The Ladys Pirate

by The lady's pirate (lit)

  "At your convenience, sir," she said with a dimpled smile.

  Wilbur made a ridiculous bow and followed the rest of the crew out as they went off to their beds or to relieve the watch.

  Hal and Elspeth sat in the mess alone. He smiled as she jingled the coins in her hands.

  "What would the Queen say?" he asked.

  "Probably nothing," Elspeth answered with a grin. "She would just glare."

  "You don't sound very afraid of her glare."

  She laughed. "Not particularly." A yawn overtook her. She pressed her hand over her mouth. "My goodness. I do apologize."

  "May I escort you to your cabin, my lady?"

  She nodded and rose, careful to collect her money. He offered his arm and felt her warmth when she lay her hand upon it.

  As they came out on the main deck, she breathed deeply. A hint of a smile brightened her face and she looked up at the stars.

  "How beautiful it is out here. It's as though we are the only people in the whole of the world."

  "O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been, Alone on a wide wide sea: So lonely 'twas, that God himself, Scarce seemed there to be."

  "Have you committed the whole of the Rime to memory?" she asked with a chuckle.

  "Most of it," he admitted.

  They stood in companionable silence at the rail, staring at the ocean.

  She turned to him. "Have you seen the rest of the world, Hal?"

  "Not as much as there is to see. We sail these seas and so far there hasn't been a reason to go further."

  They walked on and she was silent. He could tell his answer troubled her. The smile had disappeared, replaced by worry lines on her brow.

  He couldn't stop his hand from going to her brow, touching them, trying to smooth them out.

  She started at the touch of his fingers and gave him a confused glance.

  "You are troubled?" he asked.

  "What will you do when you have completed your task?"

  When you have killed my husband.

  The words were no less spoken for having not been.

  Truthfully, he hadn't thought much about it. For ten years, Mary's revenge had been his only motivator. Now that the end was in sight, he didn't see anything beyond that.

  "I don't know. I suppose I'll go home. Run the store. Farm."

  She laughed. "Sounds dreadfully dull after plying the Main. Aren't you afraid you'll become bored?"

  "Possibly," he said with a rueful chuckle. "I certainly don't want to become a real pirate."

  "Do you ever worry that you'll be caught?"

  "No."

  "Why not? All Richard has to do is report your attacks to the Admiralty. The British Navy will catch you."

  Did he imagine the worry in her voice?

  "I don't fear your husband running to the Admiralty. He has more to lose than I."

  "You could lose your life."

  "That is a small risk."

  Elspeth stopped and turned, her frown back in place. "How can you say that? Is your life of so little account to you?"

  "It means so much to me that I would gladly sacrifice it for her sake."

  Hal bit his tongue. He'd already said more than he'd intended. How was it she could so easily get past his defenses and make her open his heart to her?

  "I see." Her words carried a tone of sadness. "You must have loved her very much."

  "I still do. She isn't dead."

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

  "No, no. I didn't mean to snap." Though he would shut his mouth, he was unable to. "I was angry at myself, Elspeth. Sometimes, it's as though she were dead."

  Silence accompanied them the rest of the way to her cabin. He opened the door for her and stepped aside.

  "Sleep well, Elspeth."

  "Ship ahoy!"

  Chapter Nineteen

  He left her standing in the doorway and ran to the steps.

  "Wait! Hal!" She ran after him. "What is it?"

  "Nothing."

  She seized his sleeve and turned him around. "Tell me," she said in a tone of command.

  "A ship."

  He pulled away from her and ran up the steps. George had the watch and was already peering at the distant vessel through a brass spyglass. Hal could see him studying the ship and he prayed it was not one of Richard March's.

  His prayer was not to be answered this time. George waved him up onto the deck. With a sigh, Hal started toward his first mate, devising the words to convince the crew they could not attack this ship.

