by Susan Page Davis, Darlene Franklin, Janelle Mowery, Lynette Sowell
She smiled and once again he had the feeling there was something different about her. He tried to focus on what she was saying.
“Nothing as hard as what I’m asking you to do. I’ve done a lot of research on real pirates instead of what everyone’s been led to believe in all the movies. I’d like to pass that along to the kids.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for instance, a lot of the time, a pirate’s punishment was to be placed in a pillory. I was kinda hoping you’d be able to build one for me.”
He raised his brows. “You’re gonna put those kids in a pillory?”
“Only for a few minutes so they can see what it was like. But if it’s too much, we can skip that part and give them other examples.”
“You’re planning to get rid of the fallacy and stick with the facts. You mean you’re not going to let them walk the plank?”
She laughed. “Oh I’ll let them do that. If they didn’t, it would break their hearts.”
“Good, because I’ve built a little cage filled with those balls that they can jump into.”
“That sounds great. Might have to walk the plank myself.”
He cast a glance at her. He’d forgotten the fun side of her. They arrived at the nativity scene. He knelt beside the manger and ran his hand over the smooth wood remembering how fun it’d been to carve the characters.
“I love this set.” Stephanie lightly touched the figures of Joseph and Mary before she crouched across the manger from him. “Do you know where they got this?”
The answer caught in his throat, unsure how much he wanted to reveal. He finally shrugged. “I did it. Well, a friend helped carve the details. I’m not artistic enough to do that.”
Her mouth had dropped open. “Oh Matt, it’s beautiful. You do great work.”
His heart thumped and he fought the feeling. “Thank you. Now, let’s see about getting your idea to work.”
Electricity was already available since the scene was litat night. He stared above them. The last part would be the most difficult but as he thought of the possibilities, he grew more excited.
“I think I might be able to make this happen. It’ll take some work.”
“If I can help, let me know.”
Before he could answer, the kids raced out of the house, Andy with them. He’d hoped the Tolliver children would include Andy. They seemed to be getting along great. Stephanie rose and started walking away.
“I don’t want them asking what we’re doing. I’ll try to distract them.”
Matt wanted to see her interaction with them. The more he saw, the more impressed he became. Over the last two years, he’d allowed his hurt to turn her into a cruel person, but everything he’d seen and heard since last night made him question that assumption.
She’d dropped to the ground and started scuffing out a snow angel. An odd feeling grew in his chest. Unable to stop himself, he scraped up a handful of snow and shaped it into a ball. Then he made a second. With careful aim, he flung a snowball at her. It hit her chin. She screeched, sat up, and gaped at the children.
“All right, who’s the wise guy?”
All three kids pointed at him. Mouth open, she stared. He grinned and hurled the second ball at her. She rolled just in time to keep it from hitting her. Then she jumped to her feet, her hands full of snow.
“Now you asked for it.”
She heaved her snowball at him. It landed a foot in frontof him. He laughed.
“You have me scared.”
But she had already scooped up more snow. The kids joined in, and snowballs were flying everywhere amidst squeals and laughter.
A large snowball came from the direction of the inn and caught Stephanie in the back. They all turned in time to see Greg cast another ball, hitting Stephanie in the face. As fast as the game started, it ended. Greg ran toward her while laughing. He helped her rub the snow from her face, then replaced it with a kiss.
Stephanie shoved him away but Matt had seen enough. Andy ran after him.
“Where you going, Uncle Matt?”
“I have work to do. You have fun.”
He had to get his hands busy before he flattened Stephanie’s suitor.
Hands on hips so she wouldn’t slap Greg, Stephanie gritted her teeth. She moved away from the children and kept her voice low. “Do that again and I’ll talk to Steve, and either you or I will be leaving.”
“Come on, Steph. It was just a friendly kiss.”
“Never again, Greg. I mean it.”
He put up his hands. “All right. No more kisses.” He flipped up his collar and tucked his chin inside. “So what are we doing today?”
