The Pirate's Jewel

by Cheryl Howe

  He opened his arms to her. “It can’t be. I must be having the visions again. A man’s mind goes when he’s spent so much time alone. Deserted. Forgotten. Left to fend for himself. Is that you, Jewel?”

  She nodded, but didn’t move closer to his waiting arms. She turned her gaze to Nolan. Confusion clouded her usually bright eyes. Nolan knew his violent stare provided no answers, and she returned her focus to her father. “I thought you were dead.”

  Bellamy dropped his head into his palms, hiding his face. His shoulders rounded. “I thought I was, too,” he said brokenly, through his fingers.

  Jewel rushed to him and slung an arm around his shaking shoulders.

  Nolan glared in their direction. He was doomed. He must have been a fool to think he could get rid of Bellamy Leggett so easily. He really wouldn’t have minded if Bellamy had survived the “little inconvenience” he had put him through. Hell, deep down he had expected it. It was why he hadn’t killed him outright. The guilt that had plagued him over the years had sprung from the fact that Bellamy had never proved his survival, so Nolan had thought him dead. Well, this little episode was certainly accounting for lost time. Bellamy still reigned as master, and Nolan remained his lowly pupil.

  Jewel wrapped her arms around Bellamy, stroked his hair. “It’s all right. You’ll be safe with us now.” She glanced over her shoulder to glare at Nolan. “Won’t he, Nolan?”

  Nolan shifted and crossed his arms over his chest. He was absolutely furious and wanted to tell them both he was having Bellamy strung up on the tallest palm tree on the island. “It doesn’t look like he’s been doing too badly for himself.”

  Jewel’s gasp of disbelief was audible. Bellamy lifted his gaze to smirk at Nolan over the top of her head. The man’s murky green eyes, less like his daughter’s than Nolan remembered, sparkled with triumph and a deep, soulful satisfaction. He kept his mouth closed, though, letting his daughter fight his battle. Nolan couldn’t have had a more dangerous opponent, and the bastard knew it.

  “Look at his rags,” Jewel said. She grasped Bellamy’s hand in a gentle yet chillingly obvious show of support. “How did you get here?”

  Bellamy stared at his feet in a display Nolan had never before witnessed. Nolan braced himself. Bellamy probably had to lower his face to hide his smile as he delivered Nolan’s death blow. “He left me here five long years ago. Left me here with nothing.”

  Another gasp, this one laced with a sob. Jewel’s hand flew to her mouth, and for a moment she looked as if she were going to be physically ill. Nolan stepped toward her, not thinking, just wanting to be there if she needed him. She held up her hand to stop him. When he did, she took a step back. A step closer to her father. “Why?”

  Nolan knew exactly what she meant. Why had he left her father alone on this island? His jaw ached from clenching it. The horror etched on her features and the tone in which she asked told him she already knew the answer.

  Unable to leave a nail in Nolan’s coffin unhammered, Bellamy spoke for him. “He left me to die a slow, horrible death. That’s what they do to you when you get too weak to defend yourself. Worse, when it’s the boy you raised to a man.”

  Tears welled in Jewel’s eyes. “How could you be so cruel?”

  That was it. Nolan couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. He stomped over to Bellamy. “Cruel, my ass. Look at him.” He reached out and pinched a handful of fat in Bellamy’s midsection. “Coconuts have agreed with you. You’ve gained at least two stone since I saw you last.”

  Bellamy pushed Nolan’s hand away. “I’ve been resourceful. The hope of seeing my little girl one more time sustained me.”

  They both glanced in Jewel’s direction. She stood stiff, wiping the tears that fell on her cheeks with jerky swats of her hand. To Nolan, she appeared about to break, and he knew she wouldn’t let him comfort her. He turned back to Bellamy. “I know you’ve been off this bloody island, you bastard.” He shoved Bellamy hard, sending him back into the soft sand, and then pouncing on him before he had the chance to get up.

  The power with which Bellamy threw him off proved Nolan’s speculation. Bellamy was still as strong as he’d ever been. He hadn’t been wasting away on this island for five years.

