The old man mulled over my words, his wrinkled face scrunching up in thought. “Did you enjoy the fish I brought you on the island?”
Again, he was avoiding my pleas. I sighed. “That was you?”
He smiled, the kind a sweet grandpa would give. The crooked knuckles of his weathered fingers wrapped around his thighs as he moved to stand. “Yes, and the blanket.” Pleeman paused and his mouth turned down. “Although, I wasn’t s’posed to do that.”
I blinked hard, deep in thought as I examined the old timer.
“But I saw how you spoke to your belly when you rubbed it,” he continued.
My cheeks flushed. My pregnancy was still easy to hide, especially with my thick red jacket. The last thing I wanted was my captors knowing my weakness. I’d do anything they asked if my baby’s life was being threatened. And that very admittance made me sick.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Pleeman piped up and came closer to the bars. “I didn’t tell a soul. See, I’m one of the few left on the ship with a conscience. And a healthy respect for women. Had four daughters back home.”
I chewed at my lip. “How do I know this isn’t a trick?”
The man chuckled. “My dear, a trick for what?” His wrinkled fingers twisted around the bars and his aging eyes looked at me with sincerity. “I swear I’d never hurt a hair on your pretty little head. I’m here to warn you.”
My eyes widened. “Warn me of what?” I moved closer to the bars then. Showing him a sign of trust. “Who is your captain?”
“The one I’m here to heed warning of.” Pleeman pulled something from his pocket. A bun. “Captain Cook is not a good man.”
He offered me the baked good and I accepted. “What will he do to me?”
“Not pleasant things, I’m afraid.” Something sounded in the hallway and Pleeman peered over his shoulder nervously. “I must go now. But, Miss, I would watch out around the men. And take special care around the captain. They’ve all been on the ship for far too long. It’s taken their minds.”
I wanted to yell after him as he fled the brig, but I didn’t want to get my only possible ally in trouble. He’d told me he wasn’t supposed to be down there. Or was that all an act? I had no idea. But one thing was for sure. I had to find a way out before it as too late.
Before I met Captain Cook.
Quietly, but swiftly, I rummaged my cell for a tool. Anything small and sturdy enough to pick the lock. But there was nothing aside from dry grass and a ton of dirt. Desperate, I began to search myself, patting down my pants and searching the pockets of the jacket.
My heart skipped a beat when my fingers touched the piece left from the telescope that I’d tucked in an inside pocket. I couldn’t believe it took me that long to realize it was there. I pulled it out and examined it. Two thin, metal rings looped around the shaft and I skillfully pried them off. Thankfully they were pliable enough to straighten out, providing me with two thin strips of metal. I just hoped my plan worked.
I stuck my arms through the bars and poked the two metal bits in the keyhole of the lock. After several failed attempts, I was about to give up when the giant lock clicked, and something released on the inside.
“Yes!” I whispered to myself and sneakily removed the lock from its place.
The door of bars was loud as I swung it open. But I knew opening it slowly would only create a long wail of rusty cries. I stopped and waited, listening for any sounds above. Nothing. I then crept along the plank board wall and stopped right as the hallway began, peering my head around. It was clear. So, I scampered down the hall in hopes it would lead me to a hatch. But the further I went, the more disoriented I got. This damn ship was huge, and I soon became lost in a maze of crates and ropes and other collections of things.
Finally, the sheen of the moon changed the lighting of a space up ahead and I knew I was close to a ladder hatch. Excitement filled my body as I darted across a large open space toward the moonlight.
“Going somewhere, sweetness?”
I let out a gasp and stopped in my place. “Jesus!”
Benjamin leaned against the wall, a nonchalant aura about him. “I see you’ve escaped. I’m impressed. How you got out, I have no idea.” He took a few wide steps toward me, blocking my path. “Let’s find out, shall we?” He advanced, and my eyes widened.
“No!” my hand shot out, knife pointed at the man. “Stay back.”
Benjamin eyed the tiny blade and chuckled. “What do you plan to do with that?”
