A Pirate's Ransom (9 page)

Edmund

Sitting in the corner of the darkened tavern with my back to the wall, I sipped my ale and watched the members of my crew enjoying the bounty of women eager to spread their legs for some coin. Some of the women were even pretty, yet none held any interest for me. I couldn’t help but wonder how I could have ever been eager to be here.

“What be amiss, Captain?” Smith asked. He set his tankard of ale down upon the table and flopped down into the seat beside me.

“What gives you the idea something is amiss?”

“Ye be wearin’ a scowl as black as night upon yer face. I was o’ the mind ye had a hankerin’ for some female company, yet ye be sittin’ here gettin’ into yer cups on yer own.”

“I was just thinking of Lady Catherine. Have you ever noticed how her blue eyes sparkle like the sea when she laughs?”

“Aye.”

“She haunts me, Tobias. I have had countless women in my time, but none have captivated me as she has. Have you ever known such a woman?”

“Nay, Captain, can’t say as I ‘ave.”

“Despite the fact that she is our prisoner, she has taken to the crew. She reads to them, finds humor in their jokes, and dances with them. Hell, she even forced them to bathe.”

“I was the one-”

“Come now, Mister Smith. You can’t fool me into believing that.”

“Well, give a bloke some credit for tryin’.”

“She was abducted by our crew and she has shown nothing but bravery in the face of adversity. I must admit, I have known men who show less courage.”

“Aye. As have I.”

“What I mean to say is it’s not merely a lustful desire I have for her, I admire her.”

“Aye, she be quite somethin’.” He sipped his ale and we sat together in silence for a moment. I had revealed too much of my feelings to the Quartermaster, and the looseness of my tongue was probably due to too much ale. I resolved not to elaborate further.

“Well, Mister Smith ... you need not sit here with me. Go and find yourself some companionship.”

“Be ye certain, Captain?”

“Yes, go. No need for both of us to spend our time sitting alone with our ale.”

“Aye, Captain, thank ye, Sir.”

Smith drained his tankard and ambled toward a table of ladies who seemed eager to earn a night’s wage.

I sat there falling deeper into my cups, haunted by blue eyes, pouty pink lips, and the memory of her lying wet and naked in my arms. In as much as I was in such a hurry to get here, I now could hardly wait to return to my ship, to Catherine.
With the score of women I had been with, how is it I can think of nothing else but bedding that slip of a girl?

But it was more than that. The memory of her laugh and how easily she found humor with the crew caused something to twist in my gut. Thoughts of her reading to them, the curve of her neck, the smell of her skin, the way she returned my kisses.
Where did she ever learn to kiss like that?
She has bewitched me and befuddled my mind. No other woman had ever affected me so. Get a grip, man. Look around you. There are many here to choose from whom could certainly ease the lust burning in your blood
. My eyes roamed the room and landed on Roxanne. The buxom blonde had always made sure she was available to me whenever we made port here. She was seated at a table and surrounded by men, whom I am certain were vying for her favor. When our eyes met, a seductive smile spread across her full and painted lips. Rising from her seat, she sauntered toward me.

“Evenin’, Captain.”

“Good evening, Roxanne.”

“It’s been a while since I laid me eyes on yer ‘andsome face.”

“Aye. That it has.”

“Ye be lookin’ for some female company to ease your troubles?”

My gaze ran over her, standing there beside the table dressed in a faded red gown that revealed nearly her entire bosom. Normally I would have been quite interested in a romp with the experienced tart, but as I drained my ale, thoughts of Catherine flooded back to me, and I found Roxanne to be paling in comparison and totally unappealing.
Perhaps having another ale would help
. I flagged down the barkeep, and the tentacles of uneasiness wound around my gut.

“Perhaps some other time, Roxanne,” I answered and flipped a coin her way.

Her eyes darted toward the coin on the table and she smiled her sweetest smile in an attempt to be coy.

“Be ye certain, Captain? Ye know I gots the cure for wot ails ye.” She leaned over, exposing her breasts.

“Yes, I’m certain. My deepest apologies, madam.”

“Don’t ye be tellin’ me, ye be taken to liken the boys?”

I chuckled. “No, madam, I’m simply not in the mood.”

