.jpg)
The sun rose, greeting us with abnormally calm seas and sunny weather, thank heavens. However, it also appeared the storm had made Captain Rodrigues rethink how much he’d been drinking, for when he emerged from his cabin the next morning, his hair had been covered with a nice wig, his clothes weren’t tattered, and he was refusing anyone who offered him a drink of anything. Much to my horror, he was also insisting I join him on deck for another stroll.
“Do I have to?” I asked O’Rourke quietly, staring at my intertwined fingers resting on top of my red skirt as I sat in his room. “Will he beat me if I don’t?”
“He is sober this morning. I do not know what he’ll do.” His voice was solemn as he stood in the doorway, his hand grasped tightly on the hilt of the pistol resting at his hip. “We have another month, yet, before we see Spain’s coast. I will continue to do all I can to protect ye, but . . .”
“You can’t go against a direct order,” I finished for him.
“Not unless I want to be hung up with the sails, or thrown overboard, no.”
“I understand. Thank you for your help, Mr. O’Rourke.” Rising, I smoothed my shaking hands down my skirt and took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I steadied myself.
“Call me Tristan,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t hear him. Clearing his throat, he continued on, louder. “I’m sorry, Miss Greene. I’ll try to stay close, should ye need anything,”
“If I’m going to call you Tristan, then you’ll have to start calling me Samantha,” I replied with a laugh. “Or Sam, for short. That’s what my friends call me.”
“Sam,” he said, trying it out, his gaze locked on mine. “I like that.”
“I’ll see you later then, Tristan?” His eyes lit up when I said his name and I snickered, blushing some. Finally, taking another deep breath, I squared my shoulders, held my head high, and brushed past him in the doorway, taking the stairs to the upper deck.
“Ah, Miss Greene! It is a pleasure to be seeing you this fine morning!” Captain Rodrigues was almost a different man entirely, from the way he held himself, to the cunning intelligence in his eye. Gone were all notions of a drunkard or madman when I studied him now. He was even somewhat handsome, though he was probably old enough to be my father. All of this did nothing to ease the icy knot in my stomach and the thoughts of what might be awaiting me later on.
As I took the captain’s arm, giving him what I hoped was a friendly smile, I caught a glance of Tristan coming up top, his eyes dark with an emotion I couldn’t place. He does what he must to survive, I thought, not holding any malice against him for not keeping me from the captain completely. And so will I.
As we took a turn around the surface, a realization dawned on me, blocking out all that Captain Rodrigues was saying. Here I was on a pirate ship, where the men were just doing what they had to do to live. Yes, they could have endured in other ways, but this was their path. Things were bleak, death was imminent, and this was all they had. This ship and his title were all that Tristan had. If he could bear to do what was necessary for his good will, I could do it too, as repulsive as that sounded.
“Sails!” The cry caused everyone onboard to look towards the crow’s nest and sent Captain Rodrigues scrambling to the side, his spyglass held up to one eye.
“Get ready, boys,” he yelled in delight. “We’ve got some hunting to do!”
A massive roar of delight sounded all around me, and the deck suddenly became a flurry of movement. Men were running every direction while the captain barked out orders, sails were opening to full capacity, tarps were being raised and tied along both sides of the ship, making it impossible for anyone to see how many of us there were unless they were above us. Ladders were brought out and set up in the pit, making temporary pathways that would lead them right to the side and onto the other ship. Large nets with grappling hooks were left in places on deck while other men grabbed weapons and painted their faces. Through all of this, I stood in shock, not knowing where to go or what to do.
“Sam,” Tristan hissed in my ear, grabbing my arm tightly. “Come with me!” Leading me across the boat, we went down a staircase I hadn’t seen yet, passing the level the pit opened onto. There were several cannons on this floor, which men were loading and readying as the ship gained more speed. Glancing up, I could see that the black flag had been raised, marking us as pirates. Tristan didn’t stop, pulling me down further, onto the next deck, which I’d never even seen. It appeared that this was where the rest of the crew slept, on hammocks that were stretched every which way. There were some personal belongings here and there among them. Still, we didn’t stop, moving down to the final story that was always below water level.
