Bride of the Baja (37 page)

She turned and reentered the darkness beneath a cluster of palms. Where could she hide? There. In that dark hollow under a wind-bent shrub. She lay on the sandy ground, a wave of nausea all but overwhelming her.. As a torch came toward her, she put her head down and closed her eyes. A man shouted a few feet from her.

Opening her eyes, she saw him—black-bearded, a bandanna around his head, a torch in his hand. He looked about, cursed and went on. She sighed with relief—he hadn't seen her. More men passed, their torches crackling. She heard the men a few moments later milling about on the beach. They had all gone past her hiding place without seeing her and their querulous tones told of their confusion.

She heard a sniffing and tensed as a lean brown dog stopped above her. As he sniffed at her, she reached out her hand to pat him. The dog barked.

"Shhh, shhh," she whispered. The dog growled, pawing the ground, then raised his head and began to bark again.

A pirate approached, calling to the dog, and the animal whined and sidled away from Alitha into the night. She let out her breath in a shuddering sigh. Suddenly a torch flared over her head. The flame was thrust at her, and behind it she saw a grinning face.

"Here she be," the man cried. His hand grasped her wrist and pulled her stumbling to her feet. Torches formed a circle around her. Men's faces leered at her. One man, a giant redhead, stepped forward and stared down at her breasts, which were partly revealed by the torn gown. He put his hand to the neck of the gown and pulled.

Alitha screamed. Without warning vomit sprayed from her mouth onto the redhead.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The small man who had found Alitha's hiding place sprang at the giant redhead with the harelip. "She's mine," he cried, grabbing the big man's arm. "Grosbeck, you shan't have her."

Grosbeck shook him off. "She belongs to whoever's man enough to take her. I'm man enough, Ferret, and you're not."

Grosbeck, ignoring her vomit on his face, turned to Alitha, who was clutching the edges of her ripped gown together to cover her breasts. He took her by the arm and yanked her to him just as the man called Ferret leaped onto his back and began pounding him about the ears with his fists.

Grosbeck snarled, releasing Alitha. He reached over his head, grasped Ferret's jacket and, bending forward, hurled Ferret head over heels into the crowd.

"Wait, Grosbeck." One of the pirates stepped forward. "Fair's fair. Ferret found the wench, after all. Let Bouchard decide who's to have her first."

"He'll want her for himself," Grosbeck protested sullenly.

"He's had his chance with her. We'll see he don't have her again. Am I right?" He appealed to the men around him, and they murmured their approval.

"Let Bouchard decide," Ferret whined. He was on his feet again, warily keeping out of Grosbeck's reach. "Fair's fair," he said.

Grosbeck shrugged his massive shoulders. "We'll see what the captain says."

He swept Alitha into his arms and carried her into the crowd in the direction of the pirate camp. The men stood aside to let Grosbeck through, falling in behind him, torches held high as they surged forward in a grotesque parade.

Alitha crossed her arms over her breasts as she felt one of Grosbeck's hands on her leg, the other on her side below her arm. She twisted to free herself from his grasp only to have Grosbeck cradle her closer to his hard body. She struggle to control another wave of nausea and felt her stomach cramp so hard she cried out in pain.

Grosbeck strode from the trees onto the beach, and in the light from the first of the bonfires Alitha saw Bouchard leaning heavily on a walking stick, his head swathed in a bandage. When Grosbeck carried Alitha to him, Bouchard stared glassily at her.

"Bring the captain his judge's chair," someone called. Timbers were cross-hatched on the hard ground at the top of the beach, boards were laid on them and a chair was placed on top. Two men lifted Bouchard onto this platform and into the chair, where he sat staring down at Alitha. Torches formed a semicircle around the judgment seat.

"I'm glad to see the bitch didn't get far," Bouchard said slowly, smiling at Alitha. "Let her stand on her two feet," he said to Grosbeck.

