Black Heart

by Justin Somper

  Suddenly, a fresh voice entered the fray. “Is there a problem?”

  Lady Lola Lockwood strode across the beach, the full skirt of her tight-corseted gown trailing across the sand.

  Sidorio turned toward her. “And who might you be?”

  “Lady Lola Lockwood.” She nodded toward Jessamy and Camille. “These are two of my crew.”

  “Your crew?” Sidorio said incredulously.

  “That’s right,” Lady Lockwood said. She pointed to the side of the inlet. “My little ship is moored over there.”

  “Really?” Sidorio said, pointing to the vast prison hulk looming in the bay. “That’s my ship.”

  “Golly,” said Lady Lockwood with a smile. “It’s enormous!”

  Sidorio nodded, disconcerted.

  Lady Lockwood continued affably, as if she had bumped into Sidorio at a cocktail party. “I’m afraid the Vagabond is a mere minnow, compared to your great whale of a ship! The Blood Captain—is that what it’s called? How thrilling!”

  She had a very strange way of speaking, like nothing Sidorio had heard before. It was mesmerizing, as were her eyes and the strange tattoo of the black heart.

  Which reminded him… Sidorio reached into his pocket. “I suppose I have you to thank for these?” He produced a cluster of playing cards and tossed them onto the sand.

  “Oh, you found those, did you?” Lady Lockwood said. “Our little calling cards.”

  “Yes,” said Sidorio. “We found them. Night after night. Just like you wanted.”

  Lady Lockwood frowned. “What on earth do you mean?”

  “Don’t play the innocent with me,” said Sidorio. “We know what you’ve been up to, you and your crew.” He spat out the words dismissively, nodding toward Camille and Jessamy, who were still squaring up to Johnny and Stukeley. “Your little handmaidens have been tricking my lieutenants into telling you where we’re heading next. And then you’ve been beating us to the pass and attacking the town before we get there.”

  Lady Lockwood’s expression gave nothing away at first. Then a smile broke across her bow-shaped lips. “Well, I suppose there are advantages to being a minnow, after all,” she said.

  “You admit it,” Sidorio said. “So now we can stop playing games.”

  “Oh, it was never a game, Sid. May I call you that?”

  Sidorio’s face darkened. “No, you may not call me Sid. My name is Sidorio. Quintus Antonius Sidorio. King of the Vampirates.”

  Lady Lockwood smiled. “How rude of me. I quite forgot myself. What a great honor it is to meet you.” She curtsied, her body dipping low on the sand. Then she rose up. “I’m so sorry that we appear to have gotten off on the wrong footing.”

  Sidorio shook his head. “What footing did you expect us to get off on, acting the way you and your crew have?”

  Lady Lockwood shrugged. “I was just trying to get your attention,” she said. “It’s not easy for a minnow to signal a whale.”

  Sidorio frowned once more, strangely unnerved by her words, her distinctive voice, and her rare beauty. “You wanted my attention?” he said, confused.

  “Why, of course,” Lady Lockwood replied with a smile.

  “So this is just a game to you?”

  “Oh, no, sir,” said Lady Lockwood, lowering her head. “Not a game at all.”

  “You’re not trying to rival me?” Sidorio said. “To take command of these waters?”

  “Oh, no, sir,” said Lady Lockwood. “That would be preposterous.”

  “Yes,” Sidorio nodded. “It would!”

  “Perhaps we should call a truce between our crews,” suggested Lady Lockwood. She gestured toward Johnny and Stukeley, who were still squaring up to Jessamy and Camille, ready to fight.

  Sidorio considered for a moment, then came to a conclusion. “Leave it, boys,” he said.

  “Stand down, ladies,” Lady Lockwood called.

  The four Vampirates stepped back into their pairs. Johnny and Stukeley came to stand by Sidorio, while Jessamy and Camille walked over to Lady Lockwood.

  “But this feasting has to stop,” Sidorio said. “I have a large, growing crew. They need blood.”

  Lady Lockwood nodded. “Agreed. But surely there’s room for more than one ship of Vampirates on these oceans?”

  “There’s room for any number of ships,” Sidorio said. “But only one commander in chief.” He tapped his chest in case the point needed emphasizing. “Me!”