“Not we. You. You get to keep the kids entertained while I get everything finished for the skits and games.”
“I can help with that.”
“No, you can’t. Play with the kids, and keep them away from the barn for a while.”
He eyed her then smiled. “See, you do need me.”
She shook her head and fought a smile. He’d be considered charming to any girl who was interested. “You’re hopeless.” She headed for the barn and heard Greg call out to her. She turned. “What?”
“I’m not giving up.”
“You’re wasting your time.”
“It’s my time to waste.”
Then she might be spending Christmas with her parents after all. With Matt here, that notion wasn’t as appealing as before.
Chapter 4
What are you doing out here?”
At the disembodied voice in the darkness, Stephanie yelped and spun around. There stood a grinning Matt. She whacked his shoulder. Laughing, he raised his hands in defense and then pointed a finger in her face.
“You know only guilty people get that scared.”
She slapped at his finger, her heart still pounding. “That’s not always true—but guilty people who sneak up on women in the dark get smacked.” She propped her hands on her hips. “Why do men get such a thrill out of scaring women?”
He tilted his head and looked into the sky, then shrugged. “Probably because we’re hoping the woman will throw herself into our arms.”
That thought sent her heart pounding again. She narrowed her eyes. “Is that true?”
He smiled. “There’s probably a smidge of truth to it. So what are you doing out here?”
She turned back to where she’d been looking. “It’s this treasure hunt. First, I can’t go by paces because theirs will be so much shorter than mine, so I’ll have to use landmarks or something.”
“And second?”
“It can’t be buried treasure. The ground is frozen solid.”
He nodded. “True, but we can use hay or something. I doubt that part will matter to them. As for the landmarks, let’s wander a bit and see what we find.” He looked around. “Where are the kids?”
“Jayne took them and their parents into town.” And Greg, thank goodness. “She said something about knowing someone who has a collection of pirate memorabilia.”
“That’s right. So we have a couple hours?”
“That’s what I’m figuring. Maybe more because they plan to eat in town.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
Almost two hours later, they sat in Jayne’s kitchen munching on sandwiches and chips. Stephanie looked over her notes and nodded.
“This will work great. Now I just have to come up with some pirate-sounding poems leading them to these landmarks.”
Matt smiled. “You mean trying to rhyme with stuff like ‘arr’ and ‘matey’?”
Stephanie laughed. “Something like that.”
“Sounds like fun. Let’s see what we can come up with for the ‘W’ tree.” His brows went up. “Tree and matey rhyme.”
She laughed again, picturing the group of trees whose odd growth pattern had made them look from a distance like a giant W. It was a landmark at Barncastle. “Yes, they do, but we need phrases leading them there.”
She took another bite of her san
dwich and ran the words through her head. She looked up and caught Matt staring. “What?”
“You have—” He motioned to his lip then pointed at hers. “There’s some mayo there.”
She looked for her napkin then realized she’d forgotten to grab one. Before she could stand, Matt reached and touched her lip with his finger, pausing while their eyes met before he pulled away.
“I got it.”
His low voice sent a shiver through her. Or was it his touch? Didn’t matter. All she knew was that she wanted him to kiss her.
The kitchen door opened and the kids ran in followed by Greg. His eyes went from Matt to her, then narrowed. Stephanie knew he’d quiz her later. She’d tell him the same thing she always had. It was none of his business. She turned her attention to the excited kids while Matt slid her paper out of their sight.
Jennifer waved something under her nose. “Look what we got, Steph. That pirate man gave us eye patches and these swords.”
“And Daddy bought us these hats.”
Stephanie touched the items. “These are great. Now you really look like pirates. You can wear these tonight when we start all the pirate games.”
Brandon took a stance with his sword. “Yeah! And we can start talking like them too, like that man did today.” He frowned then and moved next to Stephanie. “Why did he keep saying ‘eye’ all the time? Is it cuz he wears a patch over one?”
