by Nancy Bush
Before the first mate could recover, Jesse kicked backward, the heel of his boot connecting with the man’s back. The first mate squealed in pain. Oily smoke filled Jesse’s nostrils. He jerked around. The lantern had caught the rug on fire.
“I’ll kill ya! I’ll kill ya!” the first mate screamed somewhere to Jesse’s left.
With an effort Jesse staggered to his feet, squinting through the haze. Flames were racing across the cabin carpet. Smoke was rising, filling the air. The first mate was struggling upward. The other man was still out cold. Jesse’s brain whirled dazedly. He shook his head to clear it, just as the first mate came at his legs. The toe of Jesse’s boot connected beneath the man’s chin. The first mate went down without another sound.
His lungs burning, Jesse stumbled blindly toward the stairs, the muscles of his arms screaming with pain as he tried to free his wrists. No use.
Fresh air hit him like a cool breeze. He drew several deep breaths, coughing. Near the gangway, Randolph and his men were greeting a newcomer. A man. Dressed in a white shirt and slacks.
Jesse didn’t have time to discover who this new arrival might be. Within seconds the smell of smoke would reach them. He had to escape and escape now. Being shanghaied was certain death. It was a sad fact of the seagoing trade, and Jesse wasn’t foolish enough to think he could escape such a fate.
Five steps and he was at the rail. A shout rang out. Inelegantly, Jesse tumbled over the rail and threw himself into the water.
The Willamette hit him hard and cold. He sank, water closing over him, entombing him. Memories crashed together. He’d been tossed into this very river once before. A deep abiding fear chilled him to the bone.
He propelled himself away from the ship, his lungs screaming for air. It took every ounce of will he possessed to keep from surfacing too soon. He felt dull, dumb; only the frigid water kept him from blacking out. He couldn’t use his arms. He couldn’t breathe, for God’s sake. He was drowning, but there was no other choice. None.
No more time. He couldn’t last. Shooting upward, he broke the surface just as he gasped air into his starved lungs. Water and air entered together. He choked violently and fought to keep his face above water.
He opened his eyes, shaking hair from his vision. He was next to a darkened ship, not far enough away. Glancing back at the Lady Leanna, he was surprised to see the deck was empty. They weren’t looking for him. Yet.
Gulping air, he sank beneath the water, swimming through the blackness toward shore. His head bumped against scum-slickened planks and he surfaced again. About thirty feet to his right was a makeshift plank ladder built into the pier. He drifted toward it, wondering how in the hell he was going to climb up it.
He heard noises. Something was going on aboard the Lady Leanna. Jesse glanced again to the deck but no one seemed the least bit concerned about an escape in the water. But there were shouts and loud talk and someone was shoving someone else. He could make out dark figures topside. The smoke from the fire below seemed to be dissipating.
His shoulder brushed the ladder. He turned his back to the rungs, fumbling with fingers he could scarcely feel for a hold. Inch by inch he backed his way upward, panting with exertion and pain, pausing every few seconds to keep himself from fainting.
He half tumbled onto the pier, choking, dripping wet, certain he’d be discovered by the Lady Leanna’s sentry before he had a chance to get his bearings.
The cocking of a pistol sounded like the rattling of the gates of hell. Every muscle turned to stone. It’s true, he thought inconsequentially, knowing he was going to die. The past truly does pass before one’s eyes. He saw Kelsey as clearly as if she were standing above him. Her hair down and wild. Her eyes full of concern and fear and undisguised love.
She was sighting him down the barrel of her pistol.
It had to be a vision. “Kelsey,” he murmured.
“Good Lord in heaven,” she answered in a shaking voice. “Jesse!”
And then she gathered him in her arms and Jesse sank into oblivion.
Chapter Fifteen
Dimly Jesse awakened to the sound of a woman’s voice, Kelsey’s voice, and it was running on and on in a desperate dialogue. “Don’t you dare die on me. Don’t you dare! I’ve got too much to tell you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Jesse. Please, please don’t do something foolish like this! I need you. I need your help.”
