The Pirate's Jewel

by Cheryl Howe

  The desperate question plagued Nolan through the difficult trek to the ship’s belly. And that he was considering Handsome Jack’s words as a viable means of escape proved how truly hopeless the situation was. They tossed him and Bellamy into a small hold that smelled of urine and blood and closed the door, leaving them in total darkness.

  “Jack said he’d rescue us if I gave him part of the treasure,” Nolan said the minute he heard the booted footsteps fade.

  “Old codger? That boy must have just got out of swaddling clothes to never have heard of me. His superiors should know about this. Let he and I cross steel and we’ll see who’s the old codger.”

  Nolan brought his hands up to rub his temples, but his chains stopped him short. “Jack didn’t exactly say it like that, but he said he didn’t tell them about the treasure.” With the pounding in his head and the beating of his own frantic pulse, he couldn’t even hear Bellamy breathe. “We have to get out of here,” he said, a note of panic creeping in his voice. “I don’t want them to get their hands on Jewel.”

  Besides the fact that he wasn’t at all sure if Devlin was the type of man to resort to rape or not, he feared that if they had her on board, the man Nolan wounded would recognize her and realize there was no boy. Then she’d be in the same trouble as they, on her way to the gallows.

  “Then, why the bloody hell did you let them capture us to begin with? We shouldn’t have surrendered without a fight. I didn’t teach you that.” Bellamy’s voice cut through the darkness.

  “They had their muskets trained on us. Half my men weren’t even armed.” That he should have posted a watch, should have done many things differently, was of no help at the moment.

  “Bah, if they were pirates—”

  Nolan cut him off. “They’re not,” he said, realizing too late he wasn’t much of a pirate himself. Instead of an honest crew, he should have picked men with a few more notches on their swords. “So, what are we going to do? Do you think Casper will help us escape?”

  Before Bellamy could answer, a key was thrust in the lock and the door swung open. Even the soft light of a lantern temporarily blinded Nolan after being immersed in total darkness.

  “Yes, it’s you all right.” He instantly recognized Greeley’s voice, but it sounded a little weaker, a little less pompous. “Is this the man who engaged you?” Nolan’s vision adjusted, and he made out Greeley’s haggard appearance. The man wore his heavy dark blue coat, but his neck cloth was loose above his sallow features. Beads of sweat dotted his face and pooled in the dark circles under his eyes.

  His interest in Greeley and the other man rattled Nolan’s chains, and Greeley shrank back. A sailor dressed in the identifying striped shirt and canvas breeches of the English navy stepped forward, shakily pointing a musket at him. Nolan realized that all the marines, the only men aboard trained to fight hand to hand, must have been dispatched to shore. Not only that, Greeley had all the signs of fever. Being locked on a ship where crewmen had started to succumb to tropical sickness would normally be a disaster. To Nolan, it was a sign of hope.

  Another man, who looked in worse health than Greeley, peeked around the sailor with the musket. “That dark-haired one is the man. But the other was a boy. I told you. That one ain’t him.”

  “We’ve seen enough,” he heard Greeley say before the door was immediately slammed and locked, thrusting them back into total darkness.

  “They seem to be undermanned. If we can get out of here, we might have a chance of escape.” Nolan yanked on his shackles until his wrist burned.

  “I’ve got more than a chance. I’m going to gut that fellow who called me an old codger!” Bellamy shifted, clinking his chains.

  “And how do you intend to do that?” Nolan tried to keep his mind focused, but thoughts of Jewel on the island, pursued by a detachment of British marines, kept sneaking into his mind and seizing him with panic.

  “Sit down, Nolan, and save your strength.” Bellamy paused for a moment. “Why didn’t you kill me on the beach?”

  Nolan shuffled his way to the portal and tried the handle. He knew it would be locked, but he wanted to check the latch’s strength. “Because I love your daughter.”

  The brass handle didn’t seem all that sturdy. Perhaps if he wrapped the chain attached to his feet around it, he could pull with his body weight and do some damage.

  “Stop fiddling with that, Nolan. Even if you get out, you’re still shackled. You actually love the girl? But she’s my child. How can you forget that?”

  Nolan fell against the door with his shoulder. The portal coughed with promise. “She’s nothing like you.” He stopped his testing of the varnished wood. “Why did you claim to be the captain?”

