Just then I noticed the edges of the pages were stained with blood. Jumping in fear, I winced in disgust. “Why would you suggest I get involved in a trade that could get me killed?”
“You’re too much, Hannah.” He turned the page. “Look at this. On this page, the artist drew the shore and all the inlets of this certain island, but he never shared the particulars about the measurements. And there are a few strange markings that don’t make sense to anyone who looks at them. And see this here note?”
I looked at the inscription he was pointing at.
The most valuable prize is one hard to find
And the best kept secret is one left uncharted
A wildfire of curiosity ignited in my mind. Eyeing the beautifully detailed shoreline, I imagined what lay in the bay. I could visualize the color of the water and see the trees lining the shores. Wanting so much to find this secret shore and fill in the missing pieces and colors with my paint brush, I asked Mason, “Where do you think this is? Have you been there? What do you think the artist is hiding?”
“Who knows? It could be a hideout stocked with supplies. It could be a bunker loaded with weapons, or perhaps it’s just a safe place to careen. The possibilities are endless, and no one knows but the crafty little bastard who drew it.” He flipped through the pages. “The rest of his charts are so well done that I’m certain it was something well-worth hiding.”
I eyed each page with wonder as Mason slowly flipped through the book, and listened closely to the information he was sharing with me.
“See, a good navigator studies the depths of the channels he travels, and monitors the rising and falling of the tides. He’ll know the best way to get the draft of his particular ship through and the time it’s best to do so. This knowledge can get you in for an attack with the weather gauge—that means with the wind at your back—and out for a safe retreat if worse comes to worse. The value of a navigator is invaluable at sea, and the one who keeps his secrets uncharted is the one who won’t end up with his blood on the pages.”
Entirely enthralled with the concept at hand, I said, “I think I would be good at such a job. I can draw or paint anything I look at, and I’ve always paid attention to the tides and the flow of the ocean. Plus, I am good at keeping secrets. My whole life is an uncharted secret. For no one knows my true story. And the only two people who knew the true me are gone from this world.”
After shutting the marvelous book, he said, “Well, I’m here. And I like the sound of your voice, so you can tell me any stories you want to.”
His kind words warmed my heart, and that made me nervous. Twiddling my fingers, I meekly thanked him for being so nice to me. Without intending to, my gaze once again landed on his. This time he was close enough that I could feel his body heat as we stared at each other. Strangely enchanted by his magnificent eye color—darker than any green I’d ever seen—I couldn’t seem to break away.
Still somewhat lost in my artful fantasy, and calmed by the unexpected soothing of my heartache, I sighed, “Your eyes are…” Though I thought of emeralds, and shallow lakes, and grassy meadows, I only said, “Nice. Your eyes are nice.”
Half of his mouth curved into a delightful grin. “I like it when you’re not being so mean.”
I finally gathered the strength to step away from him. “I’m not always mean…I just…You just…” The way he was looking at me made me regret my compliment.
“I just what?” He stepped towards me.
“You’re just annoying.” I shifted to the other side of the table.
He laughed. “I suppose there are worse things I could be.”
There certainly were worse things he could be, and at that moment I realized I didn’t hate him at all. In fact, I kind of liked him. But I still didn’t trust him.
Uneasy from the strange feelings fluttering in my gut, I started putting the paints away, hurriedly. In my nervous handling, I spilt some paint on my dress. “Damn it,” I huffed, and tried to wipe the purple splatter off of the red lacy fabric. But there was no use. The paint had set into the lace and my touching it only smeared it. Frantically scrubbing it anyhow, I started to cry. “It isn’t going to come off. It never will. The pretty fabric is stained, and marred, and ruined! It will forever be blemished with the trauma of that one moment. There will never ever be any returning it to what it once was.”
Clearly, I was not referring to the dress. And Mason knew it. Looking a bit uncomfortable at my outburst, he scratched his head. “Are you all right?”