“Stay here and hide,” he ordered me firmly, pushing me down onto the ground, water seeping into my clothes some. “Don’t come out, even if it sounds like the fight is done. I will come for ye when it’s safe.”
“What if you die?” My voice squeaked in fear and I wanted to slap myself for asking such a question. The full force of it hit me then—men were going to die today—a lot of men. Tristan could easily be one of them. He would be gone and I would be alone here. I was terrified.
Observant eyes missing nothing, he immediately noticed my distress and knelt down, lightly cupping my face. His eyes searched mine for a moment, the pad of his thumb rubbing over my cheek as he reached up with his other hand and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. Heart caught in my throat, all breath escaped me as we leaned towards each other.
“I won’t,” he stated softly, resting his forehead against mine for a second before standing again. “Stay here and don’t move. Do ye understand?”
“Yes.” I swallowed hard, trying to calm my racing heart and focus on what he was saying to me.
“Ye will want to run and there is nowhere to go. Ye are safest here. Do ye hear me? Do not leave this spot, Samantha Greene!” His voice held a commanding authority I’d never heard from anyone before in my life. I nodded, fisting my hands in my skirt.
“I will be right here waiting for you,” I confirmed, giving him the strongest look I could muster.
Staring at me only for a second longer, he turned on his heel and hurried back up the stairs, closing the hatch on the deck above and plunging me into darkness.
A shiver that didn’t have anything to do with the icy water I was sitting in tore through me and I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, praying we both made it out of this alive. I hadn’t had much time to look around, but I was pretty sure I was in the cargo hold. I’d seen lots of barrels and wooden boxes around me before the light was taken away. Reaching out to touch one, I felt some kind of bark shoved between each cask, probably to keep them from bumping against each other and breaking. What was it that Mark was always saying pirates used to protect cargo? There was loads of it on Oak Isle. Straining at memories that seemed to be from another lifetime, I finally settled on it.
“Coconut fiber,” I said aloud, hoping the sound would help steady my nerves. That was right. There were no coconut trees around Oak Isle for hundreds of miles, that’s why it had been so strange to have so much of the natural fiber there. Feeling around, I could tell everything had been tied down as well, the pirate’s loot one of their most precious commodities.
The footsteps above me had ceased, which meant the whole crew was probably on the gun deck, waiting to attack. Another shiver ripped through me as I settled back down, crossing my legs and wishing the bone in my corset wasn’t pinching me so fiercely. It was nice to have something to distract me a bit.
Suddenly, a loud boom sounded and something cracked through the ship above me. I knew in an instant that it was cannon fire and I shoved my fist in my mouth to keep from screaming. Another shot rang out, smashing through the deck above me and I threw my hands over my head, laying down in the water. Responding cannons shot from our ship and I could hear them hitting their target as well. With a great lurch, the two vessels collided side by side. There was a few seconds si
lence and then the world exploded with sound.
Guns were firing, men were shouting, footsteps were pounding overhead, and things were falling into the water right outside. I didn’t want to think about how those things could be bodies—Tristan’s body in particular—so I covered my ears with my hands, humming loudly to myself.
In reality, the fight probably only lasted a few minutes. Down in the bottom of the ship, with no light and only my ears to guess what was going on, it felt like hours. Each little sound left me wondering if the ship was sinking, or if the merchant ship we’d attacked would send men to come take the goods around me if they won the battle. I could practically taste the terror coming from me, so thick it seemed I could wrap myself up in it. Tears streamed down my face as I lay in the water, my body pressed against the wood of the ship. Every bone ached to get up and flee the fight, but I stayed put as asked.
The silence that followed the war was worse. I took it to mean that we had indeed won, but what was taking so long? What if everyone had died and the two ships were destined to float away together, with no one to guide them and myself trapped in the bottom? I’d sobbed so much by this point I was beginning to hyperventilate, every inch of me shaking as I tried to hold it together. Lying in the cold water of the hull didn’t help matters either.
