Souls Aflame (6 page)

They shouted encouragement, coaxing her to sing for them again. “Please,” someone called out.

Beaming, happy, enjoying the moment after days and nights of unfamiliar confinement, Julie felt as though her very soul were smiling as she said demurely, “If you really want me to…”

“We do! We do!” another voice called.

“Lassie, we beg you…”

“Lovely…just lovely…”

And while she stood there, stunned, drinking in their praise, someone appeared with a fiddle. Stationing himself next to her at the railing, he began to play the lilting music of “Sweet Evalina.”

“I know that one,” she cried joyfully, and with the fiddle, she began to sing once more. When she’d sung every verse, the fiddler went straight into “Juanita.” Somewhere along the way, one of the sailors produced a flute and began playing along. Then there were two men with harmonicas as everyone joined in to sing “Bonnie Blue Flag.”

After each song, the air rang with applause and shouts from the crew for more. Julie became lost in her music, thrilling to their appreciation and enjoyment, heady with excitement. The men who had instruments went from song to song, and she knew almost all of them. If the words escaped her, she hummed along.

The selections became livelier: “Arkansas Traveler”…“The Goose Hangs High.” Then someone began to yell out the words to “Hell Broke Loose in Georgia.” Some of the men paired off to dance, jiglike, while Julie laughed and clapped her hands in childlike glee. Not only was she enjoying herself, but the pulsating thought rippled through her that they
liked
her singing, seeming truly appreciative.

So entranced was she with the merriment surrounding her, Julie did not notice a forbidden jug of rum being passed about freely. The men were so caught up in the excitement that all thoughts that they were breaking ship rules were pushed from their minds. They danced to the fiddle and the flute and the harmonicas, and the sounds filled the night.

Backed against the railing, Julie began to feel slightly uncomfortable. The songs were changing to bawdy tunes she did not know or like, and finally she realized the men were drinking and the scene was getting out of hand. Deciding it best to take her leave, she began to step sideways, only to bump into something.

Lifting her eyes, she saw the leering gaze of Shad Harky.

“You are a pretty one,” he murmured, his voice slurring as he reached out to clamp a beefy hand upon her bare shoulder. She cringed beneath his touch, and he chuckled. “Ahh, you have no cause to be frightened of me. I’m your friend. I know how lonely you’ve been, cooped up below. We’ll take a walk in the moonlight, and I’ll show you how friendly I can be to a lovely lady…”

“No!” She cried sharply, shaking her head from side to side. “I’m going below…”

“Don’t be shy. I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t see. You know a real man when you see one. And you miss a man, don’t you? Out here at sea, away from fancy balls and such, you’re craving some excitement—some lovin’—and old Shad Harky’s the man who can give it to you. Ask any filly I’ve ever bedded, and—”

“No! Stop it!” Now she was truly frightened. Turning to run from the lurching, drunken man, she became confused as to her direction, and instead of making her way to the doorway that led below, she found her ankles tangled in riggings and ropes. She didn’t know which way to turn, and was unable to move.

Shad followed her. “Now don’t be shy, missy. No need to be. I can tell by looking at you that you’re a real spitfire, just waitin’ for what I’ve got to give you…”

Julie knew she had gotten herself into a dangerous situation. With all the noise the men were making, no one would hear her screams, and the way Shad was looking at her, she knew he meant business. Striking out at him, she cried, “Leave me alone! Get away from me…”

Reaching out to yank her from the entanglements around her ankles, he jerked her against his chest, and his mouth sought hers. She twisted her face from side to side, shaking with terror.

He clutched her breasts roughly and cried triumphantly, “You got some nice ones, you have. Now stop pretending you don’t like what I’m doing. I don’t want to hurt you none.”

She clawed at his face, hysterical with anger. It would be like the other time, that horrid night in the woods, only this time there would be no rescue. “No…no,” she beat at him with her hands knotted into tiny fists. “Leave me alone…stop it…”

“Hey, ain’t no woman gonna slap me!” Shad swung and clipped the side of her jaw and for a moment, she swayed dizzily, fighting to remain conscious.

