The door slammed and the key turned, leaving Ivory alone once again, until another knock came and a tray of food was placed on the chair. It stayed untouched, until the young sailor who brought it came back later to retrieve it. She had considered overtaking the boy, but decided against it, knowing she’d still need to overcome the armed guard just outside the door. She needed a better plan. “You there, may I have some paper and a quill and ink, please?”
“I’ll have ta ask, Madame.”
“You do that, but bring it back as soon as possible. And see what you can do about getting me a candle in here. It’s rather impossible to write in the dark.”
The young man picked up the tray and bowed out of the room as Ivory stared out the window, watching the setting sun on the water and awaiting the sleep that would elude her until the darkest hours of the night. She was certain that by now, her cousins knew of her fate and would be on their way to find her. But, as she lay there in the dark wondering why the candle never came, she decided her own fate and vowed to wait this out until she had no recourse but to buy her way out of her predicament—which was something she believed would shatter her pride.
* * * *
“Hold the boat, James! I have to run back to the house; I’ve forgotten something,” Keara said as she was just about to board the last skiff to the Cutlass.
“We’ll never catch them. You do understand that, don’t you?” James said, taking hold of her hand before she ran off up the beach.
“I know. That’s why I’m going back.”
When Keara returned, they pushed off, and all were present and accounted for aboard both ships. Once they weighed anchors, both vessels were ordered at full canvas. Keara headed inside to Ivory’s cabin and sent for Cass and Miranda. “Close the door,” Keara said when they arrived. She looked up from her seat behind the desk and leaned back in the chair. “Well, here we are, on our way to Nassau. Anyone have the slightest idea what we’re going to do when we get there?”
Cass walked towards her and took a seat in one of the chairs facing the desk, and Miranda followed, taking the other. “Take that ship and get Ivory back?” Miranda suggested, followed by rolling eyes and raised eyebrows from her comrades. “What?”
“Mir, we need a plan of action. First of all, this isn’t some merchant ship whose crew will shudder and piss themselves when we pull aside them. The Cat is a beast of a ship, with a crew to match,” Cassandra explained.
“Then what can we do? Say we follow them all the way to Nassau…then what?” Keara asked.
“We’ve never even been to Nassau,” Miranda pointed out.
“True, but Willy has. He’s been on every rock in these waters,” Keara commented as Miranda stood and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Cass asked, turning in her chair.
“We don’t have time for all of this talk. I’m going to get Sandy. If there’s anyone who might have some answers, it’s him.”
“Now, why didn’t I think of that?” Keara smiled.
“Jealous, cousin?” Miranda sniped as she flounced out of the room.
“Cass, I need to ask you something,” Keara said.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Miranda?”
“No. Just you and me this time.”
“This sounds serious,” Cass said as she twisted and repositioned herself in the chair.
“I brought them.”
“You…brought them. Brought who?”
“Not who…what.”
“Ke, what did you bring?” Cass asked, leaning in and placing her hands on the desk.
Keara grinned slightly and tilted her head. “The diamonds.”
“All of them?” Cass’s voice raised and she was halfway to her feet.
“Wait! Listen, it’s a last resort. You know Ivory would never try to buy her way out of this. She’s too stubborn, but we must have a back-up plan. Besides, what good are they doing just sitting there back at the house, locked up for all these months? We need them, Cass, and you know it!”
“But all of them, Ke? All of them?”
“Well, fifty thousand pounds is a lot of money.”
Cass fell back into the chair, and her head dropped back for a moment. Then, she slowly tipped it forward, glaring at Keara. “Christ, Ke, the blue diamonds alone are worth tens of thousands.” She sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead, before her hands fell limp over the arms of the chair.
“Consider it, as I said, a back-up plan,” Keara argued. “You know as well as I do that we’ll never catch them. There’s a very good chance we can get this ship up to five knots, but that’s a stretch, and only under the best conditions. The Cat does at least six, with reefed sails.”
