Fortune's Flames

by Janelle Taylor

  When they played cards, she impressed Ben with her skills, and she often entertained him with tales of her early adventures with Eric. She even related her misfortunes in New Orleans and explained why she had doubted Eric for a time. But she wondered how long she could continue this difficult ruse, for she had noted Wolfe’s desire and his distrust.

  Late in the afternoon on October fourth, a ship pursued them, and Maren was thrilled. She did not care whether it was American or British. She just wanted to be taken off this vessel. But when a fierce conflict began, she doubted she would survive it.

  The ship shuddered as its cannons roared and hits damaged her severely, and Maren pressed herself against the inner wall of her cabin, and clamped her hands over her ears. What if the ship was sunk? she wondered in mounting alarm.

  When Ben rushed into the cabin and locked the door, Maren looked at him, her fear evident. “Who’s attacking us?” she asked.

  “Bloody pirates,” he informed her angrily. “They won’t give quarter and we can’t flee them.” He roughly drew her to him and declared, “But I’ll be damned if they take you first.”

  He began to kiss her and fondle her. Maren struggled, but he forced her to the bed and flung her upon it.

  “Eric will kill you for this, Ben!” she shrieked. Then her golden brown eyes filled with terror and disgust as Ben revealed Eric’s promise to him.

  “If I die today, I’ll die as a happy and sated man,” Ben said. Then he captured her hands, pinned them over her head, and straddled her.

  But suddenly a gunshot rang out and Ben fell sideways off the bed. Maren immediately rose to battle her new attacker, but the man merely stared at her. She swallowed hard, her pulse raced, and she breathed rapidly. Her eyes were wide, and as he came forward, she tried to back away but the mussed covers inhibited her progress.

  The pirate captain halted and studied her intently. “Come with me,” he commanded, extending a hand to her.

  Maren looked at his hand as if it were a death threat. “I’m Captain Hawk’s wife,” she declared nervously. “If you harm me, he’ll kill you. These men kidnapped me, but Jared’s searching for us.”

  “I’m sure he is,” the man said with an amused grin. “Let’s go, Hawk’s mate; this ship is sinking.”

  Maren glanced at Ben’s body and knew he was dead. Her gaze returned to the pirate’s dark eyes. She had heard tales of what pirates did with female captives, and she feared she would have been safer with Horben!

  Suddenly she noticed that Ben’s gun had fallen onto the bed during her tussle with him. She lunged for it, but the man grabbed her and she struggled with him until he said, “There is no need for this, Maren Morgan. I am the Water Snake, a friend of your husband’s.”

  Immediately she ceased thrashing. “René Blanc?” “The same, my lovely bird. Come along. You’re safe.”

  Maren had never fainted in her life, but she did so.

  When Maren came around, she found herself in the highly decorated cabin of René. Her movements caught his attention and he rose from the table to approach her. He sat down beside her and smiled. “Feeling better?” he asked kindly. “Would some sherry put color back into your exquisite face?”

  “Yes, thank you,” she responded as she cleared her wits. “I don’t know why I passed out like that. I’ve never done so before.”

  As he fetched the tawny liquid, he said, “Do not be embarrassed, Maren. It can be a natural reaction. What happened to you?”

  Maren sketchily described her problems with Eric James and her abduction from Savannah. René nodded understandingly, then said, “I can’t take you back to Savannah or to New Orleans; you would not be safe in either place. You must stay with me until we can locate your husband. We’ll reach Grand Isle in a few days.”

  “But that’s a pi—” Maren halted and flushed.

  “Aye, a pirate haven, but you’ll be under my protection as Captain Hawk was when he came there. Many of us have agreed to join him and the Americans. Hopefully, your government will keep its word.”

  “Jared says we need your help, and I’m sure it’s true.”

  “He is a unique man, a superb seaman. He is also lucky.”

  Maren smiled at the compliment and thanked him for it. Her journey to Grand Isle had begun pleasantly.

