by Chloe Carley
Holding his gaze, she filled her lungs, ready to scream.
Without warning, he lunged for the little box and snatched the finch out of its cotton and twig nest. The scream died on Rachel’s lips. Her eyes flew wide as she watched him grip the finch in his rough, dirty palms. All he had to do was close his hand and he would crush the poor thing to death. He knew it. She knew it. And he knew that she knew.
“If you so much as whimper, I’ll squeeze the life out of this infested thing,” he warned. The bird chirped in panic, fluttering its restrained wings. She could only imagine the pain it was suffering as it fought to break free, pushing with its broken wing.
Don’t struggle, she begged silently. Don’t struggle, my sweet. He will crush you if you struggle. Nausea rose up in her throat as she realized how the words rang true… not only for the bird.
“Captain Frodsham will hang you from the topsail if you so much as touch me or displease me in any way,” she said fiercely, finding inner strength in the hopes it might save her bird. “He shall hear of this.”
“Someone’s been filling your head with nonsense, miss,” he replied, with frightening calmness. “I’ve sailed with Captain Frodsham for years. He won’t get rid of me for the sake of a spindly little thing like you. After all, he’s only got to deliver you to Georgia—old Daddy never specified the state you had to be in.”
“You are lying,” she spat. “I must be delivered in one piece or your captain gets nothing. You get nothing.”
“Now, that’s not strictly true, is it?” he leered. “I’ll get something out of the bargain.”
“The captain will hear of this.” Rachel balled her hands into fists.
“And what if you can’t speak, miss?” A silver tooth flashed in the low light.
“I will not be silenced.”
Garrick laughed. “Aye, well maybe we’ll start smaller—that chirping is mighty irritating, ain’t it?”
“Don’t you dare touch my bird!” Rachel snapped. “If you close your hand around that dear creature, I will drop this oil-lamp. I shall set this entire ship alight.” Her clammy palm gripped the lamp handle tighter.
He paused uncertainly. “You wouldn’t be so stupid.”
“I would.”
“For a bird?”
“For the bird and more.” Her eyes narrowed in disgust. “I know why you are here and why you are threatening me in such a vile manner. I may be somewhat sheltered, but I am no fool. I would rather burn with the rest of this ship than have you lay a single finger upon me.”
He smirked. “Feistier than I thought you’d be. Shame you don’t have your knight in shining armor to save you this time.” A threatening silence stretched between them before he spoke again. “See, I can jump clear over this table in less than a second. You think you’ll have time to drop the lamp before I get my hands on you? Naturally, the chirping annoyance won’t survive the jump—I’ll have to put my hands down flat.” He slammed his palm towards the wooden table. A strangled cry clawed its way out of Rachel’s throat, her hands flying to her mouth.
He stopped a few inches shy of the table’s surface. A cruel laugh rippled from somewhere dark and disturbing within him as he lifted his hand again, revealing the unharmed finch. It pecked at his fingers, but his callouses were so thick that she doubted they hurt him in the slightest.
Frightened tears coursed down Rachel’s cheeks as she stared at her aggressor. Her whole body shook, not only for herself but for her feather friend. All she had done was take it out of the frying pan and into the fire. In the space of a few minutes, she felt her streak of independence dwindle. Right now, all she wanted was Dandelion at her side and Noah somewhere close by. Her heart begged for him to appear, but the hallway beyond the surgery remained empty and achingly silent.
“I have money,” she said, in desperation.
“I was wondering how long it’d be before you tried to buy your way out of this.”
“Name your price.”
A steely glint flickered in his dark eyes. “I thought I already named it?”
She gazed hopelessly at the bird in Garrick’s hand while a choked sob wracked her chest. There was only one way out of this, without giving Garrick what he wanted. Forgive me, Peridot, she prayed. I cannot save you if I wish to save myself. He will pay for what he has done, though—I swear that to you, my darling creature.
“Here is my price,” she said, hurling the oil-lamp in Garrick’s direction.
Startled, he let go of Peridot and lunged across the table to try and catch the airborne oil-lamp before it hit the floor. As the light in the room dimmed, Rachel seized her moment and darted around the side of the table, only to pause at the sight of Peridot lying still on the floor. A pale figure against the dark wood beneath. Ducking down, she scooped up the tiny bird and hurtled toward the exit. She did not care if it cost her a few valuable seconds.
Tumbling out of the surgery, she raced along the hallway with the sound of boots thundering behind her in hot pursuit. Garrick was gaining on her. Clutching the bird close to her chest, she ran full-pelt toward the staircase to the upper deck. Halfway up the steps, a hand closed around her ankle. Lurching to the ground, she broke her fall with her spare hand, a spike of pain ricocheting through her forearm. Undeterred, she glanced over her shoulder to see Garrick’s malevolent eyes staring back. Drawing a gulp of air into her lungs, she kicked back with all her might and sent Garrick sprawling backward.
