Harlequin Historical September 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: Lord Havelock's List\Saved by the Viking Warrior\The Pirate Hunter (51 page)

‘Penny for your thoughts,' Will said.

Mia's eyes flashed open.

‘Only a penny?'

‘They're worth more than that? Now I really have to hear them.'

Mia stayed silent. She couldn't tell him what she was thinking; he'd think her a sentimental fool. Not that he'd tease her or mock her, he was too kind for that, though he'd probably just gently remind her they were from different worlds. She was a felon, the sister of a pirate. He was a law-abiding hero. She had no business wanting him, and he would be crazy to think of her as anything more than a source of information. Sure, he might have kissed her on the beach. She wasn't so naive to think he wasn't a little attracted to her, but that attraction was purely physical, nothing more.

‘Back at the inn you were going to tell me about your brother,' Mia said eventually.

A cloud passed over his face and for a second Mia wished she hadn't asked. He opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could come out Amber ambled back outside.

‘So, you want to understand the weather,' she said. ‘What do you know about meteorology?'

Will looked at Mia and she motioned for him to go ahead.

‘Very little,' he admitted. ‘I've heard of it, but always thought the idea of predicting the weather preposterous. It can change within seconds.'

‘That's very true.'

‘If we could predict the weather, then ships wouldn't sail through hurricanes and farmers would know when to harvest their crops to stop them from spoiling.'

Amber nodded in agreement. ‘But some people have been doing those things for hundreds of years. Experienced Captains know when to head for cover and lower the sails. Farmers watch the skies to decide when to plant their crops and when to harvest them. Sometimes they get it wrong, but a lot of the time they get it right.'

‘So you're saying meteorology is just pattern recognition?'

Mia could tell Will remained unimpressed so far.

‘Meteorology is part pattern recognition. The rest is surprisingly scientific.' Amber stood. ‘Why don't I show you?'

They followed her further into the overgrown garden.

‘We use readings from the air and ground thermometers, barometers, wind gauges.' Amber pointed each out in turn as they walked past the gadgets. ‘I accumulate the data and then I look at what has happened before in similar circumstances. And it's not just isolated data, either. The rate of change from one value to another can tell you so much.'

She was becoming animated as she talked—here was a woman who clearly loved her vocation.

Mia felt a sudden emptiness inside. Looking at Amber was a stark reminder of what life could be like. The past few months she hadn't been living, she'd been existing. Barely surviving. And when Will caught her brother and his crew, which she now had no doubts he would, she would be even worse off. She doubted she'd have her freedom, let alone a life like Amber's.

‘Mia?' Will asked, the concern evident in his voice, ‘What's wrong?'

‘Nothing,' she said with a sad smile.

‘Why don't I give you a few minutes?' Amber said, looking shrewdly between them. ‘I'll compile a weather report for this area for the next two weeks.'

Will started to say something but Amber cut him off.

‘If you don't want to use it, that's fine, but let me give it to you. You never know when it will come in handy.'

Amber disappeared again, leaving them alone.

‘What's wrong, Mia?' Will asked again.

‘Nothing, I'm just being silly,' she said, wondering how to get him to drop the subject.

‘Was it something Amber said? We can leave.'

‘Don't try to use me as your excuse,' Mia said sharply, ‘If you want to be rude and leave, then go ahead, but don't try to make out it's what I want.'

Will looked slightly taken aback by her tone. Mia wanted to reach out to him but she knew she couldn't. Then she'd have to explain what this was actually all about: her lack of future.

‘We'll wait,' Will said, turning away from her.

Mia swallowed and tried to call out for him, but something inside stopped her. She had to hold herself back from getting too close to him. In a few days he would be apprehending her brother, the only person in the world she loved, the only family she had left.

They stood in silence for a few minutes. Mia pretended to admire the different plants in the garden whilst Will just stood with a wide stance, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

‘I see you two have worked it out,' Amber said when she returned. She was carrying a couple of sheets of paper covered in text and diagrams.