  Nolan hung on. They rolled in the sand, each trying to gain the upper hand. It was the only thing that had felt right since they’d anchored in the crescent-shaped harbor. He should have jumped Bellamy the moment he saw him.

  Bellamy rubbed a handful of sand in Nolan’s eyes. Nolan blindly reached out and grabbed a fistful of the man’s long hair and tried to pull it from his scalp.

  Jewel’s scream finally broke through Nolan’s rage. She was hoarse and sobbing. He loosened his hold on Bellamy. A powerful blow to his chin sent his head burrowing into the soft white sand.

  He must have lost consciousness for the briefest of seconds. When he woke, he realized it was nothing but a dream. Jewel stroked his face, urging him to wake when he wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her all morning. Funny, Jewel never woke before he did. Nolan tried to blink. His head ached and his eyes felt like someone had rubbed broken glass into them. He felt as if he had been on a week-long bender. But he hadn’t done that since he was in his teens and was part of Bellamy’s…

  Nolan tried to sit up, but Jewel held him down. He could have pushed through her resistance, but he liked the turn of events now that he remembered what the events were. “You don’t act like a man who’s dying!” accused Jewel.

  Nolan hoped she was talking to Bellamy, and he struggled against a grin. It wouldn’t hurt to keep his eyes closed a little longer.

  “Nolan, can you hear me? Are you all right?” She caressed his face again. Nolan turned his head into her touch.

  “He’s fine. Look how he’s snuggling up to you like a suckling kitten.”

  Nolan forced his eyes open. That was Bellamy’s voice, and it sounded far too close. He blinked hard, rubbing the sand from his eyes with his fists. Bellamy was leaning over him. Nolan sat up this time, despite Jewel’s protest. He got to his feet, but let her help him just to keep her close.

  Bellamy put his hands on his hips. He barreled his chest in one of the cocky poses Nolan remembered all too well. The man was so damn proud he had bested Nolan, he forgot his role as weakened castaway.

  Nolan rubbed his chin. “That was quite a punch.”

  Bellamy shrugged. “While you’ve been playing schoolboy, I’ve been…” He glanced at Jewel, and then Nolan. “I’ve been living off the land like a man. Surviving just so I could see my girl one more time.”

  Jewel’s grip on Nolan’s arm tightened. “And what was your excuse before that? You never took the time to see me before, so why would you change your mind?”

  “I didn’t have the chance to. I swear it. I was going to come back for you,” her father blurted. Jewel stared at him, her jaw tight. She didn’t appear to believe him.

  Bellamy nodded, as if agreeing with her disbelief. “I don’t blame you for doubting me.” He sighed theatrically. “The truth is, I’ve been forced to do a lot of thinking since I’ve been here by myself. Never knowing if each day would be my last made me realize all the things I missed. And you’re what I missed the most, Jewel. I missed seeing my baby girl become a woman.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Nolan growled through clenched teeth.

  Jewel let go of his sleeve, and she rushed to embrace her father, who caught and held her. Nolan balled his hands into fists. He wanted to pry them apart. He had never felt like such an outsider.

  Jewel finally broke the embrace. “So much has happened. I don’t know if I can forgive you for leaving me. I know now you never were who I thought you were. I don’t even know you.”

  “I’m here now, Jewel. You can get to know me.” Bellamy brushed a stray hair from her eyes just like a real father might.

  The man sounded so sincere, it made Nolan nervous. Jewel stepped away from him. “I need some time to think.” She glanced at Nolan, and he knew she fe
lt deceived and wronged by him as much as by her father.

  He had to say something, take control of the situation any way he could. “Nothing has changed, Jewel. I marooned Bellamy because that is the usual way of punishing a crewmember who breaks the rules.”

  Wayland stepped forward. Nolan had to admire him for not greeting Bellamy as if seeing his long-lost friend for the first time. Surely these two had communicated and planned this, but Wayland had hung back with the rest of the stunned crew, watching the drama play out. “Nolan’s right, Jewel. Bellamy hisself ordered it for crewmen who disobeyed him.”

  Bellamy glared at Wayland, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “But I was the captain!”

