Chapter Thirty-Four
A veil of darkness draped itself over the Cutlass as they approached the waters around the south end of Ocracoke Island. They could see the campfires in the distance, and they turned toward the shadowy masts rising up from behind the marshes of the creek. Ivory watched as the orange glows sprinkled their smoldering embers into the air and then transformed into wisps of gray smoke against the black sky. She stood with her right foot propped at the bow, clutching a line as they made their approach. Maddox had instructed her not to raise her colors as they entered the sound as an alarm to Teach and his men. He hoped the act of not showing their colors would prevent them from being fired upon at first sight.
She swallowed hard and waited the next fifteen minutes until the Cat was mere yards ahead. Maddox waved high above his head to signal that they were all clear and could weigh anchor. They were careful not to come to rest too close to the other ships. There were twelve in all. Ivory had never seen so many pirate vessels at one gathering before. She’d heard of the brethren and how they did gather at times, but never more than a half dozen.
The Cutlass was now tied together with the Cat, and measures were taken to ensure their quick release from each other should they find themselves unwelcome in Teach’s private paradise. Ivory was feeling uneasy, but strangely not about Teach. The twinge in her stomach was about facing Maddox with her suspicions, but she couldn’t deny them. Before she could collect her thoughts and make a solid decision as to how to approach the situation about Tobias, Maddox landed on the deck before her and requested her presence alone to speak in her quarters.
“They haven’t taken a shot at us. That’s a good sign,” he said, smiling as he closed and locked the door.
“Do you believe it’s a good idea to not prepare ourselves for an attack?”
“You’re prepared. Simply do whatever it is you usually do when there’s the possibility of being fired upon, love.” Maddox walked towards her, but she dipped away from him and turned her back.
“I’ve already done that. I meant, do you think it wise for us to leave our posts and immediately head to shore?” she asked with her hands on her hips as she turned back to him and stared off, pondering.
“Which is it? Take our posts, or go ashore?” Maddox folded his arms at his chest and leaned back a bit while looking over at her.
“Both, I suppose. We need a plan, Maddox.”
“The plan is we go ashore and make our introductions properly to Captain Teach. We explain to him in, no uncertain terms, that we are in a great deal of trouble and simply wish to keep our heads firmly on our shoulders for a bit, until we can figure out our next move.”
“But you have met him, right?”
“We’ve crossed paths, yes.”
“How did you find him then?”
“Is something bothering you, love because I sense a bit of tension between us? Have I done something to offend you?” he asked, again moving towards her.
“No,” she snapped. “Nothing at all, I’m just not used to following the lead of someone else when it comes to my crew. I’ve made a career of choosing my own path, and I’m questioning myself. What you are sensing is my uncertainty.”
“Look at the time. I’m sure Teach is well on his way through at least his second bottle of rum and should be in more pleasant spirits by now—no pun intended,” he said, finally within the three feet of space surrounding her.
Ivory gave an involuntary smile and finally met his eyes. “When did you meet Teach?”
“Several years ago—in New Providence, I happened upon the man himself engaged rather passionately with a young lady of the evening. To put it simply, I entered the wrong room at an inn. Had he not been, shall we say, quite engaged with the woman, I’m sure I’d have lost my head over that quite innocent indiscretion.”
“That’s all?”
“Well, no. When he was through, he inquired as to my room location and promptly walked in on me. Unfortunately for him, I was quite alone and buried deeply in something else—a book.”
Ivory smiled again and walked to the window. “And?”
“He warned me to never again choose the wrong doorknob, unless I wished to part from my offending hand. Then, he insisted on a drink together. So, I put on my boots, and we trotted down to the bar where we, along with Master Green and several of Teach’s men, shared five bottles of rum and exchanged childhood memories. Ivory, will you please explain to me what is happening here because I am at a loss.”
