Black Wolf

by Lori Ann Robinson

  However, the thought of leaving Nicolai made returning to the St. John house a dismal, unpleasant thought. She’d just simply arrange to have a missive sent to her pirate and he would collect her the moment he was able. She did not expect Captain Frank’s next words.

  “You are to be delivered to your rightful intended in the Carolinas henceforth, madam. He is anxiously awaiting your arrival and has arranged for the marriage ceremony to take place immediately.”

  Her gasp was one filled with horror and disbelief. Had her father been so determined with the idea of marrying her off to this stranger that he had no gratitude for her survival? She swallowed back the bile that rose to her throat.

  “When will we reach port,” Adrienne asked quietly.

  “In three days time,” Captain Frank informed her. “By the eve of that day, you’ll be a married woman.”

  She didn’t miss the satisfaction that flickered across his face at this revelation. Even when she’d first made his acquaintance, Adrienne had been aware that Captain Frank was old fashioned and believed that women were mere chattel to be lorded over and controlled. The fact that her marriage was arranged and she was resistant to it seemed to feed whatever concept he had that women were not and never could be masters of their own fate.

  Adrienne’s chin lifted defiantly. “I am already married as I explained to your deckhand. My husband won’t stand for this. When he finds out what you’ve done, he’ll come for me.”

  “Madam, I assure your pirate lover will not come for you.” At Adrienne’s look of surprise, Captain Frank nodded knowingly.

  “You see, Miss St. John, we’re aware your dear VonPatten and Nicolai Mikhalovic are one in the same. Intel we garnered while on Nassau points to the fact. We both know he’s wanted the world over, especially for the escapades that have relieved many a colonial gentleman of his rightful property; such as yourself. If he so much as shows his face in the Carolinas, he’ll be arrested and escorted to the gallows so fast, you’ll never even know he arrived,” Frank warned.

  “Also,” the captain continued, “allow me to remind you that we now know where his lair is. If you resist and cause me to be cast in an unfavorable light where your father is concerned, I’ll impart the information I have on your lover and see his manor invaded, the occupants enslaved and him hanged. As of right now, I have no reason to do so for the reward of delivering you safely far exceeds what the Crown would pay for Mikhalovic’s head.”

  Adrienne paled at the threat, realizing it wasn’t the man’s desire to see her kowtowed properly, but rather his desire to rise within her father’s esteem.

  She had no siblings. Unless her prospective husband in the colonies had an overwhelming desire to move to India and take over when her father retired, which she doubted, ownership of his business could very well be passed down to one of his captains. Roderick Frank was well aware of this. Even if her intended did inherit the business, its safekeeping and operations would assuredly be placed in Frank’s hands out of loyalty. Either way, Frank stood to gain a fortune.

  His threats of punishing innocent house servants and having Nicolai hanged were more than enough to ensure she’d do as she was told. The desire in Roderick’s eyes to garner ownership of the successful trade operation her father had built made certain that any attempts she made to escape would be curtailed.

  The door to the cabin opened and Raul was ushered in. His tiny hands and ankles were clapped in irons, tears streaking his chubby cheeks. Adrienne knelt on the floor in front of him and pulled him close as she shot murderous daggers at the captain.

  “I will go peaceably and willingly on the condition that you free this boy from these chains and allow him to remain with me. You will bear witness to my future husband that he is my property and personal attendant in training.”

  The captain surveyed the woman and the child as he considered her request. She really wasn’t in a position to argue for the boy, however, if releasing him into her care meant she’d cease her disagreeable tongue then he had no issue allowing it. Perhaps she’d also speak favorably of him to her father as well.

  He motioned to one of his crewmembers that had the responsibility of keeping the slave cargo in line.

  “Unchain the boy,” Captain Frank said.

  The boy’s tiny body trembled as he ducked his head into her shoulder when the guard came near to remove the chains. Adrienne wondered what else had been done to frighten the child so.