“I’ll have to take your word for that since you are the expert on all things sea-worthy, but here we are already with a back-up plan for a plan we don’t even have yet. I need to think things through and speak to Sandy. Without any intelligence as to how and where Carbonale is handing her over, we’re just chasing our tails.”
The door opened, and Miranda and Sandy entered. “Sandy said he’ll be more than happy to enlighten us on the course and intentions of the Black Cat.” Miranda took Sandy’s big bicep with her right hand and stroked it enticingly with her other.
“Ladies,” Sandy said, and nodded.
“Come in, please, and close the door,” Cass said, as she rose from her chair and waved at it for Sandy to sit. “You’re taking a great risk in doing this. We appreciate your assistance.”
“Ye can thank Miranda here. She can be a persuasive woman, that’s fer sure,” Sandy said with a soft chuckle as he watched her walk around behind the desk and lean back against the window sill.
All three women stared at him, waiting for him to speak, but there was dead silence for several seconds. Finally, Keara spoke, “It’s alright, Sandy. Go ahead, we’re listening.”
Sandy repositioned himself in the chair and cleared his throat. “The Captain—Captain Carbonale that is—was very tight-lipped about the whole scheme, ye see. He only tells Master Green what he’s up ta’, and then Master Green gives the orders.”
“Master Green?” Keara asked and looked over at Cassandra.
“Master Green is the quartermaster of Le Chat Noir, or Black Cat as we call her. Very large Jamaican man, with the most distinctive set of green eyes,” Cass spoke as if she were remembering a pleasant dream.
“I’m fairly certain I know who he is,” Keara said. She rolled her eyes and nodded again at Sandy to continue.
“The day we found Captain Shepard, truth be told, we’d been following the longboat fer nearly a day. We’d been looking fer her three days, but when we caught eye of her, Green held back and said she wasn’t goin’ nowhere, so we took our time catchin’ up. We was aboard the small sloop, and she’s pretty quick, so I wondered what we was waitin’ fer, but, well…”
“Go on…please,” Cass said.
“We plucked her from the longboat and brought her aboard, so Master Green could make sure she was still alive. I was along for the raid on the Diamond, so I knew she’d been out there fer at least four days, and I honestly didn’t expect to see no signs a’ life. She’s a tough one, that woman is. Well, when we brung her back ta’ Kingston and handed her over ta’ the Captain, I got my pay and went off ta’ the pub. That night, when I returned ta’ take my watch for Master Green, I overheard the Captain tellin’ him about the bounty on Captain Shepard, and about the trip up ta’ Nassau, which you already know.”
“So…what’s the plan once they arrive?”
“Captain Carbonale is a mighty good captain and all, but he don’t like ta’ get his hands dirty if he don’t have ta’—if ye read me right. He most likely won’t even set foot off the Cat. You can best believe he’ll send Master Green into port with Captain Shepard, and wait fer him ta' bring his reward.”
“So, they’ll be heading straight into the port at Nassau?”
“Yes’m. The Royal Guard will be waiting fer them there ta’ take possession of Captain
Shepard on the pier, so as I heard ‘em say.”
“And what time might this exchange take place?” Keara inquired.
“Master Green said we was ta’ make Nassau by four o’clock Saturday.”
“Can we make it by then, Ke?” Cass asked.
“If we keep these seas and the wind, we can make it there before sunrise on Saturday. I’m sure Carbonale will make it before dawn on Friday.”
“That’s a busy port, ladies. You could easily move in two small ships like these without him seeing ye—especially in the dark.”
“My thoughts exactly, Sandy,” Keara said, tapping her fingertips on the desk.
“Well? How’d I do?” he asked as he squirmed himself straight in the chair.
“What do you mean?” Keara asked.
“Well, may I stay on? You wouldn’t hand me back over ta’ ol’ Blacksnake, now would ye? I’m a cooper by trade, and mighty damn good one, if I may say so myself.”
“We can never have enough coopers, Sandy,” Keara said, as she stood and looked back over her shoulder at Miranda. “Mir, can you tend to the log, please?” Then she turned back and said, “Thank you, Sandy. We’ll put our heads together and come up with a reward for your…loyalty to our cause.”