With one quick jerk, he yanked the soft material of the bodice of her dress, opening it to the waist. Her breasts tumbled forth, naked in the moonlight. He paused to bend his head and suck one nipple roughly into his mouth, giving it a little stinging bite before he pushed her down on the deck.

Falling on top of her, he began to shove at her skirt and petticoats, twisting and squirming his body against hers, grinding his hips, as he promised it would be good for her. “You’ll feel like a real woman ’cause you’ve got a real man,” he said with a snarl. “You’ll be wanting me to slip into your cabin every night and give it to you.”

Julie was still reeling from his blow. The cool air from the ocean touched her bare flesh as he jerked up her skirts and ripped down her pantalets, exposing her legs. He forced his knee between them, struggling to spread her thighs as she tried with every bit of strength to push him away.

He fumbled at his pants, and then she felt the hot, throbbing flesh of his organ as he jabbed at her. “Now you just relax,” he commanded, his breath hot and ragged on her face as he finally succeeded in yanking her legs wide apart. “It’s gonna be good, I tell you. Don’t make me hurt you. I know you’ve wanted this…”

Terror gave her strength. “I
haven’t
wanted this,” she shrieked, giving him another shove, this one harder than the last, as she caught him off guard while he tried to enter her. Anger overcame her fear. “I only wanted to be your friend. I felt sorry for you. Your face…”

“My
face!
” he screamed, and she shriveled beneath him, terrified at his maniacal expression, made even more eerie by the filtering moonlight. “You felt
sorry
for me, did you? Why, you snobby little bitch! I didn’t ask for your pity. I even welcomed those lashes on my back if it meant being close to you. I thought you were something special, but you ain’t. I’ll show you how I want your pity…”

And with a roar that pierced the night, like that of an animal gone mad, he dug his fingers into her buttocks, slamming them painfully against the rough deck, at the same time spreading her thighs more widely apart with a quick swing of his knees. She lay completely vulnerable beneath him…helpless.

With one hand, he held her arms above her head. Then he covered her mouth with his hot, seeking lips, stifling her screams as he used his free hand to maneuver himself to enter her.

Julie’s cries melded into the sounds of the revelry beyond and disappeared on the night wind like a fragile bird caught in a gale.

Chapter Four

No one had noticed the man standing topside on the ship’s bridge. Hidden by the shadows, he was watching the scene below with agitated interest.

So that was the beauteous Julie Marshal, he observed curiously. He found her every bit as lovely as his first officer had said she was. The moonlight brushed her ebony hair with silver dust, and her face was a delicate sculpture of loveliness in the light’s heavenly glow.

Even from where Derek Arnhardt stood, he could see that the young woman was generously endowed. He stared at the rise and fall of her bosom as she lifted her voice in song. Exquisite breasts, he thought, opening and closing his fingers as though actually caressing the firm, tender flesh. It had been a long time since he had pleasured himself with a woman, and he felt as though his eyes were feasting on the most beautiful specimen he had ever seen.

Something caught his eye, and he realized suddenly that a jug was being passed around. He slammed his fist against the wooden railing. This was the reason he had wanted her kept below. A woman was bad luck on a ship, especially one such as his, and she did not realize how she was incensing his men.

He noticed that she appeared frightened and was moving sideways along the railing, away from the crowd of men. Good. Perhaps there would be no trouble. In a little while, he would send Garris and his men down there to break up the revelry. For the moment, he would allow the crew to carry on since they were going to be punished anyway for breaking the rules about drinking onboard.

He drew on his pipe thoughtfully, thinking how Julie’s fright was probably teaching her a lesson. She would, no doubt, be glad to stay below for the remainder of the voyage.

The door behind him opened, and he turned to see Edsel Garris stepping up beside him. Scanning the scene, he sucked in his breath, shocked, then faced his captain to cry, “Sir, she left the dining room over an hour ago and said she was retiring for the night. I had no idea she’d slipped up on deck. And those men appear to be drinking—”

“They’re drunk, most of them,” Derek commented tonelessly. “Someone began passing the jug, and what started out as a quiet little song fest is now a bawdy party.”

