The Pirate's Jewel (38 page)

“I didn’t tell them ’bout the treasure. We’ll even up later.
Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here,” Jack whispered in his ear.

A soldier pulled Jack off Nolan, and the corporal shoved
them both forward. “He’ll have to have a grog with you another time, Jack. He’s
got a previous engagement with the brig.”

The marines’ enjoyment of Jack seemed to prevent them from
noticing anything but the absurdity of the exchange. Nolan’s glance at Jack,
who now draped his arm around the shoulder of the man leading him away, gave no
clue as to whether Jack’s promise was drunken nonsense or an attempt to strike
a bargain.

The desperate question plagued Nolan through the difficult
trek to the ship’s belly. And that he was considering Handsome Jack’s words as
a viable means of escape proved how truly hopeless the situation was. They
tossed him and Bellamy into a small hold that smelled of urine and blood and
closed the door, leaving them in total darkness.

“Jack said he’d rescue us if I gave him part of the treasure,”
Nolan said the minute he heard the booted footsteps fade.

“Old codger? That boy must have just got out of swaddling
clothes to never have heard of me. His superiors should know about this. Let he
and I cross steel and we’ll see who’s the old codger.”

Nolan brought his hands up to rub his temples, but his chains
stopped him short. “Jack didn’t exactly say it like that, but he said he didn’t
tell them about the treasure.” With the pounding in his head and the beating of
his own frantic pulse, he couldn’t even hear Bellamy breathe. “We have to get
out of here,” he said, a note of panic creeping in his voice. “I don’t want
them to get their hands on Jewel.”

Besides the fact that he wasn’t at all sure if Devlin was
the type of man to resort to rape or not, he feared that if they had her on
board, the man Nolan wounded would recognize her and realize there was no boy.
Then she’d be in the same trouble as they, on her way to the gallows.

“Then, why the bloody hell did you let them capture us to
begin with? We shouldn’t have surrendered without a fight. I didn’t teach you
that.” Bellamy’s voice cut through the darkness.

“They had their muskets trained on us. Half my men weren’t
even armed.” That he should have posted a watch, should have done many things
differently, was of no help at the moment.

“Bah, if they were pirates—”

Nolan cut him off. “They’re not,” he said, realizing too
late he wasn’t much of a pirate himself. Instead of an honest crew, he should
have picked men with a few more notches on their swords. “So, what are we going
to do? Do you think Casper will help us escape?”

Before Bellamy could answer, a key was thrust in the lock
and the door swung open. Even the soft light of a lantern temporarily blinded
Nolan after being immersed in total darkness.

“Yes, it’s you all right.” He instantly recognized Greeley’s
voice, but it sounded a little weaker, a little less pompous. “Is this the man
who engaged you?” Nolan’s vision adjusted, and he made out Greeley’s haggard
appearance. The man wore his heavy dark blue coat, but his neck cloth was loose
above his sallow features. Beads of sweat dotted his face and pooled in the dark
circles under his eyes.

His interest in Greeley and the other man rattled Nolan’s
chains, and Greeley shrank back. A sailor dressed in the identifying striped
shirt and canvas breeches of the English navy stepped forward, shakily pointing
a musket at him. Nolan realized that all the marines, the only men aboard
trained to fight hand to hand, must have been dispatched to shore. Not only
that, Greeley had all the signs of fever. Being locked on a ship where crewmen
had started to succumb to tropical sickness would normally be a disaster. To
Nolan, it was a sign of hope.

Another man, who looked in worse health than Greeley,
peeked around the sailor with the musket. “That dark-haired one is the man. But
the other was a boy. I told you. That one ain’t him.”

“We’ve seen enough,” he heard Greeley say before the door
was immediately slammed and locked, thrusting them back into total darkness.

“They seem to be undermanned. If we can get out of here,
we might have a chance of escape.” Nolan yanked on his shackles until his wrist
burned.

“I’ve got more than a chance. I’m going to gut that fellow
who called me an old codger!” Bellamy shifted, clinking his chains.

“And how do you intend to do that?” Nolan tried to keep
his mind focused, but thoughts of Jewel on the island, pursued by a detachment of
British marines, kept sneaking into his mind and seizing him with panic.

