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He’d slept then, leaving everyone else in anticipation of what he would say at sunset. When the time came, we gathered around a large bonfire on the beach, the night sky lit up above us, the ocean gently lapping the shore. The jungle of Madagascar lay beyond the sand, appearing as evil and deceptive in the dark as the men who’d disappeared into it.
Logs cracked in the fire, sparks spitting out as the flames rose ever higher, casting shadows among the men and making it look like an entire country had gathered to hear what was to be said. Tristan stood in front of the blaze, staring into it, his torso unclothed, bandages shining in the light. Silence extended toward him as we all waited for him to be ready.
“Ye have elected me as yer captain,” he finally spoke, loud and clear so that all would hear. “I will do my best to serve ye. But know this—I am not Rodrigues. I ran his ship for him, but there were things that I didn’t like, things he wanted or bade me tolerate because I wasn’t in charge. It is for these reasons that we meet tonight.”
Turning from the fire, he began to move around the circle, looking at each man. He had such an air of authority about him that they seemed to shrink under his stare, faces kept neutral as he studied them, continuing his speech. “We are men at arms. Brothers. We have a code that we follow, and yet that code is broken. Why? What can be changed to make us more efficient? To become better fighters? I propose to lay out a new code, here, tonight, that will be law under my command. What say ye?”
“Aye!” John Butler yelled a few spots down from me. A couple other men responded just as enthusiastically, all the others simply murmuring their consent. I did as well, feeling he was addressing me just as much as them.
“A pirate code is a delicate thing,” he persisted, crossing to the other side of the fire. “A law that is followed by the lawless. Know that we will focus on each item as a group and vote in favor or against the conditions. Ye are my family, not men suffering under a tyrannical rule. We make the decisions together.”
More cries of approval rang out and I smiled. He had a way with words when he spoke to them. There was no doubt in my mind that they would agree to anything he asked.
“Let us begin.” He circled back to our side of the fire, folding his free arm around his sling. “Every man will continue to have an equal vote in all matters, as well as an equal share in all booty.”
There was general understanding to this provision, seeing as that was something they already had in place. The same happened when he stated that they were not to steal from each other and that any man who did so would be put ashore at the next sight of land.
“There is to be no gambling on board the ship,” he stated, pausing for a moment at the outcry that suddenly rained down upon him. As the noise began to lessen, he held his hands up for peace. “Gambling can lead to a man feeling cheated, or even stolen from. By yer own terms, there is to be no stealing. This law can not abide without the other, savvy?”
The men grumbled among themselves, not happy with the suggestion. I could tell that they saw the wisdom in it, though, and slowly, they began to vote in favor of including it in their code.
“Very well,” Tristan sighed, thinking before he started again. “I also propose that we instigate a curfew, to save on precious light commodities and lessen the amount of drunkards snoring in our faces each night.”
The men laughed at this, jabbing each other, but one spoke up in disagreement. “Do ye propose we not drink at all, Captain?” he asked.
“No,” Tristan hurriedly replied. “Only that if ye wish to do so after curfew, ye must do so above deck, so as to not disturb those around ye.”
They liked that idea, which surprised me some. I supposed that as long as they were allowed to drink, they didn’t care where they had to do it. The rest of the provisions were met with agreement as well, being more things that they already practiced. Finally, Tristan motioned for me to join him, glancing at me apprehensively, and I knew we’d reached the thing he was worried I’d be angry about.
“My final item,” he stated, taking my hand. “Is that we have no women on the ship.”
“What?” I was the only one who spoke, the men all caught completely off guard.
“Allow me to explain,” he said softly to me before turning to the rest of the crew. “We have been brought many hardships and trials because of ladies on board. But we have also been brought great joy and clarity. This provision may be rendered passable in two situations. One, ye vote her onto the crew. Such a lass must be able to prove herself in battle and promise to abide by the code. She will, in every way, be one of ye, with a full vote and share in cargo.”
The men were muttering amongst themselves, staring at me, thinking about what he’d said. Some of them seemed to actually be considering the option, while others were howling that it was bad luck to keep such a female around. How would they be able to function with her there to tempt them every second of the day?
Yanking my hand from his, fuming, I glared up at him, folding my arms across my chest. “And what is the second situation?”
He paused, his nose twitching, and then announced it loudly to the whole crew. “If the captain be married, his wife is allowed to stay with him at sea.”
Every single one of us fell into complete silence. Mouth hanging open, I could only stare at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying. “Are you asking me to marry you?” I finally asked, dreading the answer.
“Nothing would please me more,” he confirmed. “The decision is all yers. Does the crew agree to these provisions?”
They did, it would seem, quiet murmurs of awed compliance reaching my ears.
Turning to face them all, trying not to cry out of horror and complete shock, I cleared my throat. “I have been a member of your crew for months, the majority of you having no idea. I held my own, doing my duties as I was instructed. When it came time to fight, I did. I’m still standing here, so I think that proves I can hold my own in a battle. I beat Thomas Randall as well, which you all saw. You know I can do it, if I have to. I would very much like to be voted a part of the crew now, as Samantha Greene. Samuel Smith is already part of you, and I am him. The only difference is our names.”
