“Then do so. This is going to be a fast trip. Mardon, Aaron,” he called out to his brothers. “Finish up and join me. I’ll have Ramble prepare a boat to take us to shore.”
Mardon nodded from the sterncastle while Aaron, up in the rigging, waved his hand to say he’d heard him.
“So, ye’re really goin’ to do it,” came a voice from behind him. There stood Nairnie with her hands on her hips and glaring at him like he was the enemy.
“Nairnie, not now,” he told her, not having time for this. “Why don’t you keep an eye on Gavina until I return to the ship?” He slapped the key into her palm. “I told you before, if you don’t like the fact we’re raiding, you should take it up with Mardon.”
“Yer brathair is just as stubborn of an auld goat as ye are,” said Nairnie.
“Ramble, prepare a shuttle for me and my brothers,” Tristan called out. “You’ll come with us.”
“Aye, Cap’n,” Ramble responded, running to the sidewall of the ship. Tristan started collecting up extra weapons, sticking them into his waist belt.
“Ye have the map for the treasure, so why do ye need to raid another town?” asked Nairnie, following him wherever he went. He spotted some empty canvas bags and hurried over to get them, throwing them over his shoulder.
“I guess you haven’t heard. My dear wife decided to wash the map off her back before I had a chance to copy it down or even see all of it. We no longer have the means of finding the king’s treasure.”
“I see,” said Nairnie. “So ye dinna ken where to find the treasure?”
“That’s right.” He picked up a skein of rope, deciding to take that with him as well.
“Ye need that treasure. Ye’ve got to go after it.”
Tristan eyed Nairnie suspiciously. “Why would you promote me to look for a buried treasure? That sounds like an odd thing for you to say.”
“Why? I’d rather have ye live off buried treasure than stealin’ from poor townsfolk and hurtin’ them along the way.”
“Really.” He raised a brow. “Either way, it’s stealing, so I don’t see the difference.”
“If ye had the map, would ye stop this raid?” asked Nairnie.
“I suppose so, but it no longer matters. I have no map and also no choice but to raid. Once the men discover the map is gone, they’re going to be furious. We’ll have to raid a few ships on the way to the next port just to keep them happy.” He headed over to the side of the ship where Ramble was motioning him over.
“The shuttle boat is ready, Cap’n.”
“Good,” said Tristan walking up and looking over the side of the ship at the shuttle boat far below. “Go tell Mardon and Aaron to get a move on. Most of the men are already approaching the shore. I want as much booty as we can carry in one haul.” He lifted a leg and started to climb over the sidewall, only stopping when he heard Nairnie shout out to him.
“I saw the map before Birk stole it from me. I know where to find the treasure.”
Tristan stopped in mid-motion. He’d forgotten all about this, and supposed it could be true. If the old woman truly did see the map, then he could still find the treasure and wouldn’t even have to tell his men the map was gone.
He quickly jumped back to the deck, dropping the bags and rope. “Not so loud,” he said, grabbing her arm, looking around to see Wybert and Noll standing nearby. They didn’t seem to be paying any attention to them, but were rather lowering another shuttle into the water. He didn’t think they’d even heard the old woman. He grabbed Nairnie by the arm and pulled her to the side to talk in private. “Tell me what you know, old woman.”
Nairnie reached out and slapped his face. He jumped back in surprise.
“Why the hell did you do that?”
“Stop callin’ me auld woman. I’m yer grandmathair, now call me that instead.”
“I’m captain of the Falcon and not going to call any wench grandmother, no matter if it’s true or not.”
“Aaron calls me that.”
“Aaron needs to stop that and start acting like a man.”
“Real men dinna need to call a female wench or auld woman.”
“Just tell me where to find the damned treasure, and do it fast.”
“No’ until ye call me grandmathair.” She crossed her arms over her ample bosom and raised her chin.
“You’re serious.”
“More than I’ve ever been.”
Tristan clenched his jaw and looked in the opposite direction. He saw Mardon and Aaron hurrying over. Most of his crew had already gone to shore. Only Peg Leg Pate was still surveying the damage of the fire. “All right,” he ground out. “I’ll do it once and once only. After that, I’m not saying it again, and especially not in front of my crew.”
