In the years since Patrick joined their crew, James had never seen the kid expend as much effort. He claimed the sight of Belle had inspired him, however, and it had been worth the effort.
Balancing dinner upon the crook of his right arm, James opened the door to his cabin and stepped inside, using a heel to shut the door behind him. Belle waved to him from her cage where she reclined on a leaf hammock strung between two plant stems.
“Hello, lovely,” he greeted her.
“I’m really tired of blueberries. Can I have some of that cheese you brought up for your dinner?” a tiny voice called out when he removed the lids.
James stumbled back against the far wall, striking his head on a bookshelf. It smarted, but he dropped his hand to his sword hilt and searched the room with wide eyes. “Who’s there?”
“It’s me, silly!”
“What?” He searched the empty cabin, gaze darting from the unmade bed to the settee and finally the enormous wooden trunk supporting Belle’s cage. She’d moved, relocating to the table and cupping both hands around her mouth. A dim glow highlighted her without obscuring her doll-like features.
“Hi!” she called again.
James blinked and mentally recounted everything he’d consumed throughout the day, alcohol included. Perhaps Smee had added something interesting to his rum. Left hand still on his sword, he took a step forward and lowered to one knee. The tiny creature put her hands to her hips and huffed.
“Well? Can I have some cheese?”
Positive she wasn’t a danger to him, he released the weapon. “You can talk.”
“I’ve always been able to talk. You didn’t know how to listen.”
And he did now? His stomach tightened and a lump formed in his throat. So much for that hope.
Not only did this tiny thing know his deepest thoughts, but she’d developed the ability to share them—and blackmail him if she chose. While he trusted Nigel and the rest of his crew, he didn’t underestimate the human capacity for greed if he showed weakness. A wise man would abolish any risk of it by eliminating the problem, but the longer he gazed upon her, the sicker that idea made him feel. He couldn’t do it.
“I see.”
Mellow, golden light bathed her as she giggled. It was the prettiest of her colors. “You’re worried about the things you’ve said to me.”
“A little,” he said in a quiet voice.
“I won’t tell, I promise.”
“My thanks.” But could he trust her word? He hoped so. “What do I call you? Have you a name?”
“Tinker Bell. And you’re Captain James Hook,” she informed him in a matter-of-fact voice.
Tinker Bell? He tried not to grin at that, although it didn’t take long for the amusement to dim. Sitting at the table brought them to a conversational level.
He’d long ago begun to admire her, especially on long nights while he lay unable to sleep in his bed. Weeks ago, he’d have gone out to the deck and watched the waves crash against the boat, studied the stars, sought company among the crew for idle conversation, or even read a book by candlelight, as he had dozens of them in his personal library.
Now he spent his sleepless evenings pouring his heart out to a miniature woman, one whom he’d been positive couldn’t understand a word he spoke.
“Aye, that I am, little one. Though you may call me James.”
“James,” she repeated, as if testing the single word on her tongue. Her voice still reminded him of bells, mellifluous and charming enough that he could easily listen to her all evening.
“Yes. Now are you going to tell me how you came to be in such a contraption?”
Tinker Bell began at the top, and by top, that meant her story had nothing at all to do with her captivity. “And there were awful creatures called the Scourge created by a mean big fairy who was cruel and malicious enough to curse our entire kingdom. One of her monsters killed my friend Conall’s kinsmen, so we went on an adventure and met Sorcha—she’s his wife—and now they’re married and they had a baby.”
The story went on, never spanning chronologically, and always spoken so rapidly James couldn’t determine if it was her natural manner of speech or enthusiasm for having someone who could converse with her again.
“So, you went on an adventure of your own and were taken by poachers,” he surmised at the end, once he placed the events in order.
“Yes.” Her wings drooped. “Conall will say ‘I told you so’ when I get back home.”
He chuckled. “Well, it wasn’t a complete loss, now was it? You’ve traveled and learned something new about the temptation of shiny things.”