“I told you already; I’m accustomed to doing things my own way. However, not that I believe you shared childhood memories, but knowing that you’ve at least met the barbarian…”
“That, my dear, is a most exaggerated rumor. His antics are no more than those of an actor playing a part. He is violent at times, and has done his share of pillaging, but once you meet him, you’ll understand he’s no worse than either of us.”
“Shall we go, then?” Ivory suggested, attaching her belt and turning away.
“Now? Don’t you want to at least…?” He raised his brows and gazed at her through wounded eyes as he took her softly by the arm.
“You mentioned the hour. Why delay? The sooner we feel at home here, the better for us all.” Ivory pulled away, armed herself and tied her hair back in a long white braid before pressing her cavalier atop her head. As she headed towards the door, Maddox caught her by the arm again and pulled her gently towards him.
“Not even a kiss, my love?”
“There is a time for lips to meet and a time for them to speak.”
“Lips speak in many different ways,” he whispered against her cheek.
Ivory pulled slowly back from his face and stared up into his deep, emerald eyes. “Truer words were never spoken…my love.”
“If we don’t come back by midnight, turn this ship around and go home, Ke,” Ivory said as she made her goodbyes. Then, she and Maddox lowered themselves into the skiff and headed for shore.
They rowed in complete silence, as the boisterous voices and shouts of miscreant men carried over the water towards them. They could smell the fires now, and the evening breeze carried the aroma of fresh roasted pig and wet grass. Upon approaching the shore, they leapt from the skiff and pulled it up onto the sand. They were met by two scraggly looking fellows who were obviously well into the night with drink, but who requested their identities, as well as the details of their ships and crews. Maddox did not ask for Teach, but rather gave their information and nodded in the direction of the camp. The men seemed satisfied with their explanations, but Ivory was uneasy. She pulled her hat down as far as she could to disguise her feminine features and pulled at her tucked shirt, blousing it away from her curves.
Ivory’s mind wandered as they followed the path through the tall trees toward the camp. She wondered if Keara had detained Tobias and searched him as she’d ordered. Her pace quickened to that of someone walking alone, without a care of anyone keeping up. She wondered if Tobias did, in fact, have the blue diamond, and the more she imagined it and the likely true value of the stone, the faster she walked and heavier she stepped.
Maddox reached out and took her arm, signaling her to stop. “What is it?” she snapped at him.
“When we find Teach, I’m asking you to please allow me to do most of the talking. I’m counting on his memory of my shocked expression, and the wail of the young lady upon seeing it, to remind him of me, fondly.”
“How could anyone forget that?”
“Exactly…although I am dressed quite differently this evening, and certainly not in my usual style, my hope is my face will suffice.” Maddox’s smile was barely visible but for the whites of his eyes and his perfect teeth.
“By the way, I forgot to mention that you do smell much better than you did last I saw you. That shave is also a noticeable improvement.” Ivory remarked as she marched ahead again.
“That was not my smell, my love, it was the clothing and had you perhaps welcomed my kiss earlier, the
shave may have improved that as well. I will, however, accept your words as a compliment, considering your affable mood,” he whispered with sarcasm and tried to keep up.
They continued on until they reached the first of several groups of tents and shoddily built huts and emerged from the darkness of the tree-covered path into another world. Groups of six to ten men each sat upon the ground around campfires. Their faces lit up rosy red in the reflecting flames as they laughed and chatted away. Several of them lay sleeping on bed rolls in the sandy soil, or in the grass a few feet away. As they passed the first group, a large man, bald but for long strings of black hair hanging down his back, turned towards them and watched with one eye as they passed.
“You there, who are ye, and where ye headed?” he called out.
“Captain Maddox Carbonale of Le Chat Noir and Captain Ivory Shepard of the Carolina Cutlass, sir and you are?”
The man rolled to his feet and stepped heavily towards them. “The name’s Tully. What brings ye here?”
“We seem to have found ourselves in a precarious situation, Mister Tully, and we need…”
“A what?” Tully interrupted and squinted his suspicious eye at Maddox.
“We’re pirates, Tully. We need a place to hide out for a bit,” Ivory spoke as she crossed her arms and stepped from behind Maddox.
