The Bride and the Buccaneer

by Darlene Marshall

  "This time, Mr. Deford didn't return," Sophia continued softly, unaware Jack knew what she was going to say next. "Instead, Whitfield came to my home, all concern with his talk of poor Mr. Deford's 'hunting accident,' and how everything Deford owned was now his property, lost in the turn of a card—my house, the few possessions we had left, even the clothes on my back. And he said since I had no other male relatives, I would come live at his house as his ward."

  A shudder raced over her frame at the memory, and Jack leaned toward her, offering a hand, an embrace, an arm to lean on—he was not sure what he offered, but she had stopped talking and he pulled back.

  "And then you met me."

  "Yes." Sophia smiled. "A night where my luck changed for the better. Fortune's wheel turns, Captain Burrell. She who is on the bottom may find herself on top..."

  "And he who believes himself on top can find himself bound and left naked in a cave," Jack finished dryly. "And I really must insist if we are married you refer to me as 'Jack,' because I intend to take advantage of this opportunity and call you Sophia."

  She turned and looked at him, and after a moment gave her head a slight nod, fluttering the ribbons on her hat.

  "And now that I've told you my story, Captain Jack, what is your story? How did you become a privateer?"

  "You might say I was born to it. My father was a privateer against you British during the war for American Independence. It was a small step from merchant captain to captain of a privateer when the war began.

  "Do you gamble, Mis—Sophia?"

  "I have been known to place a wager or two."

  "Privateering is gambling at its finest, and that is much of its allure. You risk losing all—your ship, your men, your very life. But if you win it is a drug in the veins, and one that has attracted many an honest merchantman over to the side of legalized ship stealing.

  "The ultimate prize is specie—it is like winning a lottery. The Spanish waters are famous for the treasure ships carrying silver from their mines back to Spain. In this game sometimes you get silver, sometimes you get ballast, sometimes you get oranges."

  "Oranges?"

  He smiled at her surprise. "Yes, the crop that's most likely to come out of East Florida, along with sugar, and sometimes deer hides. But the oranges are valuable. New York, Boston, Halifax, they pay well for 'liquid gold.'"

  He looked at the woman who was now purportedly his spouse, and realized this was one of the few extended conversations he'd had with her where they were not sniping at each other. Since she was appearing more open to the idea of their "marriage," he plowed ahead.

  "Whether or not we are in fact married, we have to pretend to be married because East Florida is not England, Sophia. As we travel there won't always be inns where I can book separate accommodations for us. In Florida, travelers spend the night at the homes of planters and farmers along the coast and inland. Or they sleep under the stars with the insects, but I would prefer to sleep indoors when I can."

  Sophia turned away from him and looked out to sea, and Jack waited for her to mull this over. No matter what else he might think about her, he couldn't deny she was an intelligent girl.

  She confirmed that when she turned back to him.

  "What you say makes sense, Captain Burrell. However, I still have to think about this. We have a few days before we make landfall?"

  "Yes, we should be in Fernandina by the end of the week." He gave her what he hoped was an engaging grin. "Can I anticipate you will take on the role of Mrs. Burrell?"

  She looked at him coolly. "I will mend your clothes, Captain, and share your table. But I will also continue to sleep in my hammock at night. No one need know what our sleeping arrangements are."

  He shrugged, though he was disappointed. Hell, he ought to be getting something out if this if he wasn't going to see his two hundred dollars—plus interest—in this lifetime.

  "Suit yourself," he said.

  She looked at him over her shoulder as she walked away.

  "I always do, Captain Burrell."

  CHAPTER 9"Have I lost my mind, or is the flag of Mexico flying over the harbor?"

  Jack turned to Mr. Rice, who took the glass from his captain and put it up to his eye.

  "Sure looks like the rebels' flag to me, Captain."

