Since Mary was indeed styling her hair, she and I giggled, but Kathleen shuddered at the captain’s boisterous outburst.
Upon his entry, Faron immediately ordered Mary to take a seat. Lawrence, Sterling and Kasey followed behind him.
As she sat beside me, Mary and I flashed each other dramatically fearful expressions. It felt like we were in trouble.
Slamming his palm on the tabletop, Faron said, “All right, wenches. This room is now your room. You can have my bed for the nights to come and make use of all the amenities between these bulkheads, but for the duration of this unruly sail you’ll be staying put in this cabin unless otherwise escorted by one of us.”
“Like prisoners?” Mary winced. The foul face she made mirrored my emotions.
Faron grinned. “Call it what you will, my sweet, but there’ll be no disputing my orders.”
Looking to Sterling to express my complaints with a disgruntled expression, I was annoyed to see him look away without a response.
“So that’s that.” Faron clapped. “Kasey, you’ll be on first watch, and Law Dog, you can go tell the new cook to deliver the prisoners some breakfast.”
Lawrence followed out behind Faron, but watching Sterling head for the door, I jumped up and grabbed his arm. “Wait. I’d like to talk to you before you go.”
To my dismay, he awkwardly retracted his arm from my grip. “Make it fast, love, I’ve got work to do.”
“Oh, well, I just thought that I’d get to help you with your work, and I was hoping—”
“You heard the captain, Charlie.”
I pouted.
Chuckling at the face I made, he put his hand on my shoulder. “Look, I know you don’t like this arrangement, but I need you to trust that we’re doing what’s best for you. Under Flynn’s command you’ll be safe, and we’re doing all we can to keep the vote in his favor—which means you just have to relax until we get to Tortuga. Then, well, who knows what the hell will happen then.” He suddenly looked entirely annoyed.
I certainly was, but remembering how difficult it was caring for a woman when it had been my job to do so, I attempted to rationalize his stance. “All right. I understand.”
“Good,” he nodded. “Now, if’n you need anything, Kasey here will take care of you.”
Kasey nodded at Sterling in agreement then looked at me with a courteous nod. “At your service, Miss Charlie.”
Attempting to act reasonable, I thanked Kasey with a smile.
As he introduced himself to the other women, I reached for Sterling’s hand, hoping to give him a kiss before he went on his way.
He quickly pulled it away. “You can’t be rubbing on me while I’m working, Charlie.” Stepping away from me, he stuttered while heading for the door. “I’ll uh, maybe I’ll see you later.”
As the door shut behind him I wondered just how long later would be.
X
Sitting in the stern windowsill, watching the lacy wake drifting away behind the ship, I admired the way the deep blue liquid lifted into sheer shades of aqua amidst the tumbling bubbles and froth. Even from this view it was plain to see that Wind of Glory was sailing swifter than she ever had under my hands. These buccaneers knew how to sail. Aye, they understood my beauty’s capabilities and worked her to her maximum potential. While wishing I could ask questions about my beloved ship, I frowned. For here, just like at my father’s mansion, I was viewed as nothing more than a helpless woman. Possibly worse, for unlike while under my father’s care, here I was eating meager rations and no one cared much about me.
Such accommodations were tolerable—in fact, enjoyable—when I was disguised as a man and was free to sail and work, but this….Ah, these last few days had been downright torturous.
Feeling pathetic and annoyed, my wandering mind piqued with interest when I heard the door open. Kathleen was asleep on the bed, and Mary was on an allotted outing with Faron, so the thought of having a visitor in my prison cell excited me. It was Kasey. “Bentley wants to see you, Miss Charlie.”
“And all this time I thought he had forgotten I existed,” I teased as I hopped down from the windowsill. Kasey didn’t respond to my comment, but while following behind him, I thought about the way Sterling had been neglecting me. He had nominated himself for the ghost watch every night, leaving Kasey outside our door like a damn watchdog. He had been sleeping in the morning and working on his charts all day., leaving me locked up to rot away with boredom. At this rate I was beginning to think he would rather sand the deck than spend time with me.