  “Knew they’d separate the captain. Was hoping you could rally your men and rescue me.” Bellamy paused, but Nolan could tell he wanted to say something more. “I didn’t know you loved her. I might not have tried to drown you if I knew that. Thought you were just using her to get back at me. Does she know?”

  Nolan leaned his back against the door and tried to think. “Of course, she…I don’t know. I guess I haven’t been the best husband.” The thought that he’d be whisked away to England, and then hanged without ever seeing Jewel again, almost broke him. He turned and gave the door another hard shove with his shoulder. This time, he thought he heard the wood splinter.

  “Get away from the door. We don’t want them to know that we’re hell-bent on escaping just yet. Let them think they have us where they want us.”

  Nolan laughed, but its desperate hoarseness worried him. “They do have us where they want us.”

  “You know, you’re going to make a much better husband than you ever would a pirate. The first time, when you didn’t let the crew do me in, but left me on the island to die, I let it go, thinking you were young and I had been a father figure to you.”

  Nolan’s dry laugh was genuine this time.

  “Let me finish. You have to look your enemies in the eye when you do them in. But it’s obvious you’ll never understand that one. Then, when the error of your ways shows up in your life, you not only give me a second chance, you don’t kill me when you should have.”

  “Because it would have hurt my wife.”

  “Couldn’t even go find the bloody treasure until your old sire gave you permission by dying a natural death. Thought you’d be at it again before five bloody years. Didn’t think you could stand the pious life that long.” Bellamy snorted. “Thought you’d come back for me, begging to join my crew again to save you from dying of boredom.”

  “And what if I had come back? You wouldn’t have been there. What have you been doing for the last five years besides getting fat?”

  Though arguing with Bellamy wouldn’t help their cause, it was relieving some of Nolan’s tension.

  There was a long silence, and he began to think Bellamy wouldn’t answer. Perhaps the comment about his weight had been uncalled for.

  “I suppose the mutiny unnerved me a bit.” Bellamy’s words were slow and obviously reluctant. “Went on a bit of a bender, bad even for me. Wayland got tired of me and went to watch the girl, so as not to lose the map. Think he got a bit too attached, though. He thinks he’s her father.”

  “So I’ve noticed.” All Wayland’s meddling with regard to Jewel would be worth it if what Bellamy said were true. Wayland would be just as anxious as Nolan to see Jewel safe, and he might have the means to do something about it. Though Parker was with her, the man didn’t have the experience to begin to know what to do. “So, you sobered up when you heard that I was out for the treasure again?”

  The chains clinked accompaniment to the sound of Bellamy slapping his belly. “Yep, and I’m better than ever, if I do say so myself. I might be out of practice, but I still almost got you.”

  Nolan refrained from pointing out that he’d relieved Bellamy of his sword in short order. Bellamy’s delusions shattered his earlier confidence that his old mentor’s ability to get out of any scra
pe would hold true. Fear and panic tightened his nerves all over again. He slid to the floor and hung his head. “Do you think Jack will help us? You know him better than I do.” That Jack Casper was his only hope at the moment spiraled Nolan’s mood lower.

  “Casper’s a pirate. He’ll play whatever hand is the best bet. Luckily for us, we got the better pot. He’s got to know the British will make him stand trial just like us.”

  Nolan stood, unable to remain still. Bellamy was right. “I’ve never known you to be so patient. Or rational.”

  “Learned it waiting for you, Nolan.”

  ***

  Jewel saw the light cast and heard the men’s rumbling long before they approached her and Parker’s hiding place. “They’re coming. How do I look?”

  “Terrible. I hate this idea. Jewel, I’m going to have to insist that we think of something else.” Parker had done a lot of insisting, but Jewel hadn’t heeded one of his urgings.

  She ran her fingers through her tangled hair once more, and then tugged at the lacy trim of her chemise. She’d discarded her favorite green gown—it was ruined from her father’s knife anyway—not only for effect but practicality. If she did get her hands on a sword, she’d be hindered by her heavy skirts and tight lacings. Her thin chemise and petticoat provided much more maneuverability—not to mention that it showed the bloody scratch that appeared nastier than it was. “If you won’t bruise me, then at least help rip my underskirt.”

  Parker folded his arms over his bare chest and refused to budge. “I won’t go along with it. It’s too dangerous. Those men are more likely to rape you than want to help you.”