  The harbor of Fernandina on Amelia Island was known for smuggling, prostitution, and piracy, but as far as Jack Burrell knew, it had always been part of Spanish East Florida, not the struggling revolutionary forces of Mexico. They'd been fighting Spain for over five years, trying to break away from the mother country with mixed success. Jack had no doubt eventually they'd win, since Spain was too poor to hold onto its colonies in the Americas, but that didn't mean Florida was going to be part of the new Mexico. The United States was unhappy enough that they had Spain to deal with in Florida, they weren't going to let Mexico take over the lands from the Atlantic to the Mississippi.

  Jack mulled this latest development over when Sophia came up alongside him, hearing the end of the conversation.

  "Florida is under attack?"

  "I am not sure about that," Jack said slowly, "but this is an unexpected development. We could be sailing into the middle of a war."

  "A war! I only took this trip because the war was at long last over and I thought I could travel safely!"

  "I warned you Florida was a dangerous place, Mrs. Burrell."

  "You warned me about storms and insects, not about the

  government being attacked!"

  "In Florida, you learn to expect the unexpected. It is like a vortex attracting the refuse of the rest of the world, eager to reinvent themselves here."

  "That certainly explains your presence!

  "Yes, it does. And now it explains your presence, too." He put the glass back up to his eye. "Mr. Rice, I don't see any signs of damage or active fighting going on. I suggest we head into port as usual, and see what we find when we get there."

  "Whose flag would you like to arrive under, Captain?"

  Jack thought about this for a moment, then came to a decision.

  "Let's fly the United States' colors for now. But be alert, and have the men ready for action."

  "Aye, sir," Rice said, turning aside to direct the crew.

  "So can you explain this latest development to me, Captain Burrell?"

  Jack looked over at his wife, who was shading her eyes and watching the activity in the harbor. There was an uneasy truce between them, but he had to admit she'd been a game traveler. Everything to her was an adventure, whether it was pirates or marriage at sword point, and he could not say she was a whining or unpleasant companion.

  "As I said, Florida is not like other locales. Envision the map of East Florida in your head, and imagine Florida as an appendage. A flaccid and dangling appendage, protruding from the nether regions just below the United States. Then it is engorged with settlers and commerce. It rises, alert to opportunities, ready to thrust itself into the very womb of world affairs.

  "Thank you, I get the picture," she said dryly. There was nothing missish about the former Miss Sophia Deford, and that, too, intrigued him. It seemed unlikely she was an untouched maiden, given her propensity for stripping men naked, gambling, and setting off on her own for uncharted territories. He was just itching to find out for himself, despite the complications that would cause.

  After all, while cats are notoriously standoffish and independent, they do like to be stroked and petted. He'd been ruffling her fur the wrong way on this trip, but maybe that could change once they hit land.

  As the Jade maneuvered into the harbor, the crew was at the ready, but no one hailed them demanding anything. In fact, Fernandina looked surprisingly robust and busy for a town that had changed ownership

  while Jack was at sea. Other ships were unloading cargo, and most of the vessels he recognized were fellow smugglers and privateers, keeping to business as usual.

  Situated as it was just south of the border, Fernandina was ideally suited for s
mugglers trying to avoid the United States' customs agents. Jack was a U.S. citizen, but he wasn't above maximizing his profits by using Fernandina rather than the Georgia ports when he was in southern waters.

  But his grip on the rail tightened as he saw the cargo being unloaded from the Santa Inez.

  "Good Lord, are those people being herded along that wharf?"

  "Yes. Slaves."

  "Poor things," Sophia murmured, her hand clutching the neck of her dress as she watched chained men, and women struggling with crying children, being herded along by men with whips.

  "It is a sight you will find common in Florida, Sophia. Ever since the United States barred the importation of slaves, all it did was make Fernandina rich." Jack turned to her. Her eyes were even wider as she watched the scene of misery in front of her.

  "What will happen to them?"

  "They will be transported up the St. Marys River in Georgia and sold to plantation owners there. If they're fortunate, their families will stay together. If not..."

