Gunpowder & Gold (Justified Treason, Book 4): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories

by Cristi Taijeron

  Amidst the hoots and shouts for freedom, Sterling grabbed the trumpet and made an unsuccessful attempt to blow it. With a delirious laugh, he chucked it to the side. “To Tortuga!”

  With the men still celebrating our swift escape, I asked Sterling why we had to flee. “What the hell happened back there?”

  “Nothing happened.” He gazed at his blood-covered shoulder.

  “In case you didn’t realize, I saw that entire village chasing you. There is no nothing about that.”

  “Had it been the village in its entirety, we might not have made it.” He laughed before walking away from me.

  Confused as could be and annoyed by his humored response, I looked at Mary. “What in God’s name is going on here, Mary?”

  She bit her lip. “Sterling will have to explain.”

  “Damn it all!” I sprinted to catch up with him. Grabbing him by the arm, I turned him around to face me. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  He threw a wadded up piece of parchment at me. “When Doubloon was there last night he took Zenzebe—”

  “Zenzebe? No…Wait!” My blood ran cold. “Doubloon was there? You saw him?”

  Annoyed, he fanned his hand at me. “He approached me by the fire—”

  “Why didn’t you kill him?”

  “Because he came and went so quickly I hardly knew he was real.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  “He patted my shoulder and said it was nice to meet me in person, then he slyly smiled and said, this could have been it.”

  “What?! No! He was there. I knew it! Why did you lie to me?”

  “Because you’d lose your mind, just like you’re doing right now,” he shouted, throwing his arms out to his sides.

  “Of course I am losing my mind! My friend has been taken by the man who haunts my nightmares and, and…Did you know this, Mary?” I looked at my friend.

  “I did.” She scrunched up her nose and shrugged her shoulders guiltily.

  “Why do you people think I am a big baby you need to lie to? This is some raw horse shit. Give me that parchment.”

  Reading the finely written note asking for Sterling to turn himself in in exchange for Zenzebe’s life, my stomach churned to the point of sickness. “Goddamn! No wonder the villagers are after you! Their goddess was taken because of you. That’s one less place to take refuge now. Why don’t we just go turn ourselves into the crown and get this shit over with?”

  “Great plan, Black Rose,” he grumbled, as he once again tried to walk away from me.

  Following behind him, I asked, “How are we going to get Zenzebe back?”

  “We’re not,” Sterling coldly answered. “There’s no time for that shit.”

  “No time?” I wailed in offense to his inconsideration.

  “None. With decent weather we should be to Tortuga in time to meet Reid.”

  “But my friend…”

  Rolling his eyes, Sterling yelled out to the men, “By the way, some sneaky villain came into camp last night and stole the witch. He said he’d take me as a trade for her. What do you boys say to that?”

  Most of them just laughed, some of them made ghastly howling sounds, and others shrieked in dramatic fear, but not a one of them was interested in going after my friend.

  Angry as could be, I growled at Sterling, “I suppose since your selfish arse is free, that’s all that matters.”

  “That’s enough, woman!” He yelled loud enough that anyone who wasn’t already paying attention took heed. Smashing his fingers together as if he was clamping my mouth shut, he gnashed his teeth together as he growled, “You’ll stop running that foul mouth at me or I’ll maroon you back there with them angry natives. I have the crown after my head, a pirate hunter after my throat, and now a goddamned tribe of arrow-shooting villagers ruining my hat!” Acting like a man who’d lost all his sense, he threw his arrow-pierced hat onto the deck and stomped on it like a bratty child.

  Suddenly feeling sympathetic because of the explosive way he released the mountain of distress he usually carried so well, I shut my foul mouth and stood at attention. “I’m sorry.”

  Straightening his shoulders, he calmly said, “Thank you. Now, let’s get our jolly arses on the way to Tortuga where I can play nice with another one of my damned enemies.”

  Grumbling under his breath, he headed to his cabin.

  Taking note of all the eyes staring at me, I shouted, “Get on with your work!”

  As everyone resumed their chores, I pulled Mary aside. “Now that that’s all in the clear, what the hell happened last night?”