  Once the irons were removed, she bent down and scooped him up, holding him tightly against her. His arms wrapped around her neck in a death grip that broke her heart as shudders of terror vibrated from him.

  “I trust you will be providing us with food and water for the journey?” She challenged the captain.

  The man smirked and affected a mock bow. “As your lady wishes.” He barked an order to the crewmember and the man scurried off to carry out his command.

  “I hope this will be the end of any protests from you, Miss St. John. Your future husband has his work cut out for him in curbing your rebellious, mouthy nature.”

  “Aye, you’ll hear no further from me as long as you supply the necessary sustenance for our voyage. I vow it,” Adrienne said solemnly.

  She would do nothing to endanger the boy she held nor anything that might set the captain’s ire further toward Nicolai. Her mother had always told her it was a woman’s lot in life to suffer at the will and whim of men. Adrienne swore she would suffer by the droves if it meant keeping the child and her love safe.

  When the captain left the room, she sat down hard on the single cot the room contained, backing up until she was pressed against the wall of the ship as she cradled Raul to her and cried.

  The rest of the voyage to the Carolina colony of Charleston was uneventful. True to his word, Captain Frank had a noon meal as well as an evening one delivered to her cabin for the three days they were at sea. Breakfast was foregone due to low rations.

  She was resting, the boy curled within the shelter of her body when she felt the ship come about upon their arrival to port. Nerves overwhelmed her and she dashed from the bed to empty the contents of her stomach into a nearby empty chamber pot. Wiping her mouth with a shaking hand, Adrienne knelt on the floor, tears of helplessness and grief flowing freely as the ship shuddered to a halt in Charleston.

  Adrienne would do as she promised and go willingly. She would marry this puritan stranger but she would spend the rest of her life loving Nicolai and pining for her life in Nassau.

  She would hold the memory of the Russian pirate close in her heart. Their moments of shared passion were something no one could take from her.

  Captain Frank kept a firm hold on her arm as he escorted her down the gangplank to the busy pier below. Raul held her hand as well as wrapped his fingers in her skirt, clinging to her in fear. Whatever had transpired while the child was held captive in the hull of the ship had traumatized him. He hadn’t spoken a word in days.

  Amid the sailors and merchants milling about, she spied a tall, rail thin man in the crowd. He stood stock still, his pale features set in grim, hard lines as he clutched his capotain hat in his hands, searching the crowd impatiently. As she, Captain Frank, and Raul drew near, his colorless eyes settled on her, both cold and possessive at once.

  “Captain Frank?” he addressed her escort without acknowledging Adrienne.

  “Mr. Miles Fletcher, I presume?” The captain asked, holding out his hand in introduction at the man’s nod.

  “I trust your journey was pleasant enough given the ordeal you’ve been through,” Fletcher said, still only addressing Captain Frank.

  “Aye, t’was blissfully uneventful after the previous disaster. Allow me to present to you your wife to be, Miss Adrienne St. John and her manservant in training, Raul.” Frank made a sweeping gesture toward where Adrienne and the boy stood nearby.

  Fletcher nodded finally in her direction, his eyes remaining flat.

  “You’ve caused us all a great deal of t
rouble, madam.”

  Adrienne reminded herself to be respectful and curtseyed deeply, lowering her head in submission. Her stomach curled when she looked upon him.

  He wasn’t exactly homely though he was a far cry from Nicolai. His hair was a mousy brown and beginning to thin on top. His pasty skin had an oily sheen to it. The surface of his flesh was marked with scars from a bout with the pox at some point in his life but it was his eyes that chilled her.

  They were as piercing as they were almost completely devoid of color. His thin lips did not smile as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a coin purse, which he handed over to Captain Frank. When the man turned to motion that his buckboard carriage be brought forth, Frank leaned down to Adrienne.