I shook the knife. “More than you think. Now stay back.”
He reached to his side and gripped the hilt a massive sword before slowly pulling it out and tipping the point in my direction. His brooding stare glared at me, challenging. “Drop the knife.”
I narrowed my eyes. “No.”
He inched closer, the blade’s tip just hairs away from my belly. “I said drop the knife, Dianna.”
His tone, which had been fairly easy going until then, dropped into a pissed off growl of impatience. The sudden change in the pirate shook me and I reluctantly dropped the small blade. His sword was too close to baby for my comfort and, I had to admit, I was no good with a knife like that.
Lottie was, though.
The image of my best friend flashed through my mind and a sudden rush of emotions flooded my body. I squashed them down as fast as I could. Before Benjamin noticed.
“Now, turn around and face the wall,” he ordered, sword still shoved at me.
I stood in defiance, my mind racing for a way out. But there was none. He was just too big, and I was no match for him. With a defeated sigh, I turned and placed my hands on the wall. Benjamin pressed up against my back as his arms reach around my front and felt for objects. I could feel his hot breath in my hair and it made me cringe inwardly. When his palm pat the small bump of my belly I jumped.
“What’s this?” he asked and backed away. “Are you with child?”
My nose poked over my shoulder. Should I say yes and beg for mercy? Or keep my secret and protect the baby? “What does it matter?”
“It matters a great deal if I’m keeping a pregnant woman locked up and forcing her to sleep on the bloody floor,” he replied.
I turned around then, facing him. “So, it appears you’re one of the few with a conscience.”
Benjamin looked confused at my words and slightly offended. “I’m a pirate, sweetness. Not a monster.”
“So, does that mean you’ll let me go?” I asked.
The pirate laughed and took hold of my arm, pulling me back the way I came. “Not a chance. Keeping you locked up is probably for your own good. No one can touch you but me.” He held up the key ring.
I struggled against his grip, my feet threatening to trip over each other as I tried to keep up with him. “So, you’re keeping me all to yourself, then? Is that it?”
He came to a violent stop and brought his face down and close to mine. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and my stomach toiled. I shouldn’t push him too much. I had no idea what he was capable of. The warm air from his open mouth covered my face as his lips slowly brushed along my cheek toward my ear and whispered, “You wish.”
My throat went dry and words escaped me. I let him haul me back to the brig and lock me inside before he stomped off in anger. I didn’t know whether to cry or sneak out again before anyone returned. But where would I go? I only had the island. Would there be a cave somewhere I could seek refuge? If so, that didn’t help me create a signal for my crew. I was stuck.
The only hope I had was to talk some sense into the captain. I’d charmed my way to safety on The Devil’s Heart. Maybe I could do the same on The Black Soul. My mind scanned through all of my pirate knowledge. Everything I’d learned thus far and every tidbit I’d watched in movies and TV shows. What did people do when they found themselves captured? There was a word. Something they declared. I paced from end to end, willing my brain to remember the damn word.
Unexpectedly, I heard footsteps approachin
g again. Big and clunky. Most likely Benjamin heading back. He neared the end of the hallway and came around the corner, his long arms holding a massive white object. A large sac, it seemed, and a bucket.
“Parlay!” I called to him, the word suddenly popping into my head.
He came to a halt and set down the gigantic sac with a loud thud. I saw then that it was actually a straw-filled mattress. He glared at me. “What did you say?”
“Parlay,” I told him again, with confidence.
“Take that back.”
“No, I demand parlay,” I replied. “I expect no harm to come to me and I want to see your captain.”
Benjamin grabbed the keys again and unlocked the cell door before stuffing the mattress in and tossing the bucket alongside it. When the door was secured once more, he fell into a fit of rage, kicking things about and screaming in frustration. Finally, he stopped, chest heaving and eyes blazing with rage. “You foolish woman, you have no idea what you’ve done.”
