Maddox was the only exception to that rule. He was red from top to bottom from the moment she’d opened her eyes to him, and it wasn’t just his sash and coat. Those pretty eyes that invaded her soul… and his rings… and his ruffles…. and his fat, fluffy cat…they were all red. So many things she thought about, and yet they never left her lips. It hadn’t even occurred to her that everyone close enough to notice had already discerned her complete shut-down taking hold, and those whom had seen it before feared the worst. Blocking out the world was a skill she’d mastered since childhood, and her silence meant only one thing was on the horizon; action.
“James, have you the course mapped?” Ivory asked as they boarded.
“Of course, Captain. We’re steady as she goes.”
“I’ll be in my quarters. Keara, she’s all yours.” Keara nodded in response.
Once in her cabin, Ivory sat down at her desk, pulled off her boots, and flexed her feet. She pulled the log towards her and filled the quill with ink. She thought about Miranda and Sandy and how they’d already begun their new lives while she was still chasing her own. It felt strange to her not to just lie back in her bunk and dictate to Miranda as they both laughed and bickered. She knew there were many things she’d miss once this deed was done and she was off in search of her new life, but nowhere in her daydreams could she find a home.
* * * *
“Land, Captain!” a young sailor called out with a knock on Maddox’s cabin door.
Since the dawn had barely shown its face, Maddox saw no reason yet to rise. He lay back in his bunk and lifted the open book of sonnets from his bare chest. It was tacky, and the pages peeled away from him as he raised it and recalled where he’d left off some hours before.
How heavy do I journey on the way,
When what I seek, my weary travel's end,
Doth teach that ease and that repose to say,
'Thus far the miles are measured from thy friend!
The beast that bears me, tired with my woe,
Plods dully on, to bear that weight in me,
As if by some instinct the wretch did know
His rider lov'd not speed being made from thee.
The bloody spur cannot provoke him on,
That sometimes anger thrusts into his hide,
Which heavily he answers with a groan,
More sharp to me than spurring to his side;
For that same groan doth put this in my mind,
My grief lies onward, and my joy behind.
He recited the poem again with his eyes closed. He remembered falling asleep after having read it repeatedly, until it was embedded into his brain. There were many others which had held his attention, but once Shakespeare’s fiftieth sonnet found him, he stopped turning the pages.
“My grief lies onward, and my joy behind.” He slammed the book closed and dropped it to the floor next to his bunk. One leg dangled towards the floor with one pointed toe’s very tip resting against the cool, rough wood. His mind filled with images of pale blond hair and sun-kissed golden cheeks. He lay back between dreams and reality and succumbed to the memory of her asleep, and then awake and trapped in his arms.
The room was scented with dampness and cold candlewax, but his memories were flooded with a mixture of cucumber, lavender, and Ivory’s own sweet fragrance. His heart raced, and the air he breathed was heavy. He stretched as it escaped him, until his lungs completely deflated, and his chest fell flat. All at once, he sat up. His hands rushed through his curls and down over his aching neck. He arched his back and then fell forward and rested his forearms on his knees. It was then he noticed the tapping at his door and shouted, “Come in!” He was still far too weighed down in spirit to rise.
“Good morning, Maddox. We should reach Kingston by noon,” Green said as he folded his hands behind his back.
“Very well, then. Was there anything else?”
“Nothing of note. All crew members are accounted for and looking forward to land.”
“Aye, something to look forward to indeed.”
Green walked to the bunk, lifted the book of sonnets from the floor, and turned it over. “Sonnets?” he asked with a raised brow.
“Yes, sonnets…and your point is?”
“If you do not mind my speaking openly…”
“When has my minding anything ever stopped you?” Maddox rubbed at his eyes and pushed himself up by the knees. “By the way, do you ever sleep?”
“When we reach Kingston, I could inquire as to Madame Ivory’s well-being, and perhaps I could arrange to contact her. To be honest, I intend to make the journey to Port Royal and make inquiries on my own behalf.”
“Well, good for you. At least one of us has intentions beyond sleeping for days.”
“You have intentions as well. You simply choose not to follow them.”
“Maybe it’s exhaustion or insanity…” Maddox’s voice lowered to a nearly inaudible level but Green leaned in and heard every word. “But, you’re right, you know? I’ll join you in your intentions, if for no other reason than to close this book and return this blasted thing.” Maddox lifted Ivory’s pearl handled razor from the desk and tossed it to Green.
“We will be forced to travel in disguise.”
“Disguise? What disguise? I’m dead, remember?”
“How long do you think it will be before one of these fools exposes the fact that you are very much alive? We will have thirty days, at the most, to relocate.”
“Relocate? Why bother? Money speaks far louder than rum.”
“Money procures rum. Rum is everywhere. Money will not stop them from their drunken ramblings anyway, if that is to what you are referring.”
“Alright, alright… you win. Dammit, Alphonse, the older you get the less pleasant you are to chat with.” Maddox lit his pipe and sulked into his favorite chair. “Choose the most loyal and offer them passage to Port Royal…with a bonus.”
“I always do my best to speak only the truth, which is something you require constantly. How frustrated do you imagine that I am?”