  “That’s right. A pirate captain. That makes it even more important to follow the rules every man on board swears to follow,” Wayland argued. He stopped when he reached Jewel’s side and squeezed her shoulder. Nolan was surprised she didn’t turn away, but seemed to gravitate toward the old dog. “I know it don’t seem right to you, chit. But that’s the way it’s done.”

  Bellamy glanced at the two. He swaggered forward, as if he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. “No harm done. You came back for me. Didn’t you, Nolan?”

  Nolan crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”

  “He came back for the treasure,” said Jewel. Her voice held a touch of accusation Nolan didn’t like.

  Bellamy looked too incredulous to be believed. “The treasure? Not Captain Kent’s treasure?”

  No one answered. Bellamy’s little game was wearing thin on everyone, especially his daughter. Why was he putting her through this? Nolan knew the answer to his question. Torturing her was the surest way to get to Nolan, and Bellamy knew it.

  “All’s well that ends well. Just give me half and we’ll call it even.” Bellamy smiled. “I’ll forgive you, and maybe my little girl can forgive you, too…someday.”

  “We’re all sharing the treasure.” Jewel glanced at Nolan. It didn’t look as if she was in the mood to do much forgiving anytime soon.

  Since Bellamy was alive, Nolan didn’t see he had anything to be forgiven for. “She’s not your little girl. She’s my wife. And she is my wife, Bellamy. Legally, morally, and physically. But I’m sure you already know that.”

  Bellamy raised his eyebrows. “How could I?”

  Nolan prowled toward him, ready to spring. “The same way you got fat, shaved, and made it back to this island before we got here. You knew what we were up to the entire time. And I’ve a damn good idea who was helping you.”

  Jewel put her hands to her ears. “Just stop it. Both of you.”

  Nolan briefly glanced at her but was unwilling to take his gaze from Bellamy for any extended period of time.

  Jewel stomped her foot in the soft sand. “I’m sick of your bickering. There’s enough treasure to go around.”

  “No, there isn’t. Not for him,” Nolan said. “I’m not going to finance him so he can terrorize and plunder anyone else who crosses his path. He’s a menace, and needs to either be in jail, marooned, or dead.”

  “You little brat. You had to get the whole crew behind ya to beat me, didn’t ya? This time I’m taking more than your little map, boy. I’m taking your crew, your treasure, and my daughter.”

  Nolan reached for Bellamy. Bellamy’s frayed shirt ripped in his grasp. The foiled momentum sent Nolan off kilter for only a second, but Bellamy’s reflexes were fast and he swung at Nolan’s head, forcing him to fall forward onto his knees to avoid the blow. Not a beat passed before Nolan leaped to his feet and whipped around to face Bellamy head on, fists clenched.

  “Stop it!” yelled Jewel. “Kill each other if you want, but don’t pretend it’s over me.” She turned and ran across the beach.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Jewel ran until her lungs burned. When she slowed, catching her breath in painful gulps, she found herself in the center of a lush jungle. She pushed a thorny vine away from her face. The foliage was so thick, leaves had stuck in her hair and clothes. She welcomed the feeling of being swallowed by the jungle’s density. Only a couple of hours into the day and the temperature already soared to sweltering. The tall trees formed a canopy, blocking out the sun’s violent heat, surrounding her in a cool green fog. She rested against one of the larger trunks, and then slid down to its base to sit on a soft patch of dirt. Being completely alone on this island didn’t seem so bad.

  She leaned her head on her knees. This should be one of the happiest days of her life. She had a husband she adored and had been reunited with a father who said everything she had always longed to hear. Her marriage would no longer be shadowed by her father’s ghost. Instead, it would be threatened by a living, breathing man who seemed bent on ruining it.

  With awful clarity, she realized how wrong she had been about her father. Her childish fantasies had grown too strong to be dispelled easily. Bellamy Leggett in all his glory was the only one strong enough to banish his own myth. But he still was her father. She couldn’t stuff him in a trunk like a toy she’d outgrown. With her eyes open, she could forge a relationship with the real man. It would not be the one of her dreams, but it would be better because it was real. Now, if she could only get her husband to keep from trying to kill him.

  With her breathing returned to normal, she tried to order her thoughts. Running off like a child would solve nothing. She had come too far to let either man go.