  She took a deep breath. “That ghastly Doubloon slipped in and out just as stealthy as a panther. By the time Sterling told Flynn what happened, Doubloon was nowhere to be found. We spent the night outside your door to be sure he wasn’t coming back, and from the sound of your story, I’d imagine it was his shadow that you saw…on his way to take Zenzebe.” She lowered her head. “It was so strange, Charlie. I went inside her tent with Narrah to say goodbye to her, and when Narrah found the note on her bed, I noticed that Zenzebe’s chest was gone with all her clothes and some belongings. It was all nice and tidy like nothing went wrong in there.”

  “So strange.” I felt an aching emptiness haunting my spirit. “Hold on. If Narrah found the note, how did you get it?”

  “Appearing to be stunned by the words she read, she spoke her thoughts of shock out loud. Knowing that Sterling had to get the hell out of there before she turned him in, I knocked her out and took the note.”

  Letting out a delirious chuckle, I patted Mary on the back. “You, my dear, are the best friend anyone could ever hope to have.”

  Mary hugged me tight. “I love you and Sterling both, and I would do anything for either of you, as I know you would do for me or Faron. And remember, once we are loaded with gold, we’ll all be able to extend our levels of generosity.” She winked. “So keep your head level and your eyes on the prize, Black Rose.”

  Chapter 9

  Midnight’s Secrets

  As Told By Sterling Bentley

  Though I was glad Charlie had tamed her bantering so easily, I was still annoyed by the entire situation. Deciding it best to hide in my cabin until I’d cooled down, I went on my way ignoring the excited hoots of the men surrounding me. Unfortunately, a group of them followed me in.

  “Show them the code.” Yakob shoved the group of new recruits through my door.

  “Aye, get on your way, you blasted ol’ bilge rats.” Hank herded them towards my table.

  I gave Hank a playful shove. “What’re you doing bossing these blokes around? You’re but one of them till you sign again.”

  “Ah, I’m an alumni. You know, the elder who lived long and returned much wiser.”

  “Well, ol’ wise one, have yourself a seat while I read the new articles to your illiterate arse.”

  Sitting down with the others, Hank glanced around the room. Without mentioning the gaping hole those islanders had blasted through my hull, he smiled a toothless grin. “You fixed it up nicely in here. Looks like a witch’s chamber. I like witches.”

  “Charlie likes witches, too, and did all this decorating herself. I reckon she’s going to be mighty angry when she sees what a mess that gunfire made of this place,” I said with a laugh, then started going over the code with the new men.

  Getting everyone out of there as soon as I could, I shut the door behind them and took a deep breath. As a navigator I was used to spending a lot of my time alone. Finding great relief in the confines of my chartroom, I’d grown accustomed to the solitude of my profession, but as captain, there wasn’t a quiet moment to be had. It seemed someone was always knocking on the door, there was always a dispute to defuse, and there was always a man—or a group of men—in need of one thing or another.

  Looking around the quiet room, and feeling the misty breeze blowing through the shattered timbers of the damaged hull, I let out a long exhale. How the hell did my father do this shit for all
the years he did? There were plenty of times I’d seen him angry, and there were many nights I’d seen him passed out in his chair—too exhausted to make it to bed—but I never once heard him complain. Never. And I wouldn’t either. Like him, I was doing what I had to do to survive, and only death would slow my momentum in facing the perils of the world that was caving in around us.

  Sitting at the table, I unrolled my maps. Just as I began to delve into my work, I heard a light tapping at the door. Before I could answer, Inappropriate Jon and his assistants entered. Carrying his tools, the master carpenter began pointing out the damaged bulkheads to the others.

  While listening to their plans for the repairs, I asked, “Could we do this later?”

  The Inappropriate Jon looked at me like I was addled. “In case you didn’t notice, there’s a massive hole in our ship, sir.”

  I laughed. “I know. I just have some chart work to do to get us on course and I could use a moment of silence.”

  “I’ll be back in an hour or two,” Inappropriate Jon stated. As he herded his men out the door, I heard him grumbling about my mangled priorities.

  Just as I dipped my quill into the inkwell, my door flew open again. It was Charlie. Dramatically wiping the sweat off her forehead, she sighed, “Is it bedtime yet?”

