Still, she steered them back to her father’s house without argument, watching out of the corner of her eye as Uncle Daniel escorted her cousin down the street, bent over her as if sheltering her from a gale.
Well, she thought as they reached the house, at least my father doesn’t do that. Uncle Daniel made the admiral’s father-daughter meetings seem downright reasonable.
Admiral McCray himself met them at the front door. He took one look at his brother and Josephine and rushed forward.
“I’m fine,” Josephine said quickly.
“She wasn’t feeling well,” Uncle Daniel explained. “Shall we sit down in the parlor?”
“Of course!” The admiral ushered them inside.
“Well,” he said, once Josephine was stretched out on a sofa in the parlor and Meggie had been dispatched for tea. “I was going to suggest we dine at Humphries’s tonight, but if Josephine’s unwell, I’ll just tell him—”
“Oh, please don’t.” Josephine sat up. “I’m fine, really. I was a bit warm, that’s all. Father, you’ve been so looking forward to dinner with Humphries.”
“True,” said Uncle Daniel, “I haven’t seen Humphries in ages. But your health is far more—”
“I’m well,” Josephine cut in. “Truly.”
Scarlet raised her eyebrows. She wasn’t entirely certain, but something told her that proper ladies didn’t interrupt their fathers. Actually, it might have been her own father who’d told her that. It might have been Rule Number Fourteen or whatever number they were on.
“Who’s Humphries?” she asked as Meggie marched in with a tray of tea and biscuits.
“A good friend from the Old World,” Uncle Daniel answered, helping Josephine off the sofa and over to the table. “He left years ago to start a plantation here. Apparently it’s a very lucrative business, or so he says in his letters.”
“Oh.” Scarlet’s stomach twisted at the word plantation. She stole a glance at her father, hoping to catch his eye and give him a desperate “you’re not going to make me go there, are you?” look. But he wouldn’t look at her.
“I still find it hard to imagine,” Uncle Daniel went on, “how Humphries could give up his life in a bustling city, ship a few trunkloads of belongings halfway around the world, and set up a new life where civilization barely exists!” He shook his head and dumped three big spoonfuls of sugar in his teacup. “But I’m eager to learn about plantations here in the tropics.”
“It’s a very big and fancy house,” Josephine told Scarlet. “We’ll have to wear all our finest. Isn’t that exciting?”
“I can barely contain myself,” Scarlet replied, gulping down her tea.
She could feel her father’s eyes on her, giving her a warning look. But this time, she didn’t look at him.
“This is so exciting,” Josephine chattered as she braided her hair. “I’ve never seen a real plantation before. What do you think it will be like?”
Scarlet sat on her bed, trying to muster the will to change into the sky-blue dress that had somehow appeared in her closet while she and Josephine and Uncle Daniel had been out walking that afternoon. Its frills and poufs and ribbons had practically made her lose her lunch. What had she ever done to Meggie for the maid to have it out for her this way?
“I can tell you what it’ll be like,” she said, tucking her legs up under her and closing her eyes. “Picture a jungle. A great big beautiful tangle of trees and vines and ferns and flowers like you’ve never seen before.” She closed her eyes, imagining her home. “And in that jungle live thousands of animals. There are butterflies of every color imaginable. Birds that squawk and birds that sing sweetly. Huge lizards that can walk upside down on the branches, but never fall off, not even when you’d bet your life they will. And there are monkeys, too. They crash through the treetops, swinging from their tails while their babies hold on tight to their backs.”
She opened her eyes to find Josephine standing still, her fingers frozen in her half-braided hair and her eyes fixed on Scarlet. “And?” she whispered.
“And that’s what was there before the plantation,” Scarlet finished flatly. “Now it’s just row after row of sugarcane.” She stood up and walked to the closet—not because she wanted to see the dress, but because she suspected if she kept talking about the jungle, she’d lose it completely. She’d once sworn never to set foot on a plantation, and here she was, going to dine at a most… what was the word her uncle had used? A most lucrative one. And in the most hideous dress in existence. A strangled whimper escaped her before she could stop it.