‘Thank you,' Will said, ignoring her comment as she handed him her predictions, ‘I'm sure these will be very handy.'

Amber shrugged. ‘I hope so, but I don't mind if you throw them away. If you would just wait until you're out of sight of the house, it's better for the ego.'

‘I'll study them tonight,' Will insisted.

‘It was lovely meeting you both.' Amber caught Mia's arm as she walked past, ‘He's a good man and he likes you a lot,' she whispered in her ear. ‘You just need to make him realise it.'

* * *

‘Can we go to Savanna-la-Mar?' Mia asked suddenly.

They'd walked in silence all the way from Amber's house back into Port Royal. Mia had spent the time trying to decide if she wanted to go to the town her brother had raided or not. Part of her knew she shouldn't punish herself, but the other part wanted to know. If she was going to help Will find her brother, she had to accept the fact that she was going to be partly responsible for his execution. At the moment she was finding it hard to acknowledge her big brother could be the one ordering all the atrocities they'd heard about. She knew going to the town he'd sacked would help to focus her mind and decide once and for all what was the right thing to do.

‘Mia, I don't think that's a good idea,' Will said, turning to face her.

‘Please,' she said, ‘I need to see it with my own eyes.'

‘It will just upset you.'

Mia knew she had to make Will understand why she wanted to go to Savanna-la-Mar, but she was finding it hard to put her internal dilemma into words.

‘I want to help you,' she said slowly, ‘I really do. I know what Jorge is doing is wrong, but it's so hard to believe that my brother is the one doing all these terrible things.'

Will didn't look convinced.

‘If I help you catch Jorge, then he will be executed. I will be sending my brother to the gallows.'

She looked imploringly at Will, begging him to understand.

She saw him soften.

‘This will help?' he asked.

‘I think so.'

She hoped it might focus her mind and help her decide what was for the best.

‘Then we'll go.'

Mia watched as Will took charge, organising the hiring of a horse for the ride and getting supplies and directions from the tavern owner.

* * *

In an hour they were ready to go. Will expertly swung himself on to the back of the horse and reached down with his hand. Mia looked up at him, her heart pounding in her chest, hoping he didn't expect her to hop up behind him.

‘Come on,' Will said.

‘Behind you?' Mia asked.

Will looked around as if to ask where else she wanted to sit.

‘Won't it be a bit dangerous?'

‘It's perfectly safe.'

Mia hesitated again.

‘You have ridden a horse before?' Will asked.

She shook her head.

‘It's easy. All you have to do is hold on.'

The idea of looping her arms around Will's waist was tempting, but Mia still felt a reluctance holding her back.

‘I promise I won't let anything happen to you.' He said it so sincerely Mia placed her hand into his. ‘I'm going to swing you up behind me,' Will explained carefully. ‘Just place your hand on the horse's back and let me do the rest.'

He allowed her to get into position, then he gently pulled her up behind him. Mia clutched at his waist as soon as she was seated, wondering if she would slip off backwards as soon as they started moving.

‘Comfortable?' Will asked.

Mia nodded, then realised he couldn't see her. ‘I'm comfortable.'

‘We'll start off slow. You just let me know if you want me to stop.'

Will nudged the horse forward and Mia felt her fingers gripping his waist even tighter as they began to move.

‘You all right?'

‘Fine.'

After a couple of minutes Mia felt herself relax. The rhythmic movement of the horse was quite soothing and she felt safe holding on to Will for support.

Soon they had left the busy town of Port Royal and were trotting through the Jamaican countryside. Mia allowed herself to enjoy the ride, taking in the lush forests on either side of the dusty road and feeling the warmth of the Caribbean sun on her skin. She also enjoyed being so close to Will in such an acceptable fashion. Apart from their brief encounter on the beach it had been months since Mia had experienced any form of human contact. She'd lived an isolated life in her cabin and every day had been as lonely as the last.

* * *

After a few days' ride they paused at the top of a hill to look at the town below.