Stephanie laughed and pulled him into a hug. “Not that kind of eye, Brandon. It’s the pirates’ way of saying yes.”
Matt stood and held out his hand with a pretend sword. “Aye, me boy.” He made his voice raspy like they’d all heard in the movies. “If ye’d like to fight, ye’d say ‘aye.’ If not, ye’d say ‘nay.’”
Brandon grinned and swung his sword toward Matt. “Aye, we can fight. I’ll win since you don’t have a sword. Then I’ll make you walk the plank.” He lowered his sword and touched his neck. “Trying to use that voice makes my throat hurt.”
Matt laughed and scooped him up. “We’ll let you be a pirate without that voice. How’s that sound?”
“Good.” Brandon leaned back and touched Matt’s face. “You gonna wear a patch like us?”
Matt set Brandon back on the ground. “Aye, and a beard if I can grow one fast.”
As Stephanie watched and listened, her heart reaffirmed her knowledge that she was still in love with Matt. Maybe even more than before. He turned to her then and caught her staring. She looked away as her face heated.
“What time do the games start tonight?”
Thankful for Jen’s question, Stephanie tapped the girl’s nose. “Right after dinner. We’ll all go to the barn for some fun.”
“What’ll we do till then?”
Stephanie needed to work on her treasure hunt. “Maybe you should get Matt a sword and show him how well you can fight.”
Both kids ran from the kitchen.
Matt turned to her. “Why do I feel like I just fell into a trap, or was fed to the wolves?”
She smiled and shrugged. “Paranoia?” She stood with her paper in hand. “Just make sure I get to watch.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Uh-huh. Now I’m getting nervous.”
“No need. They’re just kids.”
“With you as their nanny.”
She grinned and winked. His brows flew up. She laughed and went in search of Jayne to see if she had a rhyming dictionary. Greg entered and grabbed her arm as she tried to pass.
“Can we talk?”
“Can it wait?”
He glanced at Matt. “I guess. Not long, though.”
“Good.”
When Jayne found out about the sword fight between Matt and the Tolliver kids, she managed to delay the battle by asking the kids to teach Andy how to fight. She wanted everyone to have a chance to watch that evening.
The kids were the first to finish their supper. They asked to be excused, then ran to their rooms to get dressed into their outfits. Stephanie gathered her notes, consulted with Jayne, then headed to the barn. She sat in one of the chairs near the pirate ship. Someone dropped next to her. She looked up. Matt wore his own pirate outfit, a wooden sword strapped to his side, a patch over one eye, and a tricorn on his head.
She fought a grin. “Oh, my kingdom for a camera.”
“Stop it. What have you gotten me into?”
“A great night of fun.”
“Uh-huh. And a date with a doctor.”
Stephanie laughed and shook her head. “Just a night of fun and laughter. I promise.”
Greg entered and sat on her other side. “I thought we were gonna talk.”
“And we will. It’s been busy.”
Jayne entered. With her were Luke, her husband and Andy’s father, along with Andy and all the Tollivers. She had them sit in the middle. “You ready, Steph?”
“I hope so.”
Jayne handed her a small camera. “We may need proof of what happens. Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” She joined Jayne up front and faced the families. “We’ve all seen how the movies portray pirates. Some of it’s the truth. Most of it’s been stretched. We’d like to take a few minutes to clarify the facts and the fallacies.”
Brandon frowned. “Fallacies?”
“Untruths or wrong beliefs.”
Jayne held up a bar of soap and a toothbrush. “Did you know pirates rarely, if ever, bathed or brushed their teeth?”
The kids all looked at each other, then Brandon jumped from his seat. “We don’t have to brush or take baths. Yippee!”
Jennifer and Andy joined him. Jayne laughed and waved them down.
“That didn’t mean you could quit being clean. Especially you, Andy. I can’t speak for the Tollivers.”
“But I can.” Emily wore a wide grin. “Our pirates will be clean.” “Aw!”
Stephanie bumped Jayne. “You’d better go on before we have a mutiny.”