  "She looks plenty heavy, Hal." George had replaced the spyglass to his right eye. "If she's carrying slaves, must be a bunch of them in there." He lowered the glass and turned to Hal. "With this wind we'll be on her before she can-"

  "No. Continue on present course." Hal wondered if that simple order would suffice.

  "What?" George stepped in front of him. "You're going to let it go without even looking? On this heading, he's certain to be coming from Africa and carrying slaves."

  "Let it go, George."

  "It's because of her, isn't it?"

  As ever, George had hit the nail on the head.

  "Because of whom?" Her voice fell on his ear as her scent caressed his nose, the delicate, sweet fragrance he would always associate with her. "What's going on?"

  "It's nothing you need be concerned with, my lady." Hal turned back to George. "No. That is my final word."

  "You're going to let a load of slaves be taken to market?" George followed and snatched his arm, turning him. "You swore, Hal, to every one of these men when they followed us, we would never turn our backs."

  "Slaves?" Elspeth took the spyglass from George and held it to her eye. "Is it one of Richard's ships?"

  "Yes," George answered her.

  She lowered the glass and turned to Hal. "Why won't you take it?"

  "Because of you," George said. "He's afraid for you."

  "I can answer for myself, George."

  "Then answer me," she ordered. "Why?"

  "I won't risk danger to you. As you have pointed out many times, you didn't ask to be here."

  "Could you take it?" she asked.

  Hal couldn't stop the insulted glance he threw her.

  "What happens to the people if you don't take them?"

  "That does not concern you." He moved to escape her, but was stopped by her hand on his sleeve.

  "How can it not? My money put that ship to sea. Whatever is going on over there is my doing as much as Richard's."

  "We will not turn."

  "Do you think me such a coward?"

  Of all the things she could have said, better than pleas or tears, her question stopped him most effectively. Hal rounded on her.

  "Do you think me a monster? Do you think I leave them to sail on unmolested without a crushing burden of guilt, knowing what awaits those people?" Unable to stop himself, he seized her shoulders and shook her. "I will not put you in danger for what might be a slaver or might not be. We can't stop them all. We will sail on to Jamaica."

  Her eyes widened in horror. "No, Hal, please, don't sacrifice them for me. You have to take the ship and free those people."

  Her words were spoken with such faith in him. Did she believe in him so completely?

  The crew had gathered around, listening, waiting.

  "What do we do, Hal?" George waited as well.

  Hal turned away from her, unable to bear her gaze, even as he reaffirmed his intention to bring her safe to Jamaica.

  "We sail for Spanish Town."

  He went below decks as the grumbling started.

  * * * *

  Elspeth watched, unbelieving, as Hal left the crew to mutter about letting their quarry go free. Unheeding of their curious stares, she followed him.

  Finally she learned where he slept. He'd moved to the cabin where she'd first awakened on board Spring Moon. The cabin next to the one where she now resided.

  The cabin door flew closed, shutting her off from him.

  "Oh, n
o, you don't." Elspeth pressed her shoulder against it, shoving against the strength Hal applied. "Hal, please, let me in."

  Something very much like a moan echoed from behind the door. It opened easily. She entered the cabin. He stood staring out the window at the white-capped water.

  "Storm's coming," he said.

  "I don't wish to speak of the weather."

  "Why did you follow me, then? Do you crave my company so?"

  Yes. The answer was on the tip of her tongue and she so wanted to utter it-

  "No, of course not," she lied. "I want to know why you do not pursue the ship."

  "I told you my reason."

  "Am I truly the only reason?"

  "If you were not here, she would already be ours and her scurvy crew cast into the ocean."

  "What of the...cargo?"

  He didn't answer right away. "If-" He turned away from the window and faced her. "If there were slaves aboard, we would help them go where they would."

  "Back to their homes?"

  "If they wished to return to the places where they were sold into slavery, yes."

  "Do you believe there are slaves aboard that ship?"

  He paused. "I don't know."

  Elspeth let her irritation out. "Don't play word games with me. Tell me what you believe."

