Owned by the Ocean (22 page)

“
Been a strange couple months, ain’t it?”

Brant nodded.
“That it has.”

“
And that Catherine, she be gone now.”

“
Yes. She’s home.”

“
You gonna miss her?”

Brant laughed
bitterly. “What kind of question is that, Karl?”

“
Just a question.”

“
You and every man on the crew knew what was going on and you
ask me if I miss her?”

“
You shouldn’t have let it happen, Brant.”

“
You’re a little late to give that advice.”

“
Yer a grown man. You should have known it couldn’t go nowhere
good. She don’t belong in your world and you sure don’t belong in
hers.”

“
Don’t lecture me about where I belong.”

“
Yer looking like you need it cause I’m seeing you go down a
dark path because of a woman and I won’t abide for that. Now you
need to mourn, then so be it. Cry away because it takes more of a
man to admit to his pain than to hide from it. It’s a healing
thing. But don’t you dare let this ship suffer because you went on
a foolhardy chase after some noble woman.”

“
I loved her, Karl.”

“
I don’t doubt it, but you didn’t love her enough. Not to give
her what she deserved. If I see you going down a dark place, Brant,
I swear I gonna hit you hard. Don’t you forget that.”

Brant nodded
and held out his hand for the bottle. Karl handed it back to him
after he took a swig and Brant took a long drink. “Am I to spend my
whole life alone?”

“
We all do. Tis cause we already gave our life to the ocean.
Me, the crew, this ship, even you… no woman will take us cause they
can’t own us, we’ve already given our hearts to the
sea.”

Brant sighed
and nodded. Getting up, he threw the bottle overboard. “I’m not
going to be better overnight, Karl.”

“
Aye.”

Brant walked
away but looked one last time out to the dark waters. Life would go
on even though Catherine was gone. Days would be darker for a time
but Brant would crawl out of the hole and become his old self once
again, resigned to being alone. But until that day came he would
hurt. He would hurt every day until the image of a tall blonde
woman standing up on the crow’s nest with her hair blowing in the
wind was permanently erased from his mind. But when the day came
that she was gone the ocean could have him; heart and soul.

Prologue

Spain-1666

Senona looked
around the room full of swirling dresses of so many shapes and
colors. It was like a dream and left her overwhelmed and unable to
tear her eyes away. Tonight she was a princess in her new dress
with her hair curled, cascading in loose waves down her
back. Tonight she was perfect.

Browsing the
room, this time in search of familiar faces, Senona spotted Caton
Amador, and Isidro Amato. The boys, although older, were her
friends and a welcome relief to the overwhelming nature of her
surroundings. She made her way around the perimeter of the room in
their general direction.

Isidro was
never very serious about anything and enjoyed teasing Senona, which
annoyed her to no end. Caton was much more subdued and quiet, at
least around her. Although they were not as close as they once had
been, the families remained good friends, and the three of them
spent many hours riding around the countryside or playing games in
the garden. When they were younger, Isidro and Caton had been her
constant companions, helping her sneak out of tea with their Madres
or rescuing her from lessons with her tutor. Now they never
voluntarily saw each other, but due to their families’
relationship, they found themselves together often
enough. 

“
Senona, my Chica! You are a picture of beauty, as always,”
boomed Isidro’s obnoxious and teasing voice.

Caton turned
to look at the young girl. “Leave her alone, Isidro.”

“
Come on, Caton. She’s glad to see us.”

Caton frowned
but said nothing, turning his attention back to the pretty girl
standing next to him. Isidro seemed to accept that as permission to
continue, and he smirked mockingly at Senona, beckoning her. The
small flock of girls that surrounded the two boys giggled, causing
her to blush and become hesitant and uncomfortable. She had never
seen the boys in this environment, and she quickly questioned her
decision that she belonged with them.

“
It’s okay, Isidro. I just wanted to say hello.”

“
Well then, run along. There must be some of your friends
around.”

Senona forced
a smile and turned to Caton. “Hello, Caton.” 

He barely
acknowledged her with a brief glance and nod in her direction, and
then returned to ignoring her. Unsure of how to deal with Caton’s
rejection, she walked away, her eyes burning with angry tears that
threatened to spill over. Why was he being so rude? Not even so
much as a hello, as if he were embarrassed to be associated with
her. 

As she pushed
her way through the crowd, she heard one of the girls laugh.
“Caton, I do believe you hurt her feelings.”

Caton’s deep,
unmistakable chuckle cut through the din and his voice was all she
heard. “She’s a silly, strange girl. I would rather not encourage
her.”

Senona
expected this behavior from Isidro, but from Caton? She had always
thought he was honest and simple, but his actions tonight had shown
her otherwise. She had been a fool to think that these older boys
were her friends.

Escaping into
the shadows, she hid from the sneering glances and mocking laughter
that seemed to follow her wherever she went. She had thought that
tonight would be different, but nothing had changed. She was just a
strange little girl.

The night was
a blur, a blur of swirling skirts and obnoxious voices. To nearly
everyone she was invisible. Even her Madre and Padre, who had never
been overly affectionate towards their daughter, seemed to have
completely forgotten her existence. But that wasn’t so different
from normal. They weren’t very affectionate people ever, even
towards each other. 

At the end of
the night, Senona lay in bed, her new dress hanging in her
wardrobe, mocking her. She had realised tonight how far she fell
from society’s standards, her own parents’ standards. Any illusion
she had of being a princess, of being perfect for one night had
been shattered. But that didn't really bother her. The truly odd
thing was that she felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. Perhaps
she didn’t have to be that way. Perhaps now she had the freedom to
do as she wanted. It wasn’t as if anyone cared about her anyway.
She was just a strange little girl.