“Mutiny! Yes, of course.” She pointed at each of the kids. “Do you know what mutiny is?”
Jennifer raised her hand. “I do. That’s when all the workers stop listening to the captain and try to take over.”
Stephanie sent her a wink. She really had been studying.
Jayne nodded. “That’s right. Now, do you know what they did to those leading a mutiny?”
“Uh, killed them?”
“Sometimes, and they weren’t very nice about it. But sometimes they marooned them on a tiny island with very little food or water.”
Brandon frowned. “That’s not gonna be one of our games, is it?”
Stephanie laughed. “You don’t want to miss breakfast?”
“Nope.”
“You won’t. We won’t maroon you. We just wanted you to know what most pirates were really like.”
“Do we get to walk the plank?”
Jayne smiled at Stephanie. They’d walked right into their plan, just a little sooner than expected. “That’s another false belief. Most pirates didn’t make others walk the plank. That’s something Hollywood made famous.”
The kids shared another look and their shoulders drooped. Andy made a face. “We wanted to walk the plank.”
Stephanie stood. “Well that’s good, because even though it’s not really a true pirate act, we decided to let you do just that. But first, you have to have a sword fight with Captain Matt. If you win, he walks the plank. If he wins, you walk the plank.”
Matt’s mouth dropped open. It was all Stephanie could do not to laugh. “All right, Captain. Board your ship. Anddon’t forget your pirate swabbies or there won’t be a mutiny to enjoy.”
He walked past her and leaned close to her ear. “You’re about to see a mutiny all right. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” He smiled at the kids. “Arr. Come aboard, me mateys. It’s a party we be having.”
The three children cheered as they stood and slid on their eye patches. They trailed Matt up the stairs to the ship. Stephanie couldn’t stop staring. Matt had never looked so
good, though she’d never tell him that, not dressed as a pirate anyway. She snapped a couple shots.
He stood at the wheel and pulled his wooden sword. “All right, you swabbies, grab a mop and get to work.”
The kids looked at each other then pulled their own swords. Jen held hers out at Matt. “We ain’t doing it.”
Brandon held his high. “And you ain’t captain no more.”
Matt jumped from the wheel to the main deck. “What’s this?”
Andy joined his new friends. “This be a mutiny!”
Stephanie couldn’t help but laugh. The kids tried so hard to sound tough. She took a couple of pictures then glanced at the parents. They each wore a wide smile. Greg wasn’t watching the show. His eyes remained on her. She ignored him and returned to the mutiny.
Jen stepped forward, pointed the tip of her sword at Matt, and took her stance. “And we be fighting ye.”
“Well, shiver me timbers.”
Brandon lowered his sword. “Huh?”
Laughter rolled from those in the seats. Steve cupped his mouth. “It means he’s ready for you to fight him. Take him, kids.”
Jennifer swung first. Matt met her sword with his. The two parried for several moments, then Brandon stepped up. From her own experience, Stephanie knew Matt had his hands full. He had to dodge a couple of swings from the kids as he fended off their wooden blades. Gasps could be heard from the observers. Then Andy joined them and their efforts had Matt moving backward. His foot caught on a coiled rope and he went down.
Matt grinned as he dropped his sword and raised his hands. “Blimey, mates. I give.”
The kids didn’t stop. Jen put the tip of her sword near Matt’s chin. “It’s the plank for ye, mate.”
The parents hooted. Brandon and Andy poked Matt in the ribs. “To the plank. Ye be walking.”
Matt pushed to his feet. “Aye, me mateys. It’s the plank for me.” He met Stephanie’s eyes and shook his finger at her. As he walked, the kids poked him with their swords. He stepped onto the plank and looked down. “Whoa, me hearties.” He pointed down. “Uh, Steph. Some water, please?”
“Oh right.” She ran behind the curtain and pushed the large, wheeled cage of foam balls to where Matt would land, then set the brake on each wheel. She bowed. “Your water, Captain.”