  “I did not inform him of your tryst with the pirate, my lady. If I were you, I’d be certain he doesn’t find out.” Frank’s eyes glimmered with something akin to pity, though he seemed to have no qualms as he turned and walked back up the gangplank of the ship leaving her and Raul to follow behind the man she would marry this eve.

  Fletcher shot an impatient look over his shoulder at her, his glare demanding she quicken her steps. Lifting Raul into the back of the wagon, she waited for her fiancé’s assistance in climbing up herself. The man ignored her, seating himself behind the reins of the plain wagon while she struggled to lift her skirts and pull her body on to the seat beside him.

  Foreboding filled her as he turned his team of two horses and drove away from port. She cast one last longing look at the sea over her shoulder before setting her mind to make the best of whatever fate handed her.

  If she’d had any hopes that her husband would be a kind and loving man, they were quickly dispelled the moment the town’s minister pronounced them husband and wife while two deacons looked on to bear witness in an otherwise empty meeting house.

  She pursed her lips, expecting a kiss to seal their union, but the man only glared down at her stonily. Her own mother had yet to seek her out and thus far, Fletcher had given her the impression she was to be seen and not heard. Adrienne held her tongue even though she was full of questions.

  Leaving the building once the ceremony was complete, they traveled a short distance until he stopped near a two-story clapboard home. It had no adornments and was as plain as the man who resided there. Lifting Raul down from the back of the wagon, she deposited the boy on to the muddy earth that led to the front stoop of the house. His eyes were wide with fear and as she reached down to take his hand, Fletcher cleared his throat.

  “There will be no coddling of the child. If he’s in training to become a servant, he’ll be treated as such,” the man said, opening the door to his home and walking through without further words.

  Adrienne cast Raul an apologetic look as she separated their hands and followed her husband into the house. She was unprepared for the stinging slap the man delivered upon her entry. The force of the blow turned her face, causing her to stagger into a nearby wall.

  “That,” he spat out, “is for causing me the grief of paying for your safe return,” he said when she straightened, a hand clasped to her cheek and a sheen of tears in her eyes.

  He slapped her again. “That is for not having the decency to die as any other member of the weaker sex would have.”

  “Boy,” he shouted at Raul, “your quarters will be in the stables with the other animals.” When Adrienne opened her mouth to protest, her husband raised his hand to her again, though this time he kept it suspended in mid-air.

  “Understand this, wife,” he said, sneering the title. “You will not argue. You will not complain. You will obey me in all things and only speak when given permission. You will not interfere with the boy’s education into servitude. If you do so, I’ll whip the skin from his back for your insolence.”

  Adrienne felt her heart shrivel in her chest at the cruelty the man she married proposed to carry out on a child. He grabbed Raul roughly by the back of the neck and dragged the boy back to the door, throwing him outside before slamming it closed on him.

  “Now, it seems we are about the task of consummation. Go upstairs and prepare yourself for me, wife, while I see your slave settled into his quarters.”

  Throughout the entire exchange Adrienne had held her tongue. Part out of fear and part out of the hope her silence would be conveyed as obedience thus giving both she and Raul a chance to learn the manner of the man who owned them. She’d been grievously mistaken in coming here and would have been much better off had she thrown herself and Raul overboard before agreeing to this union. As the man she married cast a terrifying glare her way that was rife with the promise of another beating, she hurried up the stairs to do as he bid.

  Sometime later, he came to her. She had disrobed, stripping down to her bare skin before climbing into his narrow bed. It would barely be big enough for her, let alone them both. The sheets were roughly spun cotton and the blankets were equally rough, chaffing her delicate skin; a far cry from the sumptuous linens Nicolai enjoyed. Adrienne heard him stomping up the stairway and shuddered with equal parts revulsion and fear.

  Instinctively she knew there would be no tender touches or passionate exchanges between them. When he entered the room, she watched, as his face grew red with rage.

  “What is this business?” he shouted, gesturing toward her where she lay covered nearly to her chin with the blankets. “Are you bare under those covers?”

