"Tell him to come join us," Lily said, "but I expect we'll have Jack free before he can find those men he wants to talk to."
"Please, let's hurry," Kitty said.
Lily handed Dodie the baby. "You take him. We'll be back in a little while."
Dodie's response made several of the women blush.
* * * * *
"I don't believe you," Zac said. "Not even Lily would do anything that crazy."
"Look at me," Dodie demanded. "Have you ever seen me holding a baby?"
"Come to think of it, I haven't," Zac said, realizing that as incredible as it was, Dodie must be telling the truth.
"They'll get killed," Zac said, heading for his office at a run.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Dodie shouted after him.
"What's Zac in a dither about?" Asa White, one of the regulars, asked.
Dodie explained quickly.
"Miss Lily can't go down there!" Asa exclaimed, thunderstruck.
"She's already gone, and Zac's going after her."
"One man can't do nothing against that bunch of cutthroats."
"It's a shame you don't have a gun," Dodie said, "You could go with him."
"Of course I got a gun," Asa said, pulling a pistol from his belt behind his back. "I never go anywhere without it. Hey, Eric, Bob, Miss Lily's gone down to the docks. We got to help Zac get her back. Did you bring a gun?"
Each man produced a hidden pistol.
"You're supposed to be unarmed," Dodie protested.
"Are you crazy?" Asa said. "This is San Francisco."
By the time Zac returned, half the men in the saloon had heard about Lily. They were all armed and ready to follow him.
"We're going with you to get Miss Lily," Asa said.
Cries of me, too echoed from all around the room.
"You said you'd need an army," Dodie said. "We'll, it looks like you got one."
"I just hope we get there in time."
"I'll run ahead to the Gold Nugget," one man said. "I got a couple of buddies there who'd love to be in on this."
Before he'd gone two dozen blocks, Zac was followed by a motley horde of a hundred men, all armed with guns, knives, and sticks. They all knew Lily, and they meant to see she didn't come to any harm. The mob continued to grow, block by block. By the time he reached the docks, they numbered in the hundreds. All he needed to do now was organize them into an attack force. But how did you organize a mob?
* * * * *
The closer they came to the docks, the more Lily questioned the wisdom of their decision. She sensed everyone else was feeling the same way. She could see their worried glances, the fear in their eyes, feel the drag of their footsteps. She told herself her father wouldn't have been afraid. Neither would Zac. She wouldn't be worthy of either man if she were afraid.
But she was.
The piers extended into the bay for a quarter of a mile or more. Hundreds of ships lined their sides, their masts and smoke stacks resembling a forest in winter, many discharging or taking on cargo in preparation for their next journey. Lanterns dotted the night like giant fireflies. From every direction came the sounds of activity -- the soft swish of ropes, the sharp ring of metal on metal, the dull thud of heavy footsteps on hollow decks, the steady whine of a windlass, the hiss of steam.
The night air was heavy with the scent of salt, shellfish, and seaweed. The moon was so bright its reflection could be seen on the water stretching halfway across the bay. There was very little wind, and thankfully, it wasn't so cold.
Lily wished Zac were here. The presence of Hezekiah and Mr. Thoragood wasn't half as reassuring as one glimpse of Zac's powerful shoulders would have been.
"I think we ought to have a plan," Lily said.
"I'll speak with the captain, " Hezekiah offered. "I'm certain that given a few minutes, Mr. Thoragood and I can convince him to release this young man."
Lily hadn't been in San Francisco very long, but she knew things weren't going to be that easy. She didn't even want to think of what Zac would have said to such a notion. She still hadn't gotten used to his curses, far less their variety. She couldn't get rid of the nagging fear that one of these days Divine Providence just might let loose a little brimstone to warn Zac he was treading a little too close to the edge.
Lily hoped it wouldn't be the fiery kind, but she had a feeling brimstone didn't come in any other variety.
Now that she thought about it, though, it didn't seem fair to harm Zac. If there was any brimstone to be flung, especially if it was fiery, it ought to be flung at these ships’ captains who kidnaped innocent husbands and fathers!