“Help me!” she screamed from the middle of the upper deck. Against the bare skin of her palm, she felt Peridot’s heart beat. Rapid and panicked, but alive. Relieved, desperate tears fell from her eyes as she scoured the ship for any sign of a sailor. Silence reigned—nobody called back. There was nobody coming to help her.
Her eyes darted back to the gap in the deck, where the staircase lay, just as Garrick emerged. He stalked toward her, anger bristling off him in furious waves. “This is no fairytale,” he growled. “Out here on the open ocean, there are no rules. The laws don’t apply.”
She still held the bone-handled knife in her hand. Raising it up to him, she tucked Peridot into the loose neckline of her gown and prepared to fight. She had no idea what she was doing and knew she would likely fail, but she had to try. All that was standing between her and a nightmare was a single, flimsy blade.
A shadow sprinted across the deck, bowling straight into Garrick’s side. It tackled him to the ground, taking him entirely by surprise. A guttural groan heaved from the vile man’s lips as the shadowy figure pressed the sole of his boot to Garrick’s throat.
“You’re lucky I don’t throw you overboard, you cowardly wretch,” a voice hissed in the darkness. A soothing, familiar voice. Noah had come to save her… a little late, but he was there.
Garrick shoved at Noah’s boot to try and knock him off-balance, but Noah was too quick. As the villainous cretin lumbered to his feet, Noah lassoed a coil of rope over Garrick’s head and pulled it tight, trapping his arms behind his back. He struggled against them, but Noah was the stronger of the two. He held the rope fast, heaving with all his might to keep Garrick tied up.
“Did he hurt you, Miss Faulks?” Noah asked, his voice straining with the exertion.
“No… though he tried.” She removed Peridot from the neckline of her gown and smoothed down the ruffled creature’s feathers. A quiet chirp found its way out of the bird’s tiny beak.
Noah glanced at the bird with worried eyes. “Did he… Did he kill Peridot?”
“No—although, once more, he attempted the act.”
Noah booted Garrick squarely in the backs of his knees, prompting the cruel man to sink to his knees on the deck. “What kind of monster goes around frightening young girls and threatening to kill tiny, harmless birds?” he spat, swiping at the back of Garrick’s head. “You should count yourself lucky that I am going to allow Captain Frodsham to decide your fate. If I had it my way, you would be dangling from the figurehead with the waves crashing in your face.”
“He threatened Miss Faulks,” Noah replied. “I caught him chasing after her.”
“Is that what that awful scream was?” Benjamin yawned loudly. “I thought it was Onions, falling from the topsail again.”
“No, captain, it was Miss Faulks.”
Benjamin looked to Rachel, scrutinizing her closely. “And what, pray tell, was Miss Faulks doing wandering about at such an ungodly hour of the night?”
Noah turned his gaze back to her, the same question written all over his face.
“I was… that is, I wanted to—”
“Find Doctor Bentham because she thought something might be the matter with Dandelion. Naturally, she did not wish to awaken Nan at such an hour—the old woman barely sleeps as it is. Presumably and rather regrettably, she thought it would be safe to wander such a short distance without being accosted,” Noah interjected, saving Rachel from an uncomfortable revelation. In the impulse of the moment, she had forgotten herself—she had forgotten how unsafe she was aboard the Emerald, without Noah or Dandelion to watch out for her. A foolish error, never to be repeated.
Benjamin frowned. “What’s the matter with the beast?”
“A stomach complaint,” Rachel replied, dropping her gaze in case she gave away the lie.
“This is why we do not permit animals on-board unless they are stowed in the cargo hold.” Benjamin sighed wearily. “And what has Garrick to do with all of this?”
“He happened upon me in the surgery,” Rachel said, hiding Peridot from sight. She had not yet told Benjamin of the bird’s presence and nor had Noah—or so it seemed. “He attempted to corner me.”
A dangerous light flickered in Benjamin’s eyes, his expression shifting in an instant. “I hardly need to ask if this accusation is true. What did I tell you, Garrick? Did I not warn you of the consequences? Did I not give you ample leniency the last time you attempted to disrupt my voyage?”
Garrick nodded, regressing to the demeanor of a small boy. “You did, captain. I was only toying with the girl, I swear. I didn’t intend to harm her.” A tremor of fear lingered in his voice. “I wanted to scare her out of trying it again, Captain. You can rely on me to keep me hands to myself, but some of these other lads—they’d not be so genteel about it if they saw the young miss stalking the halls of a night.”
“Do not add lies to your list of crimes, Garrick,” Benjamin tutted. “Miss Faulks, you may leave us. Noah, see that she returns safely to her chambers. Garrick, I would ask that you follow me.”
“Of course, captain,” Noah replied, handing Benjamin the rope that held Garrick.
“Oh and Miss Faulks?” Benjamin said, tugging hard on the rope.