  “Of course.” Lady Lockwood nodded. “I told you before, Sidorio, I’m in no way attempting to rival you. I was just, perhaps in a rather gauche fashion, attempting to parlay an introduction.”

  Sidorio looked at her blankly for a moment. Johnny stepped forward and whispered in the captain’s ear. “I think she just wanted to meet you, Captain.”

  Overhearing this exchange, Lady Lockwood nodded. “That’s right. I just wanted to meet the great Sidorio, King of the Vampirates.”

  At this flattery, Sidorio grinned openly. “Well, now you’ve met me.”

  “Yes, indeed.” Her eyes glowed. “And you’ve far exceeded even my expectations.”

  He smiled once more.

  Lady Lockwood glanced at him guiltily. “I’m afraid, sir, that my crew has feasted on this town already tonight. But I promise you this will not happen again.”

  Sidorio shrugged. “No problem. My crew has feasted elsewhere. We only came here to confront you and bring this matter to a close.”

  Lady Lockwood nodded. “And are you satisfied that it is now closed, sir?”

  He stared down at her, thinking what a rare creature she was. “Yes,” he said at last. “Yes, it ends here.”

  Lady Lockwood made to leave. “Come, ladies. Let us make our way back to the Vagabond.” Jessamy and Camille nodded, and stealing a final glance at Stukeley and Johnny, began to walk off.

  Then Lady Lockwood turned and came back. She reached out her hand to Sidorio. “I hope we’ll meet again,” she said. “Under different circumstances.”

  Sidorio looked down at her hand, unsure at first what to do. Then to everyone’s surprise, including his own, he leaned down and kissed it. “We’ll meet again,” he said. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  Lady Lockwood withdrew her hand and walked off to join her crewmates.

  When she was out of earshot, Stukeley turned to the captain. “What just happened?” he asked. “I thought we were taking over her ship.”

  “It’s just a minnow,” Sidorio said, echoing Lady Lola’s words. “I have no need of a minnow. Let her have her plaything.” He stared after her. “I like her. I like the way she talks.”

  Stukeley was about to protest, but Johnny dug him in the ribs. Stukeley got the message loud and clear. “Would you like us to go sound the sirens, Captain, and summon the crew back on board?”

  Sidorio nodded. “Make it so, Stukeley,” he said, striding off across the sand with a final glance at Lady Lockwood’s fast-disappearing figure.

  Stukeley turned to Johnny. “He said he was a killer shark,” he said, shaking his head. “But he backed down like a sea slug!”

  Johnny grinned. “I hear you, hermano But I think the captain’s in love!”

  “Don’t be crazy,” said Stukeley. “Sidorio doesn’t know the meaning of the word. He isn’t interested in such things.”

  “Trust me,” Johnny said, shaking his head. “You are wise about many things, my friend, but I know how it is between men and women. And there’s some kind of connection between those two. For sure!”

  “That was a close call!” Jessamy said to Lady Lockwood.

  “Yes,” agreed the captain.

  “Is that guy for real?” asked Camille. “I mean, I’ve heard the rumors, but he was even more Neanderthal than I expected.”

  Lady Lockwood smiled. “I found him rather charming in his own way,” she said.

  “Charming!” Camille exclaimed.

  “You were very accommodating to him,” Jessamy said, “if you don’t mind my saying so,
Captain.”

  Lady Lockwood smiled. “Was I? Did I seem that way?” She stretched out her arms and laid one hand on Jessamy’s shoulder and one on Camille’s. “The thing is, my dears, sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war.” Her smile grew broader. “And the war is a very long way from over!”

  She sighed. “Now, all that chitchat has made me thirsty. Let’s hasten back to the ship and break out the Argentinian!”

  “Oh, yes!” agreed Jessamy. “The Argentinian ambassador. He was rather tasty, wasn’t he?”

  “Yes,” said Lady Lola. “Indeed he was.”

  15

  SALLY’S REQUEST

  The next time Grace visited Sally’s room, she found her mother in surprisingly high spirits.

  “Oh, my darling, I have news, wonderful news!”

  “What is it?” Grace asked, marveling at the change in her mother.