Sandy stood, bowed several times, and walked to the door. He turned, looked back at Miranda, and winked before leaving.
“You know what, Miranda?” Keara said, pushing the logbooks beneath Miranda’s nose. “I’d be willing to bet he cleans up rather nicely,” she giggled. “But what about poor Tommy? You’re going to break his heart.”
“Break his heart, ha,” Miranda mumbled as she went to work.
“So, to get back to why we’re all here…” Cass stated and folded her arms.
“I say we push this old girl as hard as we can, get to Nassau before dawn on Saturday, and sneak aboard the Cat,” Keara said, slamming her hand down hard on the desk and nearly shaking the quill from Miranda’s hand.
“You! Calm down over there, will you?” Miranda shouted, waving Keara away.
“Most of the Cat’s crew should be either passed out drunk, or engaged in town, and if we can make it early enough, we should be able to get aboard and find Ivory. We’ll have Sandy draw us a map of the ship so we don’t waste time,” Cass continued as she watched Keara pace.
“I think you’re both addled, but you know I’m not one to argue. Log is done for now… unless either of you have anything else you’d like to add or declare?” Miranda asked as she blew the ink dry.
Cass and Keara stared pointedly at each other for a moment, and Cass shook her head. “No, we’ve nothing else on board to note…yet.”
“What do you mean, yet?” Miranda asked as she rose slowly from her seat.
“Ke?” Cass gestured to her to speak.
Keara sighed. “I brought the bag. You know, the one we keep in the…”
“You did what?” Miranda gasped.
“I had to! It’s our back-up plan,” Keara said in a huff. “I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. Do you want to get her back or not?”
“None of this leaves this room. Understood?” Cass stated firmly.
“Bunch of superstitious old witches, you are,” Keara stated as she pushed her tricorn on her head of poker straight, golden brown locks, buckled her gun belt, and slid her cutlass into its sheath. “They’re just a bunch of shiny rocks,” she snapped as she opened the door. “I’ll see you on deck.”
Chapter Fourteen
Master Green knocked firmly on Carbonale's cabin door and waited a moment for the call to enter. “Maddox, a few moments, please?”
“Of course, have a seat,” Carbonale answered, pouring himself a glass of rum. “You?” he asked, holding the cup up at Green.
“By all means, sir.”
“So, what brings you?”
“Ivory insists there was nothing else aboard the Blue Diamond when she originally took her.”
“Well, of course she’s lying. Why on Earth would she tell you, or me? Carbonale asked, as he handed a cup to Green.
“She expects you to come and speak to her yourself. I told her you would not be doing so.”
“And you would be correct in that assumption. I won’t be setting eyes on Madame Shepard again, and thank goodness for that,” he declared as he sat down and raised his cup at Green in a toast. However, Green did not toast back. “Are we not in agreement, Alphonse?”
“Maddox, I have served at your side these many years and have never questioned either your authority or your judgment. However, in this instance…”
“Why this instance? Is it because she is a woman?”
“It has everything, and nothing, to do with her sex. Maddox, hear me, please; we are fortune hunters, and we deal in commodities that we can sell. Granted, this woman has a bounty on her head worth more than what we can normally acquire when we take a ship, but selling her to her death is not going to change how you feel.”
“How I feel, you say? And how is it that I feel? For that matter, how is that you would even know how I feel?” Carbonale asked as he stood and strode back across the room to refill his cup.
“Then why don’t you go and speak to her yourself?”
“I have nothing to say to the woman.”
“I do not believe that.”
“Do you honestly think because she woke up in my bed one morning that I feel any differently about her than I did yesterday, or the day before?”
“Then prove it to me. Prove it to yourself. If you have any chance at all of finding out what was aboard that ship that made her so valuable, perhaps asking her yourself may be the only way to get the answers you desire. That is all I am saying, and now I will go and get to work. At present, we are on course and should reach Nassau early on Friday. If the winds hold, and the sea remains calm, you’ll get your fifty thousand pounds Saturday afternoon as planned.”