"Did you bring a pistol with you?" she asked Hezekiah
"We don't need a pistol for God's work," Hezekiah said.
Lily remembered a Biblical injunction to beat plowshares into swords. Or was it the other way around? It didn't matter. She wasn't likely to convince Hezekiah to change his mind, but she didn't feel anyone who went around stealing grown men was going to listen meekly to a couple of unarmed preachers and a bunch of women.
They passed the first several ships. Lily didn't like the way the sailors looked at them. Neither was she reassured to see there were at least a dozen men on each ship. The strength of their group seemed to diminish with each stride. Lily fervently prayed that the sanctity of their errand would help make up for the strength they lacked otherwise. She would rather have depended on Zac.
"There it is!" Kitty cried.
The Sea Witch rode at anchor at the end of the dock, a great, black hulk of a ship. Paint pealed from the sides. Gouges in the wood hadn't been repaired or repainted. The ropes that held it to the dock looked old and frayed. The gangplank lacked guard rails. Grease or grime covered the windows, making it difficult to see inside or for light to escape. It looked like an evil bird nesting in the water.
Lily felt a tremor of fear. She brushed it aside. She couldn't back down now. Not when they were so close.
Lily could see men moving about the deck. Others were loading cargo stacked on the docks. Maybe Jack would be one of those men.
Kitty rushed forward to the first man. He appeared to be supervising the others. Lily feared he was in reality guarding against their escape.
"Do you know a man named Jack Lofton?" Kitty asked him. "I was told he was on this ship. He's my husband. Please, I must see him."
"I don't know any Jack Lofton, lady. He ain't on this ship. Now you and your friends get outta here. We got a lotta work to do before we sail."
"Please, he doesn't want to be a sailor. He's got a baby he's never seen."
"Look, lady, I done told you I don't know no Jack Lofton. Now get along before somebody gets hurt."
Lily could see the determination of the group waver. She didn't know if they really believed this man or if his denial was a convenient excuse to give in to their fear. She didn't believe this man would tell the truth to anyone.
"How about you?" Lily said, approaching one of the men loading cargo. "Do you know a man named Jack Lofton on this ship or any other in the harbor?"
The man looked at her out of empty eyes and walked up the gangplank without answering.
"Do you know him?" she asked a second man, but he also walked by her in silence.
"Get away!" the guard shouted. "Leave those men alone. They got work to do."
"We're looking for Jack Lofton," Lily said. "He's on one of these ships. Somebody must have heard of him."
"Nobody's heard of nobody," the big man said.
"I would like to speak with your captain," Hezekiah said, speaking up. "Maybe he would know something of this young woman's husband."
"He won't know nothing," the guard said. "Now get out of here and leave us to our work."
"I insist upon speaking to the captain," Hezekiah aid. "If you won't call him, I shall go in search of him myself."
"You can't board the Sea Witch."
"Then call your captain."
Lily was so engrossed in the argume
nt, she almost missed a whispered message from a man plodding past loaded with his share of the cargo.
"Jack's chained in the hole."
Lily glanced at the man. He walked away without any sign he'd so much as looked at her. She quickly looked to where the guard was arguing with Kitty, Hezekiah, and now Mr. and Mrs. Thoragood. Apparently giving in to the pressure, he shouted for the captain.
Lily's apprehension grew when she got a look at the man who appeared on deck. He was huge, swarthy, dirty, unshaven, and dressed more like a pig farmer than a ship's captain.
"What do you people want?"
"They want to know if we got Jack Lofton on board?" the guard said.
"Never heard of him," the captain said. "Now you people get out of here."
"You have heard of him," Lily said, stepping forward. "He's chained in the hole right now."
* * * * *
Zac halted when he reached the docks. "We can't all go charging up at once," he said to Asa. "They're liable to grab the women."
"You can't hide this many men," Asa said, "not when they're spoiling for a fight."
Zac was thinking fast. He had just a few minutes to figure out what to do or lose control of the situation.