While strutting across the deck, I envied the freedom of the men up in the yards as much as the ones maintaining the timbers on deck. Spotting the servants who had refused to sign the articles, I eyed the way they joked and laughed while sanding and tarring the deck. Hell, even they were having more fun than I was.
Noticing Lawrence among them, pouring hot tar over the newly calked planks, I realized I hadn’t spoken with him since we came aboard. Feeling terribly guilty for treating him as I had, I decided to rebel against my entrapment to speak with him. Of course, Kasey noticed me walking over to see my old friend. Though I was glad he didn’t stop me, I could feel his gaze burning a hole in my back as I said hello to Lawrence.
Twiddling my fingers, I shyly said, “I want to thank you for protecting us during that dreadful attack, Lawrence. You were very brave and though we haven’t spoken in days, I want you to know that I appreciate all you have done for me.”
He nodded his head with a respectful smile. “You’re welcome, my dear. I would do anything to keep you safe. Now if you don’t mind, your pirate ordered me to stay away from you.”
My blood immediately began to boil. “How dare he. He does not have the power to choose my friends for me.”
“Well, in a sense, you made this choice yourself. You are sacrificing more than just your friendship with me to have him, so I can only hope he is worth all the losses that you will experience.”
Feeling completely offended by his statement, I almost wished I hadn’t bothered to speak with him, but as he continued to back away from me, I defended, “Sterling is not as bad as you make him out to be. You might even like him if you got to know him.”
“I could hardly imagine befriending a pirate, Charlotte.”
“Could you at least call him a buccaneer? There is a difference, you know,” I chirped with my hands on my hips.
Lawrence stopped where he stood. In the grey shadow of a cloud, he smiled through the beard that now coated his face. “No matter what you do with your life, Charlotte, I will always be here for you if you need me.”
My irritation was slightly eased by his consideration. Before I could express my gratitude, Sterling walked up behind me, wrapped his hands around my waist, and threw me over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” I gasped with my gut smashed against his shoulder. “Put me down, you savage.”
Completely ignoring me, he taunted Lawrence, “There are a few loose nails over on the taffrail. Once you’re done laying that pitch you can head that way, Law Dog.”
Before I could hear what Lawrence had to say, Sterling carried me to the bow. As he let me down I blasted, “Don’t you ever pick me up like that again. And how dare you be so rude to Lawrence. I would appreciate it if you would have at least a little respect for my friend.”
“Your friend chose to be our servant, Charlie. And I thought I was very polite.”
“In comparison to a buffoon?” I questioned with distaste.
He flashed me a humorously wicked smile, but his playful gesture only annoyed me more. “I was telling him to give you a chance. Maybe you two would get along.”
Since he had taken his coat off and was wearing only the black waistcoat, Sterling’s muscular arms were on clear display. Skin shining golden in the sunlight, the welted scar slashing across his upper arm accented the shape of his bicep as he crossed his arms. This handsome man’s stunning appearance almost distracted me from my dispute, but I rem
embered exactly why I was angry with him when he responded, “There’s no way me and him could ever get along. I’m a buccaneer, and he’s a lawyer. Not to mention that he’s still in love with you.”
My mind spiraled with a whirlpool of obscenities, but the moment I opened my mouth to hurl them at him, he interrupted, “You’re my woman, and as long as you’re on my ship, you’re going to be doing things my way. Stay the hell away from him.”
Understanding how futile it would be to dispute the haughty man who once said he loved me, but now only seemed interested in caging me, I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away.
Grabbing my shoulders, he whirled me around to face him. “There’s no use in fighting with me, Charlie. Just forget about it. We have some things to do before I have to get back to work. I think you’ll like what I have to show you.”
While he held me still I stuck my nose in the air and said, “I don’t want to like anything about you right now.”