The big man lowered Alitha to the ground, keeping his hand on her shoulder. Ferret sidled from the crowd to stand on the other side of her.

"You wouldn't disrobe for me," Bouchard told her. "You should have—you would have found me the most appreciative and civilized of men. Now let's see how you enjoy these"—his gesture included all the men pressing close to her—"these other gentlemen."

"Remove her gown," he told Grosbeck.

The redhaired pirate spun Alitha around to face him, grasped the already torn nightgown in both hands and split the cloth down the middle. He stripped the gown from her arms and Alitha stood naked except for the charm stone on her neck. Fighting waves of nausea, she closed her eyes, and buried her face in her hands.

"Now tell me the nature of your dispute." Bouchard nodded to Grosbeck and Ferret.

"I found her," Ferret said, "after all the others passed her by, and so by rights she's mine. Fair's fair."

"Did he indeed find her?" Bouchard asked Grosbeck.

"He may have, he may not have. Perhaps his dog found her. What's the difference? She's mine because I have her." He gripped Alitha's upper arm. "Possession's nine points of the law. Any man who wants her first can fight me for her. Including you," he told Bouchard.

"I want no more of the bitch," Bouchard said. "She had her chance to be treated like a lady--now let her be treated like an animal." He looked from Ferret to Grosbeck. "Settling this matter calls for the wisdom of Solomon." Bouchard began to laugh, almost giggling. With an effort he quieted his laughter and stood up, leaning on his walking stick.

"And we will decide the matter much as wise King Solomon did," Bouchard said. "Ferret, you found her, so you will have her first."

Grosbeck took a step toward the platform, but Bouchard waved him back.

"Grosbeck," he said, "you appear to have appropriated the young lady, so you will have her first. You both shall have her. And when you have done with her, let anyone who wishes have her, and when all that want her are through with her, break her back and bury her beneath the earth and let the maggots have her."

Bouchard sank back in his chair, his hand to his forehead. Grosbeck reached to pick up Alitha and her bowels let loose at the same time she vomited all over herself and Grosbeck,

"Phew! Bring some water. I ain't wading in no mess like this," Grosbeck said.

"Í-I've got cholera," Alitha managed to gasp out.

"Cholera!" Bouchard exclaimed. "Get her the hell away from me."

Alitha continued to vomit and her bowels stayed loose as Grosbeck dragged her off, Ferret trotting beside him.

"She's gonna die like my sister," Ferret said. "Something in my sister's gut burst and she vomited and had the shits just like this one. Took hours afore she died. I ain't gonna do this'un. No way."

"Gonna throw a bucket of water on her and she'll be clean enough for me," Grosbeck said.

"Think she's really got cholera? I seen guys die from it and they puke and shit like she's doing. "

"Yeah, so they do." He stared down at Alitha.

"You never found that bottle of rum I hid," Ferret said.

"You better get it and bring it here before some other som' a bitch finds it."

Ferret trotted off, smirking to himself, sure the thought of catching cholera had Grosbeck scared to do 'er.

"Esteban found out that the revolutionaries gather here," Thomas said, nodding to a small cafe. Jordan crossed the street and pushed open the door. When he came out ten minutes later, Thomas met him on the road. "It went well?" he asked.

"They all know about the gold now. How much was stolen from me and where I suspect it's cached. Soon the whole village of Acapulco will know."

A horseman rode past them, raising dust.

"Good," Thomas said. They walked to the inn and were about to enter the courtyard when Esteban rode up from the opposite direction.

"How did you fare?" Jordan asked him.

"
Muy bien
. The fishing boat is at our disposal, as are two men to row us. Gold coins work many miracles." He dismounted and clapped Jordan on the shoulder. "Your scheme is mad and dangerous, Capitan Quinn. That is the reason I like it."

Esteban looked at the Bible in Thomas's hand. "I think you'll need a more powerful weapon tonight," he said.