  “Not yet, my dove. Not yet,” I said, wishing for the same thing myself.

  “Blow me down!” She looked around at the devastated bulkheads. “This beautiful room is, well, shipwrecked.” She slapped her knee as she laughed.

  “That’s a better reaction than I thought you were going to have.” I took a shot of rum, but before I even had a chance to swallow, Lee Buckley came crashing into my room with Rory draped over his shoulder.

  Kicking and cursing, Rory pounded on Lee’s back. “Put me down, you useless buffoon!”

  Ignoring Rory’s cursing, Lee spoke to Charlie. “A splintered timber from that gun blast sliced his side. Can you help, Black Rose?”

  “Me?” Charlie squeaked while eyeing Rory’s blood-covered side. “We have a doctor down there to deal with shit like this. Get this bloody man out of my already destroyed cabin before I smash your face like those bulkheads!”

  “You can smash me up all you want, but I can’t take him to the doctor, Black Rose. I can’t. Please, just help me this once,” Lee pleaded.

  Easily won over by the desperation in his tone, Charlie said, “I don’t know shit about this shit, but I’ll take a look. Lay him down. But not on my rug.”

  As Charlie helped Lee lay Rory down on the wooden floor, Rory growled, “May damnation seize your treasonous soul, Leeland Buckley!”

  “Sorry, mate, but I like you more than you could ever hate me for this.” Lee lifted Rory’s shirt to let air on the wound.

  Figuring I had seen more injuries than all of them combined, I knelt beside Charlie to take a look myself. Not able to see enough, I pulled the shirt up higher.

  “No!” Rory cried out. “No.”

  Swatting my hand off of his mate, Lee insisted, “It’s fine where it is. You can see what you need to see right there.”

  Overly agitated by Lee’s nattering stipulations, I shoved him away. While slicing through the layers of Rory’s clothing, I grumbled, “You act like you’re hiding your fair lady’s gentle bosom.”

  Laying eyes on the rough piece of flattening fabric which was certainly hiding Lee Buckley’s fair lady’s gentle bosom, I reached over Rory and pushed Lee again. “What the shit is this, Buckley?”

  While he stuttered like an idiot, Charlie grabbed the girl’s dirty face. “Who in God’s name are you?”

  “Just fix my damned injury or throw me overboard,” she groaned.

  Lee’s cheeks were red with embarrassment. “I just didn’t want her to die, that’s all. She was bleeding so much. And well, if anyone else found out…”

  “Her secret is safe with us,” Charlie assured him, “but I can’t fix this.”

  Knowing Lee was right to distrust Doctor Stabs, I looked at Charlie. “Go get Rolland.”

  Charlie went on her way and I walked to my table and poured myself a shot while I waited for her to return—which didn’t take long at all.

  Without hesitating or asking questions, Rolland started cleaning Rory’s wound with rum. Upon hearing the girl tell Rolland this wasn’t her first serious injury, I took another shot. How the hell did I end up with another woman on my ship? I cursed to myself, then sat down to have at the bottle while Charlie assisted Rolland with his work.

  The drunker I got, the more irritated I became. From where I sat, I couldn’t see the injured girl, but I could plainly see the way Charlie and Rolland were working so well together—communicating like loyal compatriots and laughing like long time mates. They were friends, I knew that, and though I was fairly confident that she’d stay true to me this time around, I certainly liked it better when they weren’t talking to each other.

  While bandaging Rory’s wound, Rolland explained that she was lucky no organs were hit and assured her that she’d heal quick.

  Rory glared at Lee. “See. I told you I was fine.”

  Lee looked away from her. I could tell by his expression that curse words were running wild in his mind. Certain that the two of us could share a few drinks while discussing the thorns these women poked in our sides, I hardly acknowledged Rolland’s salute as he left the room.

  To let Charlie know I’d caught her watching Rolland walk away, I winced at her like I’d eaten something sour.

  Helping Rory off the floor, she chirped at me, “Keep your petty agitations to yourself, Bentley. We have bigger things to deal with here.”

