Passion's Tide (15 page)

“We didn’t want to do it,” Deacon grumbled
.

Amber stood and reached out with one hand to grasp the bottom rung, the
mango still in her other
.
She smiled
.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you boys were afraid of me.” They abashedly dropped their gazes
.
“Good
.
Because you have every reason to be.” Their heads shot up in surprise to witness the feral grin on her face
.
“Mango?” She tossed the fruit at Pax, who, still stunned, made no effort to catch it, letting it bounce off of his forehead
.
Then she pulled herself up the ladder and over the side, ignored the pirate Captain who watched her from his spot near the mast, and went into the cabin
.
The door swung shut with a bang
.

Logan walked to the side of the ship and watched as Pax and Deacon hooked the ropes to the boat, then climbed up the ladder
.
“What happened? What did she say?” he inquired as soon as they were standing on the deck
.
“What did you say to her?”  Deacon scowled, and Pax shook his head with anger.

“Next time,” the freckled boy said, “you get someone else to do your dirty work.” Logan reacted instantly as Pax threw something at him, catching it in his hands
.
Looking down, he saw it was a mango, and raised an eyebrow in question as Deacon stormed off
.
“Or better yet, do it yourself,” Pax concluded, before following his friend below deck
.

Logan shrugged and bit into the mango, his face turning into one of disgust as he tasted it
.
His chewing stopped as he looked down at the orange fruit and saw small worms wriggling inside, and almost gagged
.
He spit over the side of the boat, then reared back and threw the mango as far as he could, watched it bob in the gentle waves of the Caribbean waters
.
He waited for the nausea to pass, then turned around and found Johnny standing there with a grin on his face.

“What?”

“I told her not to eat that one, said it would make her sick
.
I guess she decided you deserved to have it, instead!”

Two nights later the ship dropped anchor in Tortuga. Amber continued to give Logan the cold shoulder, showing no visible reaction to his intentionally obnoxious whistling as he finished his preparations to go ashore. She failed to ignore his taunting wink from the doorway, however, and the sound of the key turning in the lock. She heard him instructing someone to stand guard outside her door, so even if she were able to pick the lock, she would still be unable to escape.

There had to be some way out! Day was turning to dusk as she paced restlessly, and the last rays of sunlight shining through the windows illuminated the room
.
She stopped, turning to look at the windows with a smile
spreading across
her face
, as a plan formed in her mind.

Fifteen minutes later she was ready; her trunks were piled up underneath the window, she had taken off her shoes, quickly plaited her hair, and slipped a knife down into the front of her dress
.

It dug into her uncomfort
ably now as she climbed on top of her trunks and pushed at the glass
.
The window creaked open and the warm sea breeze caressed her skin, and beckoned her towards freedom
.
Putting her hands on the ledge she hoisted herself up and through the open window, holding onto the railing of the sterncastle deck above her as she balanced herself on the pane and slowly turned herself around
.
Looking down, she swallowed
.
The water seemed so far away now that she was up here
.
But it was too late to turn back, and she would do whatever it took to get off
this blasted ship.

Taking a deep breath, she jumped
.
She hit the water quietly with a small splash, but the unexpected weight of her dress pulled her down
.
Struggling to keep her head above the water she kicked her way towards the ship, where she was able to grab hold of the anchor line and catch her breath
.
Even now, her skirts twisted around her legs and
hindered
her mobility
.
Holding herself up with one hand, she reached into her bodice and pulled out the small knife, and tried to cut the laces in the back of her dress
.
Finding it difficult, she
gave up
and slid the blade into the front of her gown, and careful not to cut herself, slit it open from the waist up
.

As she pulled herself from the tangle of fabric, the anchor line that had been keeping her afloat began to move, steadily creaking as the pirates on deck hauled it up
.
Her hand was raw from where the metal chain had been wrenched from her grasp, and she winced as she placed it in the salt water
.

The fabric of her gown floated in a pile beside her as she tr
o
d water in her petticoats and chemise, remaining as much in the shadow of the large ship as possible
.
At the last moment she kicked off from the side and began swimming towards the shore, just as the heavy anchor rose out of
the
ocean, sending drops of water raining down on her back
.

As she pulled herself through the water, she debated whether or not to approach any of the other ships that were anchored in the harbor
.
Passing under the shadow of one whose name read
Scourge of the Caribbean,
and a second called
Satan’s Vengeance
, she figured it was in her best interests to try her luck with the villagers
.

The water was warm and Amber was a good swimmer, but wh
en she finally reached the dock and began to climb the ladder, she was exhausted
.
Panting, she collapsed on the wooden planks and focused on catching her breath
.

She didn’t hear the boy approaching until he cleared his throat, at which point she leapt to her feet and looked him over
.
He seem
ed
about fifteen, tall and lanky with long blond
hair pulled into a knot at the base of his neck
.
He was rocking back and forth with his hands in his pockets, but she hardly noticed, so excited was she that she found someone to help her.

“Can you please assist me? I’m looking for a ship that can take me to England, and I have to leave as soon as possible,” she asked the boy.

“How much?”

“Oh, well I don’t have any money with me, but I can assure you that whoever helps me will be handsomely rewarded.”

“How much?” he asked again.

Amber frowned
.
“You just asked me that, and I told you I didn’t have—” she stopped talking and followed his intense gaze to her body, where the thin fabric of her chemise lay plastered to her skin, embarrassingly transparent
.
His meaning dawned on her. “This isn’t what it…you must think…but I’m not a...” she stuttered, her face turning beet red. The boy shrugged and turned to walk away
.
“Wait, I still need your help!” He didn’t stop.