“No. I am not. Nor will I ever be.” My tormented mind blew through the horrible memories of the day I was stolen from my husband—from the moment I heard the first gun blast fire across the sea, to the instant I watched that blade run through his side. In a nauseating blur, the god-awful things that happened to me on Lucifer’s ship flashed through my mind. Unable to keep on my feet for another second, I dropped to the bed. Sitting there with my face in my hands, I cried and cried.
Beginning to pace, Mason wiped the sweat off of his forehead. “Listen here, Hannah. You need to learn to deal with this shit.”
“There will be no dealing with me and my problems,” I wailed through my tears.
“Exactly. There’s no changing it. Believe it or not, I’ve got ghosts that haunt me, too. My heart is full of demons and terrors from my past, shit that I can’t unsee and actions I can’t undo, but rather than letting them make me insane, I’ve learned to accept all of it as part of who I am now.”
Feather jumped from the floor to sit on my lap. As I petted his soft little head, I sniffled and wiped my final tears. “How have you become so strong, Mason?”
Shrugging his broad shoulders, he answered, “Because I refuse to be weak.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all. You’d be surprised how strong you can be when strength is your only method of survival. And though you may not see it yet, I can tell you’re a lot tougher than you think you are.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Just knowing your shitty story. I’ve seen plenty of good people lose sight of their better selves after being torn apart inside, but seeing you here, painting and loving your damned cat like you do, I can tell you still have love in your pretty little heart, and that says a lot.”
Surprised by his insightful view of me, I felt my cold, dark heart warm up a bit, again. “I promised my father that no matter what happened in life, I would never lose hope. I had no idea how hard it would be to keep that promise. But I do my best.”
His eyes were set on me, but I could see that his mind had wandered somewhere else.
“All right.” He snapped away from the gaze he had captivated my curiosity with. “Now, I need to tell you what we’re going to do next.”
“We? What’s going to happen next?” Having not put any thought into my future beyond this safe, anchored base, I began to fret over the possibilities.
“My Sunrise is finally ready to sail, and you can’t go where I’m headed.”
My heart sank in my gut. “Where are you going?”
“Nombre de Dios. The treasure fleet will be leaving there soon and we’re going to unleash a bloody war on those Dons.”
Just as worried about his dreadful future as I was for my own uncertain one, I held tighter to my little cat as I whimpered, “Where will I go?”
“I put a lot of thought into this solution, Hannah, and I want you to trust me.” He knelt beside me and tried to reach for my hand. Struck in the heart by the memory of Thomas taking my hand when he proposed to me in the moonlight, I yanked it away and hissed, “Don’t touch me.”
“Sorry.” He raised his hands in surrender then sat beside me. “There’s a boarding house just outside of town. I reserved you a room there…” My world, which was already hanging on a pathetic thread, began spinning off its flimsy axis as he carried on. “The place is well guarded and the mistress of the house, Madame Adaline Janvier, is a friend of mine. She’ll take good care of you.”
Turning away from him, I continued to stroke my cat and resisted the urge to cry. Over the sound of my sniffling, I heard him say, “You can bring Feather with you.”
So it seemed that Feather, the ship’s cat who ate the rats, was now my only friend in the world. Feeling the vibration of his purring on my chest as I snuggled him, I smiled. At least I finally had a friend.
X
Though I had ignored Mason the entire carriage ride through the town of Tortuga, I silently observed the amounts of money he had handed out along the way. The boy who loaded the carriage was given a purse so full he gasped in delight. The man leading the carriage thanked Mason from the bottom of his heart, and now, my buccaneer escort handed the man opening the gate a tip so large his jaw nearly dropped to the cobblestone walkway.
Regaining his composure, the well-dressed gatekeeper, smiled. “Come right in, Master Bentley. It is always a pleasure to have you back.”