She was shaking him too. His head felt as if it were splitting.
“Wake up, for God’s sake!” she whispered harshly. “What’s wrong with you? Come on, Jesse. We’ve got to get out of here.”
They were on the dock, still right where he’d collapsed. She had his head in her lap and her hands were shaking him. He tried to answer. The scent of her pushed the odor of the river away. It was pleasant and he wanted to just lie there and smell it.
“Jesse,” she said in a heartbroken voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you—last night.”
Hurt me? Foggily, he tried to concentrate on what she was saying. The slap, he realized. His reaction to it had been dramatic, to say the least.
She stopped shaking him long enough to take several trembling breaths. Jesse’s head cleared and he lifted his eyelids. Joy swept across her face when she realized he was awake.
“Jesse!” She bent down and kissed him hard.
“Lila… ?” He couldn’t resist.
Wham. His head hit the dock so swift and hard he saw stars. He chuckled, then choked up more water, turning onto his side. No matter what she said, she cared, at least to some degree.
Her face appeared above him. She was regarding him with a thoughtful, measuring look. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Before he could answer, she cried out, “Your hands are tied!”
He felt her warm fingers try to free him. She’d laid the derringer down in front of his nose, and as he contemplated it, he wondered if Samuel might not have been right after all. His lovely wife had a penchant for firearms. She’d said she was well versed in the use of them. Maybe she was.
“I can’t get these knots undone. I’ll have to cut you free.”
“I suppose you have a knife in your purse as well,” he murmured.
“No. Sorry. You’d have to rely on Miracle for that.”
“Miracle… oh, yes… is handy with a knife?” Jesse was fading.
“Very handy. Lethal.”
“As you are with a gun?” he asked from what seemed like a long, long distance.
“Yes.” There was a smile in her voice.
His revival in the icy water was only temporary, he realized. The cold was seeping into his marrow and he couldn’t stop shivering.
“Jesse, you’ve got to stay awake!” Kelsey whispered urgently in his ear.
Slap. His face stung from another healthy blow by his wife.
“Samuel went to look for you on the Lady Leanna,” she went on, peering down at him anxiously. Jesse fought to focus on her.
“What?”
“He left me here just in case I needed to get help. Oh, Jesse. You’ve got to stay awake!”
He opened his eyes to stare at the bright pinpoints of stars in the velvety black sky. “Samuel’s in trouble,” he mumbled.
“Yes, I think so. He’s been gone a long time.” He heard the scrape of metal against metal. Kelsey was checking the chamber of her derringer. “You’ve got to sit up so I can untie these knots,” she told him.
Jesse struggled upward as Kelsey pulled on the water-logged lapels of his jacket, helping him into a sitting position. His mind grasped one significant fact: Samuel. Now he knew why Captain Randolph hadn’t been looking for him. Randolph had been forced to pretend Jesse didn’t exist in front of Samuel.
Jesse gulped air, clearing his head. Randolph may have decided to capture Samuel in his net. A neat exchange. Jesse for Samuel. It depended on how desperate Randolph was for a crew.
He leaned against Kelsey. Her nimble fingers worked against the swollen ropes binding his hands. Frustra
ted, she cursed like a sailor, causing Jesse to smile.
Suddenly he wanted to hold on to her and never let go.
“Are you really all right?” she asked in a worried voice as she finished untying his hands.
“Yes.”
“Maybe it would be better if you stayed here and I—”
“Just help me up.”
“All right…” she murmured uncertainly.
She leaned toward him. He gripped her forearms and they rose together. Jesse felt her staring at him and he stared right back.
“Your lip’s split,” she told him. “And your left eye’s half shut.”
“They weren’t pleasant company. I don’t think you should go with me.”
“Jesse,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I’m in far better shape than you are.”
He wanted to order her to stay on the pier, but the stubborn slant to her jaw made him think better of it. Arguing with her didn’t work; he’d learned that from hard experience.
“I’m an excellent shot,” she said softly, as if reading his mind. “You need me. You need me.”