  He left her there, watching the bustling port, and turned back to getting his affairs in order so he could leave his ship. There would be well-armed men left aboard, with liberty rotated through the crew, but he was taking no chances. He'd seen other ships slip out during the night from what they'd thought was a safe harbor, a new crew at the helm and bodies left floating in the wake.

  There was one more thing he needed to do now that they were in Florida. He went to his cabin and returned with paper and a pencil, which he gave to Sophia.

  "I need to have you write down your clues to Garvey's Gold so I can figure out where our journey will take us and what supplies we will need."

  Two vertical lines appeared between Sophia's brows as she thought about it.

  "How long will we be in port?"

  "I cannot say, and frankly, that is not important. I need to see where we are going so I can properly prepare us for this journey."

  She looked at him in her assessing way, and he could almost see the gears spinning in her head as she worked this out.

  "I will write the clues up to a point, Captain. But it will not include the final information. I am willing to risk we may not have all the gear we need at the outset rather than have you go off on your own and leave me stranded in this land."

  "Don't you trust me, Mrs. Burrell?"

  "No further than I could throw you across this deck, Captain Burrell. And if you tell me you trust me, I will know you are a liar."

  Jack couldn't argue with this, so he merely nodded and said, "Give me what you have, and I will let you know if it's sufficient information. We will continue to sleep aboard the Jade for now, but before we leave here I need to know if this treasure hunt starts in this vicinity or farther down the coast."

  "We are not sleeping ashore?"

  "I intend to stay aboard my ship and send a message that we are armed and ready for action." He softened at her look of dismay. "Let me see what I find, but for now, it is best you stay here. I can protect you when you are with me, but I would worry if you were out of my sight."

  "Worry about me wandering off with the clues to Garvey's Gold?"

  "Of course. Why else would I worry?"

  * * *

  When Jack returned to the ship, he found Sophia going over Mick's mathematics text with him, and the boy looked relieved when he was ordered back to duty.

  "Put on a pretty frock, Mrs. Burrell, we have a supper invitation."

  "With whom?" Sophia asked as he helped her to her feet.

  "Luis Aury, the self-proclaimed commander-in-chief of the armed forces holding Amelia Island. Of course when I knew him, he was just plain old 'Captain Aury, pirate.'"

  "Another dinner with pirates? My life is so ho-hum these days."

  Jack grinned but sobered quickly. "Fernandina is under the control of pirates, led by Aury. It's best to go along with his dinner invitation."

  "Where are the Spanish officials?"

  "Down at St. Augustine, staying out of the way. They don't have the troops to go against the pirates, and they're not likely to get more sent from Havana. Most of the law-abiding citizens left, some of them

  Americans and British citizens banished from Aury's 'Republic of the Floridas.' It won't last. It's bad enough for the Americans to have Spain in their cellar, they're not going to allow a nest of pirates to flourish down here. Did you write the clues?"

  "Yes, but if we are going ashore for supper I need to get ready. Can we go over it later?"

  "Very well. But no tricks, Sophia. I am running out of patience with this venture."

  "If it all works out, you will get the reward you deserve, Captain."

  He looked at her, but her face didn't reveal anything more, so he let it go. For now.

  "One more thing, Mrs. Burrell. Put this on."

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, handing it to Sophia. He shoved his hands back in his pockets and waited. She opened the box, and her eyebrows went up, but she took out the gold ring set with pearls and slipped it on her finger.

  "This is quite lovely, Captain Burrell."

  "Do not insist you will give it back to me when we are finished with our journey."

  She looked at him in puzzlement. "I had no intention of giving it back to you, Captain. It's mine now, and I keep what is mine."

  "Of course. I cannot imagine why I expected otherwise."

  * * *

  Sophia did not know what to expect with her second pirate encounter—third if you included Lucky Jack taking her off the Primrose—but Captain Luis Aury didn't match her idea of what a pirate looked like. He was a Frenchman of slight build with almost delicate features, the black hair falling across his forehead giving him a boyish look.