She harrumphed and stomped one little foot against the cage floor. James bit back his laughter, positive the adorable creature wouldn’t appreciate amusement at her expense. “Are you going to let me go home or not?”
“I can try to return you to your homeland, but I cannot promise how long it will be before we make sail to the north again. Cairn Ocland has a rather inhospitable coast, and we’d dash the ship to splinters if we approached.”
“I can fly!”
“And land in another net, no doubt.”
She scowled at him, scrunching her entire face and glowing a bold scarlet. “I will not!”
“Just the same, I’d feel better if we could perhaps send word to this Conall and enlisted his aid to return you safely home.”
The red faded, overwhelmed by melancholy blue. “No… He has a baby now, and he can’t be bothered with taking care of me.”
“Has he said that to you?”
“No.”
“Then you shouldn’t assume or speak for him, Belle.”
She lifted off her feet, hovering toward the top of the cage. “Why’d you call me that?”
“Belle? Isn’t that your name?”
“It is.”
“Which would make ‘tinker’ your title of sorts, yes, just as ‘captain’ is mine?”
Her enthusiastic nod preceded another giggle. “Yes! You’re the first human to ever realize that.”
“Really?” It had seemed obvious to him, but he wisely kept his thoughts to himself and smiled. Then it occurred to him that she wasn’t a mindless exotic possession to admire. He returned to her cage and with a few maneuvers of the metal, managed to remove the door. “Apologies, little one. I’ll never cage you within this contraption again.”
“I can come and go as I please now?”
“It would be unforgivable of me to keep you caged for even a second.”
“Can I leave the cabin?” she asked.
“If you’ll take care. As you’ve already learned, there are predators who would make a snack of you, and I must also ask you never to float above the surface. The sea is treacherous here, filled with many sinister creatures who would emerge from the water to claim you as a treat.”
“I’ll stay close. Can I explore the rest? It’s a very pretty boat.”
“Ship,” he corrected gently. “And… if you promise not to disturb anything, yes, you may explore to your heart’s content.”
“Tinkers don’t break anything unless it’s on purpose.”
James wasn’t sure whether to be reassured or uneasy about her statement, but he hoped, for all their sakes, that her word was good.
* * *
The moment the doors opened, Tink darted into the middle of the main deck and spiraled into the air before releasing a joyous whoop. At last, she was free to roam. Every working man on the deck stopped to stare at her while James hung back several paces with his arms crossed while she explored.
The air had never smelled so fragrant before, full of freedom and warm light. The man Tink had identified as James’s second-in-command stood beside another pirate near a vast opening in the deck, spouting orders and gesturing toward the front of the ship. Upon seeing Tink, he froze.
“Don’t move, mate. Blasted thing got out again. I’ll get her, Captain!”
“No need, Nigel,” James called over. “Madam Belle is a gu
est aboard our vessel and to be treated with respect.”
A boyish grin spread across his handsome face. He was almost as attractive as his friend, but Tink preferred the captain’s longer hair. “Finally named her, did you?”
“No, she had her own name and shared it with me.”
More than a few crew members gave their captain looks in varying degrees of concern, and two of them began to mutter amongst themselves. Tink bit her lip. That wasn’t very nice of them at all.
“Hello,” she called out, flying over to the whispering crewmen first. She shook her finger at them, and then she darted over to Nigel and fluttered in front of his face. “I’m Tinker Bell.”
He squinted at her then slanted another glance at his captain. “Her voice is rather musical, isn’t it, but not a word of that sounds like any language I’ve ever heard. Are you feeling quite all right, James?”
“I’m bloody fine, you nitwit. She speaks the language of sprites, but she understands everything we say to her.”
“Then how do you know her name?”
“Apparently I understand her now.”
“I… think you spent too much time in the sun yesterday, and some rest in your cabin would do you a world of good.”