  “We’re going on a trip together.” Sally’s eyes were bright. “I’ve asked Mosh Zu and he says it’s all right. We’re going to Crescent Moon Bay!”

  “Crescent Moon Bay!” Grace exclaimed. “But why?”

  “I want to see where you and Connor grew up,” Sally said. “And I want to visit Dexter’s grave, to be close to him again. Oh, Grace, please be happy about this.”

  “I am happy,” Grace reassured her. “It’s just very sudden. Are you sure you’re strong enough?” She let out a deep breath. “Oh, Mother, of course, I’d love to show you Crescent Moon Bay!” She took her mother in her arms and hugged her.

  “You must go and pack your things. We’re joining the Nocturne tonight!”

  “The Nocturne?” Grace repeated. A fresh thought occurred to her. “Does that mean that the captain is coming, too? Is his recovery complete?” The possibility was an exciting one.

  Sally shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that. You’ll have to ask Mosh Zu.”

  Grace glanced at her mother once more. Sally looked as excited as a young child on the eve of her birthday.

  “You’re sure you’re all right about going back?” Sally asked her now. “About visiting Dexter’s grave? And the lighthouse? You must show me the lighthouse.”

  Grace nodded instinctively. It would be strange going back, especially without Connor. But it would be great to show Sally and Lorcan and Mosh Zu, and possibly the captain, where she had grown up. And it would be good to visit her dad’s grave and to feel close to him once more.

  Thinking of her dad, she turned back to her mother. “I don’t suppose,” she said hesitantly, “that we could we pick up the story again, could we?”

  “Yes,” Sally said. “Yes, of course.” She patted the bed. “Come up here, next to me. That’s it. I want you nice and close.”

  Grace didn’t waste a moment, quickly clambering up beside her mother.

  “So Shanti and Teresa were waiting on deck for me,” said Sally. “They were desperate to hear all about my encounter with Dexter. It was strange, but although I’d only spent a short amount of time with him, I somehow knew he was the one I was supposed to be with.”

  Grace smiled. She had felt it was love at first sight for her parents, and her mother’s words confirmed it.

  “Over the next few days,” Sally continued, “we talked of little else, and we all agreed that we had to leave the world beyond the ship behind. It was, after all, the deal we had made when we become donors. We all had our reasons for coming aboard, though we didn’t necessarily choose to share them with each other. And though it was nice to daydream, we knew that we could never go back to the other world. It had been fun to visit, but that was the end of it.”

  Grace frowned. “But it wasn’t the end. It couldn’t have been.”

  Sally smiled at her daughter. “No, my darling, of course it wasn’t. Life, as they say, is what happens to you while you’re making other plans.”

  “So how and when did you see Dad again?”

  Sally stroked Grace’s hair as she continued. “It was a few days later. And in those days and nights, I felt such sadness— as if I were in mourning. But for what? For my past life? For the path I hadn’t taken? For a man I had met in the middle of the ocean and swum with for, what, half an hour? It seemed too ridiculous, but my feelings were deeper and truer than any I had previously experienced.” She sighed.

  “Even Sidorio noticed something was wrong. I remember him asking me about it at Feast Night. Just before we began to share, he asked if I was all right. It was such a shock that I burst into tears. I couldn’t stop sobbing.” Sally shook her head. “I’m sure Sidorio regretted having said anything, but you know, he did his best to comfort me. And then he took my blood. That night, for the first and last time, he offered to stay. But I said no. I wanted to be on my own.”

  Grace thought of her mother, alone in her cabin. It was heartbreaking.

  Sally continued her tale. “The following day, I woke up feeling even more wretched. The girls were intent on distracting me. The ship was docking on land to pick up fresh food supplies for us donors. And, well”—she paused—“it turns out that it wasn’t just food that we picked up that day, but also a new kitchen porter.”

  Grace turned to face her mother, her eyes wide with expectation. “Dad?” she asked.

  Sally confirmed with a nod. “I didn’t find out until the next day, mind you. I was walking along the corridor, minding my own business, and a voice suddenly says, ‘Hello again, beautiful Sally.’ I nearly jumped out of my skin! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I asked him what he was doing, how he had found me, how much he knew about the ship—and, oh, about a hundred more questions.” Her eyes were bright as she recalled the encounter.