Madame Adaline Janvier’s boarding house, named Le Ve En Rose, was far enough from the hideous town that I instantly felt safe there. The tall stone walls surrounding the estate, and the guards standing near the entrance certainly added to the security Mason had promised I would find here, but it was the pink bougainvillea coating the archway over the wrought iron gate which pleased me the most.
The large, grey house was backed up against a rocky hillside, and the blooming flowers surrounding the sprawling green lawn filled the air with a romantic fragrance. All of the windows were trimmed in black, framed with white shutters, and lined with flower boxes sprouting colorful blooms. Petting Feather, I whispered, “Maybe it won’t be so bad here.”
Walking down the path, I took note of the mossy greens filling the gaps between the grey stones. This place flourished in natural beauty. So lost in my admiration of the scene, I was startled to a gasp when the double doors flew open.
A short, curvy brunette woman, who was colorfully dressed, threw her arms up in excitement and shouted, “Masy!” Nearly jumping off the porch framing the great windows next to the white double doors, the woman leapt into Masy’s arms. Hugging him like she hadn’t seen him in years, she kissed his cheeks and barraged him with French compliments as she rubbed his face against her enormous bosom.
Retracting from her ridiculous greeting with rosy cheeks, Mason chuckled, “Nice to see you, too, AJ.”
AJ. Hmph. Annoyed that he had a pet name for her, too, I rolled my eyes and looked away.
“Who’s the joli dame?” she asked him.
“Oh, uh, this is Hannah. I told Louise about her yesterday.”
“Well, that crafty little Miss Louise told me about a Hannah, but she forgot to mention you were here.” She squinted slyly. “I can only imagine why she would keep such a secret.”
I could only imagine that Miss Louise had rubbed her bosom in his face as well.
“In case she also forgot to mention, Hannah’s my lady, and I need you to take good care of her while I’m out to sea.”
“Your lady!” Adaline and I both exclaimed in completely different pitches. While hers chimed with joyful surprise, mine rang angrily.
“I am not his lady,” I clarified with a bitter tone.
“Ah, she’s just mad because I’m leaving her for a while,” Mason said, excusing my comment.
“She sure is lovely,” Adaline said. “I can certainly see why you’d want to come back to this one.” She pinched my shoulder.
Seeing no use in disputing his claim on me, I smiled at her, then steeled my eyes at him once she looked away.
Without noticing my distaste, Adaline put her arm over my shoulder. “You come with me, mon cher. I’ll give you the best room in the house.”
Mason headed back to the carriage as she walked me into the house. Adaline rambled on about how much I would love the amenities and good company of her estate as she led me up the stairs, but the beautiful scenery blew past me in a blur. I was beginning to panic. Had Mason left without saying goodbye? Was he just going to leave me without a care in the world?
The lovely bedroom with glass veranda doors and a balcony facing the sea only looked like a prison cell as I imagined Mason sailing away from me forever. While I cursed myself for not speaking with him on the way here, I heard Adaline say, “I do hope you’ll enjoy your time here, Miss Hannah. Mason is a good friend of mine, and knowing that you are his lady, I’ll personally see to it that you are treated like royalty while he is away.” She patted Feather’s head. “And your little cat, too.”
“Thank you, Madame Adaline.” I forced a smile.
Her rusty green eyes were warm, her smile was ever so welcoming, and the hug she embraced me with exuded a similar passion to the one she gave Mason—minus the face in the cleavage. Apparently she was a lady bursting with love. I certainly felt welcome in her home.
On her way out the door, she said she’d prepare a warm bath for me. The thought of soaking in a nice warm tub had me feeling like royalty already.
Once the door shut behind her, I ran my hand along Feather’s tail. “Looks like it’s just you and me now, friend.”
Then I heard a knock on the door. Without waiting for an invitation, the visitor opened the door. It was Mason. My heart filled with unexpected warmth. I tried to contain my smile as he pulled a wooden chest into the room. “Here. I brought you some shit.”
“Shit?” I giggled.
“Well, paint and fabric and all those things I won’t ever need.”