“What’s everyone making a fuss about?” Eliza asked, moving to stand between the two men. She shot each of them a dirty look before she noticed Tink hovering in the air. “He’s finally brought you out for some fresh air, has he? Good.”
“Hi, hi,” Tink said to the blonde woman. “He finally let me out, and now I can talk to all of you. I’m Tinker Bell, and you’re Eliza, and I’m so glad to meet you now.” Of all the crewmen, Nigel and Eliza visited James in his room the most, among the small handful of people he seemed to trust with his privacy. But, of the two, only Eliza stopped to speak to her and sometimes smuggle in tiny offerings from the kitchen.
Eliza’s eyes flew open wide. “Oh! And how very lovely to meet you as well, Madam Belle.”
James shot Nigel a smug look. “See.”
“She could be humoring you—”
“You know damned well I’ve never humored any of you, Nigel. If you’d pull the stick out of your arse, perhaps you’d understand her, too. Honestly.”
Tink doubled over in laughter, hands on her stomach.
“Now that we’ve become acquainted, perhaps Belle would appreciate a decent meal that doesn’t consist of this lubberwort’s leftovers.” Eliza offered her palm.
“I would! He never gives me enough of his cheese. He’s so greedy sometimes,” Tink blurted out as she landed on the woman’s open hand.
“We’ll have to fix you up, then. Come along and meet my mum. Everyone calls her Cook, even me most times, and if anyone else can understand you, it’ll probably be her.”
Eliza carried her away, but Tink peeked back at James’s slack-jawed face and experienced a tiny surge of guilt for exposing him as a greedy cheese hoarder, even though it was quite true.
With each step of their adventure below deck, Tink’s new friend introduced her to another area of the ship. “This is the berth and gun deck, where most of the crew sleep.”
Many hammocks had been strung between the enormous black cannons angled out of holes in the ship’s hull. Eliza explained the purpose of the gun ports and then continued along a narrow plank above a deep hole in the center of the floor.
“What’s down there?”
“The cargo hold where we keep most of our unclaimed loot for the markets of Ankirith. It’s a port city in Samahara, our next destination. Once there, we unload these goods and James divides the profit.”
“James has lots of pretty things in his room.”
“As captain, he gets first pick amongst the treasures, it’s true. He has the better booty, but he’s fair about spreading it around. Everyone gets a pick among the goods.” Eliza’s hazel eyes twinkled. “He chose you from the Golden Goose.”
Something about that sent little flutters through Tink’s chest. James had thought of her as treasure, an object of worth to be valued, long before he knew her to be an intelligent, sentient creature.
Bewildered by the emotion overtaking her mood, Tink cleared her throat and changed the subject. “Where’s your room? Do you sleep in a hammock too?”
“Certainly not. I value my privacy too much. As we were among the ranking officers of the original crew, Nigel, Callum, and I each have a small cabin below the captain’s quarters. Smee has the room abandoned by the original boatswain. Come along. I’ll show you the galley where my mum prefers to sleep. It’s her domain, and you’ll find she’s the absolute queen of all that happens to the food here.”
They passed through a narrow hall into the rear of the ship while Eliza explained the unfamiliar nautical terms often thrown about by James and the other pirates. “The infirmary is aft of my personal quarters on the starboard side. That’s left as we’re facing now. Portside is the ship’s proper left, while facing the front—the bow.”
“It’s confusing,” Tink complained.
“It can be until you’ve grown accustomed to it. And you will in time.”
The delicious aroma of cooking food wafted out to Tink before they reached the opening. Inside, a slender woman with silver-streaked blonde hair moved about the kitchen with the energy of a maiden half her age. A pot bubbled above a pile of magical stones, and bread baked in a brick oven, releasing the aromatic scent of fresh herbs.
“I’ve brought a visitor to try some of that special cheese we nicked off the Goose, Mum. The one you claimed for yourself.”
“If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times, goat’s milk makes the best cheeses, but James lacks the palette for it. I—oh, who’s this then?” Cook leaned over and peered down at Tink with clear hazel eyes.