  After giving Rory a new shirt to put on, Charlie sat down with me and poured a round of rum for our guests. “Well, now we know why Rory has been staring at Rolland. For a moment I thought he was a boy who liked boys.”

  “I have not been staring at him,” Rory snipped as she sat down.

  “You have, too. I’ve seen it myself,” Lee hissed when he plopped down beside her. “I reckon you’d like him to teach you a bit more than just his fancy sailing techniques.”

  “Stop it, Lee.” Rory quickly chugged down her rum and mumbled something about it helping ease the pain.

  “Are you two lovers?” Charlie asked with her brow cocked in confusion.

  Though Lee responded with a proud yes, Rory said, “I have no lover.”

  Lee looked crushed. “Then what the hell is this pain in my arse shit you’re doing to me, woman? What do you call it?”

  “We are friends. That’s all.” She smiled at him.

  “Well, you suck a mean dick for a friend,” he growled at her.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Charlie pointed at Lee. “Watch that foul mouth of yours. And you, Rory, I thought you were Shannyn’s man, or woman, but now you’re with Lee, or not, and you certainly appear to be interested in Rolland, so, begad woman, what the hell is going on around here?”

  Rory rubbed her face. “Shannyn is my friend. We just acted like lovers to better stage my disguise—which was working out well until today.” From beneath her hat brim she glared at Lee. “And this fellow, though he is a good friend to me, I can assure you that is all we are. As for Rolland, well, what woman in her right mind wouldn’t like him?”

  Having heard enough of these kitty games, I slammed my hand on the table. “That’s enough. I don’t give a shit whose dick you’re sucking or whose tits you’re licking, I just need to know who the hell you are and what the shit you’re doing on my ship, and if one of you doesn’t tell me something soon, I’ll hang you both from the yards and poke the truth out of you with hot irons.”

  Lee winced with worry, and Rory inhaled a sharp breath, but when no one answered, I rubbed my hands together. “Hot irons it is. I could use a little torture to get out my aggressions. You first, big boy.” I glared at Lee. “Grab some rope, Charlie.”

  As Charlie pulled a roll of rope out of her duffle, Rory grabbed Lee’s arm. “No. No. Leave him alone. I�
�ll tell you everything.”

  Liking Lee Buckley as I did, I was glad I didn’t have to follow through with my threat. Plus, I was far too drunk to do any real damage to anyone, anyhow. “All right. Spit it out, stowaway. And start by taking that damned hat off.”

  Not giving much of a shit about Rory since he came aboard, I hadn’t yet taken a good look at the face she was always hiding, but as she removed her hat, her eerily familiar features caused my heart to skip a beat.

  “Tell me your name. Your true name. First and last,” I demanded, trying to keep my voice calmer than my heart rate.

  After a long, slow inhale, she said, “My name is Remington Rain. I was born under the surname Wilshire. I once married into the name Addison, later Frankfort, and I have been hiding under Hawke, but the name I was robbed of and would be most proud to carry, would be Bentley. Mason Bentley is also my father, Sterling.”

  Stunned senseless, I stared at her with my jaw agape. Her face said it all. She looked just like him. Which meant she looked just like me. Golden tan skin, full lips, bold nose, but her eyes—though shaped just like mine and our father’s, the green color was tinted with a hue of blue. Blow me down. I had a little sister and she had somehow snuck under my nose and onto my crew.

  Feeling like a fool for not paying better attention to who was roaming my ship, I lowered my face in my hand and took the deepest breath I’d ever taken.

  While I attempted to gather my overwhelming amount of thoughts, Lee cried out, “Well shit, Remi! You should’ve told me that. I never would have touched you if I’d known you were Bentley’s sister. Sink my soul at sea! I’ve been sticking it to Mason Bentley’s daughter.” He slapped his forehead. “Keelhaul me now, Bentley. Keelhaul me now.”

  “Begad, Buckley, if’n you open that nattering mouth again without me asking you to, I’ll cut your tongue out and shove it down your throat to clog your bantering old pipes.”

  Remington laughed at my threat, and Charlie tried to say something, but I shushed them both. This shit was more than I could bear and I needed a moment of peace and quiet.