“Here.” Josephine finished her braiding and came to stand behind Scarlet. “I’ll help you.” She began to untie Scarlet’s ribbons.
“I don’t need…,” Scarlet began, then gave up. Realistically, the only way she was going to get dressed and out the door was with someone’s help. Meggie obviously hated the job, especially after Scarlet had accidentally kicked her in the shin while trying to get into a hideous green frock. So Josephine would have to do. “We don’t… wear clothes like this… at my school… so…,” she explained feebly.
Josephine just hummed in response.
Somehow, within fifteen minutes, Scarlet was not only dressed but her hair was braided like her cousin’s, pulled back from her face so it didn’t keep falling in her eyes.
“How’s that?” Josephine stepped back to admire her handiwork.
Scarlet patted her head and had to admit it wasn’t bad. In fact, it was almost as good as wearing a hat.
Josephine pulled on her boots and laced them up, and Scarlet watched her, allowing herself for a moment to imagine what life would have been like if she hadn’t run away to become a pirate, and had gone instead to live in the Old World with Josephine. Would they have been like sisters? Would Scarlet have been sent to finishing school, too? Would she have ever survived?
But there was no time to ponder it, for the admiral was calling for them. Josephine gave Scarlet a once-over, then took her hand and pulled her out the door.
The carriage bounced down the plantation road, lined on either side by endless rows of leafy sugarcane plants twice Scarlet’s height.
“Isn’t this amazing?” Uncle Daniel said, half leaning out the side. “What an empire Humphries has made! Look how these plants prosper here. Row upon row upon row of them!”
“The jungle that was here in the first place was pretty prosperous, too,” Scarlet pointed out, and received an elbow in the ribs from her father. “Well, it’s true,” she murmured.
“It’s enormous,” Uncle Daniel marveled. “He must have dozens of workers out there.”
Josephine peered out at the sugarcane. “Did he bring them from the Old World?” she asked.
Uncle Daniel shook his head. “No need for that. Inexpensive labor is easy to find here.”
Admiral McCray frowned. “Inexpensive, but not free, I hope.”
Uncle Daniel shrugged, still peering out the window. “I’m not sure. He hasn’t mentioned anything about… about that in his letters. But I understand it’s not uncommon.”
“What’s not uncommon?” Scarlet asked.
“Slavery,” said Admiral McCray. “Employing laborers but not paying them.”
“Oh, I’m sure a friend of Father’s wouldn’t do that,” said Josephine. “Right, Father?”
“Well, I don’t know,” said Uncle Daniel. “I’d hope not, but plantations do require an enormous workload, for planting and—”
“That’s no excuse for holding people captive,” the admiral said coldly.
Scarlet’s head swiveled from her father to her uncle and back. She hadn’t even considered that plantations might use slaves as laborers. Just when she thought they couldn’t get any worse!
She’d just opened her mouth to suggest they turn around and head home when the sugarcane suddenly fell away, revealing an enormous white house with white trim and white pillars.
“Ohhh,” Josephine breathed. “It’s beautiful!”
�
�Just what I expected!” said Uncle Daniel.
Scarlet squinted and shaded her eyes. “It’s blinding,” she said. “Who needs a house that big? It’s—” Her father elbowed her again, and she gritted her teeth and clammed up.
As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the big white house, the front door swung open, and a tall, thin man with a shiny bald head stepped out to greet them. He was dressed in loose white linen, and his skin had been darkened and wrinkled by the sun. Another man followed, wearing a black suit complete with bow tie and white gloves.
“Humphries!” Uncle Daniel hopped out of the carriage and bounded up the steps to meet his old friend. The two men embraced while the other man helped the girls out of the carriage.
“Come in, come in, all of you.” Humphries ushered them up the steps and through the front door. “My wife and daughter are so excited to meet you.” He turned to the man in the black suit. “Fetch Mrs. Humphries and Cecily.” The man bowed and disappeared inside.
“Who’s that man?” Scarlet whispered to Josephine.
“Why, the butler, of course,” Josephine whispered back. “You know, the one who answers doors and fetches things,” she added when Scarlet looked blank.