“Is that a smile I detect there?”
“I cannot deny my pleasure in finding you more in agreement this morning. It is a rare treat. However, I must ask you if we are, in fact, solely returning this meager weapon? Or are you hoping to acquire a more substantial reward to compensate for our trouble?”
“The diamonds?”
“It had crossed my mind.”
“The only diamonds I’m interested in are the jewels of closure and no regrets. However, finding Ivory raises the level of danger whilst she still has them in her possession.”
Green’s eyebrow arched with suspicion at Maddox as he turned back to him from the door. “Do not even think it. I long for the arms of my love about my neck, not the noose.”
“One and the same, if you ask me.”
Green chuckled. “Why don’t you read some more of Master Shakespeare? I will secure those loyal men, and we will turn about once we’ve collected our belongings. Will you be bringing Lasher and Zara?”
“Bring a black cat and a woman aboard ship? It’s difficult to find loyal men without superstitions as well. I think under those conditions, we would be sailing her alone.”
“I only thought to ask.”
Maddox tapped out his pipe and poured a goblet of water. “I’ll see you on deck shortly.”
Green was gone and Maddox sulked on for an hour. “Leave my cat?” he whined aloud.
* * * *
“Zara! Where are you?” Maddox shouted upon entering his home. “Zara!”
“She is gone, Captain,” Roman said as he met Maddox in the dining room. “She packed all of her belongings and left the day after you departed for Nassau.”
“Well, did she leave a note?” Maddox shouted and slammed his hat down on the table.
“Nothing, Captain. Only this...” Roman reached into his jacket pocket and produced a ring. It was a ruby, at least five carats, set in a golden rose. It was the ring he�
�d given to her mother, and upon her death, he had passed it to Zara.
“You’re certain she said nothing?”
“Only that she wished you well, and she’d written down instructions for your favorite dishes as well as her balms, but to only share the balms with Madame Ivory because she was hoping to sell them to the wealthy plantation ladies.”
“Why would I give those balms to Ivory? As far as Zara knows, Ivory is in jail or dead…” Maddox stopped shouting and caught himself on the back of a chair. He leaned onto it for a moment and then realized Zara knew all along that Ivory would escape. The clothes…access to a dagger in order to cut the dresses…Zara packed the trunk.
“Is Madame Ivory hung, Captain?”
“No, no, no. She is very much alive. Roman, do you realize this is the first time I’ve ever been betrayed by someone so close to me, and yet I’m not the least bit angry?”
“I don’t understand you, Captain.”
“No need. Where’s Lasher?”
“Asleep in Madame Ivory’s room, sir. He has slept only in there since you left.”
Maddox rushed to Ivory’s room and found it as he saw it last, but for the large, black feline curled tightly on top of the pillow. “Lasher, my boy!” Maddox cried as he raced to the bed and leaned down, stroking the waking cat and meeting his deep emerald eyes. Lasher rose and stretched to the tips of his toes, arching his back to meet Maddox’s hand. “I’ve missed you, my boy.”
He couldn’t imagine leaving his pet, but knew superstition ran deep at sea. He spent several minutes with his faithful friend, telling him the tales of Nassau, and how he had to leave now… for good. He spoke to the animal as if it would answer him, and he was at last at peace. In telling all to Lasher, he told all to himself.
* * * *
Within hours, everything he owned of any value and significance was loaded aboard the Cat. The house was handed over to Roman, under the condition that Lasher always have a home there. Roman joyfully accepted the offer, and even sent word to Zara to please come home and stay at Maddox’s insistence. He handed Roman the rose ring as he bid him a final farewell, and told him only to give it to Zara with the message, “Thank you.”
Back in his cabin and well on their way to Port Royal, Maddox sat his jewelry box on his desk and removed his rings. “You may bring a pretty profit.” He opened the lid, and inside he found a small folded note, tied with a red ribbon. He quickly pulled the ribbon free and unfolded the note.
I am sorry I betrayed you. I saved this for you in case Madame Ivory did not escape. Please forgive me my betrayal of your kindness, but you may thank me someday, should I have succeeded.
Zara
He looked down to find the lock of Ivory’s hair he thought long swept from the floor, woven into a braided bracelet. Zara had added small shells and colored string throughout. Maddox lifted it from the desk as if it were made of blown crystal and cradled it in his hands. Such a gift should be worn and treasured. He slipped the loop of string from around the shell clasp and wrapped it around his wrist. It fit perfectly. He pushed it beneath the cuff of his sleeve and stowed the note in the box, along with the note from Ivory.
Throughout the brief journey to Port Royal, he repeatedly touched the bracelet, stroked it, and reassured himself of its presence, until he thought he’d go mad. Each time the thought to remove it crossed his mind, he covered it with his sleeve and forced himself to focus elsewhere. No one suspected anything unusual about his habit of checking on the bracelet. No one really paid much attention to him at all, and it suited him just fine. Outside of a brief, cooling rain shower and the good luck sign of a pod of dolphins escorting them into the waters off the coast of their destination, this was the most uneventful voyage of his ten years at sea.