I wanted to cry with happiness. “That was so nice of you.”
“I am the nice one out of the two of us, remember?” He laughed, then looked out the open veranda door at the sea. “Great view. I’ve never been in this room before. AJ must like you better than she likes me.”
“I am certain she only put me in here because she likes you so much.” I chuckled and figured he hadn’t ever come here for the view, anyhow.
Looking at me with that familiar glint that I’d never get used to, he took a step in my direction.
I backed away. “What are you doing?”
“I want to say goodbye to you.”
“Goodbye,” I curtly stated.
“Can I maybe give you a hug?”
I shook my head no.
“Just a little one?”
Though I was scared to death to let him touch me, I figured it was only fair to grant his wish after all the nice things he had done. “All right.”
“Get out of here, cat.” He shooed Feather out of my arms. As I watched my beloved cat land on his feet and spring up to the plush blankets on the bed, Mason Bentley—the fearsome buccaneer captain—wrapped his massive arms around me. With my tiny body buried in his embrace, I felt his heavy heartbeat pounding against my cheek and was surrounded by the heat of his body, as well as, the scent of leather and hemp, and that enchanting oil he wore. Being so close to him, my senses swirled in a whimsical whirl that I had never experienced before. Though I am unsure as to whether I hugged him back or not, I was well aware of the way that he kissed my cheek.
Stunned breathless, I slapped his arm and swatted him off of me. “Get back. Get back. You lying, cheating—”
“Pirate.” He smiled widely as he backed away.
Rubbing my cheek that seared from the trace of his lust, I squinted at him as he opened the door.
“I’ll be back for you, Hannah.” He winked at me before he left.
Once he was gone I stood there like an idiot staring at the white wooden door. “What the hell has that man done to me, Feather?” I rubbed his little head.
Unable to sort out my conflicting emotions, I stepped onto the veranda. Taking in the magnificent scenery, it was easy to clear the nattering thoughts from my mind. Inhaling a deep breath, I snuggled up to my kitty and sighed. “At least we have a room with a view.”
PART III
My Place in the World
Tortuga
Summer of 1645
Chapter 8
Paint My Pain
“Can you beli
eve a month has already passed, Feather?” I spoke to my cat as I woke up beside him. Having a pet to talk to was much better than talking to myself.
Sitting up in the comfortable bed, I stretched and looked to the sea. Morning light glistened on her face and puffy pink clouds rolled across the sky. “This has definitely been a nice place to be stuck.”
He purred.
“Yes, and you have been eating like a king. No more rats for you and no more abuse for me. I think we’re doing all right.”
Hearing a light tapping at the door, I welcomed the maid to enter, but was surprised to see it was Adaline. “Good morning, ma cherie.” She nearly sang as she sauntered in. “Anna isn’t feeling well today so I’ll be making your bed.”
“You know you don’t have to do that, Madame Adaline. I’ve been making my own bed all of my life,” I informed her as I came to my feet.
“Nonsense. A princess like you should not have to partake in such petty labor.” She smiled and started shaking out the fluffy white blankets.
“If you insist. But I’m no princess.” I sat down on the velvet sofa.
“With the king of the sea calling you his lady, you may as well get used to your new ranking in this world.” She fluffed the pillows.
Ranking high among thieves was hardly a position I desired. “I’ve told you a hundred times, I am not Mason Bentley’s lady.”
“You are an interesting little woman, Hannah.” Fanning her hand around at the paintings I had done, Adaline said, “You have painted his coat draped over a chair, his sword on the table, and even his ship on that very horizon you wake up to every day, yet you refuse to admit that you love him.”
“I certainly do not love him,” I snipped, defensively. “I was only inspired by him. That’s all.”
“Well,” she looked annoyed, “just so you know, there are many women in this world who would love to be looking out that window awaiting his return.”
Uncharted Secrets (Uncharted Secrets, Book 1): Endless Horizon Pirate Stories Page 7