He thought about the fact that he would be taking a woman on board a ship swarming with dozens of tough, randy sailors. A woman he cared for deeply. His mouth was dry.
“Samuel needs me,” she added for good measure.
“Oh, hell. You’d better be a damn good shot,” he bit out harshly as Kelsey tucked herself close to his side, offering support, and they made their way down the gangway.
“I am,” was her cool response.
The hot breath of wind that swept the decks of the Lady Leanna portended danger. Kelsey felt its fingers run across her nape. The chill of Jesse’s soaked clothing dampened through her dress to her already clammy skin, yet she clung to him for emotional support—just as he leaned on her for physical.
The young sailor on guard, who couldn’t have been more than thirteen, stared slack-jawed at the sight of Kelsey and Jesse. He burbled something about getting the captain, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, then ran across the deck to the steps leading down to the cabins.
Smoke wisped lazily above deck; its strong, oily scent permeating the air. Kelsey wondered what had been burning, or maybe still was burning, but her thoughts were cut short when a blond giant appeared at the top of the steps and then strode determinedly their way. Kelsey felt Jesse tense and release his hold on her. He moved several feet away. She shot him a worried look, but he was staring at the approaching man, his expression hard and controlled. His muscles seemed coiled, as if he were preparing for a fight. Either his strength had returned or he was a consummate actor she’d accused him of being. She prayed it was the former.
“You,” the captain sneered, stopping six feet in front of Jesse.
“I want my brother. Bring him topside now or I’ll kill you.”
Kelsey’s heart slammed into her ribs. Jesse was bluffing. He had no weapon. Nothing. And she knew every breath he took hurt him.
The captain knew it too. He smiled acidly. “Your brother, eh? That who he is? Another Mr. Danner?”
Jesse didn’t answer. All along the deck rail the captain’s men stood like statues, waiting for a signal or sign from him. Kelsey felt their presence keenly. A woman’s sense of danger in the company of so many men.
The blond man’s gaze turned speculatively to Kelsey. Her heart rose to her throat. Samuel hadn’t minimized the danger to her person. She could feel it in that stripping glare.
“Your brother was not part of my deal, Mr. Danner,” the captain said, confusing Kelsey. “I’d be willing to make an exchange.”
Kelsey drew a sharp breath. “Don’t do it, Jesse,” she said flatly. “He means to kill you.”
“Oh, I don’t want him, young lady. I’d much rather have you.”
“I’m certain that’s true.” Jesse answered, his own smile deadly. “But she’s not part of the bargain.”
“Then there is no bargain.”
Tension heightened. The captain glanced at his followers.
“Wait!” Kelsey called out. “If you bring Samuel topside, and let him and Jesse go, I’ll take your bargain.”
“The hell you will!” Jesse growled, never taking his eyes from Captain Randolph’s menacing form.
“Are you a man of your word?” Kelsey asked the captain, knowing she wouldn’t believe him if he said yes.
Jesse grabbed her arm hard. “Don’t play this game, Kelsey!”
“You’ll have to chance that, won’t you?” the captain leered at her. “Starky, bring me the gentleman who’s in my cabin,” he threw over his shoulder to one of his men.
Kelsey could feel the waves of animosity coming off her husband. She dared not look at him. She could gamble as well as any man, and he was just going to have to trust her on this.
Samuel was shoved onto the deck, stumbling to his knees before regaining his feet. Other than a bleeding right fist, he looked none the worse of wear. “Jesse!” he said in relief.
“This bastard thinks he can make an exchange—you for Kelsey,” Jesse said coldly, pointing at the captain.
“What the hell—?”
“We’re all leaving,” Jesse rasped between his teeth, poised on the balls of his feet. Kelsey sensed he was about to launch himself full body at the captain. The captain felt it too. He turned his head, an almost imperceptible move, signaling his men.
Kelsey, with the calm surety of true talent, pulled her gun from the pocket of her skirt, aimed, and shot the captain in the foot.