Again, the call of land and, again, Green’s warning of a disguise. Maddox had refrained from his usual morning shave for days, and he slicked his long, thick curls back into a leather strap. He traded his velvet and lace for sailor slops and procured a weathered tricorn from a crewman in exchange for his gold hoop earring.
“How do I look?” Maddox asked his friend.
“You will certainly not be confused with a ship’s captain. Did you bathe?”
“Well, of course I bathed! But I have no idea why, since these rags have never been laundered to my knowledge…and my nose.”
“You shouldn’t have. Here,” Green said, picking up a bottle of rum and pouring a bit into his hands. He splashed the rum about Maddox’s shirt and neck.
“What are you doing?” Maddox shouted.
“Now you smell more like them.”
“What about you?”
“No one is looking for me. Let us go now.” Green led the way out to the deck and stopped when the sun, now high above their heads, touched their faces. “One more thing I need to tell you—the Cutlass is not here.”
“What do you mean not here?” Maddox growled, pulling Green aside.
“She is not in the harbor.”
“Then tell me why I’m dressed like this and stinking of rum?”
“Do you not wish to find out where they have gone?”
“And who, pray tell, is going to disclose that bit of information?”
“I suggest we start by asking.”
“Asking whom?”
“Come along. I will show you where to find the answers we seek.”
Maddox had the crew weigh anchor about a half mile from the beach near Ivory’s compound, and they rowed in. By the time they reached shore, they were soaked in sweat and terribly parched.
“I don’t suppose bringing any water was given a second thought?”
Green rolled his eyes and shook his head as they dragged the dinghy ashore. “Follow me, keep your eyes low, and allow me to do the talking. If anyone asks, your name will be…Mac.”
“Do I look like a Mac? Why Mac?”
“Maddox Alexander Carbonale. I assumed it would be easy to remember. Forget about that. Just let me take care of this.”
Green led Maddox up the long path into town. The first pub they came upon, they turned in and walked to the bar. “Two ales, if you please.”
* * * *
Miranda was browsing in a shop across the street from the pub while Sandy waited outside. He was leaning back against the wall, watching people as they passed. He’d been tossing bits of roasted chicken to a stray dog who sat gazing hungrily at him as he pulled the bits of meat from a skewer. When he saw the recognizable face of a man who passed on the opposite side of the street, he backed around the corner of the building. He watched as the man and a stranger entered the pub.
“Miranda? Are ye nearly through, love?” he asked, sliding like a snake back around the corner and into the shop.
“I’m settling up. What’s wrong? Is our wagon ready?”
“No, not yet, but unless me eyes are playin’ tricks on me, I just saw Master Green and some swab walkin’ into the pub across the street,” Sandy whispered as he poked his thumb in the direction of the pub.
“That’s ridiculous. There’s no way Master Green would show his face in Port Royal after what happened.”
“I’m tellin’ ye, lass, I spent quite a few years workin’ for the man. I know him well, from every angle.”
“I’ve met him a few times. I’ll find out.”
“Miranda, no!” Sandy shouted in a whisper, but she handed him her parcels and stomped off across the street. “Oh, Lord, tell me what I done to meself.”
Miranda slipped quietly into the pub and looked at the two men. Their backs were turned, so she moved to the shadows and stood without making a sound. Turn around already. It was as if they’d heard her thoughts. They both turned in unison when she accidently knocked over an empty mug with her left breast. Unfortunately, she’d misjudged the distance between herself and a tall table as she had struggled to see their faces.
“Miss Shepard? Is that you over there in the dark?” Green asked, backing away from the bar, while Maddox buried his face in
his beer.
“Who wants to know?” she asked, sauntering from the corner into the light.
“It is Master Green… and my shipmate, Mac. May I have a word with you?”
“Why would I want a word with the likes of you?”
“I am concerned for Madame Ivory’s well-being.”
“Oh, so you’re not here looking for Cass, then?”
Maddox threw him a look of confusion, but stayed in character, drinking his ale and pretending not to listen.
“Unfortunately, no. I came to inquire as to Madame Ivory’s safe return to you, but upon our arrival, I could not help but notice the Cutlass was not here.”
“Oh, they’re gone again. I stayed behind with my new man. You probably know him – Sandy?”
Alphonse nodded, putting two and two together in his head.
Miranda continued, “We’ve given it up, you know. We’re going straight, and we were about to head out of town when Sandy noticed you. We’re just waiting for our wagon to be ready and our paperwork for our land.”
“Where did they go?”
Miranda crinkled her nose and tossed her hips. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Can you tell me how long they’ve been gone, and in which direction they were headed?”
“Look, I’m no fool. What’s the real reason you’re looking for her?”
“Alright, you were correct when you said I was here for Cassandra. I admit it. I have finally come to my senses.”
“Well, it’s about time, Alphonse! She really loves you, you know.”
“Can you please tell me where they were headed? I have to find her.”
“You’ll never catch them. They set sail two days ago for Charles Towne. Ivory had some business up there. Even if I didn’t have a new life, I wouldn’t set foot in that town for all of the money in the world.”
The Blue Diamond (The Razor's Edge Book 1) Page 23
