Ali's Journey Home

by Beverly Kovatch

  Comments made about how lucky he had been in all of his encounters. How none of the women were ever found to be with child, or he might be facing down the gun barrel of their husbands. After all he never cared if the women he slept with were married or not. If they were willing, and most were, he was more than willing to fulfill their sexual needs. He laughed at their jokes but deep down he wondered if it were luck. His manhood was in question. What if he was unable to produce a child? This confession of Angelina’s pregnancy made him poke his chest out.

  Now he could now prove his friends wrong, but he would also have to be more careful to choose the local whore’s to some of his clients wives.

  If a whore got pregnant, well they knew how to handle it. The wife of a client could cause some issues.

  He didn’t’ even think about the fact that Angelina delivered Masterson several weeks early. He was a proud and boastful father.

  There he stood with a cigar in his mouth as he announced that he had a son. Some of the townspeople wondered about the premature birth and gossiped about it. He promptly told his friends and colleagues that the physician stated it was common with small women to have premature deliveries, and even though they accepted what he said to his face, secretly they all questioned the validity of his statement.

  Premature births were known to happen all the time Angelina said to me when I asked her how she would explain this to her new husband. I wanted to stay, but watching her with him was more than I could bear. If I had seen him in an alley I would have gutted him like a fish.

  I loved her with all my heart and I always wanted to believe that somewhere deep inside I knew that she loved me too, and that all of this was just a nightmare that I would eventually awake from.”

  Chapter 3

  Was this a dream, a vision, or had the pirate transported her somewhere she wasn’t sure? All Ali knew was that suddenly she was no longer on the beach with him. She was standing in front of a small saloon in the center of the town. Angelina was crying and frightened. Ali had never seen her like this before. She was young and beautiful not the angry matronly woman she had seen with Lizzie. Something had to be terribly wrong. The Angelina she had come to know always seemed strong and vibrant, always in control. This was a different side of Angelina than she had ever witnessed. This must be the Angelina that John J loved. The one he had just told her about. She watched as the scene unfolded. It was like a play presenting itself before her and she was the audience.

  Angelina wiped the tears from her face as she stood by the ally. She was grateful for the rain gently falling.

  Maybe he wouldn’t see how much she had been crying, or how hard it was going to be for her but...

  “There must be no tears.” Ali heard Angelina whispering to herself. “You must be brave.”

  “Angelina, I came as soon as I could. What is wrong?”

  She blurted out. “I needed to tell you something in person.”

  “You had me scared to death woman. I thought something was really wrong.”

  “There is something wrong, but I have taken care of the situation. I found out today that I am carrying our child.”

  “This is great news. We will just get married and go off on my ship everything will be just fine. Wait.” He paused. “What do you mean you took care of the situation” he said thinking the worst.

  “No, you don’t understand. I cannot marry you.” She looked up at him.

  “What are you saying? Of course we will get married.” John J replied breathing a slight sigh of relief.

  “My father knows the truth. He has already planned my wedding. I am marrying Jonathan Ravenswood. I have to go through with it. There is no turning back.”

  “No Angelina, you do not have to go through with this. We can run away and get married, it will all be alright. We can live on my ship. I will find us a home somewhere far from here.”

  “I cannot do that John” she said firmly. He then realized just what she was saying to him. He wasn’t good enough for her family. He wasn’t good enough for her. How could he have been so fooled by her charms?

  “Can’t or won’t?” he replied angrily.

  “He knows about the child. I must do as my father says; otherwise he will seek you out and kill you. I could not live with the knowledge that I caused your death. You must go now. I will handle everything from here.”

  “I am not afraid of dying Angelina, this is my child too remember? I will fight to the death for my family.”

  “I need you to go John” she said watching carefully praying that they would not be seen together.

  “I have to go, I cannot be seen with you, but I need you to promise me something.”

  He grabbed her and pulled her into the ally. He pushed her against the wall pressing his body against hers to hold her there. His mouth covered hers in a kiss that took her breath away. Ali wasn’t sure she wanted to see what was going to happen next especially if it ended up being two naked bodies making love in a dark ally.

  It took all of Angelina’s strength to hold him at bay.

  “What is it that you are asking of me Angelina?” he said as she pushed him away.” To stand by and watch another man be father of my child while he abuses you and my child and not say a word?”

  “Yes, that is exactly what I am asking.” She said by surprise. “I need you to keep watch over us from afar, and most of all keep our child safe. We both know that Jonathan Ravenswood is a cruel man, but my father owes him a large debt. This marriage is going to clear his debt. No matter what happens to me you must not interfere, but I need you.” She paused. Her eyes told him that she loved him, but she was determined to go through with this no matter what he said.

  “I need you to promise that you will always be close enough to protect our child, but far enough away that no one will ever suspect.” She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, but she couldn’t say the words.

  “If he ever hurt you I would kill him, you know that.”

  “I have to do this, and I cannot go on if something ever happened to you, and I was the cause of it.”

  “How do you expect me to promise you something like that Angelina?