He had been facing Edsel, and now he turned his gaze back to the deck. Leaning forward, he cried, “Goddammit, she’s struggling with someone. Get down there quick—”

But Edsel was already through the door, taking the thin plank steps two at a time. The first officer made his way down below, yelling for Watson and Justice to come quickly and bring their side arms. They answered his call, demanding to know what was happening, but he cried that there was no time to explain, and urged them to hurry.

The three crashed through the opening onto the deck, pistols drawn. The crewmen, drunk though they were, saw them and immediately the revelry ceased, as though a giant, unseen hand had passed and dropped a shroud of silence over them.

Then they could all hear it—the muffled cries and moans as Julie struggled in the darkness beyond with Shad. The sailors moved aside as the officers picked their way over the riggings and ropes, making their way toward the sounds.

Shad Harky was on top of Julie, about to force himself inside her. Edsel swore as he swung his booted foot to kick the side of the boatswain’s head, sending him sprawling sideways with a startled cry of pain. Floyd reached to scoop Julie quickly to her feet, and she sagged gratefully against him as he wrapped his arms about her to hide her nakedness.

“Take her to her cabin,” Edsel ordered. “Make sure she’s all right. Watson, help me get this bastard below. We’ll put him in chains. I’ve a feeling this time his neck will stretch, for sure.”

Julie kept her face pressed against Floyd Justice’s chest as he helped her away from the scene. “Would you like for me to carry you?” he asked worriedly.

She murmured feebly that she could walk. She felt so foolish, so embarrassed. A few more seconds and Shad would have succeeded in ravishing her. Only by struggling with every ounce of strength she could muster, twisting her hips from side to side as he tried to penetrate, had she been saved from his full assault. Shuddering, she thought how terrible it had been, and how much worse it would have been had the officers not arrived when they did. And it was so humiliating for everyone to have seen her that way—naked…exposed…vulnerable…

Floyd felt her trembling and patted her awkwardly as they reached the steps leading below. “It’s going to be all right,” he tried to comfort her. “It’s over. I just hope you aren’t hurt.”

Just as they were about to descend, the outraged bellow came, splitting the heavens with its vociferousness. They turned to see Shad struggling against Edsel and Grover as they held him between them.

“I’m gonna get you!” he screamed at Julie. “You wanted me! I know you did! You led me on, you little trollop. I’ll fix you good…”

And then he turned his face upward, in a direction beyond Julie’s view, and he bellowed once again: “I’ll get you too, you son of a bitch. I’ll see you dead! Goddamn you, Ironheart…”

Then he slumped forward, making a grunting sound, and hung limply between the two officers. Julie knew one of them must have silenced his tirade. Her body quivering, she allowed Floyd to help her on down the steps, thankful to depart the scene.

Just as they reached the door to her cabin, the one opposite swung open. Her mother stood there, clutching her robe to her throat, mouth agape. “Oh, dear God!” she whispered, swaying, reaching out to steady herself against the door facing her. “Julie, what has happened?…”

Floyd helped Julie inside the cabin, where she slumped gratefully down to the bed. Her mother hovered nearby, demanding to know what was going on.

When he had covered Julie with a blanket, Floyd turned to her mother and told her as gently as possible about Shad’s attack.

“I’m all right, Mother.” Julie was surprised at the calmness with which she could speak. “He didn’t succeed with what he was trying to do. The officers got there in time.”

Her mother sat down and put her arms around Julie. “But what were you doing up on deck? You said you were going to bed a long while ago.”

Wearily, she shook her head and sank back on the pillow. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s over. I just don’t want to think about it anymore.”

Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out the sounds of Mr. Justice telling her mother what little he knew of the incident, and that Shad Harky was being placed in chains. “There’s no telling what the captain will do to him now. Mr. Garris says he’ll probably hang.”