“I ain’t never known ye to not be in the mood. Sides that, ye know all too well I can do things wot’ll gets ye in the mood.”

She leaned closer and, placing her hand upon my manhood, began to massage me through my trousers.

The thought of being intimate with her turned my stomach and taking hold of her hand, I lifted it away from me.

“Roxanne, I’m not in the mood.”

She held herself tall, and her spine stiffened.

“It be your loss, Captain,” she said and after snatching up the coin, made her way back to her table of admirers.

Leaning my head back against the wall, I closed my eyes, but for the longest time sleep eluded me.

Finally succumbing to exhaustion, my eyes closed and I found sleep.

Catherine stood upon the deck of
The Lady Victoria
, but she looked fearful. Suddenly dark arms snatched her away and dragged her down to the dark water. “Help me, Edmund,” she screamed. I tried to grab her, but I was too late. Too late to save her. She was gone, dragged away beneath the darkness. A large pool of blood stained the deck of
The Lady Victoria
and a trail of blood floated upon the dark waves. “Edmund ... help me
.”

“Catherine,” I whispered. I sat up with a start, and found myself still leaning back against the wall in the dark corner of a nearly empty tavern. My breathing was rapid and I was in a cold sweat. With many more hours until dawn, I sat back and tried to find some rest. But sleep was impossible as I could not shake the feeling of dread that curdled in my stomach.

After spending a troubled and sleepless night in the tavern that smelled of stale ale and sex, I met the men at the launch as planned. Some were dreadfully hung over but all appeared happy for having had the time to see to their needs.

Not having been able to shake that uneasy feeling, I was eager to get back aboard the ship
and put my back into rowing alongside the men. But as the launch drew closer to
The Lady
, my apprehension grew. No one came to the rail to announce our arrival and lower ropes to raise the launch to the deck. Instead, lifeless ropes hung from the rails, unattended, and the ship bobbed in the tide in an eerie silence. Fear prickled up my spine, and I said a silent prayer that nothing had happened to Catherine.

“Captain,” Smith whispered, “somethin’ be amiss here.”

Unable to control the feeling of dread that overpowered me, I leapt from the launch into the sea and swam the remaining distance to the ship. Grabbing hold of one of the ropes that lapped in the water against the side of
The Lady
, I climbed up and over the rail.

Mary sat on the deck sobbing and covered in blood, Jake’s head in her lap. My eyes scanned the blood-stained deck, but they appeared to be alone.

Rushing to her side, I knelt, and in as calm a voice as I could muster, I asked, “Mary? What has happened here?”

“Oh, Captain, it were awful,” she answered with a blank stare gazing off into the distance.

A groan escaped Jake’s lips, and I was thankful he was still alive.

“Mary, where is the crew?”

“I not be sure, Captain, but I think the evil vermin dragged their bodies to the brig and locked ‘em away.”

“Mary, were they killed?”

“I cannot say,” she whispered.

“Captain, what ‘as happened? Do ye mind helpin’ us draw up the launch?” Smith yelled from below. Ignoring him, I grabbed Mary by the shoulders, now with both hands and probably a bit more roughly than I intended, I shook her. “Mary, Mary, look at me.”

Turning her blood and tear-streaked face to meet mine, her eyes held a vacant stare.

“Where is Lady Catherine?”

“They took her, they did.”

My heart thundered in his chest. “Who Mary? Who took her? Who did this?”

“The men wot was dressed all in black ...”

My heart nearly froze in my chest at her words.

“What men? How many were there?”

“They said they was leavin’ me to warn ye not to follow lest they kill her.” She sobbed hysterically now.

I grew frantic with the idea that this could be the work of my sworn enemy.

“Please, Mary. Did they utter a name? Do you have any idea who may have done this?”

With a look of madness and quivering lips, she whispered a single name that made my blood run cold.

“Blackbeard.”

Edmund

“This is my fault, Smith,” I said as I paced back and forth behind the quartermaster, who stood before the great wheel.

“How could ye have known this were to happen?”

“Despite trying to keep a distance from her, I should never have left her side. If anything were to happen to her, I shall never be able to forgive myself.”

“Don’t berate yerself, Captain. We’ll get her back. Do ye have a plan?”