  "I know there are slaves on the ship." He stared into her eyes. "March Shipping hasn't run a vessel this year that didn't carry slaves."

  She felt the cold accusation bite deep into her heart. "Then we must stop them."

  His expression softened. She dared continue.

  "Hal, don't you see? I'm to blame for what is happening to these people. Please don't let such evil go on to protect me. It makes me doubly guilty."

  "You are guilty of nothing. You had no part in this."

  "My money. My husband. I have too much a part." She saw a chink develop in his resolve. "Hal, I will do anything you ask, give you any reward, if you will do this for me."

  "Don't say such things."

  "I mean it."

  She knew she did. Anything he asked would be too little to pay for removing this blot from her conscience.

  "If I ask you to denounce your husband to the authorities?"

  She didn't hesitate. "Yes."

  "Even if that means your stepfather is implicated?"

  She had struggled with the knowledge that Alex had a part in this. Her mother's idyllic life would be ruined, just when she'd found some measure of happiness. Yet, what choice did she have?

  "Yes, even if Alex is implicated."

  "What if I ask for something of a more, personal nature? Some service to me?"

  Her heart thudded. Her ears rang with the sound of sea.

  "Yes. I have said it. Anything."

  "If I ask you to be my whore?"

  "Yes."

  His dark gaze held hers for a long time. Moments may have passed. Hours perhaps.

  Hal called out, "Isaac!"

  They still stood, as though rooted to the floor, staring into each other's eyes, until the boy poked his head through the door.

  "Run up and tell George to strike sail and turn about. Tell the men to prepare for battle." His eyes never left hers as he gave the order.

  Isaac's bare feet smacked against the polished decks as he made his way up to do his Captain's bidding. Within moments, a rowdy cheer rang through the ship.

  "You have made my crew happy, ma'am." His flaming gaze singed her soul and set her to trembling. "Perhaps the Captain may find some joy in this endeavor as well."

  He stepped forward and tenderly set his fingers on her jaw, pulling her closer. His lips tore her soul from her, filled her with his, then tore that away as well.

  "Stay below." He shoved her away roughly, a reaction she wasn't prepared for.

  Nothing about him was easy.

  In spite of his order, she followed him topside and took a place behind the wheel.

  "Go below," Hal whispered to her as he passed her and then was off again.

  But she could not. This attack was her doing, she'd urged it. She could no more go below and miss the action than she could stop breathing.

  Her heart started to beat faster as she watched the crew go about duties which seemed so easy to them. They talked and laughed and pulled together as though they had done this many times before and their hands and feet knew better than they did what job required doing. Their exuberance intoxicated her.

  The ship started turning and as she breached the waves, the deck became a living thing, moving beneath her feet, up and down.

  "Elspeth, get away from that rail!"

  Hal's roar of command rang across the deck at her and she saw with a jolt of terror how close she'd come to being tossed overboard. She dropped to her hands and knees and crawled across the deck toward the main mast. Grabbing hold, she pulled herself to her feet. A secure place to watch.

  Sometime in the last few minutes, Hal had put on a black silk shirt and covered his face with a black scarf which had eyeholes cut out. He looked the part of the Black Pirate. The tied ends of his mask floated on the breeze behind his head and as his ship hunted his prey, he grinned, his white teeth brilliant in contrast to his bronzed skin and black clothing.

  A dangerous, beautiful, desirable man. At this moment she couldn't regret agreeing to his outrageous price for taking the ship. She would give him anything he asked of her. Gladly.

  Spring Moon caught the wind and, with a jump, took off toward the on-coming ship. Even Elspeth's untrained eye could see how the other ship lumbered in the water, riding low, as though overloaded.

  At a distance of perhaps one hundred yards, Hal handed the wheel to his mate and moved to the rail. A crewman approached him and gave him a cutlass of shining steel. Hal slid it into a black sash tied round his waist.

  He looked every inch the pirate-oh, he could have used a moustache-and Elspeth's heart beat faster at the sight.