“Sit down, Nolan, and save your strength.” Bellamy paused
for a moment. “Why didn’t you kill me on the beach?”

Nolan shuffled his way to the portal and tried the handle.
He knew it would be locked, but he wanted to check the latch’s strength.
“Because I love your daughter.”

The brass handle didn’t seem all that sturdy. Perhaps if
he wrapped the chain attached to his feet around it, he could pull with his
body weight and do some damage.

“Stop fiddling with that, Nolan. Even if you get out, you’re
still shackled. You actually love the girl? But she’s my child. How can you
forget that?”

Nolan fell against the door with his shoulder. The portal
coughed with promise. “She’s nothing like you.” He stopped his testing of the
varnished wood. “Why did you claim to be the captain?”

“Knew they’d separate the captain. Was hoping you could
rally your men and rescue me.” Bellamy paused, but Nolan could tell he wanted
to say something more. “I didn’t know you loved her. I might not have tried to drown
you if I knew that. Thought you were just using her to get back at me. Does she
know?”

Nolan leaned his back against the door and tried to think.
“Of course, she…I don’t know. I guess I haven’t been the best husband.” The
thought that he’d be whisked away to England, and then hanged without ever
seeing Jewel again, almost broke him. He turned and gave the door another hard
shove with his shoulder. This time, he thought he heard the wood splinter.

“Get away from the door. We don’t want them to know that
we’re hell-bent on escaping just yet. Let them think they have us where they
want us.”

Nolan laughed, but its desperate hoarseness worried him.
“They do have us where they want us.”

“You know, you’re going to make a much better husband than
you ever would a pirate. The first time, when you didn’t let the crew do me in,
but left me on the island to die, I let it go, thinking you were young and I had
been a father figure to you.”

Nolan’s dry laugh was genuine this time.

“Let me finish. You have to look your enemies in the eye
when you do them in. But it’s obvious you’ll never understand that one. Then,
when the error of your ways shows up in your life, you not only give me a
second chance, you don’t kill me when you should have.”

“Because it would have hurt my wife.”

“Couldn’t even go find the bloody treasure until your old
sire gave you permission by dying a natural death. Thought you’d be at it again
before five bloody years. Didn’t think you could stand the pious life that
long.” Bellamy snorted. “Thought you’d come back for me, begging to join my
crew again to save you from dying of boredom.”

“And what if I had come back? You wouldn’t have been
there. What have you been doing for the last five years besides getting fat?”

Though arguing with Bellamy wouldn’t help their cause, it
was relieving some of Nolan’s tension.

There was a long silence, and he began to think Bellamy wouldn’t
answer. Perhaps the comment about his weight had been uncalled for.

“I suppose the mutiny unnerved me a bit.” Bellamy’s words
were slow and obviously reluctant. “Went on a bit of a bender, bad even for me.
Wayland got tired of me and went to watch the girl, so as not to lose the map. Think
he got a bit too attached, though. He thinks he’s her father.”

“So I’ve noticed.” All Wayland’s meddling with regard to
Jewel would be worth it if what Bellamy said were true. Wayland would be just
as anxious as Nolan to see Jewel safe, and he might have the means to do something
about it. Though Parker was with her, the man didn’t have the experience to
begin to know what to do. “So, you sobered up when you heard that I was out for
the treasure again?”

The chains clinked accompaniment to the sound of Bellamy
slapping his belly. “Yep, and I’m better than ever, if I do say so myself. I
might be out of practice, but I still almost got you.”

Nolan refrained from pointing out that he’d relieved Bellamy
of his sword in short order. Bellamy’s delusions shattered his earlier
confidence that his old mentor’s ability to get out of any scrape would hold
true. Fear and panic tightened his nerves all over again. He slid to the floor
and hung his head. “Do you think Jack will help us? You know him better than I
do.” That Jack Casper was his only hope at the moment spiraled Nolan’s mood
lower.

“Casper’s a pirate. He’ll play whatever hand is the best
bet. Luckily for us, we got the better pot. He’s got to know the British will
make him stand trial just like us.”

Nolan stood, unable to remain still. Bellamy was right.
“I’ve never known you to be so patient. Or rational.”