Letting go of my shoulders, he grabbed his coat off the barrel next to him. While unraveling the wad of fabric he said, “Well, I know you’ll like these.”
Holding two flintlock pistols by the barrels, he pointed the handles towards me. I lifted my eyebrow to show how I was indeed tempted by the notion, but in my mind I damned him for knowing the way to my heart.
“You get to keep them as your own, and I’m also going to teach you more ways to defend yourself,” he said.
“Well…In that case, I’ll be nice to you. Only because I want the guns though, not at all because you deserve it.”
“Fair enough.” He said as he handed me the guns. He also had a sword and two daggers for me.
Ever so glad to be free of the stupid room I had been trapped in, I braced myself with the weapons. Once everything was in place he joked, “Don’t get no ideas about using these on me today, lassie.” Then he plopped his hat on my head and told me to wear it so I wouldn’t get sunburned.
A thick cloud rolled over, and I adored the way his green eyes gleamed under the grey shadows as he challenged, “Are you ready to fight with a real sword, instead of just a stick?”
“I am, but…” My mind flashed over the treacherous memory of stabbing Mort during the attack on Royal Anthem. “I don’t ever want to stab anyone ever again.”
His gaze softened. “I wasn’t feeling too savvy after my first kill with a blade, either. It’s different than a gunshot.”
I choked on the tears I was holding in. “You’re so right, Sterling. It was awful…”
He stood solid as a rock as I relayed a brief description of the scene. Once I was done he looked me straight in the eyes. “That’s good that you’re feeling shitten about it. It means you’re not a coldblooded killer.”
A ray of sunlight burst through the clouds. The heat on my skin left me feeling hot and weak. Taking note of my discomfort, Sterling grabbed my shoulders and reminded me to breathe. As I took in a few calming lungs full of air he told me, “Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do to survive, and overall, it was better him than you. Don’t look at it so much as you killed him, but you saved yourself and that screaming woman who stood behind you.”
Nodding with understanding, I let him know I was ready to move on.
Looking to be relieved by my recovery, he released his hold on my shoulders and pulled his cutlass out of the scabbard. Crossing it over his chest, he said, “Consider your blade as a shield.”
Mirroring his stance, I felt empowered by the position. Remembering what he had taught me the night we fought with the sticks in Jamaica, I became comfortable with the cutlass, but the weight and the threat of the solid piece of steel intensified the training. Throughout the lesson, he taught me how to control my weapons as well as my own emotion, saying that the power of anger could be used to strengthen my body, if I learned how to keep it from clouding my mind.
The sun flashed in and out of the clouds as he took his time to teach me the great many things he knew. By the time the lesson was over, I was covered in sweat and ready for a break.
Thanking him, I tried to sit down. He pulled me up by the arm. “No resting. You don’t get to take breaks when you’re fighting. You have to push past the point of stopping, and you’ll be surprised what a man…or a little lady is capable of when there is no other choice but to survive.”
Unable to contest the truth in his statement, I forced myself to carry on.
Clouds completely layered the blue sky as he taught me how to fistfight. Tired and hot as I was, I was pleased when the wind picked up and the salty spray from the sea began misting across the deck. The sound of the canvas sails whipping in the wind billowed softly in the background as Sterling observed the weather. While his eyes scoped the thickening clouds, he pulled the red sash out of his pocket and tied it around his head to keep the hair out of his face.
Returning his attention to me, he held his hands up for me to practice punching at moving targets.
Shark walked by just in time to see me lay a solid punch on Sterling’s palm. Stopping to talk with us, Shark teased, “Ah, you may regret this lesson one day, Bentley.”
Sterling laughed. “It’ll only be a matter of time until she lays one on my jaw, I’m sure.”
Shark smiled widely, showing what was left of his teeth. “Captain Bentley taught his Hannah how to fight, and I often remember him holding his swollen cheek, grumbling that he should have never shown her how to throw a punch.”