Green stood and sat down his cup. “One final thing; she requested a quill and paper, as well as a candle. However, as you ordered, she has received nothing. Sleep well, Captain.”
Green bowed and closed the door behind him, leaving Carbonale with his thoughts and his rum. He looked at the clock and realized he’d checked the time just before Green entered the cabin, and at least two dozen times before that. He couldn’t recall a day when he cared to check the time so often. He sat back in his chair and turned his full attention to getting as drunk as he could and falling asleep—if he could just remove from his mind the image of her glaring at him as she was brought aboard the ship.
He couldn’t. Thirty minutes into the bottle, he raised his empty cup and decanter at the cabin boy when he brought in a tray of meat and bread and sat it on the desk. The boy gave a knowing nod and, a minute or so later, another full bottle appeared. Carbonale wasn’t thinking clearly, and since he’d finished entire bottles off in no time before, he knew it wasn’t the rum fogging his brain, but rather the intriguing and dangerous woman he’d taken in his arms only the night before.
Fighting against the urge to turn on himself and his best judgment, he compelled himself not to take the short walk to Ivory’s locked cabin, but it wore away at his resolve. The drunker he got, the harder it was to tell himself not to move. He pushed himself from his chair and staggered to the cabin door. When he pulled it open, he found an empty hallway that tipped and teetered. He clung to the door frame for balance, but then fell to his right against it when the ship took an unexpected hard tilt. He’d hit those bottles hard and fast on an empty stomach, but he knew the difference between a rough sea and drunken legs.
“Captain, a storm’s come up! The worst is at least an hour off, but the rain’s here, and I’ve come to batten ye down,” said the cabin boy as he rushed up out of nowhere.
“The Shepard woman, has anyone seen to her yet?” Carbonale asked, squinting tightly and snatching the boy by the arm.
“I have.”
Carbonale pushed off from the door frame and rubbed his hand roughly over hi
s face and up through his hair. Upon hearing the ruckus above him and all around, he knew Master Green had things well under control, so he staggered off down the hallway looking for Ivory’s cabin. A crewman rushed towards him and stopped cold. “Captain, all’s well on deck,” the sailor spoke. He was soaked straight through, still dripping from the hem of his knickers to his shirt collar.
“Mostly rain, then?”
“Aye, Captain. A wee windy, but nothin’ she ain’t sailed through before.”
Carbonale patted the sailor on the back of his soggy vest and carried on, but changed his course from searching for Ivory to heading to the deck to assess the storm for himself. His mind was still foggy with rum, and he thought a hard, cold shower would do him a world of good. The closer he came to the deck, the louder the rain pounded in his ears. His steps quickened, and each one was more purposefully set to the floor than the last by the time he reached the doors.
“Get those hatches battened down before she’s flooded below!” he shouted upon eyeing the puddles of water around his boots. “Turn that wheel, man! Head her into the waves! Have you lost your mind?” he shouted at the helmsman and then rushed to the wheel and began pulling on it himself to bring the ship around into the oncoming swell. “Hold her steady!”
“Captain, she is all clear to our starboard horizon. We may have to change course for a while and then bring her about,” Master Green said, coming up on Carbonale’s side.
“Where’s the fun in that, Master Green? Some of these men need a bath anyway. Stay your course. You know she can take it.” Carbonale rested his hand on Green’s shoulder and lifted his face to the rain. “I love a good storm! Have this deck swabbed when she calms.”
Carbonale leaned on the rail in the rain for a good hour until the lightning and thunder was on top of them. The rolling and churning water spanked the ship again and again. It seemed to be following them, as the distance between them and the distant clear sky remained the same throughout that first hour. Suddenly, Carbonale was reminded of his original course through the hallway below. It dawned on him that he was turning the wet, loosened rings on his fingers, and he thought to remove them rather than lose them.
The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) Page 11