  “Aye, sir,” she whispered, unsure what she’d done to earn this latest bout of anger from him.

  “Are you attempting to beguile me with your woman’s body? Has Satan whispered to you of my weaknesses and bid you to disrobe fully in order to tempt me?”

  “N-no,” she stammered. He paced at the foot of the bed, a sheen of perspiration on his face. “I-I simply do not know what to do or to expect from you, husband.”

  He snatched her neatly folded shift from the footboard where she’d draped it and flung it at her, before turning his back to remove his britches leaving him clad only in his shirt and long underwear that reached his ankles.

  “Cover yourself like any respectable woman would when her husband comes to her,” he snapped at her from over one shoulder, raking her with a look of contempt.

  Adrienne pulled the shift over her head under the shield of the bed linens. When she was fully covered, he flipped back the quilt and pounced on top of her.

  Keeping his eyes squeezed tightly shut, he hiked the hem of her garment up to her waist as he settled between her thighs. She felt the heat of his turgid member against her groin when he released it from his undergarments and offered a swift prayer that it was not anywhere near the size of Nicolai’s for she was unready and unprepared for his invasion.

  Her cry of pain and the tears that followed echoed through the room as he invaded her body, pushing into her dry channel with force.

  Adrienne had worried momentarily that he would know she lacked her maidenhood, but as he pumped roughly in and out of her, her body created a resistance that must have satisfied any question he might have about her virginity. Or, perhaps, he simply did not care. The entire ordeal lasted only moments before he spilled his seed within her and rolled away.

  He began snoring beside her while she wept harshly, yearning for the comfort and the passion of her Russian pirate.

  That first day set precedence for the ones which followed. To begin with, on the morning of her second day, Fletcher pulled her from the bed by her hair, demanding to know why she was lazily laying about when there was work to be done. Asking what work he would like for her to do earned Adrienne a split lip before he went into a detailed list of her chores and what he would expect from her daily.

  Every morning, she was expected to rise long before the sun and stoke a fire in the keeping room of the house where she’d struggle to prepare a morning meal she was ill equipped to cook. Cooking was not among the things she was educated in while she lived in her father’s household.

  Miles had no house servants, only stable hands that were
n’t permitted entrance into his dwelling. There was no one to teach her the skills he expected her to learn. After two weeks of stinging slaps, which were delivered every time she ruined his breakfast, noon meal or supper, Adrienne fast learned how to diligently prepare food. He neither praised nor encouraged her successes; only punished the many failures, of which she, at times, believed he fabricated in order to give her the hard side of his hand.

  She saw little of Raul during this time also. Miles refused to allow her to leave his home until she mastered the art of humility; a trait he had no qualms beating into her. She’d yet to see her own mother also, whom she’d been informed lived only a short distance from her husband’s house.

  When the women of the colony would attempt to visit and introduce themselves, Miles would turn them away stating that his wife was entirely too busy with her mind on God and her hands tending house to socialize. He kept her isolated and virtually a prisoner.

  As suffocating and confining as her days were, the nights were worse. When they retired for bed, he would roll atop her and take her as he pleased. Afterward, he would punish her for being what he called the Devil’s Temptress.

  Long after he fell asleep, Adrienne would lie awake, pondering if Nicolai had made it back to Nassau safely and had discovered her disappearance.

  Would he search for her? Would he think she left him willingly, waiting only until he was absent to do so? At these thoughts, tears would always course unchecked down her cheeks.

  She wished she’d had told him of her love. Had she the opportunity to relive those precious weeks with him, she would have gladly shouted her devotion to him to anyone who would listen.

  The weeks bled into a month and with the exception of allowing her out to attend services at the meeting house, her routine was the same day in and day out. Raul hardly acknowledged her now as he earned his keep grooming and cleaning up after Miles’s two horses, one cow and small herd of chickens and goats.