I held my chin high, trying to hide the fact that I was a bubbling mess on the inside. “The way I see it, you’re just mad that I ruined your plans to keep me all to yourself.”
The pirate pressed himself against the bars and glared deep into my eyes. “Trust me, after you meet the captain, you’ll beg for me.”
I spat on the floor. “Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
He threw his hands up in defeat and they fell to his sides with a hard slap. “Have it your way. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I crossed my arms. “Oh, right, I’m sure your captain is so much worse than you.”
Before I could even process his movements, Benjamin’s long, muscly arm shot in through the bars and grabbed my jacket, yanking me right up against the cold, slick metal. I cringed as his bearded mouth came dangerously close to my face. “Much, much worse, sweetness.” He released his hold on my coat and began backing away. “So, much worse.”
He blew out the lantern and left me there in the stone, cold darkness.
A place I was all too familiar with.
Chapter Seven
Iawoke to the sound of my cell door creaking open. Before I had a chance to even register what was happening, I was being yanked upright by the arm and dragged along.
“Rise and shine, sweetness,” Benjamin muttered. His long fingers wrapped tightly around my upper arm.
My response was an agonizing moan. My body ached despite the softer surface I had to sleep on. The bright morning sun poured in through the portholes and blinded my sleepy eyes as we passed each one.
“W-where are we going?” I croaked.
“You demanded parlay. Remember?” The level of snark in his tone was hard to ignore. “I take the pirate’s code seriously. Otherwise, I would have left you in that cell to rot.”
I recalled the way he reacted to my pregnancy and grinned. “No, you wouldn’t.”
His reply was a frustrated growl.
We moved through the lower decks of The Black Soul, twisting around random piles of supplies until we reached a ladder hatch. I went up first, very aware of Benjamin’s eyes on my back, and waited at the top for him. I took the opportunity to absorb my surroundings. The ship was the biggest I’d ever seen. Four large masts towered above my head and the charred-color wood of the floor was covered in heaps of ropes and nets. I expected to find a whole crew of pirates but was oddly surprised to only see two unfamiliar faces. The men, clearly deckhands, looked at me nervously as they went about their work.
“Come on,” Benjamin ordered when his big feet planted next to me. “Let’s get this over with.”
Something dawned on me when I caught a glimpse of the island in the distance. “Why haven’t we left yet? Is something wrong?” Not that I wasn’t grateful. The longer we stayed, they better chance Henry had of finding me. If I survived the storm then, surely, my ship wasn’t too far. Finn would find the island.
“I’m working on it,” he said under his breath.
Just then, Pleeman came out of nowhere and bumped into me. The impact ripped my arm from Benjamin’s grasp and I wrapped both around the fumbling old man. But I quickly realized he’d done it on purpose when his face pressed to my ear and he whispered, “Tell him you can cook. If there’s one thing he loves more than a beautiful woman, it’s food.”
My captor pulled me away and I saw the desperation in the old sea dog’s eyes. He really did care that I lived. So, I gave a slight nod to ease his mind.
“Watch where you’re going, old man,” Benjamin bellowed.
I gave him a scowl. “Hey, go easy on him. It was an accident.”
The two exchanged a glare before Benjamin replied, “Yes, I’m sure.”
We climbed the stairs toward the second level of the double-decker stern. Captain Cook’s quarters must have been on top. Of course. Benjamin led me to the door where he knocked once and then entered without waiting for a response.
A tall figure, almost as tall as my keeper, stood on the other side of a massive oak table covered in stacks of papers and other things. My gaze immediately fell to the huge green stone that hung from his neck. The thing must have been the size of my fist. I pulled my stare up and away, taking note of the man’s foul-looking face. His green beady eyes widened and lit up with delight at the sight of me. “Brother, what have you brought for me?”
Brother? I cast Benjamin a sideways glance and he pretended to ignore me.
“This is the woman I told you about. The one that washed ashore on the island days ago,” he told the captain.
“My name is Dianna,” I said firmly to both of them.