“Learned it waiting for you, Nolan.”

***

Jewel saw the light cast and heard the men’s rumbling long
before they approached her and Parker’s hiding place. “They’re coming. How do I
look?”

“Terrible. I hate this idea. Jewel, I’m going to have to
insist that we think of something else.” Parker had done a lot of insisting,
but Jewel hadn’t heeded one of his urgings.

She ran her fingers through her tangled hair once more, and
then tugged at the lacy trim of her chemise. She’d discarded her favorite green
gown—it was ruined from her father’s knife anyway—not only for effect but
practicality. If she did get her hands on a sword, she’d be hindered by her
heavy skirts and tight lacings. Her thin chemise and petticoat provided much
more maneuverability—not to mention that it showed the bloody scratch that
appeared nastier than it was. “If you won’t bruise me, then at least help rip
my underskirt.”

Parker folded his arms over his bare chest and refused to
budge. “I won’t go along with it. It’s too dangerous. Those men are more likely
to rape you than want to help you.”

She turned back to the trail to check the soldiers’
progress. “That’s why we have to make sure we approach them when Devlin’s with
them. You’re going to help me, Parker, and this is what we are going to do, so
get ready.”

She heard him shuffling behind her. If she turned around
and confronted him again, she feared she’d be swayed by his argument. Her heart
surged in her throat and pounded out the utter desperation of her plan with each
beat—but with no weapons, they had little other choice.

A group of red-coated soldiers came ambling down the path.
They were still too far to show if Devlin was in the lead. The men stuck to the
path, only periodically poking their bayonets into the brush. “How do you get
that yellow fever, again?” she heard someone say.

“Bad smells, I think.”

“All right, men. Enough of that. It’s not bad smells. This
is my second tour in the West Indies and everything smells slightly putrid.
It’s due to the heat and damp, not disease.”

Jewel recognized Devlin’s voice. The soldiers fell silent,
but she could tell they weren’t convinced. If things went wrong, she’d have to
be sure and pretend that she had the disease. Charles Town had been plagued by
yellow fever for several summers in a row, so she had plenty of experience with
the symptoms.

She sucked up her courage and stepped out into their path.
All the men stumbled to a stop. She had planned to dramatically throw herself
at their feet, but when faced with a large group of armed men who stared at her
as if she might be some sort of apparition, it stole her nerve. All she could
do was blink.

Devlin pushed through the group. “Are you hurt, girl?”

She nodded, her throat tight with fear. She was sure she
looked absolutely terrified. She was.

He took in her appearance, studying her from head to toe
and then back again. She wasn’t quite sure if what he saw horrified him or
excited him, but either way he appeared moved. Damn Parker for not leaving a
bruise on her arm as she’d asked.

Devlin swept off his coat and draped it over her
shoulders. “Did they take you against your will?”

She wasn’t sure who they were, but she nodded yes anyway.
The “mysterious boy” was who she planned to have called her attacker. “He
dragged me into the jungle with him when you came.”

“Who? There’s another man with you?” Devlin’s head shot
up, and he glanced over the top of the bushes. His soldiers came to attention
as well, raising their muskets.

“He’s young. Not more than fifteen, but he…he overpowered
me. He’s very good with a sword.” She lowered her eyelids. Hopefully, she
wasn’t leading them on too obviously, but she really didn’t have the time or the
nerve for subtlety.

“Excellent. Where is he?” Devlin appeared absolutely convinced.

“He ran behind the waterfall. There’s a cave. He tried to
drag me with him, but I got away.” Jewel didn’t have to pretend to be
breathless. Tension did it for her.

“Where’s the waterfall?”

“Down the path. You can’t miss it.”

Devlin brushed a tangled lock from her face. “Thank you,
love. You’ll be safe now. Shall you wait here while—”

“No.” She grabbed his sleeve. “Please don’t leave me.”

“Of course. Johnson, you stay with the lady.”

“I want you,” she stood on her toes to whisper near his
ear. She glanced at the man who Devlin had spoken to as if he had pointed ears
and a spiked tail. “I don’t know him, and I’ve been through so much. I’m afraid
to be left alone with another strange man.”