“Aye, to find Blackbeard, reach down his murderous throat, and rip his black heart out. I swear to you, Smith, if he touches her, if he does anything to harm her, compromises her in any way, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”

“If anyone can find him, Captain, it be you. We been closin’ in on his trail for nearly a month now. Ye could have captured him any time if ye had a mind to.”

“Aye, I had a mind to, but my orders were to drive him toward his favorite hideout on Ocracoke Island, and not to capture him unaided.”

“Aye, but ye never took into account he might snatch the Countess.”

I shot my darkest glare at the wiry little man holding steadfast to the wheel. I fiercely felt the need to choke something and struggled to rein in my anger. After all, this was entirely my fault. My fists balled at my sides.

“Captain, I know ye fancy the girl.”

Laughter erupted from deep in my chest, which brought a look of confusion to Mister Smith’s face.

“I have not gone mad, nor am I laughing at you. I’m laughing because I wish it were only that I merely fancied the Countess, but you see ... I find that I’m in love with her.”

Finally admitting this to myself, and actually saying the words aloud, flooded me with a deep sense of relief.

“Well now ... it be about time ye admits it.”

My confusion must have been written upon my face.

“We all seen it, plain as the day is long, but now, Captain, wot be yer plan to retrieve her?”

“We sail to Ocracoke Island.”

“An’ wot will ye do when ye find her? Wot of the Duke? Wot of yer ransom demands?”

“The devil with the ransom. I no longer care about any of that. Catherine is all I care about now.”

“Wot o’ the girl, then? Ye must do wot’s best for Lady Catherine, and that may not be a life as the wife of a sea going bloke. But better the wife of a Duke, living in a fine house, having the life of a Duchess.”

His words hit me hard like a punch in the jaw. Damn him.

“You’re right, Mister Smith. I love her and want what is best for her regardless of how I feel, yet I can hardly allow myself to even think of having to give her up.”

The Quartermaster remained silent for a long moment, then he asked, “Wot will ye be willin’ to give for her safe return?”

“Anything, Smith, my life if need be. I was unable to save the only other woman I ever really loved, and I will not lose this one. Failure is unacceptable.”

Smith’s eyebrow rose. “Ye once loved another?”

“Aye, Smith. My mother.”

“Ye would give yer life even if it means ye be givin’ her over to the Duke to be his wife?”

“Aye.”

“Aye, just as I expected. Then we best set our course to Ocracoke Island.”

Lady Catherine

It seemed like forever until we finally approached the sprawling house that sat at the end of the channel. The house was bigger than the one we lived in on the island and had a wide porch with white pillars. Well hidden by trees that had Spanish moss hanging from them, it seemed to be the perfect hideout. Blackbeard walked toward the wraparound porch, pulling me up the steps and toward the door.

“Countess, welcome to my humble abode,” Captain Teach said as he ushered me into the enormous foyer of the grand house.

My head snapped up at the staccato sound of a woman’s footsteps rushing toward us, but a grin spread across the Captain’s lips, somewhat softening the fearsomeness of his appearance. It was obvious he knew who approached.

One of the most beautiful, voluptuous women I had ever seen rushed into the room. Her dark hair was swept up, held in place by combs adorned with sparkling jewels. Her gown was the shade of robust red wine and made from a material that seemed to float around her like a cloud. Her lush lips were painted the same shade as her gown, and her darkly lined chocolate brown eyes danced with excitement as she hurried to greet the pirate.

“Edwardo, at’a last you arrive.” Her husky voice held a sensual quality, and her Italian accent was musical.

“Contessa, how lovely to see you once again,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips.

Her gaze fell to me. She wrinkled her nose, as if she smelled some rancid stench, then she snatched her hand away from the pirate.

“Who is this?” she demanded.

“This is Lady Catherine Nettleton, the Countess of Dorset. Countess, this breath taking vision is the Contessa Theodora de Lorenzo.” Her name slipped off his tongue like a song.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Contessa,” I said.

“Why she dressed in bedclothes?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“This is what she was wearing when my men captured her.”

“Why you bring her here,
me amore
?” Despite the sweet tone in her voice, her eyes flashed as she glared at the dark pirate.