“Well, why didn’t ye just say so,” Tully said as he backed away and stumbled back to his spot by the fire.
“Tully, where’s Teach?” Ivory asked. “We’d like to greet him proper and keep things straight.”
Tully turned back and pointed off deeper into the camp. “Back there. Last camp. Biggest tent.”
They carried on, weaving through the camps until, deep in the tall grass, they came upon a clearing. The group of men sat much the same as the rest, but this band was roasting a large pig on a spit. Ivory’s stomach growled at the aroma of the crackling hog as it rotated under the hand of a tall, slim man with light hair and eyes. He pulled a dagger from his waist, and Ivory and Maddox both took a step back.
“Have a taste?”
“Excuse me?” Maddox asked.
“Have a taste? I’m not sure she’s done right yet,” the man said as he sliced off a hunk of meat from the pig’s hock.
“No, thank you, but perhaps you could direct us to Captain Teach?” Maddox asked, removing his tricorn.
The thin man’s face fell to a solemn stare. He stood frozen for a moment, dagger in one hand and meat in the other. “Is he expectin’ ye?”
“Well, no, but we’ve just arrived, and we’d like to greet him properly to request his permission to stay for a bit,” Maddox answered.
“Teach don’t care about that. Ye’s pirates?”
“Yes,” Maddox answered, glancing over at Ivory.
“That yer whore?”
Maddox’s arm went up faster than Ivory could pull her sword. He pressed his arm back against her mid-section and answered fast. “I beg your pardon, sir. This is Captain Ivory Shepard of the Carolina Cutlass, formerly of the Blue Diamond, as well as the Lady Jade. I do believe you owe her an apology.”
“Apologize to the lady, Dungy, or you’ll be next on the spit.”
Ivory and Maddox turned simultaneously to find Teach himself standing directly behind them. Once Dungy made his apology, he scampered back to his seat on the ground and kept his eyes turned away.
“Follow me,” Teach growled and lead them off in the direction of his tent.
“Pleased to meet you again, Captain Teach…”
“Do I know you, pretty man?” Teach asked, as he pushed the tent opening aside to offer them entry and ducked inside behind them.
“We met several years ago in the West Indies…at an inn in New Providence, and…”
Teach sat down, then lifted his lantern and held it up to Maddox’s face. “Pretty man, I remember ye. The peeper.”
“No, no, no, Captain, I assure you now, as I did that evening, I simply…”
“Blacksnake, I remember ye. Can’t take a bit of ribbing, aye?”
“Only to my enemies, Captain.”
“Hello, Captain. I’m Ivory Shepard, Captain of the Carolina Cutlass. We’ve come to request a stay here for a while. We’ve both a price on our heads and are being sought by a man o’ war sent from England,” Ivory said, reaching out to shake Teach’s hand.
Teach regarded her carefully. “Would ye mind taking yer leave for a bit Cap’n Carbonale? I’d like a word with the Razor here, if ye don’t mind.” Teach leaned back on one elbow. Once he laid eyes on Ivory, he barely looked at Maddox, except when he’d identified him from their previous meeting.
“Captain, anything you wish to share, you may say in my presence, sir.” Maddox sat straight up and replied.
“My camp. My rules. Yer all welcome to stay, though. The man o’ war won’t be lookin’ for ye here, and the water around the island isn’t deep enough for her to pass anyway. We’ll speak later.”
Maddox looked over at Ivory, and she removed her hat and nodded to him to signal she’d be fine. Ivory could see he was seething, but under the circumstances, the decision for him to exit was already made, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to change it. He turned and noticed two large men in the doorway, waiting to escort him should he protest and bowed to his host, and stepped outside.
“The Ivory Razor… right here in me tent. Tell me, Captain, how did ye hook yerself up with the likes of Blacksnake? I mean, he’s an earner, that’s for sure, but I heard tell he sacked yer ship a month ago or so and tried to turn ye over to the Guard.”