  You wish to torment me forever having me stand by and watch you with another man? Let alone having my child grow up thinking that Jonathan Ravenswood is it’s father. We can run, let your father handle his own stupid affairs.”

  She stood her ground. She would become the first lady of Ravenswood Manor no matter what John’s decision was. She just hoped she knew him well enough that he would not just walk out on his child. She hoped that someday he would be able to forgive her.

  “I need your promise John. What will it be?” she stood firmly.

  “I promise you, I will look after our child, and all who come after our child until time is no more. Is that what you wish to hear?”

  “Yes John that is what I wish to hear because I know you to be a man of your word, and you will never break it.

  As long as I know you are there in the shadows watching over us I can do what my father is asking.”

  John took her in his arms and held her tight.

  “We can find another way, I know we can.” He whispered in her ear.

  “Trust me when I say there is no other way. No matter what happens you must keep your promise. You must never tell our child about us. Our child must never know that it is not the child of Jonathan Ravenswood.”

  Ali could tell that he struggled to say the words she wanted from him. This was the promise that would destroy them all in the end.

  Chapter 4

  For the first time Ali actually felt sorry for John J. She opened her eyes and she was back standing in front of this broken man.

  “I didn’t wake from the nightmare though, so to keep my sanity I left and went out to sea. I didn’t return for over a year. I wasn’t even sure I would return at all. I have always kept my promise to her though. When I returned from my trip to India Angelina showed up at the tavern not only was she carry
ing my son in her arms she had another surprise for me.

  She didn’t want the father of her son to be squandering his life in the streets like a drunken sailor I guess. She had procured me a job with her husband. You see I was a low life far beneath the wealth and prestige of the Ravenswood family. For her husband to hire me was a step up from the life I lived. I assumed that he wanted me to run a few of his ships, but that was not the plan.

  This new job was for me to go out and steal for him. Jonathan was offering me an exceptionally good job to be what I was a pirate.”

  “Why in the world would you do that?”

  “I had no choice you see Angelina had revealed my secret life to him one night when she had too much to drink. I knew it was work for Jonathan Ravenswood, or spend the rest of my life in prison, a convicted pirate. She tried to say it as a step up for me, but it was just a trap. You see Robert Wentworth was a crafty man much craftier than Ravenswood. He knew Jonathan’s weakness for gambling, and soon Jonathan was in debt up to his neck.

  I knew how much Angelina craved his wealth, and I could not allow something to happen to her or my son. As long as I did what Jonathan wanted my secret life was safe, and soon I was raiding the Wentworth’s ships bringing in more money and wealth than Jonathan had ever seen.”

  “So you were stealing from the Wentworth’s ships, and giving it to Ravenswood?”

  “Well Ravenswood never knew all that was on the ship so part of that bounty went to me and my men. I could have run. He would never have found me, but I did benefit from the union. The real truth is I kept doing it just so that I could see my son, and occasionally with her permission of course spend a night or two of passion with Angelina.”

  “You were a rogue than, sleeping with the boss’s wife.” She laughed. “How did she explain her disappearances?” Ali chuckled.

  “We had our secrets. Usually she used Masterson as the excuse to get away. He always fell for that one. According to Jonathan, Masterson was a nuisance, and always in the way. He would rant on and on about hiring someone to take care of him. Take him elsewhere was the word he used most often to the servants. He should be in a boarding school he is out of control.”

  Chapter 5

  Ali now had a different perspective on both Angelina and Captain Moreland. As greedy and conniving as she was Angelina was in her own way protecting John J. If Angelina’s father ever found out that Masterson belonged to John J he would most likely have had him arrested and hung. The laws of that time would have meant the pirates death for sure. Her choice was run away with John J which meant she could never return, or allow her father to handle her situation.

  Jonathan had abused women for a long time and she wondered how he had gotten past that law for so long, but then again he owned the town. Who would ever believe a mere woman’s confession over the great Jonathan Ravenswood? No one would ever dare accuse him. They were all too afraid of his wrath. Ali understood now that Angelina was sacrificing herself by marrying Jonathan. It was her way of keeping her pirate lover, and their secret safe. No wonder Captain Moreland kept the promise as long as he did.

  It had to be torture for him to watch his son call another man father, and the love of his life forever chained to another man.

  “You know what Masterson, you should not be so mad at Captain Moreland. He gave up a lot to keep you safe.” She said thinking about what they would have done to an illegitimate child if the secret had ever been revealed. She walked up behind him still sitting at the fire.

  Masterson took a deep cleansing breath and sighed.

  “Why did you do this to me John J? I don’t understand how you could face me with such a lie.

  You always said I was like a son to you, but a true father would not have left me abandoned to grow up under a tyrant.”

  “Did he leave you Captain? She asked as she sat next to him. “Did he really leave you, or did he take you from the hands of a tyrant, and turn you into a decent man? You send out your questions, but really did he desert you?

  He was there not like my father. He abandoned me and never returned, never watched even from a distance as I grew up. That my dear captain is the sign of true abandonment, so think about that before you blame John J for leaving you to the likes of Jonathan Ravenswood, for even a bad father is better than none at all.”