“Oh. Right. Of course,” said Scarlet, although she’d never heard of a butler before. Judging by the man’s unsmiling face, it couldn’t have been a very fun job.
They stopped in the main foyer, which was even grander than the one in the admiral’s house. The chandelier was twice as big, and the floors and banisters gleamed so brightly that Scarlet could see her reflection in them. The white ceiling was as high as one of the aras’ nesting trees. It made Scarlet feel small in a way the jungle never did. Out there, she was another creature, with a purpose and a role to play. Here she just felt out of place.
“Ah, here they are,” Humphries said, as a woman in a dark red dress strode in, followed by a younger woman in a green dress who looked about five years older than Scarlet. Both had shiny brown curls that bounced as they walked, and Scarlet’s hand immediately crept up to her own hair, still tightly braided. Then she shook her head and dropped her hand. Not that she gave a fig about hair.
“Time for introductions,” said Humphries.
“Of course,” said Uncle Daniel. “You remember my brother, Admiral John McCray?”
“I believe we met once or twice.” The admiral offered his hand.
“Ages ago,” Humphries agreed. “In another world.”
“This is my daughter, Josephine, and John’s daughter, Scarlet,” Uncle Daniel said.
Scarlet concentrated hard on staying upright as she gripped her skirt and curtsied. She wobbled fiercely, but managed, miraculously, not to fall on her face.
“And this is my wife, Mrs. June Humphries, and our daughter, Cecily,” said Humphries.
Scarlet watched as Cecily executed a perfect curtsy, curls bouncing politely. She had a heart-shaped face, a blush of pink across her cheeks, and pale, creamy skin like Josephine’s. But there was something familiar about her. Scarlet was sure she’d seen her somewhere before—maybe in port? Maybe she’d even stolen something from her? She was racking her brain, trying to remember, when Cecily looked over and caught her staring. She narrowed her eyes and looked Scarlet up and down, and Scarlet reddened under her gaze. She didn’t know Cecily one bit, but she was certain they’d never be friends.
Somewhere deep inside the house, a door slammed, and footsteps came running toward them.
“And there’s our boy.” Humphries sighed. “Always fashionably late.”
The boy burst into the foyer, breathless and red-faced, his brown hair damp with sweat. “I’m sorry, everyone,” he said. “I was out supervising the new crew. Couldn’t quite make it back from the fields in time.”
Scarlet’s mouth fell open.
The boy straightened his coat, then bowed to Uncle Daniel and her father. “I’m Ben Hodgins.”
“Shivers!” The word escaped Scarlet’s mouth before she could stop it. She slapped a hand over her mouth, feeling her father’s incredulous eyes on her.
Ben Hodgins turned to look at her, and his lower lip went slack.
“What was that, Scarlet?” asked Humphries.
“Oh.” Scarlet tore her wide eyes away from Ben’s, only to find that everyone in the room was staring at her. Her ears grew hot. “Oh. I’m sorry. I just… got cold. Suddenly.” She shivered for effect and looked down at the gleaming floor, willing it to split open and swallow her. For somehow, somehow, she’d ended up in the same house as Ben Hodgins, the former captain of the Lost Souls. The one who’d taken her in when she ran away from home, and then made her captain when he left.
Because he’d fallen in love with a plantation owner’s daughter, Scarlet remembered. That was why she recognized Cecily—she’d seen her with Ben in port one day not so long ago.
“Do you two know each other?” asked Humphries. His shiny forehead wrinkled.
“No!” Scarlet and Ben said in unison.
“Of course not,” added Ben. He smoothed down his flyaway hair and stepped up to shake her father’s and uncle’s hands.
“Why would we?” added Scarlet. She wiped her sweaty hands on her dress, then remembered Rule Number One and tucked them behind her back.
Well, this was a fine mess. Here she was, on a horrible plantation with her former captain and dressed head to toe in ridiculous blue frills. It couldn’t get any worse than this, she was certain.
“Ben is the best plantation manager I’ve ever had,” Humphries boasted. “He and Cecily will be married in… how long now?”