  “And what did he answer?” asked Grace.

  Sally shook her head, a soft smile playing across her lips. “He said, ‘I told you I’d find you, Sally. I said I’d find a way for us to be together.’”

  “Go, Dad!” Grace said. She was so proud of him. He had been so romantic and so bold to hunt out the Vampirate ship and join its crew. There were few roles for mortals on board, but she remembered her own first days aboard the Nocturne and her time in the kitchen with the young kitchen porter Jamie. How strange to think that her own father had once worked on the Nocturne. It was wonderful to know that at varying times Sally, Dexter, Connor, and Grace had all traveled on the same ship.

  “You must have been so happy,” Grace said, turning back to her mother.

  Sally considered this. “Happy? Perhaps. Excited, certainly. But I was also frightened—very frightened. Don’t get me wrong, Grace. I was thrilled to see Dexter again, but I felt like we’d boarded a roller coaster together. And I couldn’t help wondering where it would end.”

  Grace saw the look of remembered fear in her mother’s face. She also saw tiredness there. It seemed as if telling her story was depleting her energy reserves again.

  “I’d better go,” she said. “I should sort out my things for our trip.”

  “Yes,” Sally said, the thought restoring the light to her face. “Oh, I’m so looking forward to seeing all the places that are special to you, Grace.”

  Grace nodded, planting a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “And I’m looking forward to showing them to you. I’ll see you later.”

  “I gather we’re all going on a voyage,” Grace said, stepping into Mosh Zu’s chambers. “Back to Crescent Moon Bay.”

  “Yes, indeed,” Mosh Zu said. “There’s no time to lose. We set sail on the Nocturne tonight, after sunset. Darcy and Lorcan are coming, too.”

  “What about the captain?” Grace asked, full of hope. “Is he going to meet us there?”

  Mosh Zu shook his head. “No, Grace. The captain will not be joining us on this voyage. I shall stand in for him.”

  Grace couldn’t mask her disappointment. “How is he?” she asked. “I really miss him.”

  “You have a special relationship, don’t you?” Mosh Zu said.

  Grace nodded. “We always have, from the first time I joined the Nocturn
e. It will be strange traveling without him.”

  Mosh Zu nodded. “For us all.”

  Grace paused, barely daring to ask the next questions. “Is he going to recover? Will he ever return?”

  Mosh Zu reached out his hands and laid them on Grace’s shoulders. “I hope and believe that he will, Grace. I know that he wants to. But he was very sick, and we have to give him the time and space to heal properly.”

  “I understand,” Grace said. “And I know you’ll do a great job of commanding the ship.”

  Mosh Zu nodded gratefully. “It’s very generous of you to say so,” he said. Then he frowned. “If I could have postponed this voyage, I would have. But it’s very important for Sally to make this journey now.”

  “I know,” Grace said. She saw Mosh Zu hesitate. “Is there something else?” she asked.

  “Your mother is in a fluctuating state,” said Mosh Zu. “She’s been talking to you about her past, hasn’t she?”

  “Yes,” Grace said. “I’ve been asking her about it. She’s been telling me about her time on the Nocturne. And I’ve been able to channel some of it for myself.”

  “Yes, I heard that,” Mosh Zu said. “It seems that your powers are continuing to develop, Grace.”

  “It’s all right, isn’t it?” Grace asked. “My mother does seems very frail. I want so much to hear my story from her, but is it okay? Or is it weakening her? Because if it is, I’ll stop.”

  Mosh Zu smiled tenderly at Grace. “Don’t blame yourself,” he said. “Yes, talking about the past and sharing her secrets is, I think, weakening her, as you phrase it.” He paused, reaching out his hand once more. “Grace, I told you before that the other souls were fading more quickly than your mother. That she was holding on for you.”

  “Yes.” Grace said, her heart feeling now as heavy as a stone. “So what now? Can she not hold on any longer?”

  “What I have observed in the other souls is this,” said Mosh Zu. “When they emerged during the healing catharsis, their torment, which the captain had been sheltering them from, was still fresh. Perhaps you remember how startled they seemed?”