  "Ahoy, there, ship. Heave to and prepare to be boarded."

  "Go to Hell!" was the reply.

  "Such disrespect. All we want is to have a look in your hold. If you carry no human cargo, we will release you to go on your way."

  "Come aboard and we'll kill you."

  "Very well. As you command, sir." He turned to his helmsman. "Mr. Cogswallow, bring us alongside, if you please."

  "Aye, sir."

  The ship shifted slightly as they approached. Now Elspeth could see the pennant marking her as a March Shipping vessel. She couldn't take her eyes from that damning admission of guilt. Even now, she had carried the pathetic hope that Richard might not be involved in such filthy doings.

  "Damn, what a stinking hole."

  Elspeth turned toward Cole who'd come up to stand beside her. She suddenly noticed the stench in the air.

  "'Tis the smell of human misery, gal," Cole said.

  "It carries slaves," she said, no doubt in her mind.

  "Aye, for certain."

  Hatred for Richard welled in her heart. "Damn you to hell, Richard."

  Her eyes were drawn to the sight of Hal leaping from the rail of Spring Moon to the other ship, followed by most of his crew. A few remained behind to keep the ship from crashing into the slaver.

  His crew carried pistols and swords, but Hal himself carried only the cutlass.

  A man came from below decks, a pistol in his hand. He raised it and pointed the barrel directly at Hal's back. A scream grew in her throat.

  "Hal! Behind you!"

  Instead of looking behind him, he turned toward her and any hope she had of saving his life faded before her eyes. A shot rang out. She saw Hal fall forward.

  "No!" She ran to the rail and jumped up on it, ready to leap over the churning water to the deck of the other ship.

  A strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her down.

  "No, Countess. He'll kill me if anything happens to you." George held on to her as she struggled in his tight grasp.

  "Let me go! He's hurt."

 
"He's all right, look. You saved him."

  Indeed, when she returned her gaze to the other ship's deck, she saw Hal jump up and throw the cutlass at the shooter. The blade caught the man in the chest and he fell across the hold.

  The rest of the boarding party easily overcame the slaver's crew and Hal retrieved his cutlass before tossing the body of the dead man overboard. In a few minutes the battle was over. A couple of Hal's crew brought a man to him.

  "Who the hell are you?" the man shouted.

  "No one of concern to you, Captain. Just checking to make sure you aren't carrying any illegal cargo."

  Hal reached down and pulled opened the hatch. He stood back and Elspeth could see the expression of horror and pity that crossed his face before he carefully wiped it away.

  "Hold him fast, boys," he told his crewmen, then he motioned to a couple of other men and disappeared with them into the hold.

  Moments later, people began emerging from the hold. Naked men, women-

  Elspeth gasped. Children. All of them chained in groups of two.

  All naked, all shivering and shading their eyes from the sun. Women and men alike were thin, ribs showing through dull skin. They huddled together like a herd of animals, shying away from the helping hands offered them.

  "Oh, my dear God," she whispered. "Richard, what have you done?"

  Suddenly everything she'd suffered at her husband's hands seemed insignificant. What a coward she was for ever thinking herself a victim.

  Here were Richard's real victims. Elspeth forced herself to look at them, forced herself to face what she'd been a part of, even though unwittingly.

  Her attention became fixed on the last African to come out of the hold. The man stood straight, though the effort it cost him was obvious. He clenched his fists and visibly willed them to stop shaking. He looked to the others, spoke to them, then turned to stand before them. His back straightened and he breathed with obvious difficulty. He was injured and Elspeth's overactive conscience accepted more guilt.

  * * * *

  Hal stood before the African and stared up into his face.

  "Do you speak English?"

  No answer.

  "Habla espanol? Portugese?"

  Again there was no answer.

  "Francais?"

  The man nodded curtly.

  "Damn. The one I don't know." Hal looked at Elspeth standing anxiously on Spring Moon's deck. To one of his men, he said, "Bring the Countess over."