‘Savanna-la-Mar,' Will said. ‘Are you sure you want to go down?'

‘I'm sure.'

He spurred the horse forward and they trotted down the winding road into the small settlement.

Even before they had reached the centre Mia could see the damage that had been wrought upon the town. Some buildings were burned to the ground, just blackened husks and rubble to hint at what they had been before. Debris littered the street and the town was virtually deserted.

‘It's like a ghost town,' Mia whispered into Will's back.

They rode on in silence, reaching the small town square. A solitary woman, dressed entirely in black, was attempting to scrub the wooden front of her house. Even from the other side of the square Mia could hear her heart-wrenching sobs as she laboured in the midday heat.

Holding on to Will for support, Mia slid off the horse and landed lightly on her feet. She slowly walked towards the woman, not wanting to scare her with a sudden approach. She wondered where all the other townsfolk were and why this single woman had insisted on staying if no one else had.

‘Can I do anything to help?' Mia called when she was a short distance away.

The woman stopped her work and glanced up, her eyes clouding with fear.

‘I'm not going to hurt you.'

When the woman didn't answer, Mia edged forward.

‘He's gone,' the woman whispered.

‘Who's gone?'

This set the woman off sobbing again. Mia reached her side and gently placed an arm around her shoulder, pulling the distraught woman towards her.

‘He was only a boy.' She sobbed into Mia's shoulder. Mia could see she shouldn't immediately ask what had happened to this boy—she needed to ease the woman into it.

‘Where is everyone?' Mia asked.

The woman snorted, making an effort to dry her eyes. ‘Most left as soon as there was any sign of trouble. Those who stayed are behind locked doors. Not that there's any point hiding now.'

‘What happened here?' Part of her didn't want to know the answer, but she knew she'd come too far to leave without the whole story.

‘Pirates,' the woman said forlornly. ‘They came late at night, most people were in bed. We knew it was a raid before we'd even looked out the window.'

Mia tried to imagine how petrified this woman must have been when she'd realised her town, her home, was being attacked by pirates.

‘I did my best to protect him. I thought he was going to be safe,' she said, her hands wiping the never-ending stream of tears from her cheeks and her eyes pleading with Mia to understand. ‘I made Roger hide in the wardrobe, made him promise me he wouldn't come out until I fetched him.'

‘Roger's your son?' Mia asked.

The woman straightened and looked Mia directly in the eye. ‘Roger was my son.'

Mia didn't think she wanted to hear any more, but she couldn't stop the mourning woman now.

‘What happened?'

For a minute Mia wondered if she would refuse to say any more, she seemed so consumed by her grief, but when she did start speaking it was as if she couldn't wait to get the story out and share her burden with someone.

‘The pirates were streaming through the town, raiding anywhere that looked like there might be something worth stealing. I was watching from the upstairs window.'

Mia glanced up at the wooden house behind her, seeing the small window that must have served the single upstairs room.

‘It was sickening. If anyone was caught out in the street they shot them, or beat them unconscious. I couldn't bear to watch, but I couldn't look away.'

‘There's more, isn't there?' Mia asked, sensing they were reaching the climax of the story.

‘A group of the pirates had just set fire to the bakery.' She indicated a charred building across the square. ‘I was sure they were nearly done—they'd taken everything of value from the town and had caused so much destruction.' Her voice wobbled for an instant, but quickly she regained control. ‘I looked down into the street again and I saw Roger just outside our front door. He looked so scared out there all on his own.'

Mia tightened her grip on the woman's arm to show her support, knowing all the time that nothing would ease the pain of her loss.

‘I don't know how he'd got out there, or why, but I suppose he'd heard the commotion and wanted to see what was happening for himself.' The tears were streaming freely down her cheeks now and Mia knew she was reliving every awful moment of the pirate raid.

‘I ran down the stairs, I thought I could drag him back inside before anyone noticed him.' She shook her head. ‘I was wrong. By the time I got downstairs he was dead. They'd shot him.'