“My dear Contessa, I wish to make her your student.”

“Hmm, you want me to show this shapeless girl how to make a man pant for her?”

“I do.”

She walked around me, eyeing me. I felt like an animal at auction and half expected her to check my teeth.

“What say you, Contessa?” the pirate asked.

The fiery Contessa clapped her hands, and a tall black man dressed completely in white with a smooth bald head appeared at the door. The glow of the candlelight gleamed upon his baldness and reflected off his golden hoop earrings.

“
Si
, Contessa.” His child-like voice was barely more than a whisper.

“Nameed, please take this girl to the bathing chamber and make her ready for my inspection.” Despite her enchanting Italian accent, the word ‘inspection’ made my stomach tighten.

“As you wish,” he said with a bow of his polished head.

“Wait,” I nearly shrieked, and everyone’s eyes turned to me.

“Yes, Countess?” the pirate lord replied.

Fear gripped me at what the fearsome pirate planned to do. My throat closed and I could hardly speak. “Inspection?” I managed to utter.

“Aye, the Contessa will examine your body and decide how to best accent your, shall we say, assets.”

My cheeks burned at the thought of being physically inspected.

“Ha!” the flamboyant Contessa spat. “This stick has no assets.”

“Contessa,” the dark pirate cooed, “only you could take this sliver of a girl, and transform her into a Courtesan.”

“
Si
, Edwardo, this is true.”

He smiled at having so easily coaxed her to his will.

Courtesan
. I knew not the meaning of that word, never having heard it before now, but I couldn’t help the uneasy feeling that crept into my gut.

“Nameed, take her to the bathing chamber and get her out of those rags,” she ordered.

“Wait!” I said in what I intended to be a stern voice, but even to me sounded very much like a cat squealing. “I’m not taking my clothes off in front of him.”

“Nameed is a eunuch,” the Captain said.

“That matters not to me.” I held my head high.

The Contessa flew into a rage, and turning on the pirate rattled off at him in Italian. Although I could not understand a word she uttered, I strongly suspected she was not happy. They argued, and finally the Contessa turned to me and said, “You, stick. You come with me.” She swept from the room in the rustle of swirling skirts and a cloud of fragrance.

The Contessa occupied several rooms in the grand house, all of which were lavishly appointed and decorated in deep, rich, colors reminding me very much of plates of lush ripe fruits, but my mouth dropped opened when I followed her into her bathing chamber.

An oversized brass tub occupied the center of the room and could accommodate two people with ease, and I wondered why anyone would need such a large tub. But my heart ached with a memory I struggled to suppress when I saw the great tub was completely surrounded by floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

“Close you mouth, stick, and take off those rags you wear.” Her words assaulted me as if she had slapped me across the face and my jaw snapped shut.

I did as she asked, for I dared not defy her. She circled around me, surveying every inch of my body, not only directly, but from different angles in the mirrors. I could not raise my gaze from the floor and tears streamed down my heated cheeks.

“What you cry for?” she snapped.

I couldn’t find a voice to answer her.

“Men no want to make love, if you cry all the time.”

“M-m-make love?” I stammered, still unable meet her gaze.

“
Dio Mio
! What you think a Courtesan do?”

“I-I do not know.”

“
Madonna
,
mio,
help me!” She flung her arms into the air and swept from the room yelling, “Edwardo,
vieni qui,
come here.”

I stood alone in the room, confused. I didn’t understand.
Had I done something wrong?
When I heard the dark Captain’s raspy voice in the adjoining room, I scrambled to cover my nakedness. Their raised voices carried to my ears.

“This stick, she have no shape and she cry all the time.
You ask me for a miracle.”

“
Si, mi ama
, you can do miracles.”

“Edwardo, this is going to cost you.”

“Work your magic,
Signora
, and I shall pay anything you ask.”

“And what you plan to do with this stick once I turn her into an object of desire?”

“Why, sell her to the highest bidder, of course.”

Their laughter echoed off the walls of the bathing chamber and seemed to swirl around me as tears streamed down my cheeks and my heart raced. Feeling both hot and cold at the same time, the waves of nausea won out, and I spewed the contents of my stomach into the oversized tub.