?”
“A day and a night,” Nick said.
For a moment she worried it was not long enough, and Nick would turn the ship and bring them back. “A word, madam,” he said. “Alone.” He gestured and walked away. She watched his back and realized he expected her to follow. She wondered what he would do if she refused, but her rebellion would have to come later. Right now she was hungry and tired and wanted to lie down on something besides the hard wooden planks that had been her only option. At least she’d had the foresight to hide by the water. She was not thirsty.
Once in his cabin, he closed the door behind her. Before she could move inside, he put a hand on the door just above her head, effectively trapping her against it.
“Are you going to lecture me?” she asked.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. Yet.” His tone was ominous.
“You could feed me,” she suggested. “I’m rather hungry.”
He slammed his fist on the door, which rattled and made her head pound. “Of all the impulsive, reckless, ridiculous things you’ve done, this has to be the worst.”
“I think my mother would disagree wi
th you there.”
“You, I can understand,” he said, ignoring her quips. She did not mind if he paid no heed to her jests, but she did rather wish he would feed her. “But how could you allow Rissa to come on board?”
“Should I have left her behind? For what? You are all she has left. If you don’t come back for her, what will happen to her? A young girl with no one in the world to care for her?”
She saw a muscle in his jaw clench.
“Besides she was the one who had the idea to stowaway in the trunk. I only refined the idea.”
“And included yourself.”
“Of course.” She pointed to the trunk, which she’d glimpsed when she entered, before Nick had trapped her against the door. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a navy hero? You have medals. Do not deny it.”
“I’m no hero any more.”
“I saw the paper,” she protested. “You were decorated for bravery. You’re not a pirate.”
He lowered his forehead until it touched hers. “I assure you, I am.”
Ashley pushed past him, afraid if she continued to stand so close to him, she might kiss him. Instead, she moved toward the trunk. “I saw the letter from Ralph’s mother as well.” She turned to face him. “That is why you want revenge on Yussef, isn’t it? To avenge Ralph’s death.”
“I do not wish to speak of this.”
“Neither do I, but I think it’s time I finally knew the truth. Are we all risking our lives because years ago Yussef killed your friend?”
“You saw the island. Yussef deserves to die.”
“Yes, but would he have attacked the island if you hadn’t pursued him all this time?” She shook her head when he didn’t answer. “I didn’t know Ralph, Nick, but I do not think he would have wanted this for you.”