With a sigh she picked up her skirts and began running after him, but he disappeared behind a building before she could reach him
.
Standing at the center of a village square, she looked around her
.
To her left was a brothel, to her right was a tavern
.

She headed towards the tavern just as a large woman walked out with two inebriated men
.
From the woman’s attire and the direction she was leading the men, Amber surmised she was a whore
.

“Excuse me, ma’am? Would you be so kind as to point me in the dire
ction of someone who could help me find a ship to England?” The woman pushed past her with a hearty laugh that sent her large breasts heaving, dangerously close to escaping from the ill-fitting bodice of her worn dress
.
The men on her arms paid no attention to Amber at all
.

Feeling a hand on her lower back, Amber spun around to find a tall, bald pirate leering at her
.
A crudely fit glass eye swiveled in its socket as he looked her up and down
.
“Hows about we go find a room and you can show me what’s under those pretty little skirts?”

She was losing her patience. Pulling herself from his grasp, she took a step backwards and planted her feet
.
“Unless you can help me find a ship, I suggest you find your pleasures elsewhere.”

“Oh goody, she plays hard to get
.
I love it when I get my money’s worth!” He lunged towards her and she fell backwards into a pair of strong arms
.

“Oi, Jarret, leave ‘er alone, the miss said she don’t want nothin’ to do with ya, so shove off!” came an unfamiliar voice behind her.

“Yeah, get lost!” another man called as he stepped alongside her
.

They waited until Jarret stormed off before turning to Amber
.
They were both young, maybe in their mid-twenties, and attractive enough
.
Or maybe it was because they were both smiling so cheerfully down at her.

“You all right there, miss?” asked the first as he released her from his grasp
.
He had light brown hair and a tattoo on his upper arm, while his friend was tall and dark
.

“Yes, thank you.”

“We were just walking by on our way to our ship when we heard the commotion,” added the tan one
.
“I hope he didn’t cause you too much trouble.”

“Not overly much, though
I am thankful that you arrived when you did,” she said, then paused
.
“Did you just say you had a ship?”

The men looked at each other
.
“Aye, where is it that you be needing to go?”

“England, and as soon as possible.”

“Well then, miss…”

“Amber.”

“Miss Amber, it’s your lucky day! Because that’s exactly where our ship happens to be headin’.”

“Aye, we’ll be settin’ sail afore sunup tomorrow, but we can take you there now, if you’d like
.
We can also offer you some dry clothes and a meal.”

Amber let out a sigh of relief
.
“You don’t know how happy I am to hear that
.
Thank you both very much.”

“It’s our pleasure
.
My name is Lewis and this here is
Ken
,” said the tan one as he offered her his arm, which she took with a smile and allowed herself to be led down the dirt road
.

She quickly explained to them her situation in full detail, incensed with fury as she got to the pa
rt about Logan locking her in his cabin. Amber thought she saw the Irish one smile, but she attributed it to exhaustion because when she blinked, he was somber
.
“I’m sorry to hear that, but don’t you worry, soon he won’t be able to get to you
.
You’re safe with us, you hear?”

They slowed their walk and as the streets got darker and more deserted, Amber realized with a sinking panic that they had headed in the opposite direction from the docks
.

“I don’t mean to bother you, but isn’t your boat in the marin
a?”

“That’s where boats usually are,” replied Lewis as he tightened his grip on her arm.

“Then why are we going this way?”

“Because,” said
Ken
, “we don’t have a boat.” Amber gasped as he pulled a wicked looking blade from his waistband and held it up to her face, the moonlight reflecting off the jagged edges of the rusty metal
.

Her eyes widened and she screamed, but was silenced as his dirty hand covered her mouth
.
She immediately bit down and was met with a satisfactory howl as he pulled away from her
.
Lewis raised his hand and slapped her square on the cheek, leaving her red-faced and seething with anger
.
“Oi, are you all right?” he asked his friend, who was glaring at Amber as he cradled his hand to his chest.

“The bitch broke the skin! I’m bleeding.” He raised his injured hand as evidence
.

“Touch me again and you’ll get more than that,” she spat at them, but was silenced as another hand connected with her face
.

“Bring ‘er in here,”
Ken
said, gesturing towards a darkened alley between two ru
n-down buildings
.
Amber struggled to break free of the hands that dragged her from the street, but was no match for the taller, stronger man
.
Her face stinging, she was pushed up against a wall.

“Let’s see how feisty she is when we’re done with ‘er
.
Hold her down.” A pair of arms circled her chest, pining her arms to her side and rendering her incapable of moving her upper body
.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” she threatened, as
Ken
approached her with his knife extended, wearing a vicious
sne
e
r
.

“Or what?” She didn’t answer, but instead struck out with her foot to kick him as hard as she could, not anticipating that he was waiting for her to lash out
.
With surprising quickness he grabbed her ankle before she made contact with his leg, then lowered the knife to her skirt
.
She closed her eyes, wincing as she heard the tearing of fabric and felt the warm breeze against her calves
.

He tossed the cloth aside and approached her again, this time with the knife directed at her exposed throat
.
Instead of going for the skin, however, he slit the strap of her chemise and watched with a hungry grin as it fell forward to reveal the top part of her breast
.

She whimpered, and the man who held her immobile laughed, his sticky breath washing over the side of her face
.
The knife was about to slice through the other strap when a voice rang out
.

“Let her go
.
Now.” Amber jerked her head towards the noise, relief washing over her as she saw Logan approaching the Irishman, who at this point had turned from his captive towards the intruder.

“What if I don’t, eh? What are you gunna do about it then?”

Logan took another step forward and placed his hand on the hilt of his cutlass
.
“I’d have to kill you.”

“I’d like to see you try, old man,”
he barked with an ugly laugh, preparing himself to fight.