After it seemed a lifetime had passed, and I’d managed to stop crying, the hatch opened above and three men came down, two of them carrying something between them. The third man came straight to me, though I didn’t think any of them had seen me yet.
“Sam?”
“I’m okay,” I rasped out, fresh tears washing my face as Tristan knelt in front of me. It was all I could do not gasp aloud.
Covered in blood, some of it was splattered across his face, mixing with the black dirt he’d rubbed on before the attack. His shirt was ripped and I could see he’d been grazed by something, due to a small trickle of blood running down his arm to the cuff around his wrist. “Aye. I am, too, lassie.”
“I can see that,” I laughed pathetically, crying harder. “Can I get out of here now?”
“Come with me,” he answered gently, offering his hand and helping me to my feet. Without a word to the men carrying the stolen cargo down, he led me up the stairs and into the light. Immediately, I could tell that a cannon had definitely crashed through the hull here, mostly from the gaping hole in the side with a view of the ship we were tethered to. When we entered the gun deck above, I stopped short, closing my eyes in horror. The other cannon blast I’d heard had come through here, hitting several men. There were other bodies that looked to have been shot as well.
“Samantha.” Tristan’s voice was soothing and commanding at the same time as he tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me through the carnage. I heard laughter coming from up above, as well as sounds of celebration from other men.
“How many?” I asked quietly, sick to my stomach.
“We lost six,” he answered, knowing exactly what I was asking.
“And the other crew?”
“Two joined up.”
There was a cautionary tone to his voice that caused me to not press further, but the queasy feeling intensified. Only two? If the crew of that ship was anything like this one, that meant there was almost thirty dead men on it. It was all I could do to not vomit right there.
“The rest are being left with the ship. It will be up to them if they live or not.” Glancing at me over his shoulder, he squeezed my hand reassuringly, and I instantly felt the relief that came with his words.
“They aren’t all dead?”
“Fifteen of their crew didn’t survive. Captain Rodrigues was persuaded to let them go so they could spread word of his terrors. He likes the idea of being infamous very much.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, knowing it was him that did the convincing.
“The captain has been sampling the whiskey we found on board,” he continued, adopting a business like tone. “Ye’ve been given leave to spend the evening in yer quarters.” At that he turned and grinned widely and I felt my spirits rise even higher. “I’ll be bringing yer dinner once we’ve settled and started on our way.”
Reaching the door to my room—his room—he opened it, leading me inside and helping to settle me on the bed. Everything appeared untouched here, like I hadn’t just experienced a pirate battle.
“I’d change out of that wet dress if I were ye,” he stated, waving to the closet where the other two dresses I’d been given were stored. “Ye’ll catch a cold if ye stay in that. Shall I stay and help with the laces?”
“Uh, please.” I blushed, fingers fumbling over the buttons on the front of my jacket as I took it off, revealing the corset underneath. Turning so he could undo the laces, I stared at the wall, trying not to think of my racing heart or his fingers on my back. All too soon, he was finished.
“I’ll be back later,” he told me again.
“Maybe we can eat together?” I asked hopefully.
“Aye, that’ll do.” Smiling, he turned and opened the door.
“Tristan, wait!” Hurrying across the room, I flung my arms around him and hugged with all my might, my face buried into his chest. “Thank you. For everything.”
His arms came around me as well, holding me tightly as he rested his chin on top of my head. “It was nothing.” Sliding his hands down my back until they rested on my hips, he pushed me away slightly, looking into my eyes, a smile on his face. Once again, my breath caught and my heart pounded wildly as I realized he might be about to lean in and kiss me.
Tilting my head up, I held on to my grip around his waist, feeling the heat of his breath brush across my skin.
“I have work to finish,” he said abruptly, pushing me back further until we were no longer touching.
“Okay.” Confusion stabbed at me, but I let him go all the same, trying to figure out just what I was getting myself into here.