Chapter One

Three years later

Spain-1669

Senona looked
back hesitantly as she entered the dark stable where her father’s
horses were kept.  It was the middle of the night; the
countryside was quiet as slumber had overtaken everyone and
everything around. She was confident that no one had witnessed her
escape from the manor, nor would anyone know of her disappearance
until morning. That was how she intended it; let them find out the
bride had run the night before her wedding. She wouldn’t allow
herself to become the trophy wife of an arranged marriage.

She was young,
though not so young that she shouldn’t already be married. Nearing
her twenties, she could have married anytime within the last three
years, though she’d found no suitable match. Being the daughter of
Don Marco Montez meant she would not marry just anyone, and her
parents’ final decision was with an older, rich, and influential
Doctor from Barcelona, Senor Flamez. 

Senor Flamez
was nearing fifty and widowed not five years earlier. She was to be
his second wife, more to help him run his dilapidated household
than anything else. Rumor had it that Senor Flamez had allowed
things to fall apart after Senora Flamez passed away in childbirth,
losing the child along with her. It would be Senona’s job to make
the man happy again, provide him with an heir and allow his life to
become what it had been in previous years: rich, elegant, and
prestigious. How he came to the conclusion that she would be
suitable for that role she could not fathom. 

Senona was not, by any definition, elegant or humble. She was
quick to anger and didn’t much enjoy doing the domestic duties
expected of a good wife. Instead, she could be more often than not
found in a pasture or riding along the high cliffs bordering the
coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps that was why her Madre and
Padre were so pleased to have found her a husband; she would
no
longer be their problem or
embarrassment.

This late at
night the horses made very little noise. A few stamped their hooves
or rustled the hay; otherwise, the only sound was their breathing.
Senona’s horse was a young stallion; a Spanish horse with the best
pedigree money could buy. He had been a gift for her sixteenth
birthday. Only a young colt then, she had trained him herself and
preferred no other horse in her father’s stable over Naldo.

Saddling him
quickly and quietly, she shoved the small amount of clothes she had
carried from her room into a saddlebag. She hid a bag of doubloons,
which she had stolen from her father’s safe, carefully among them.
It was a small fortune and would surely have her father’s hounds
chasing her as soon as the red sun rose above the horizon. However,
she did not plan to be on land by then. She would find a ship where
she would be much harder to track. Perhaps, like the romantic
stories, she would be able to disappear into the horizon never to
be seen again. One could only hope. Yet, as she mounted Naldo and
rode him down the road that led to Barcelona, Senona found herself
looking back in sadness. Although she had not been happy here, it
was her home and this would be the last time she’d ever see it. No
longer would she be living the life of comfort that she was
accustomed to, no longer would she be secure in her future, and no
longer would she be able to wake up every morning without fear or
worry. Was she truly ready for this life? Looking forward again she
refused to allow herself another glance back. Whether she was ready
for this change or not, she had made up her mind, and she would go
through with it. As hard and as treacherous as it may be, wasn’t
freedom worth it?

Upon first entering Barcelona, the streets were quiet and
abandoned. Rich homes and rich families resided here, and they were
all in bed at this late hour. However, as she drew closer to the
docks, she came across more and more people, none looking very
reputable
,
many
giving her looks that made her uneasy. There were still a few safe
places near the docks though. The merchant’s quarter housed many
rich men, friends of her parents, the Amadors, being only one of
them. Senona missed the years when she had been friends with Caton
Amador. Age changed things and people, and as a result, friendships
slipped away.

Not really
knowing where to start, only knowing what her destination was to
be, Senona dismounted and led Naldo to the docks in hope that a
Captain would be around from whom she could buy passage to Port
Royale. There, in a British colony, she would be out of her
parents’ reach. She could start a new life.

While the rest
of Barcelona was very much asleep, the docks were alive with
activity. Music and raucous voices came from the many taverns that
lined the docks, all dangerous places that Senor Amador had warned
her about many times when taking her on tours of his ships. This
was no place for a lady at any time of day, much less in the middle
of the night. But desperate times called for desperate measures,
and she was certain there would be more than a few Captains in
these taverns ready and willing to make some extra gold. Finding
one who would willingly enter British waters would be a little
harder. Pirates and privateers patrolled there, and it’d be even
harder to find one who would allow a horse onboard. The few who
would have allowed Naldo held to the old sailor’s superstition that
having a woman aboard would bring bad luck. This made the task of
finding passage more difficult than Senona had expected. Only one
Captain, an Englishman, Old Richard, seemed to hold no qualms.

“
Port Royale ye say?”

“
Si, Senor, are you making port there at all?”

“
Just so happens I is. It will cost ye though. It's bad luck
for a woman to be onboard, and I ain’t too fond of
livestock.”

“
How much?” It was never a question of the money to Senona. It
was her Padre’s, and its only purpose to her was to get her far
away.

“
Fifty pieces of eight.”

Senona nodded.
“And when do you leave?”

“
First light.”

“
I’ll give you thirty doubloons to cast off within the next
two hours.”

“
Two hours, eh? I ain’t barely supplied.”

“
Stop at the next port and get your supplies then. I can take
my money elsewhere.” Senona spoke with authority and confidence
that she did not feel. She had seen her Padre conduct business and
knew that if she was to get her way, she had to appear in control.
She carefully placed the bag of doubloons on the dirty wood table
to illustrate she was able to provide what she promised. Old
Richard’s eyes gleamed greedily.

“
Aye, two hours and the
Sea
Vulture
shall cast off.”