Sterling simply chuckled, but my mind lit up with a wild flame of curiosity. “You knew Hannah?”
Sterling darted me the strangest look, but I was too excited to care what he thought about my prying.
“Aye, I knew her well. One of the few who true did, in fact.” Shark nodded. “I was on deck the night Captain Bentley brought her aboard and I thought that wild cat was going to stab him before the night was over. But she ended up being one of my good friends by the time our sail was through.”
Nudging Sterling with my elbow, I smiled with intrigue. “Oh, Mister Shark, that is wonderful! What did she look like? Was she pretty? What were her interests?”
“She was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty. Pretty enough to tempt many a man to face the wrath of Mason’s blade. Never seen him so fierce until he had her to look out for, but by the time he was done training her, he hardly had to be protecting her at all. That tiny little hellcat could fight as hard as any man on our crew.”
Sterling fiddled with the placement of his daggers as I listened to this intriguing tale, but before Shark had a chance to tell me about Hannah’s interests, Captain Flynn called for him.
Before leaving, Shark smiled with a courteous bow. “Mi’lady.”
Once he walked away I exclaimed to Sterling, “Oh my, that was fascinating! Did you know any of that?” He shook his head no, but I rambled on, “Mister Shark knew Hannah. Can you believe it? Don’t you want to ask him more about her?”
Sterling’s face winced with irritation. “No. Why would I?”
“Because she is your mother. Aren’t you curious to know about her? I loved it when Isaiah would tell me stories about my mother. I feel like I know her because his stories were so vibrant.”
“I never put much thought into it, Charlie, and I don’t really care to.” He looked away from me and up at the sky. It was still a couple hours until sunset, but the clouds to the east were dark as night. Watching him stroke his goatee, I wondered what he was thinking.
The moment I felt a raindrop hit my face, he grabbed my arm and dragged me along behind him. Next thing I knew, I was with Mary and Kathleen locked in Captain Flynn’s room again with Kasey guarding the door. The timbers creaked and groaned as the ship bobbed over the growing swells, and the wind howled through cracks in the wood as the rain pummeled the glass windows.
Kathleen was already asleep in bed, and Mary was sitting next to her stitching a hem on her coat. She had told me she wanted it to fit tighter.
Looking up from her work, Mary asked, “How
did that go?”
“It was fun. Much better than being ignored,” I answered as I removed my coat and weapons.
Giggling at my comment, Mary patted a spot on the bed. “Come sit by me and tell me everything.”
Sitting beside her, I told her about everything Sterling had taught me. The more I thought about certain behaviors of his, I found myself feeling confused. As Mary combed through my sweaty wet hair, I confessed, “You know, being with Sterling again is nothing like I had hoped it to be. There are still things I like about him, but I am also realizing there are a great deal of things I do not like at all.” The pace of my tone quickened as I began listing my complaints. “He is rude and pushy, and far more volatile than I had imagined he would be. Not to mention that he is terrible to Lawrence. Though he keeps me away from him like a jealous old dog, he doesn’t seem to have any interest in treating me like his lady. Until today he has been acting like I do not exist and has not once attempted to kiss me since I was bashful with him in his room.”
“Oh, calm yourself, Charlotte. He is just busy,” Mary snipped. “And more off, this lifestyle isn’t a damn fairytale. Sterling is not a charming prince, he is a buccaneer. If you wanted tea and romance, you should have stayed home with Lawrence.”
There was no arguing with her statement. Watching lightning flicker outside the stern window, I thought back on the things I did adore about that blasted ol’ buccaneer. Returning my attention to Mary, I said, “I suppose I am simply worried about the way he feels about me. I am sure he would rather be with a more experienced woman, and I fear he will leave me for someone who can please him better once we get to shore.”
As the rumble of thunder died down, Mary softly said, “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. And with the fight moves he taught you, any wench who might try to touch him will end up a sorry welted mess.”
Tarnished Persuasion (Justified Treason, Book 2): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories Page 9