“I’m Tinker Bell.”
“My stars, she speaks.”
Eliza laughed at her mother’s amazement. “I had a feeling you’d understand her. Tinker Bell says James hasn’t been generous with his dinners.”
“We’ll certainly have to fix that.”
In a manner of minutes, Cook prepared a buffet feast fit for fairy royalty, using a teacup saucer for the miniature banquet. As Tink watched, the woman set down cured pork slices, diced fruit, and small cubes of wine-soaked goat cheese with a plum-stained rind.
“Enjoy,” Cook said, pouring a thimbleful of clear liquid to set beside it.
Tink sipped from the thimble first. Cook had to have given her the sweetest water in existence. While she stuffed her face with the pork and a generous portion of cheese, the smiling chef returned with a slice of steaming bread fresh from the oven. “Take care with this. It’s very hot.”
“This is delicious.”
“I’m pleased you like it so much. Here, I’ll slice off a wedge for you to take back.”
“So, where do you come from?” Eliza asked. She snuck a bit of cheese from the wedge while her mother’s back was turned.
“I saw that.”
“No you didn’t,” Eliza replied, although she winked at Tink.
Tink giggled and took another bite from her meal. “My land is called Cairn Ocland,” she said between bites.
“Isn’t that the place where they say men turn into beasts?” Cook asked.
“It is!” Unable to help herself, and thrilled by the promise of having a conversation with people who could understand her again, Tink shared the story of her friends’ victory over the wicked fairy Queen Maeval.
Cook settled beside them with a cup of tea and remained her enthralled listener. “Dragons. I’ve heard stories of dragons from faraway lands across the globe, but never had I realized any lived so close to us. I thought the stories of a dragon king in Cairn Ocland were merely tall tales to scare adventurers.”
“There are dragons across the globe?” Tink asked.
“My late husband, bless his soul, sailed upon many ships beyond this sea. He once told me of a great ocean many thousands of leagues away with a continent occupied by mons
ters and winged beasts. They call it the Eternal Realm and say it’s ruled by black dragons.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” Tink said.
“I’m not surprised. It’s on the other side of the world, and of the half dozen exploring ships sent by Eisland over the years, only two have returned.”
“Wow, more dragons. King Alistair thought he was the last one until they found his aunt. He’ll be so excited.” And Tink couldn’t wait to share the news. But how could she tell him if the Jolly Roger had taken her hundreds of miles away from home? Her wings drooped as the depressing thought took hold. “If I ever get to tell him.”
“Don’t worry,” Eliza said in a gentle voice. “If James has promised to try and get you home, you can trust he’ll keep his word as soon as he’s able.”
“A man of honor, he is,” Cook agreed. “I wouldn’t have given up my life in Eisland for any other captain.”
Tink couldn’t imagine a more genuine endorsement regarding James’s character. His crew admired him, appearing to follow him out of loyalty, rather than fear. They’d left behind prosperous and happy lives, as far as she could tell.
“Ah, but what’s this?” Cook said, looking past Tink. “I see a little mouse peeking into my kitchen.”
“What? A mouse? But mice eat cheese!” Tink twisted around, ready to fend off the intruder after her precious snacks. Instead of a furry mouse, she spotted a pudgy boy with light brown curls at the doorway to the galley.
“Hello, Tootles,” Eliza said in a soft voice. “Would you like to join us?”
Understanding dawned upon Tink before she could question the boy’s presence on the ship. Hadn’t James mentioned rescuing more than a dozen captives from the Golden Goose?
The poor boy. Every time she thought of what Ridaeron did to their little ones, it made her chest hurt with unfettered rage. No one should ever hurt a child. They were to be loved, snuggled, and cuddled.
He made fleeting eye contact, his pale gaze moving from Eliza and Cook to Tink before dropping to the floor. He shuffled his feet but came no closer, remaining in the doorway.
Belle and the Pirate Page 8