  During the passage she used René’s bed while he slept in a hammock, and the days passed quickly and without danger. At Grand Isle she was taken ashore and transported in a boat to Barataria, where she was amazed by her surroundings. But her excitement rapidly vanished when she got a closer look at how the pirates lived.

  Crude men eyed her intently, while lewd women pampered them, and stacks and stacks of stolen goods lay about. The weathered huts stood out darkly against the sandy background, as did the noisy taverns. Many of the pirates were drunk, and others were on their way to that sorry state. The women she saw were scantily attired, and they allowed any man to fondle them. Maren was embarrassed by such goings-on. Raucous singing and lively music, laughter, vulgar talk, and quarrels reached her alert ears. No wonder a man like René Blanc wanted to end his career in piracy.

  She was guided to a large house which René said he owned. Two shapely Frenchwomen waited upon them there, serving them a delicious meal and preparing a refreshing bath for Maren. Then René told her to make herself at home and to remain inside the house while he went to visit his friends.

  The Frenchwomen were not talkative, and they eyed Maren critically, though they had been told that she was a guest, Captain Hawk’s woman. As Maren settled into her room after her bath, she wondered how long she would be compelled to remain at Barataria. If René was as powerful, feared, and respected as Jared had said, she should be safe, she thought.

  In the tavern, the Water Snake passed the word that he had rescued Captain Hawk’s woman, and he asked the other pirates to give that message to Hawk if they encountered him. René noticed the interest Maren had aroused, and knew he had to guard her closely.

  He ordered one of his men to post a few guards around his home, and when he returned to it, he told the two serving women to be alert. He decided that the next day, as an additional precaution, he would give Maren a gun and make certain she knew how to use it. He then allowed the two women to undress him before he climbed ito bed between them.

  When Maren heard telltale laughter coming from the room down the hall, she longed for Jared and prayed he would survive. She hoped he would not learn of her kidnapping before he discovered she was safe. She imagined how her husband would deal with Eric. Then she curled up, closed her eyes, and let slumber overtake her.

  By Wednesday René knew it was too hazardous to keep Maren with him. He had sent two of his men into New Orleans, and they had returned to report that Eric James was not there, Samuel Lewis was dead, and Dan Myers was controlling the gambling house. Based on that information, René asked Maren if she knew of a safe place where she could hide until Jared could be located.

  Maren assumed that Eric would check Lady Luck and Payne’s Point for her if he learned of the destruction of his ship and returned to New Orleans. But until he learned of his loss, he would not search for her. She thought about the preacher who had married her to Jared, but realizing that her presence might endanger that old couple, she decided to go to a hotel on the edge of town and hide out there. If she could, she would get a message to Mary and warn her about Dan Myers.

  René gave her money for her expenses, and he escorted her to the hotel at dusk. After thanking him for his rescue and assistance, Maren roamed about her comfortable room and deliberated her problem. If anything happened to Jared, she was on her own, so she could not sit around and do nothing. She must find a way to deal with Eric and Dan.

  By Friday, October the fourteenth, she had conceived no plan. But far away, the enemy force was leaving Washington. The British had failed to incite slave insurrections in and around the southern ports, but they had not been driven from Maine. Since the Indian uprisings had been halted or
prevented, the British were now trying a new ploy; they were planting false stories in American papers in order to prey on fear and gullibility. Trouble abounded for America, but so did victories.

  Captain Hawk and his men had succeeded in blowing up British ships which could not be taken, thereby destroying arms and supplies they could not appropriate for American use. Other British ships had been attacked and relieved of their cargoes, and many enemy cannons had been sent to the ocean floor. With each day, Captain Hawk’s legend increased, and with each day he missed his wife more and more.

  When René Blanc visited Maren on Saturday to make sure she was safe, she asked him to lure Dan Myers away from Lady Luck so she could sneak inside to visit Mary Malone. René argued with her, but he finally agreed to assist this daring and determined beauty who stirred his blood.