I could see the similarities between the two; the massive height and wide shoulders, the long black hair and brooding brow. But Captain Cook had something different. Something… off. Aside from his deteriorating appearance. I couldn’t put my finger on it. But I felt uneasy in his presence. Perhaps it was from the way Benjamin talked about him. But, they were brothers. Why would he be so reluctant to bring me there?
The captain showed confusion as he glanced from me to his sibling. “You told me she was hideous.”
“Hey!” I protested.
Benjamin rolled his eyes. “She is, trust me. Just speak with her for five minutes. You’ll wish to throw her overboard.”
“Again, hey!” I chimed in. But I stopped myself from saying anything more when his hand discreetly slid down to the small of my back and a finger pushed hard into my spine. Almost as if to say, shut up. Let me do the talking.
“I was trying to save you the trouble of dealing with her, but she demanded parlay,” he explained.
“Parlay?” Captain Cook affirmed with surprise and then his unstable gaze fell on me. “You’re familiar with our pirate code, then?”
A finger quickly jabbed me, but I ignored it. “Uh, yes. I’m a pirate as well. Captain, in fact.”
His thick brown eyebrows raised in surprise and he came around to the front of the table. He smiled, and I could see the black discoloration of his teeth as if his mouth were rotting from the inside out. “Is that so? A female captain? What ship do you call your own?”
“The Queen, sir,” I replied when I didn’t feel a prompting poke in the back.
“The Queen?” He looked at his brother then. “Is that not one of Easton’s fleet?”
I became awash confusion. Easton? Peter Easton? Why was the captain talking about the long dead pirate king as if he spoke to him yesterday?
“I believe so, Captain,” Benjamin replied. He seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden.
I quickly added, despite the finger pressing into my spine, “Once upon a time, yes. It belonged to Red John Roberts. But he left it to his son, Jack, who then left it to his daughter after his passing. Now, I own it.”
The captain stared at me, his cocked eyes cooling to a deep-sea green. He seemed lost in his own mind as his gaze fixated on mine. It felt as if I were suddenly peering into the eyes of a madman as his breathing quickened and the corner of his blackened mout
h gave a slight twitch. I couldn’t tell whether he thought about lunging across the room to choke me or not. I noted how his hand flicked at his side and his eyes remained unblinking.
“What’s wrong with him,” I whispered as I leaned into Benjamin.
He sighed. “You reminded him of something he’s trying to forget.” I watched as he strolled over to his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Abraham, snap out of it.” Then he leaned in and whispered in the captain’s ear, so quiet I couldn’t even hear a sound come from his lips, only that they moved.
Captain Cook’s eyes blinked and slowly softened to a bright green as he seemed to come back to the moment. He smiled, one of those wicked, unnerving kind that rattled something deep in your gut.
“Well, my dear,” he spoke to me as the other pirate made his way back to my side, “welcome aboard The Black Soul. I trust that my brother here has found you some comfortable lodgings?”
Next to me, Benjamin moaned.
“Actually, he’s had me staying in the brig,” I replied.
“The brig?” Captain Cook feigned surprise. Obviously, he knew where I’d been kept. I began to wonder why the sudden act. What was really happening on this ship? He glanced at the other pirate with suspicion. “Find Dianna here a bunk and some fresh clothes.”
“Yes, sir,” Benjamin replied.
He made a motion to leave, gently slipping his hand around my arm to take me with him, but Captain Cook had other plans.
“Wait,” he called to us. “Leave Dianna here, would you?” His tongue flicked out and licked his lips in a way that made my skin crawl. “I’d like to get… better acquainted with her.”
My heart beat hard against the inside of my chest, it knew better than I did that being alone with this man was a bad idea. My mind raced for a way out. Then I remembered Pleeman’s words.
“Um, actually,” I replied and gave Benjamin a sideways glance. His face told me to proceed with caution. “I’m also a cook, a really good one, in fact. And Benjamin here was going to take me to the island to forage for ingredients. I’d love to make you all a delicious meal as a thank you for finding me.”
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