"Then let's give them a fight. Probably every ship at this pier has shanghaied some of its crew. Pick out a half dozen and attack them. Then when I give the signal, everybody converge on the Sea Witch. You got anybody willing to board the ship from the water?"
"Sure, as long as they don't have to stay in too long."
"Good. We'll need to take them by surprise."
"What about Miss Lily? She's a right pretty woman. No telling what some bastard would pay to have her all to himself."
Zac had been trying not to think about that. Knowing the Barbary Coast and the tastes of the men they catered to, it was exactly the kind of thing they would do.
He'd kill any man who touched Lily.
"I'll take care of Lily. You just take care of the rest."
* * * * *
Lily didn't like the way the captain was looking at her. If the Thoragoods and Hezekiah wanted proof Zac wasn't evil, one look ought to convince them that compared to this man Zac's soul was as pure as the driven snow.
"Who told you Jack Lofton was on my ship?" he demanded.
"He wouldn't give his name," Lily said truthfully. She wouldn't have told him the man's name if she'd known it. She wouldn't put it past him to kill the feeble creature.
"And you believed him instead of me?"
"You have the look of a man who makes a practice of being dishonest."
The fearful gasps of her companions were obliterated by his roar of fury.
"You dare call Rafe Borger a liar!"
Lily quaked before the blast of his rage, but she wasn't about to back down. She was certain several other unfortunate souls were also chained inside his ship.
In the silence that followed the captain's angry shout, Lily heard shouts and the sounds of combat. She prayed whoever they were, they'd attack the Sea Witch.
"I merely said you have the look of a liar. Now I wish you would stop shouting at me and send someone to bring Jack up. He hasn't seen his wife in nearly a year. He doesn't even know he has a baby."
Some of the captain's anger seemed to abate. Lily would have been more comforted if she hadn't felt it had been replaced by cunning.
"Which one is his wife?"
"I am," Kitty said, coming forward.
"Hmmm, not as pretty as the other one, but you'll do. I'll let you sail with him," the captain said. "Now what's fairer than that?"
"She can't do that," Lily said. "She can't leave her baby."
"Let her decide," the captain said.
"My good man, you can't force a woman to make this sort of choice," Hezekiah said stepping forward.
"Who the hell are you?" demanded Captain Borger.
"I'm Hezekiah Jones, minister of God. And this is Harold Thoragood. He's also a minister."
"Two preachers," Captain Borger said with a shout of laughter. "I bet there ain't never been two sky pilots on these docks since they been built, but I ain't afraid of you. You want your man, woman, come on board and see him."
Lily reached out to restrain Kitty. "Bring him up," she said to the captain.
The captain looked like he would refuse, then he stalked over to the hole. "Bring up Lofton," he shouted.
"Oh, God, he does have Jack," Kitty murmured
"You can't go on that ship," Lily said to Kitty. "You set one foot on that gangplank, and you'll never see land again."
"How can I see Jack and not go to him?"
"Think of your baby," Lily said.
When Kitty's husband was hauled up from the bowels of the ship, she half fainted from shock. He had a chain around his ankle. His clothes were rags, and his body seemed thin to the point of starvation. Only the bulge of his muscles indicated the captain fed his crew well enough for them to be able to work.
"Jack!" Kitty called out.
"Kitty, is that you?" the man called back, his body no longer bent and lethargic.
"Why don't you come up here where he can see you?" Captain Borger coaxed.
"No!" Jack shouted. "He's a fiend. Leave, all of you, before he rots your souls like he has mine."
Captain Borger hit Jack a terrible blow. "You want to see your man, you got to come up here," he called to Kitty. "And you gotta bring that other woman with you."
"You dare not touch these women," Hezekiah said. "God will strike you down."
It was the guard who struck Hezekiah down. Julie fell on her knees beside his inert body.
"Bring the two women on board, Caradec," the captain ordered. It was getting hard to hear his voice over the noise from the surrounding ships. "There's trouble brewing. Let's get the rest of the cargo and get out of here."