  And so, wearing a heavy black veil to conceal her identity, Maren waited in a carriage while René enticed Dan to go examine a new shipment of fine wine and liquors. Maren knew she had little time to talk to Mary, and she was glad to see that the guards were not at Lady Luck that day. I have no further need for them, she angrily concluded.

  When Mary answered the summons to the back door, she was astonished to see who was standing before her, for Maren lifted her veil. “I don’t have much time,” Maren said, “so we have to talk fast.”

  She immediately sat down at the table and revealed what she knew about their past troubles and those involved in them. Mary’s shock was apparent, as was her torment. Maren knew the older woman believed her, and she also knew her revelations pained the housekeeper.

  “I’m sorry to be the bearer of such terrible news, but I couldn’t allow either of us to be used any longer. It’s been awful, Mary, and I still don’t know what to do. I have to stay in hiding because Eric’s supposed to come here at any time. But I can’t trust Dan, and I can’t endanger any of my old friends. Just pretend nothing’s wrong until Jared can help us.”

  “I won’t have to, Miss Maren; Dan ended our… relationship when you left. He didn’t need my help anymore. I’m sorry for giving you so much trouble and pain, but he fooled me.”

  “As he fooled me. It seems every man I know has been changed drastically by this war. I’ll be at the hotel if you need me.”

  “Be careful, Miss Maren. And if there’s trouble, you can trust Ned and Harry,” she added.

  “I’ll try to keep everyone out of this. Unless I keep my presence a secret, Dan could hire new villains to harry me.”

  “He’ll hear nothing from me, I swear.” “I know, Mary. Goodbye, and stay safe.”

  When Maren was entering her hotel room, she was halted by a familiar voice. She slowly turned around and looked at the man standing before her in the corridor. Then she almost fainted for the second time in her life.

  “Daniel Redford, can it be you? They said you were dead.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Maren allowed her ex-fiancé to enter her room. “How did you get here, Daniel? You are in danger in this country.”

  “My life’s been hell for over two years. After my ship was sunk, I was picked up by a pirate vessel and forced to work on it until I escaped. Since then, I’ve been hiding out around here until this infernal war ends and I can go back home. I’ve been keeping watch on the Lady Luck, hoping to contact you or Eric so I could get some help. I recognized you even in your widow’s garb. What does it mean?” he asked, shaking her veil of midnight lace. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

  Maren looked over this man with sapphire blue eyes and chestnut hair. Despite his misfortunes, he was still handsome and virile, but she realized there was much he didn’t know. “Sit down, Daniel. We have a lot to discuss.”

  He took a seat near her and waited impatiently, but Maren wasn’t sure where to begin. “Just listen to me first, and then you can talk,” she said. She then told him of her trip to London, his reported death, Eric’s voyage to get her, and her present plight. She ended by revealing her marriage to Jared Morgan and Eric’s treachery.

  Daniel overlooked everything to ask, “Isn’t Jared Morgan Captain Hawk?” His blue eyes had darkened and his jaw had become taut.

  “Yes, he is. I’m sorry if you’re hurt and upset, but you were supposed to be dead.”

  “I would be if your Captain Hawk had seen me floating away from my ship before he blasted it to splinters. He’s a murderer, Maren. He sank the Merry Maiden and countless other ships. He never gave us a chance, never even asked for surrender. We ceased fire and struck our flag, but he wasn’t satisfied with defeating us.”

  Maren was stunned. “That doesn’t sound like Jared,” she protested.

  “That was two years ago. Maybe he’s been ordered to cease his slaughter. I know what I saw, Maren; and I have scars that prove my story. I’m lucky to be alive. Get clear of him or you’ll be sorry one day.”

  “Maybe you’ve changed too, Daniel,” she remarked defensively; then she disclosed what she had learned about her ex-fiancé.