  The men surrounding him looked more piratical, a scarred and raffish group, with armed mixed-race troops, "Aury's Blacks," guarding the doors.

  "Are we expecting trouble?" Sophia leaned over and whispered to Jack.

  "No more than usual on an island in the middle of an insurrection."

  Sophia took a moment to admire her escort for the evening. Jack was dressed informally in a dark blue coat and buff breeches, but the linen at his neck gleamed white and he'd shaved and put on a spicy cologne that made her want to lean in for a closer sniff. The arm beneath her hand was corded with muscle, and she flicked her fan open to waft some of the tropical air around her face. It had suddenly turned warm this evening.

  She wondered if he was wearing his smallclothes—daisies and all— and the thought made her smile.

  "You are looking particularly fine tonight, Sophia."

  She looked up at him but could find no hidden meaning in his compliment. The dress she wore this evening was a pink sarcenet the shade of an opening rose, with a white net overlay, and she knew the high waist and simple lines of the current fashions enhanced her slim figure. She'd braided her hair into a coronet, wrapped in a demi-turban of pink silk, stray ringlets peeking through at her nape and framing her eyes. A string of pearls, one of the few remaining legacies of her mother, gleamed at her neck and she gained appreciative looks from the pirates, who in turn earned scowls from her husband.

  "Captain Burrell! I heard you were married," Aury said before coming forward to embrace Jack and take Sophia's hand for a kiss. "You are well called 'Lucky Jack,' mon ami, for your new bride is lovely and charming!"

  "Where did you hear I was married?"

  "From one of Roberts's men, of course! Captain Sinister was most proud of the role he played in bringing you two together."

  "Of course." Jack sighed.

  Aury turned his dark gaze back to Sophia. "But you must tell me all about yourself, Mrs. Burrell. Please, allow me to escort you into supper."

  Sophia entered the spacious dining room on the arm of her host. Aury had commandeered one of the private residences abandoned by an American family staying away from the island until the situation settled itself down, and he ushered her to her seat with great courtesy.

&n
bsp; There were other ladies present, though "lady" might have accorded the women a status they only aspired to, but Sophia took it all in stride. Living amongst gamblers and their women, working near the Portsmouth docks, robbing highwaymen, she was the last person in the world to pass judgment on what a girl did to keep a roof over her head.

  The supper boasted a variety of dishes not seen aboard ship—turtle soup, oysters, fresh turkey with a savory dressing, venison, a variety of greens and spring vegetables, and pies and cakes made from figs, oranges and pecans stored from the winter. The conversation was a bit

  warmer than what one would have likely found in the house while its American owners were in residence, and it was spoken in a mixture of Spanish, English, and French.

  "If you are having new dresses made in St. Augustine, you must see Senora Martinez on St. George Street," one of the flashily dressed women remarked. "She has all the latest fashion plates from France and will rig you out in fine form."

  "Thank you, Mrs. Banks." Sophia smiled at her across the table. Mrs. Banks was wearing too much kohl around her eyes, but those eyes were open and friendly. The man seated next to her she referred to as "my Sam." He was missing part of his nose and sported a hook in lieu of a left hand, but he appeared fond enough of his dinner companion, though it was clear he wasn't Mr. Banks.

  "Are you leaving for St. Augustine then, Jack?" Aury asked from the head of the table.

  "Eventually," Jack said, slicing into a piece of venison.

  "I was hoping you might be staying here on Amelia Island, Captain Burrell," Aury said, taking a sip of his wine and looking at Jack. "I could use some experienced men. I intend to establish a legislature for the Republic of the Floridas and a man with your background would be an asset, especially when dealing with the Americans."

  Sophia listened with half an ear to Mrs. Banks rattle on about Florida modistes. While Jack looked relaxed and at ease, she knew him well enough by now to see the tense lines at the corners of his eyes while he talked with their host.