“Fair enough. Then ye’ll call me Nairnie from now on, instead of auld woman or wench.”
“Fine,” he told her, almost choking on the word. He was bending to the will of a woman and he hated it more than anything. But right now, he was desperate and would do whatever it took to know the whereabouts of that treasure. Nairnie was the only one with the information. “Now, tell me. Where is the treasure buried?”
“Well, if I remember correctly –”
“You need to be sure. I can’t be taking a crew of anxious men on a wild goose chase.”
“I’m sure where the treasure is hidden,” she said, giving him a nasty glare. “If ye would have let me finish, ye would have kent I was goin’ to say, if I remember correctly, ye were supposed to call me grandmathair first.”
“Oh, that. All right . . . Grandmother . . . where can I find the treasure?”
“That’s better,” she said with a smug smile, letting out a satisfied sigh.
“Hurry it up, will you?” He glanced around again. His brothers were approaching.
“I’m baskin’ in the glory of it, since I’ll never hear ye call me grandmathair again.”
“You’ll never hear me call you anything if you don’t hurry, because I’m getting so aggravated I’m ready to forget about the treasure and dump you back into the sea to leave you for the sharks.”
“Oh, stop it, Tristan. I ken ye dinna mean it.”
“Want to bet?”
“All right. The treasure is on the east coast of Urchin Island, buried under two trees that form the letter T. Or is it M? Mayhap it was . . .”
“Do you mean X?”
“Aye, that’s it,” she said, snapping her fingers in the air.
“I know that island, it’s close to Hartlepool. I’ve also seen those trees you mention as I sailed by.”
“Tristan, there you are,” said Mardon. “Come on, we’re wasting time.”
“Right,” said Tristan, leaving Nairnie and hurrying over to his brothers. “We’ve got to hurry. Aaron, stay here and work with Pate and Ramble and whoever else is still on board to get the sails raised.”
“Raise the sails?” Aaron exchanged glances with Mardon. “Are you feeling all right, Brother? I just got them at half-mast. Why do we want to raise them now if we’re not ready to go?”
“Because Mardon and I need to stop the men from raiding.”
“What?” Mardon waved a hand through the air. “You’re addled, Brother. I’ve already given the order to the men to raid. There’s nothing that will bring them back before they’ve claimed their booty.”
“They’ll return if they know how close we are to the treasure.”
“Oh, so you’re going to finally tell us where it is?” asked Aaron.
“What’s the rush?” asked Mardon. “You’ve stalled this long, so why do you want to leave now?”
“I admit, I never saw the whole map, and then Gavina washed it off her back before I could see it,” he explained.
“She did what?” gasped Aaron. “The crew is going to kill you.”
“To hell with the crew. I’m going to kill you personally,” said Mardon, stepping toward him.
“Stop it,” growled Tristan. “Nairnie had the original map th
at Birk stole before he burned it. She looked at the map and remembered where to find the treasure. We need to go after it right away, before someone else finds it.”
“Who can find it if the map is gone?” asked Aaron.
“We don’t know if Birk showed the map to any of his men. If so, we might already be too late. I just hope to hell they haven’t gotten to it first.”
“I’ll go tend to the sails,” agreed Aaron.
“Let’s go find the crew,” said Mardon.
“Keep an eye on Gavina,” Tristan told Nairnie as they walked away. “Whatever you do, don’t let her out of your sight.”
“Let me out of here,” cried Gavina, pounding upon the locked door. “I’m no’ a prisoner and I refuse to be treated as one. Open this door, I say.”
To Gavina’s surprise, she heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. She stepped back as the door opened, even more surprised to see Nairnie.
“Nairnie? What are ye doin’ here?”
“Well, ye didna think I’d be out pillagin’ and plunderin’ with the men, did ye?”
“I suppose no’,” she said with a giggle.
“Tristan sent me here to keep an eye on ye.”