  Daniel lowered his head in guilt. “It’s all true. I turned into a real bastard after I last saw you. I fell madly in love with the most beautiful woman alive, but my brother stole her from me and married her. I suppose a woman who can be swayed by wealth and status isn’t worth having, but I wanted to show him by marrying a woman just as beautiful, one with more wealth and position and power. I know it was a rotten thing to do to you, but I was hurting too badly to care. But I’ve changed, Maren. I’m my old self now. If you’ll call off this sham marriage, we can still be wed.”

  “No, Daniel, I love Jared.” Since he had been honest with her about the reason for their betrothal, she told him the truth. “If we had married, it wouldn’t have worked out. We were marrying for the wrong reasons. But we can still be friends, and I can help you be safe until the war ends.”

  “I hate to think of what the Americans would do to me if I were captured, but how can you help me, Maren? You’re in trouble too.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” she promised. “I’ll get you a room here and give you money for food and clothing. And I’ll help you work on dropping that English accent. When Jared gets here, he’ll—”

  “He’ll have me arrested and jailed—or hung,” Daniel declared heatedly.

  “He won’t. He’ll listen to me and he’ll help you go home.”

  “Still the naïve innocent, Maren,” he chided softly. “This is war and he’s my enemy. Hear me well; he will not listen, nor will he help.”

  Maren could not accept his appraisal of her husband, but an idea came to her mind. She doubted that Marc knew the things Eric had told her. If she revealed them to him, perhaps Marc would side with her. Since two weeks had passed and Eric had not arrived, obviously he had changed his destination or he had been killed. With Marc’s help, she and Daniel could have a safe place to live—the townhouse. She would find a way to get Dan Myers out of Lady Luck and then she would take advantage of Ned Jones’s and Harry Peck’s loyalty.

  She explained her idea to Daniel, who was wary but receptive. “If you stay out of sight most of the time, we’ll be safe,” she added. “I’ll even hire more guards to keep Dan Myers under control. Once he sees I’m in power and on to him, he’ll probably leave town. And if Eric does show up, we’ll capture him. The element of surprise will be on our side.”

  “It’s dangerous, Maren, but exciting. I’m already feeling like a new man. When do we start?” Daniel asked eagerly.

  “What about Monday?” she replied, and they laughed.

  On Monday night, Maren and Daniel sneaked to the townhouse. Marc was astonished to see her and surprised to meet Daniel Redford, and Maren soon sat him down and revealed Eric’s treachery, including the probability that he had murdered Murray. When she told Marc that Horben Wolfe was dead, the young man almost cried with joy!

  “Eric has broken many laws, Marc, and he’ll be punished. He can no longer harm you, so please help us,” Maren implored.

  “I’ll help you,” Marc
replied. “I don’t like Eric anymore, and I ain’t gonna be scared of him. He’s bad.”

  “We’ll move in here tomorrow; then we’ll all go to work together.”

  “Am I smart enough to help you?” Marc asked childishly.

  “More than smart enough, Marc. You’ll see.” Maren smiled.

  By nightfall on Tuesday, Maren and Daniel Redford were settling into the James townhouse. Marc was very excited about being included in her plan and he doted on Maren. When Maren finally climbed into her old bed, unbeknownst to her, Jared’s ship was anchoring near Grand Isle….

  On Wednesday Maren and Daniel made and discarded plans while Marc observed, wide-eyed. Finally they decided to simply walk into Lady Luck and take it over on Friday morning.

  On the following afternoon, someone knocked loudly and persistently at the front door. When Maren peeked out the front window near the stoop, her eyes enlarged and joy surged through her—it was Jared. But suddenly she feared for Daniel. Before answering the door, she told Marc and Daniel to hide in the carriage house until she spoke with her husband and assessed his feelings on certain matters.

  When both men were gone, Maren opened the door and flung herself into Jared’s arms. He eased her inside and closed the door behind them; then he kissed her.

  “I just came from Barataria, and René. Did those bastards harm you?” he asked. Maren knew he was referring to Eric and Horben, and she told him everything that had happened after he’d left Savannah. When he asked why she was here, she sighed heavily and told him of her plan, excluding Daniel.