The crew shifted uncomfortably, looking between myself and Tristan, obviously not knowing which side to choose in the matter.
“Ye can vote on it in the morning,” Tristan declared. “It’s not a decision to be taken lightly.”
A breath of relief washed through the group as he dismissed them all, moving to me and gesturing toward his tent. Furious and scared, I stomped off ahead of him, not wanting to be around anyone else when I told him just what I had to say about his ideas.
He entered the semi-private enclosure a few seconds after me and I rounded on him, growling through my teeth. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Keeping ye safe,” he answered, surprised. “I thought ye’d be mad about it, but yer livid, Sam. What is the matter?”
“What’s the matter? What’s the matter?” I laughed crazily, twisting away from him as I raked the hair out of my face. “Do you realize what will happen if they vote no? You just dropped me here on this island without any way of getting home!”
“I gave ye a way,” he argued. “Is marrying me really that disgusting an option to ye?” He was getting angry now, I could tell, but I didn’t care one bit.
“I haven’t known you long enough to get married!” I cried, spinning back around glaring at him. “I haven’t even known you long enough to really know that I love you!”
My words hurt him, and he backed away, a frown covering his face. “It’s been a year since we first met on the shore of Oak Isle. Are ye saying ye don’t love me then?”
“No! I do! That’s what’s so frustrating about all of this. I shouldn’t love you—I know it’s one of the worst things that could have happened to me here—but I do. All it’s going to do is tear us apart and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to survive i
t.” The words had poured out without my meaning to and I knew I couldn’t take them back, not as I watched the pain in his eyes grow.
“Ye won’t marry me then,” he said softly, his gaze saddened.
“I can’t,” I whispered. “I want to, but I can’t.”
That last confession brightened him some, but his expression immediately fell. “Are ye married, Sam? Is that why?”
“What? No, I’m not married.” I could feel tears pricking at my eyes as I turned away, but I refused to let them escape. Of all the things that had happened to me in the seventeenth century, this was the worst. I’d been handed a love I knew I’d never find again, in this time or any other, and I couldn’t keep it.
The silence that stretched between us was unbearable. All I wanted to do was go to him and let him hold me until it felt better, but my feet were rooted in the ground. I knew that I was hurting him deeply and there was nothing I could do to make him understand.
“I don’t understand,” he finally spoke, the emotion in his voice carefully monitored.
Sighing, I immediately knew what I had to say to make him see. He would think I was crazy, but it was the only way to turn him down without breaking him. “I was born in the late nineteen hundreds,” I said quietly, moving to face him again. “Nineteen ninety-two, to be exact. I came to this time from the year two thousand fifteen, but I don’t know how. I know you’re a member of The Knights Templar, that you’ve been hiding a massive treasure on Oak Isle, and that there’s more of your Order on this ship. If I marry you, and then go back to my own time, it will be the cruelest thing I’ve ever done to another person or myself. I can’t marry you because I’m not from here. I don’t belong with you. I can not—will not—subject either of us to a life without the other. I will not mourn a husband who’s been dead for more than three hundred years, and I can not let you mourn a wife who’s never been born.”
He blinked, staring at my forehead, his mouth kept forcefully shut. Several minutes passed like this and I periodically held my breath, waiting for the explosion that was about to come.
“Ye know about the Order?” That was good. At least he was focusing on what he knew to be true.
“I do,” I confirmed. “The work my father was doing involved studying the Templars. He was trying to find the treasure you’ve been hiding. No one has been able to yet.”
“That’s comforting,” he replied, dazed. Blinking hard again, he moved past me and sat down among the pillows, staring at the wall. Not knowing what to do, I remained where I was, biting the nail on my right thumb.
“Nineteen ninety-two,” he exhaled out after a time. “Truly?”
“I can’t prove it,” I pointed out. “But, yes.”
“How did ye end up here?” There was a wonder to his voice I hadn’t expected, a curiosity and excitement that told me he wasn’t even upset by my confession.
“Wait,” I started. “You believe me?”
“Of course I do. I’m a Templar, aren’t I?” He grinned up at me, a light I’d never seen before encasing him. It was like I’d become some magnificent prize in his eyes.
“What does that have to do with any of it?” He was making me uncomfortable with his complete belief. Where was the denial and worry I’d expected?
“Templars believe there is truth in all things,” he explained. “I heard many Celtic stories from Éire that spoke of individuals who saw times other than their own. Christian prophets saw eras that didn’t belong to them, as well as soothsayers from many other religions. I never thought I’d meet such a person, though.”
“Hang on,” I interrupted him. “You’re not even going to question if I’m telling the truth?”
“Why would ye lie about it?” he asked simply. “Anyone else would think ye crazy and have ye locked away. I knew something was different about ye, but I couldn’t ever place it. This answers all that for me.”
“You are unbelievable.” Shocked, I flopped down to the ground, sitting in front of him and staring at him as he continued to look me over with interest. After a few moments, I remembered why I told him the truth in the first place. “Do you understand now, why I can’t marry you? Why I have to go home?”
“Oh, I understand, lass,” he agreed. “Completely. But I don’t agree with ye one lick.”