“No need,” she said, pushing past her out the door. “I’m goin’ to take a shuttle boat to shore and I’m no’ comin’ back.”
“Ye canna mean that.” Nairnie hurried after her, waddling across the deck.
“I willna be married to a pirate any longer. It was all a big mistake.” She spotted Wybert and Noll loitering near the side of the ship. She could see they had lowered a shuttle into the water. “Wait!” she cried out, running to them. “Please, can I have a ride to shore in the shuttle boat with ye?”
“Gavina, nay,” cried Nairnie. “Ye are supposed to stay here. I’m no’ lettin’ ye get into a boat with those two!”
Wybert and Noll talked in soft voices, turning their heads so the women couldn’t hear them. Then they turned back around. “Sure, we’ll take ye,” said Noll. “Let me help ye down the ladder.”
“Thank ye,” said Gavina. She started down the ladder to the shuttle, hearing Nairnie arguing with the men.
“Ye’re comin’, too, old woman, so get in the boat,” Wybert commanded.
“I willna climb over the ship’s wall, and neither will I go anywhere with ye.”
“I heard what ye said to the captain,” Noll told her.
“Nay!” Nairnie sounded frightened. Gavina had no idea what they meant by that.
She heard them saying something in a low voice, but couldn’t make out the words. Then Gavina looked up to see the two men hoisting Nairnie up and over the sidewall.
“Nay. Dinna make her come along if she doesna want to.” She feared that Nairnie was going to get hurt.
“She doesn’t have a choice,” snapped Noll. “Come on, hurry it up before I push ye in, old woman.”
“Dinna call me that!” Nairnie almost lost her hold on the ladder, and grabbed it quickly as she descended. Once the three of them were in the boat, Wybert started to row away from the ship, but not following the rest of the men.
“Where are ye goin’?” asked Gavina in confusion. “The shore is in the opposite direction.”
“That would be correct, if we were goin’ to shore, which we’re not,” said Noll.
“Where are ye takin’ us?” Nairnie demanded to know.
“Let’s just say, the four of us are takin’ a little side trip.”
“A side trip? Where?” asked Gavina, her heart pounding in her chest. She already regretted asking these two for help. She never should have done it after Nairnie told her she suspected they were the ones to start the fire.
“We’re goin’ to find the king’s treasure,” said Wybert, getting an elbow in the ribs from Noll to stay quiet.
“Well, I’m afraid we’ll be of no help to ye then,” Gavina told them. “Ye see, I no longer have the map on my back.”
“We know,” said Noll.
“Ye do? Then why are ye takin’ me and Nairnie?” asked Gavina.
“We’re taking ye, Wench, for insurance that yer husband won’t kill us before we get the treasure.”
“Well, certainly ye dinna need to abduct Nairnie. Her own grandsons nearly didna even fish her out of the sea. She’s of no value to ye.”
“Thanks a lot,” sniffed Nairnie.
“Oh, on the contrary. Right now, she is more valuable to us than ye,” said Noll with a snide chuckle.
“I dinna understand. What does that mean?”
“Do ye want to tell her?” Noll asked Nairnie.
“Och, lass, I’m afraid to say I’ve made a mistake,” apologized Nairnie.
“Nairnie? What’s goin’ on?” asked Gavina.
“I told Tristan I kent the whereabouts of the treasure since I once held the map. I guess these two overhead me.”
“I see,” said Gavina, feeling a rush of emotions flow through her. On one hand, she was excited that they’d still be able to find the treasure and that mayhap she could use part of it to save her brother, even if Tristan said he wasn’t giving her any. But on the other hand, Wybert and Noll just abducted them, and this could mean big trouble. “Well, I’m no’ worried because Tristan and his crew will get there first. Ye canna think this little rowboat is goin’ to be able to outrun the Falcon.”
“Nay, of course not,” said Noll. “However, I’m pretty sure the Poseidon can.”
“The Poseidon? What is that?” asked Gavina.
“It’s a pirate ship, lass,” Nairnie told her.
“Well, how would they ken where to find the treasure?” Gavina was still confused.
“They’ll know as soon as we tell them,” said Noll.