Rachel flushed. “Yes, Captain Frodsham?”
“While this man is most certainly an unsavory devil and his behavior shall not go unpunished, his point is well made,” he replied. “You should not wander this ship alone, at any time, under any circumstances. Do I make myself clear?”
She nodded quickly. “Yes, Captain Frodsham.”
“Very good, then I wish you a good night.”
“Goodnight, captain.”
She was about to turn when he called her back a third time. “And keep that bird in your chambers, if you value its life,” he warned. “Fresh meat will become a rarity once we find ourselves in the middle of the Atlantic. There are sailors aboard this vessel who will do just about anything for a sliver of plump, roast bird. They do not care how small it is, or how precious it may be to you.”
“Yes, Captain Frodsham.” With that, she turned on her heel and cradled Peridot to her breast, wishing fervently that she had never set foot outside her chamber door.
Chapter Twelve
The following day, Garrick was neither seen nor heard. Indeed, the entire incident appeared to have gone unnoticed by the other sailors who made their sleepy way to the top deck in order to take over from those who had watched over the ship during the night. Noah rose with them, though his journey took him deep into the belly of the ship, clambering down to the lowest deck.
A narrow, low-ceilinged corridor ran the entire length of the vessel’s bottom rung. Dipping his head so as not to bash it off the beams overhead, he edged along. Only four doors branched off from the main path—one for the two cabin boys, one for food storage, one for additional storage, and one for the ship’s brig.
Noah pushed open the last door on the right and peered into the gloom beyond. Two metal cages sat at the far side, lit only by the glow of the oil-lamps that flickered out in the hallway. He had expected to find Garrick lying on the rotting straw within one of them, awaiting his punishment. However, to his surprise and alarm, both stood empty.
Where can he be? Noah wondered, as he closed the door and made his way back up to the top deck. The ship was large, but it seemed impossible that a man could vanish from the face of it. The notion set Noah’s teeth on edge. Evidently, something had happened to Garrick; he just hoped he would not find the cruel sailor dangling from the topsail. Noah did not think there were many crimes that deserved to be punished with death, but it tended to be Captain Frodsham’s favored way of dealing with those who defied his orders.
“Have you seen Garrick this morning?” Noah asked, bumping into Onions on his way up the last set of stairs.
Onions shook his head, wearing a look of confusion. “Last I saw, he was in his bunk.”
“Is he still there?”
“Not sure, I was just on me way down to catch some shuteye. Been up all night in the crow’s nest.”
“Sorry to bother you,” Noah said, noting the dark circles around the boy’s eyes. “You go and get some rest.”
Onions frowned nervously. “Has something happened to him?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” Noah replied. He turned around and headed along the cramped hallway. Garrick’s chamber sat two doors down from his own, though Noah did not share his with any of the other men. He knocked lightly on the splintering wood, in case any of the night-watch were sleeping within.
Silence echoed back.
Carefully, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. Six hammocks swung precariously from the rafters while two roll-mats spread across the planks at the farthest end of the room. Two were occupied with sleeping sailors who hadn’t heard the tentative knock at the door. The rest were empty and Garrick was nowhere to be seen.
This cannot be good, Noah mused, as he hurried back down the hallway and up the stairs onto the top deck. Captain Benjamin Frodsham stood against the gunwale gazing out at the passing coastline of Portugal. Even though the sun had come up but an hour ago, a warm breeze danced across the ship, pushing at the plump sails to send it speeding forward.
“Good morning, captain,” he said, pausing at the short man’s side.
“Good morning to you, Sharpleton.”
Noah peered at the rugged cliffs and the sandy coves, admiring the crystalline water that lapped the shoreline of the Iberian Peninsula. He had always thought this part of the world to be remarkably beautiful, the landscape striking a delicate balance between verdant greenery and scorched earth while valleys cut through swathes of rock, uniting the rivers and streams with the aquamarine ocean.
“I wondered if I might ask what became of Garrick?” he said, keeping his gaze fixed on a cluster of makeshift shacks, perched precariously at the top of a cliff.
“He has been dealt with,” Benjamin replied coolly.
“Might I ask how he has been dealt with?”
“That is of little concern to you, though I thought you would be more pleased by his disappearance than you seem to be,” Benjamin went on, chuckling softly. “You have done rather well
in your role of protector, haven’t you? Indeed, had you not arrived to assist Miss Faulks when you had, anything might have happened to her. I have simply finished your job for you, so you do not have to. I should hate to see you get your hands truly dirty.”
A shiver of unrest bristled through Noah. “I believe Garrick needed to be punished but… tell me, captain… is he dead?”
A burst of laughter erupted from Benjamin’s throat, as he nudged Noah in the arm. “Of course, he’s not dead! Do you think I can afford to lose even one man from my crew so far from British shores? If we were closer it might have been a rather different story, but I will not find a suitable replacement between here and America, not unless we plan to turn back to Ireland.”