“Less than a month,” his wife said.
“Is it that soon?” Humphries looked at Cecily. She nodded, curls bouncing excitedly.
“Congratulations,” offered Admiral McCray, and Daniel and Josephine echoed him.
“Congratulations,” Scarlet muttered, although she couldn’t imagine what Ben had been thinking, falling in love with a thing like Cecily.
Thankfully, the butler arrived then to let them know that dinner was served, and Humphries ushered them off to the dining hall.
Scarlet hung back, and Ben did the same, but before they could say a word, Cecily turned around and beckoned Ben with her finger.
“Right. Coming,” he said, hurrying to catch up with her.
“Right,” Scarlet said. “Coming.” She waited a moment longer, to see if the floor might still split open and swallow her.
When it didn’t, she gave in and followed.
The table was enormous, draped with a spotless white cloth, set with white dinner plates, and decorated with white flowers. Scarlet took her seat, certain she was going to spill something. Something red. Something that could never be removed.
Don’t think. Just do, she told herself, remembering Jem’s advice. Just act like everything’s normal. It’ll all be over soon.
Unfortunately, Ben took a seat right across from her, and Cecily took the one beside him. “What a lovely party we’ll be,” she remarked.
“Lovely,” Josephine agreed, slipping into the chair next to Scarlet.
Don’t think. Just do.
When the first course arrived (a rich red soup, of course), Scarlet went to pick up her spoon, only to find that there were not one, not two, but three spoons laid out before her, each a slightly different size. She looked around, wondering if the servants had made a mistake and given her everyone’s spoon. But no, every single place had three.
Blimey, she thought. After studying each one, she picked up the medium-size spoon.
A bony elbow landed in her ribs, and she stole a glance at Josephine, who looked as if Scarlet had unknowingly picked up a snake.
All right, then. Scarlet dropped the medium-size spoon and moved her hand toward the small one, but Josephine shook her head. That obviously wasn’t right, either. Scarlet pulled back, hand hovering over the large one, and Josephine relaxed.
Scarlet picked up the large spoon, making a mental note to explain to her cousin th
at in the tropics, spoons usually only came in one size.
“Josephine, my father tells me you attend a fine finishing school back in the Old World,” Cecily spoke up. “And Scarlet, you’re at boarding school here in the tropics?”
Scarlet nodded, then realized that there couldn’t be that many schools in the tropics. Cecily might well have gone to one. “Um, yes. Did you?”
Cecily shook her head. “I completed my schooling back in the Old World, then joined my mother and father here once I was finished.”
Scarlet sighed with relief. “Oh. That’s good. I mean… you must have… a good education.” She sunk her spoon in her soup, concentrating hard on not spilling.
Cecily nodded. “Schools in the Old World are far superior. They teach real manners.”
Scarlet paused with her spoon halfway to her mouth. Had Cecily just insulted her?
Ben cleared his throat. “Do you have a favorite class, Josephine?” he asked.
“Etiquette,” Josephine replied, dabbing the corner of her mouth with a cloth. “It’s just so important.”
Cecily nodded. “I agree. I don’t suppose they teach etiquette at your school, Scarlet?”
Scarlet set her spoon down, bristling on behalf of her nonexistent school. Why, you lily-livered… she thought, then replied, too sweetly, “Of course we do. But we also know it’s not the only course that matters.”
“How fascinating it must be,” Josephine cut in, her voice a bit too loud. “To live on a plantation. We were discussing it in the carriage. It just sounds… very interesting,” she finished, giving Scarlet a nervous glance.
“That’s right,” said Scarlet, staring Cecily square in the eye. “We were wondering about your laborers. Maybe you could explain how that works. We’re just so… ignorant.” She silently thanked Jem for arming her with a few big words.
Scarlet’s father shot her a look, but oddly, the anger in it didn’t seem directed at her.
Across from her, Ben’s face clouded over, and he stared hard at his soup.
“Well,” Humphries harrumphed from down the table. “That’s hardly a topic for young ladies to discuss.”
Hunt for the Panther 3 (9781101610923) Page 8