"You can't touch these women," Mr. Thoragood protested valiantly. A blow from Caradec's fist sent him to the boards with Hezekiah. Caradec's big hand closed around Kitty's arm. His other hand reached toward Lily.
"Touch her, and I'll put a bullet between your eyes."
Chapter Twenty-four
Lily was certain if she lived to be a hundred, she would never hear a more welcome voice. The guard let go of Kitty and turned to attack Zac.
But Zac was ready. A powerful blow to the stomach doubled the man over. Then a sharp rap on the side of his head with the butt of a pistol sent him sprawling to the deck. Zac pulled a small pistol out of his pocket and handed it to Mrs. Thoragood. "Watch him. If he tries to get up, shoot him."
Mrs. Thoragood looked as though she'd had a live serpent thrust into her hands, but she didn't let go of the gun.
Zac turned to Lily. "Get Kitty and head toward town. They're fighting all over this dock. It'll reach the Sea Witch any minute."
Zac turned away without waiting to see if Lily did as he told her. She didn't. She put her arms around Kitty, who showed signs of fainting for real, but Lily couldn't leave Zac, not after he'd put himself in danger to rescue her and her friends.
"I want that man," Zac told the captain, pointing to Jack Lofton. "Let him go, and we won't bother your ship."
The captain looked at Zac with murder in his eyes. "I'll have you in chains next to him. Get up here," he shouted into the hole. "We got a fool who thinks he's going to make off with one of our sailors."
Captain Borger headed down the gangplank toward Zac. Six men rushed onto the deck of the ship through the hole and various doorways and openings.
"Asa!" Zac shouted. "It's time."
The noise along the dock continued to build, but no mob of pistol toting gamblers converged on the Sea Witch.
"This is no time to be bashful," Zac called looking around. "We've got about ten seconds before somebody hits the deck."
"It ain't going to be me," said the captain.
"Get Kitty out of the way," Zac shouted at Lily. "She can visit her husband as soon as I get through with this overgrown toadstool." He handed Lily hi
s pistol. "If I go down, shoot him. And shoot to kill. If you don't, you'll end up as private entertainment for some son-of-a-bitch with a very nasty imagination."
Lily accepted the gun, but refused to let herself think Zac might end up shanghaied. She would shoot Captain Borger before she let that happen. She lifted the gun and pointed it at the first of the men coming down the gangplank.
"Don't come any further. I won't have a lot of cowardly thieves ganging up on my husband."
"Atta girl," Zac said, dancing out of Borger's reach. "Keep that popper aimed straight at their hearts, and we might get out of this mess yet."
Zac danced in, landed a blow to Borger's chin, and danced away before the huge man could hit him.
"He's a boxer," Hezekiah exclaimed, conscious at last. "Stay out of his reach," he called to Zac. "You can pommel him to death. But if he gets his hands on you, he'll crush you."
"I know that," Zac said, as he zipped in for another jab to the stomach and danced away again. "Just get ready to knock him in the head if I'm too slow."
"What'll I use?"
"Figure it out yourself!" Zac shouted. "I'm a little busy right now." He landed a blow in Borger's eye and just barely avoided a powerful fist aimed at his temple. It glanced off the side of his head, upsetting his balance. He fell to his knees.
"Watch out!" Lily screamed as Borger charged.
"You keep your eye on those mad dogs on the ship," Zac said, scrambling to safety. He landed a powerful blow to Borger's throat as the huge man lumbered past.
Just then a series of shouts caused Lily to look up. One of the ships had been set afire. The blaze lighted up the sky. It made it easier for her to see the look of blood lust and fury in Borger eyes. Before she could look back, the first man had raced down the gangplank and tried to snatch the pistol from her grasp. She eluded him, but only for a moment. Hezekiah tried to come to her aid, but he was knocked aside almost immediately. She heard Zac's cry of rage then something heavy hit the dock. She only knew who it was when the man holding her released his grip and sank to the dock from a wicked blow to the base of his skull. Just then Asa White and his men swarmed over the sides of the Sea Witch, battering all resistance into nothing in seconds.
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