“Misunderstanding, Captain. He did, however, secure my release and has assisted me in evading capture since that time.”
“All of this over a bloody blue stone.”
“Excuse me?”
“The blue rock. Don’t pretend ye don’t know to what I’m referin’; yer too bright for such nonsense.”
“How do you know about the diamond?”
“How can ye not? Considering the talk stretches from Kingston to Boston.”
“Tell me then, what’s the talk? I’ll tell you if it’s true.”
“Ye sure ye want the truth? ‘Cause I got a feelin’ it’s gonna’ put the ax to yer love life with Captain Handsome out there.”
“Just tell me and stop playing games. I’m a woman, not an ignorant girl.”
“That fifty thousand pound bounty wasn’t for yer head; it was to get that blue rock.”
“How do you know this?”
“That rock was on its way to Nassau to be picked up and brought to Boston to be cut, polished, and set in a very fine and very large brooch for none other than ol’ Georgie the First himself. Well, if not fer himself, fer his wife Sophia…or could a’ been fer his mistress… but either way, all of them diamonds was commissioned for him. When ye sacked that merchantman, ye took everything that belonged to the King.” Teach shook his head and chuckled. “I’ll give ye credit there lass. When you hunt, ye hunt well.”
“So, the King’s Guard knew the whole time those diamonds were aboard?”
“They knew everythin’ that was on that ship from the diamonds to the slaves, and don’t ye think otherwise.”
“If that ship was so damn important, why didn’t she have an escort?”
“Escort draws attention. Escort means there’s something extra special aboard,” he said with a wink.
“So, you’re telling me that Maddox has known the entire time about those diamonds, and he was going to turn me over to the guard in Nassau and then collect the reward for the diamonds too?”
“I can’t say what the man was thinkin, Captain, but he knew ye had ‘em. I’m certain of that. They just wanted the diamonds back but if they couldn’t get the stones, they’d take you instead.”
Ivory jumped to her feet and ran from the tent. She passed Maddox and flew into the darkness, heading for the trail back to the skiff. She dodged campfires, drunken pirates, and tents all the way until she finally hit sand and was tackled
to the beach from behind.
“What in the hell are you doing? What happened back there?”
“Let go of me, you lying snake!”
“I’ll not let go until you start making sense.”
Maddox held her down, sitting on her in the sand. Each wave that rolled in made a soft woosh and was mere inches from her head as she thrashed beneath him. “Get your hands off of me, I said.”
“I refuse to let go of you until you tell me what happened back there.”
“Teach told me everything. He told me about the bounty on my head, and about you knowing about the diamonds, and who they were for, and how you planned to collect the money for the diamonds, as well as me.” Ivory’s chest rose and fell as she blew hard, hot breaths from her nose up into Maddox’s face, which was now as white as the sand.
He let go of her arms and sat back on his knees. Ivory slid herself from beneath him and climbed to her feet. “I should take your head right now and toss it into the ocean.”
“Please, just let me explain.”
“Explain what? How you lied, cheated, and used me for a lousy fifty thousand pounds and some shiny rocks?”
“Fifty thousand pounds isn’t lousy, Ivory but that isn’t the point is it?”
“You’re infuriating! Can you ever not make some ridiculous joke at my expense?”
“I’m really trying here, but you’re making this very difficult. Can you please stop shouting at me and allow me to explain?”
Ivory slapped her arms across her chest, folding them tight, and paced back and forth as Maddox remained on his knees in the sand, staring up at her through wide and desperate eyes.
“I didn’t know you then. All I wanted was freedom. You see, had I been able to deliver you and the diamonds, mainly the large blue one, I’d have received the fifty thousand and a pardon, and I’d have made my way to the quiet life of a free gentleman, anywhere I wanted. Then, when I first saw you…the first time you blinked open your eyes at me, I knew I was in trouble. When you cursed at me and tried to kill me…God help me, I knew the moment I touched your hand when you asked for more water that there was no way I would be able to go through with any of this.”
The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) Page 30