A screech of pain and rage rose to the heavens and mixed with the smell of gunpowder. Bedlam broke loose. Jesse’s hard hand grabbed her upper arm, nearly yanking her off her feet. A body plowed into her, knocking her against her husband. Vaguely, she saw Samuel clip an uppercut to a sailor’s jaw with his bleeding hand.
She was on the gangplank. Jesse was half dragging, half carrying her, swearing a blue streak. A sea of humanity was after them. Bouncing against her husband’s shoulder, she aimed the derringer as best she could, squeezing the trigger. The shot went wide, missing the sailor’s ear and splitting into the ship’s hull with an explosion of wood.
The sailor stopped as if he’d been hit in the chest, his eyes bulging. Samuel nearly ran him down as he shouldered his way past the stupefied fellow.
Jesse didn’t put her on her feet until they were three blocks off the pier, in the black shadow of a mean-looking tenement. “God damn you!” he spit in fury. “You don’t have the sense of a mule!”
“Mules have a lot more sense than horses,” Kelsey pointed out just as furiously.
“And they’re a hell of a lot more stubborn. Christ, Kelsey! I’d love to wring your neck myself! Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you could have gotten into with him?”
“You mean sexual trouble? With Captain Randolph?” Kelsey asked with feigned innocence.
“Yes, goddammit!” He slammed her against the wall, holding her pinned there as if planning to show her what he meant.
“I’m not as naïve as you’d like to believe. Certainly not anymore,” she reminded him on a hard swallow. “And what kind of plan did you have for saving Samuel? Did you truly think you could overpower that man? Especially when you’re half dead yourself?” She shoved gently at his chest, making him wince in spite of his burning fury.
“I’d have given him a run for his money,” Jesse said through his teeth.
Footsteps sounded behind them in the gloom. Kelsey stiffened, twisting her head. “Samuel,” she murmured in relief.
“What the hell kind of man are you?” Samuel demanded coldly, striding straight up to Jesse and wrapping his arm around his neck. “Bringing a woman on board with you? If you care the least little bit about her, why don’t you protect her? My God, man. She could have been killed and raped and a dozen other atrocities I don’t even want to think about.”
“If you think it’s so easy telling her what to do, go ahead.” He drew a slow breath made painful by bruised ribs. Samuel s
lowly released him. “Tell her. Go ahead. Tell her never to take such risks again or by God you’ll take her over your knee and thrash the life out of her!”
“I’d like to see you try,” Kelsey hissed at Jesse through her teeth.
Samuel stared from one to the other of them, then he buckled over and began to laugh. He laughed and laughed until he was gasping for breath and leaning against the wall, wiping tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes. Kelsey and Jesse stood by in silence. Kelsey didn’t see what in God’s name was so blasted funny!
“Let’s go home,” Samuel suggested, slapping his brother lightly on the back. “You look like hell, Jesse.”
“I feel like hell.”
“I don’t suppose either of you would like to thank me for saving your hides,” Kelsey said sardonically.
To her surprise and consternation, her husband pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly on the mouth. “Don’t ever do it again,” he warned her, and he grinned hugely as and his brother broke into another howl of laughter.
¤ ¤ ¤
“Maybe the doctor should look at this cut,” Kelsey suggested, examining Jesse’s injured mouth. She dabbed at the dried blood with a damp cloth.
He waved that suggestion away.
She was sitting on the edge of his desk, trying desperately to get him to go upstairs and lie down and take care of himself. But Jesse was more interested in talking to Samuel, and Kelsey’s frustration was increasing by degrees.
“The Oregonian needs to hear about this,” Samuel insisted again. His swollen right hand was wrapped in a cold, wet towel. “You want to stop Captain Randolph and his kind? There’s no other way. The authorities won’t do anything unless people speak up.”
“You can talk to the Oregonian until you’re blue in the face after I get Montana.”
“Your obsession with this man will get you killed,” Samuel threw back at him. “Let me handle him in court.”
“Handle him in court all you want. I’m doing this my way. Christ! Dammit!” He sucked air between his teeth at Kelsey’s not so gentle ministrations. “Enough,” he told her roughly.