  Masterson stood up and walked away from her. He headed into the woods and came back with more wood for the fire. It must not die down he thought. A ship would surely see the flames and investigate. He had to hope for a rescue, or his men might give up on him soon. As much as he hated John J at this moment inside he knew that he would not give up on him. If all of what he said that night was true than he had to hope that John J would search every island in the area looking for him.

  Chapter 6

  Ali was beginning to worry about the Captain. He was getting more and more agitated as the days and weeks went by and no ships appeared. He started mumbling under his breath, and sometimes she heard him conversing with Lizzie. His mind was in a fixed state of how he left her, and that last look she gave him as the ship sailed out of the cove. She found when he was desperate, and feeling all was lost that he would talk about his life. Sometimes it was about his childhood. How he met Lizzie, and how he, Lizzie, and Charlie would play on the beach together. Sometimes he was filled with anger. How his mother and father had deceived him, and told him Lizzie was dead when she wasn’t. The only positive thing with his marriage to Mary was Matthew. Matthew believed that he was his father, and how deeply he wished that he was his real father. Then there was Lizzie. He always talked to Lizzie as if she were there. He told her how much he missed her touch, how much he loved her, and how they were meant to be together.

  Most days he was just lost in his thoughts about Lizzie, and how much he needed her.

  “I am coming to get you Lizzie, I promise you I am. I did not want to leave you that way. I have a place for us, do you hear me?” He shouted out at the ocean.

  “Captain, you have to stop, you cannot go on blaming yourself for leaving. There were reasons that you left her there. You were saving her and Matthew’s life. Surely she knew the danger that waited out there for you. You cannot give up so easily. If you don’t fight your way through this and return she will think you are dead and leave. You don’t want her to leave do you?”

  She knew he could not hear her but she had to yell it out to the wind hoping that Lizzie might just hear her voice and stay.

  “Don’t leave me Lizzie; I love you more than my own life.” He said as fell to his knees in the sand crying as if his world had ended.

  Ali watched the torment that swam around the Captain, like a shark circling its prey in the water. When she looked up she saw a ship in the distance. She shouted, and screamed, and jumped up and down in front of the Captain, but he was not paying any attention.

  “A ship” she yelled again at him. “Look up captain, there is a ship. It can save us. Why of all the times you have heard my voice are you not listening to me right now.” She stood in his face screaming at him. “Look up now.”

  The captain looked up at that moment and saw the ship. He quickly ran to pile more wood on the fire in hopes that they would see his signal. “Come on mate, see my signal.” He prayed out loud.

  Just as the ship started to turn away the man in the crow’s nest yelled down to his captain.

  “I think I see a signal fire. It is on the beach major, coming from that island to the south.”

  “There should be no one on that island boy, are you sure of what you see?”

  “Yes sir, there is defiantly a fire on the beach, and I see a man waving his arms sir.”

  “Then let’s head in and see who that is.”

  Ali wasn’t sure how long they had been there, but it felt like an eternity. She was looking forward to getting off the desert island. She knew now that she would never again talk about wanting to be alone on a desert island. If she ever did she would remind herself of this trip and get it ou
t of her mind quickly.

  There was a lot of work involved in surviving on a desert island.

  It was definitely not like they made it seem in the movies. During her time there she learned plenty about the captain, maybe even more than she wanted to know. She did know one thing for sure. He was leaving this island with a vengeance on his mind, and with all her might she was going to have to try and stop him. She knew that this vengeance of his would eventually destroy him from within.

  Lizzie could do it, she could control him, but was she going to be there when they returned? If she wasn’t what was going to happen then? What lies would Mary tell him? She was very good at lies.

  The rescue ship was manned by a Major Quincy Waldecker.

  He was supposedly running routine maneuvers when his crew noticed the Captains fire. He told the Captain that they were hired to keep the shipping industry safe from the likes of certain pirate captains.

  When the Captain asked him who had hired him his answer made the Captains blood boil. Robert Wentworth to be exact was what he told Masterson.

  The Major was curious and asked Masterson how he came to be abandoned at sea. He was quite surprised when Masterson revealed that he was the son in law of his employer. The Major thought it was quite strange that no one had been sent out to search for him. He had no clue that Masterson was even missing. He did tell him that it was extremely possible that his father in law and wife must think him dead by now. Why else would they not send out a rescue ship to search for him?

  “I see the question in your face Major. It was quite a storm, and as you say I am sure my family thinks that I am dead. You see, like you, I went out to seek the pirates that captured the ship my parents were on. It has been my quest to make whatever pirate did this pay for what he has done.”

  “Well then, we are on a similar mission aren’t we?” Major Waldecker replied.

  Ali was amazed at how adept Masterson was at making people believe the unbelievable. It was as if he were talking about capturing himself. He was precise when he described the seedy life of a pirate, especially one who would throw people off the ship without a way of survival. As a pirate himself, he knew the rules of the sea. This was not something that any pirate he knew would do, but he continued on speaking of what he would do once he found that pirate.