Thomas opened his jacket, revealing a pistol and a knife. "Not more powerful weapons, merely different ones," he said. "The Lord will understand."

The sun was setting in a splendor of gold and yellow when Thomas, Esteban and Jordan pushed the dugout canoe into the surf and scrambled aboard. The two Indian rowers, clad only in breechclouts, began paddling with long, steady strokes. No one spoke as the canoe glided south a few hundred yards offshore.

The sky darkened, the evening star shone brightly in the west and the other stars began to appear overhead. They rounded a point of land and saw the blaze of three fires punctuating the night. A ship lay on its side near the fires, and another rested at anchor in the bay.

"By God," Jordan said, "it is the
Kerry Dancer
. Look at her, isn't she a beauty?" He studied the ship. "She's rigged to sail. They must want to get themselves and the gold away from here as soon as they can."

They rowed into the bay, keeping the ship between the fires on the beach and their canoe. Slowly, silently, the oarsmen approached the
Dancer
. There was no sign of life aboard as the canoe slid closer and closer, finally nestling against the ship's side.

"Eight bells," someone called out in Spanish from the deck above them. Again there was silence.

"Here," Jordan whispered. His searching hands had found a ladder on the ship's side. He grasped a rope rung and climbed up, with Esteban and Thomas behind him. Jordan cautiously raised his head over the rail and glanced around the familiar quarterdeck. He saw no one. The only light came from aft near the wheel. Swinging himself on board, Jordan crouched low and padded aft. No one was at the wheel, but he saw a seaman standing at the starboard rail looking toward the beach and the fires.

Jordan crept up behind him, circled the man's neck with his arm and plunged his knife into the man's side. The pirate groaned and collapsed into Jordan's arms. After lowering him to the deck, Jordan turned swiftly, but the poopdeck was still deserted.

Hearing a muffled shout forward, he ran back to the quarterdeck, where he stopped and looked about him. Again the ship was quiet, he saw no one in the darkness. Suddenly a figure loomed up in front of him. Thomas.

"We found two men," Thomas whispered. "We disposed of them. We've searched the deck and found no more of them.1"

"The rest are probably below," Jordan said. "Three more, most likely. If I were Bouchard I'd have two watches on the ship while she's anchored like this."

Esteban joined them. "Prisoners," he said. "Would they have prisoners aboard,
Capitan
Quinn?"

"They might. They'd be men they've impressed from ships they've captured, seamen who refused to join them. Or pirates who broke the articles they signed when they came aboard. Why?"

"The noise you heard. My man almost eluded me. He thought I was a prisoner escaping. They'd keep prisoners in the hold, would they not?"

"We planned to seal the hold shut," Thomas said, "and we should. It's too dangerous to go below."

"Could we use the prisoners if they would sail with us?" Esteban asked Jordan.

"We can use all the men we can get."

"Then I will go below and discover if there are actually prisoners aboard."

"No," Jordan told him. "I'll go. I know this ship and you don't. We can only risk one man."

"Listen." Thomas turned toward the shore. In the distance they heard the pop-pop-pop of musket fire. "Look." Thomas pointed. They saw torches bobbing along the beach and flashes of gunfire to the north.

"By God," Jordan said, "we did bring them. My talk of gold in the cafe did pay off. Revolutionaries or whoever they might be, they're attacking the camp. We got aboard the
Kerry Dance
r none too soon."

"The power of gold," Thomas murmured.

"I'll secure the hatches," Jordan said. "We've no time to go below now."

As Jordan bolted the hatch covers shut, the other two men watched torches approaching the fires on the beach as though the pirates were retreating from an attack on their guard posts. They saw men running, heard their cries and shouts of alarm.

"They're not launching a boat," Jordan said. "They mean to fight it out on the beach."

"They're fools if they do," Esteban said.

"Wait," Thomas said, scanning the shoreline. "Be patient, it's still too early to tell. They will come to us. They’ll bring Alitha to us. They must."