  She got up and brushed off her skirt. She wasn’t ready to face them yet. Not only did she have to forge a relationship with her father, she had to untangle the one she had with her husband. Without Bellamy’s death hanging over their heads, there was still uncharted water in her hasty marriage.

  Nolan was adamant about wanting her for his wife. His physical display of affection couldn’t be disputed, but he had yet to even hint at the fact that he loved her. Everything else that lay ahead, as well as behind, remained draped more in mystery than clarity. She continued to walk deeper into the interior of the island, heading up a slight incline. An orchestra of birds sounding overhead helped to lighten her mood. She glanced up, mesmerized by the light spilling through the leaves.

  Her heart scared her. She wasn’t sure it could be trusted. She had spent a lifetime believing in a man, her father, who she realized was undeserving of her loyalty. What if her judgment of Nolan was no better? After all, he had been a pirate like her father. He had been seduced by visions of glory and wealth. Perhaps her mother had had the same romantic illusions about her father as Jewel had with Nolan—until the adventure ended with a baby and no husband to stand by her side.

  She had no reason to believe Nolan would be so uncaring, but if they didn’t discover the treasure here, it might prolong her finding out. Their adventure wouldn’t have to end. There would be more time to gain confidence in her marriage.

  The sound of running water hurried Jewel’s pace. Exploring the island lifted her mood in a surge of independence. She had spent too much of her time waiting to be rescued or led.

  It was strange that she suddenly dreaded finding the treasure. She didn’t know what she had ever hoped to gain. The wealth seemed more likely to lead to the loss of the man she loved rather than any happiness.

  The sound of water grew louder. This was no ordinary stream. Jewel pushed aside branches and ignored the twigs that tore at her hair in her haste to reach her destination. A small clearing welcomed her. A slight spray dampened her skin, and she blinked in awe at the sheer beauty of an enormous waterfall. Light refracted off the cascading water, creating a rainbow. A steep black cliff set off crystalline falls. Lush ferns surrounded a deep pond at the base. She moved to the edge. The water churned the pool, creating a fathomless bottom and a surface of black, undulating glass.

  The pristine scene tempted her to strip off her clothes and dive into its open arms. She knelt to scoop up a handful of water. Wading in wasn’t an option. The pool appeared to descend into the other side of the world.

  Surrounded by the dens
e heat of the jungle, the chilled water begged to be entered. Most of the water she tried to capture spilled through her cupped fingers, but she touched her tongue to the little she could keep. Fresh. It had been forever since she had bathed in fresh water. She leaned over and washed her face, reminding herself she couldn’t get in no matter how much she wanted.

  She stilled. An urge to fall into these cool depths compelled her with such force that she hopped to her feet and stepped back. She had the sensation of someone watching her, guiding here to this spot just to see what she would do. The air around her hummed with intensity like a forest enchanted by witchcraft from the tales she’d heard as a child. Everything beckoned even as it repelled her.

  She glanced up at the waterfall again. Its shape reminded her of something she had seen before. One of the runes on the map. The rune resembled the waterfall, all the way down to the two tree trunks trapped by a rock near the top. With calm, sure sight, Jewel knew she had found Captain Kent’s treasure.

  ***

  Their angry voices carried across the beach. Jewel paused at its edge, still partly hidden by dense foliage, wondering if they even realized she’d been gone.

  “This is going nowhere. Get the swords or shut up,” barked Wayland.

  “That’s fine with me. I’ve been waiting five years to teach this pup a lesson,” Bellamy shouted back.

  Jewel stepped onto the beach. She could see Bellamy and Nolan facing each other, with Wayland in the middle. Bellamy paced back and forth, while Nolan held his ground. The rest of the crew hung back, looking indecisive.

  Nolan glanced in her direction. Jewel’s heart lodged in her throat. He had noticed. He had to have, or everything they had was a lie.

  He turned back to Bellamy. “I’m not going to fight you, old man. I’m here to get the treasure and then I’m leaving without you.”

  Bellamy spotted Jewel from the corner of his eye. He didn’t turn to acknowledge her presence any further than that. “And without my daughter. Isn’t that right, Jewel?”