“Tristan will save us long before ye can even find the Poseidon,” said Gavina, feeling confident about this. “Then, my husband will kill ye, and the crew of the Poseidon will never even ken there was a treasure at all.”
“Dinna be so sure of that, lass,” said Nairnie, looking over Gavina’s head. Nairnie’s face turned white.
Gavina didn’t need to turn around to know where they were headed. Still, she found herself doing so anyway, seeing a large ship sailing toward them with the name Poseidon painted across it and the bust of the sea god and his triton attached to the bow of the ship.
“Whose ship is that?” asked Gavina.
“It belongs to a pirate who is about to be our new captain,” Wybert told her. “He’s twice the pirate Tristan is, and it’ll be a pleasure to serve him.”
“Ye’re leavin’ Tristan?” she asked, getting the feeling they’d never return to the Falcon now.
“That’s right,” said Noll, laughing heartily. “Ye two are in luck. Ye’re about to meet our new captain, Nereus – or as some call him, King of the Sea.”
Chapter 16
It had taken much longer to round up the crew and get them back to the ship than Tristan hoped it would. A lot of them had already started to raid. Tristan figured it best just to let them take the things back to the ship, so he didn’t stop them. Some of them were also engaged with whores by the time he got to shore. That hadn’t been an enjoyable task to pull them away. Especially since after hearing him and Gavina making love, they were all hot and bothered and really needed this.
There was a lot of confusion and animosity toward him right now. Tristan decided the best thing to do was to get all the men back aboard the Falcon and to come out and explain to them the truth about the treasure.
“Mardon,” he called out to his brother after all the shuttle boats had been retrieved and they were ready to set sail. “Is everyone aboard?”
Mardon stood atop the sterncastle, looking out over the crew. “There seems to be a shuttle boat missing. Noll and Wybert aren’t here so they must have taken it.”
“Leave them,” said Tristan, no longer caring about these two. He thought about what Nairnie had said and was almost certain they were the ones to have started the fire and blamed it on bad luck because of th
e women. He hadn’t trusted Noll or Wybert in some time now. They were better off without them since Noll had seemed to be trying to bring about a mutiny. He honestly didn’t want them along when they went for the treasure. “We can come back for them in a few days when things cool down, if I change my mind.”
“Tristan, wait!” Aaron dropped down from the rigging right next to Tristan. “You can’t leave yet.”
“Why not?” Tristan hurried up the stairs to the helm, the stair still creaking when he walked over it. Pate could seem to fix anything on the ship, but he’d been waiting a year for him to do the step. He decided he’d just have to fix it himself when he got time.
Aaron followed Tristan. “While I was up in the rigging I’m pretty sure I saw Gavina and Nairnie leave with Noll and Wybert.”
“What?” Getting to the top of the stairs, Tristan turned around and glared at his brother. “Are you pretty sure or is this for certain?”
“Well, I didn’t notice them until they were already far from the ship, but . . . yeah, I’m pretty sure it was them in the boat with the men.”
“Gavina wouldn’t go with them. And Nairnie would never go over the side of the ship unless someone pushed her. Let’s find out for sure if they’re here or not.” Tristan bounded down the stairs. He headed straight for his cabin. Mardon and Aaron were right behind him. When he got to the door, he realized the key was in the lock and the door was open. “Gavina?” he called out, slamming open the door. Taking a fast scan of the cabin, it was clear she was no longer there. “Nairnie,” he shouted, the name sounding foreign on his tongue since he was no longer calling her old woman or wench. He ran to the galley and the others followed. “Nairnie, where are you?” He pushed aside some burned debris and looked into the small enclosure, but no one was there.
“She’s not here,” said Peg Leg Pate, hobbling over the deck to meet them. “I saw her leave with yer wife. Noll and Wybert were with them.”
“You saw them leave and you didn’t stop them?” Tristan shouted, his temper rising.
“Was I supposed to?” Pate shrugged and glanced over at the other men crowding around them. “I thought they were going to shore like everyone else.”
Tristan (Pirate Lords Series Book 1) Page 24