  She turned back to the trail to check the soldiers’ progress. “That’s why we have to make sure we approach them when Devlin’s with them. You’re going to help me, Parker, and this is what we are going to do, so get ready.”

  She heard him shuffling behind her. If she turned around and confronted him again, she feared she’d be swayed by his argument. Her heart surged in her throat and pounded out the utter desperation of her plan with each beat—but with no weapons, they had little other choice.

  A group of red-coated soldiers came ambling down the path. They were still too far to show if Devlin was in the lead. The men stuck to the path, only periodically poking their bayonets into the brush. “How do you get that yellow fever, again?” she heard someone say.

  “Bad smells, I think.”

  “All right, men. Enough of that. It’s not bad smells. This is my second tour in the West Indies and everything smells slightly putrid. It’s due to the heat and damp, not disease.”

  Jewel recognized Devlin’s voice. The soldiers fell silent, but she could tell they weren’t convinced. If things went wrong, she’d have to be sure and pretend that she had the disease. Charles Town had been plagued by yellow fever for several summers in a row, so she had plenty of experience with the symptoms.

  She sucked up her courage and stepped out into their path. All the men stumbled to a stop. She had planned to dramatically throw herself at their feet, but when faced with a large group of armed men who stared at her as if she might be some sort of apparition, it stole her nerve. All she could do was blink.

  Devlin pushed through the group. “Are you hurt, girl?”

  She nodded, her throat tight with fear. She was sure she looked absolutely terrified. She was.

  He took in her appearance, studying her from head to toe and then back again. She wasn’t quite sure if what he saw horrified him or excited him, but either way he appeared moved. Damn Parker for not leaving a bruise on her arm as she’d asked.

  Devlin swept off his coat and draped it over her shoulders. “Did they take you against your will?”

  She wasn’t sure who they were, but she nodded yes anyway. The “mysterious boy” was who she planned to have called her attacker. “He dragged me into the jungle with him when you came.”

  “Who? There’s another man with you?” Devlin’s head shot up, and he glanced over the top of the bushes. His soldiers came to attention as well, raising their muskets.

  “He’s young. Not more than fifteen, but he…he overpowered me. He’s very good with a sword.” She lowered her eyelids. Hopefully, she wasn’t leading them on too obviously, but she really didn’t have the time or the nerve for subtlety.

  “Excellent. Where is he?” Devlin appeared absolutely convinced.

  “He ran behind the waterfall. There’s a cave. He tried to drag me with him, but I got away.” Jewel didn’t have to pretend to be breathless. Tension did it for her.

  “Where’s the waterfall?”

  “Down the path. You can’t miss it.”

  Devlin brushed a tangled lock from her face. “Thank you, love. You’ll be safe now. Shall you wait here while—”

  “No.” She grabbed his sleeve. “Please don’t leave me.”

  “Of course. Johnson, you stay with the lady.”

  “I want you,” she stood on her toes to whisper near his ear. She glanced at the man who Devlin had spoken to as if he had pointed ears and a spiked tail. “I don’t know him, and I’ve been through so much. I’m afraid to be left alone with another strange man.”

  He glanced back at the gaggle of soldiers, who didn’t even sniff for fear they might miss a word of the conversation. “Corporal Caffy, take the men and follow the path. I’ll be along shortly.

  “Is the man armed, love?” he asked Jewel, so kindly she was starting to feel a twinge of guilt for what was about to befall him.

  “Only with a sword.”

  “Excellent. Wait for me by the waterfall, Caffy. Keep the men at the ready, and we’ll take the chap on my orders.”

  The sergeant nodded, but gave Jewel a very unkind look as he passed. The other men merely smirked, apparently proud or envious of their commanding officer.

  Devlin took a torch from the last man, and then waited until they had disappeared down the winding path before he faced her again. “You have nothing to fear from me or my men. I know how to treat women.” He gently brushed aside the coat he’d draped over her shoulders and caressed the back of his hand over the swell of her breast, exposed by her low-cut chemise. He saw the cut on her shoulder and blanched visibly. “He’ll be punished for this, I promise you.”

  Jewel sneaked a quick glance at the brush while Devlin recovered from his shock and redirected his attention to her cleavage. The plan was for her to lure him into the brush, and for Parker to sneak up behind him. Though they were still on the path, now seemed as good a time as any for an ambush. As squeamish as Parker was over this plan, she worried that he’d not figure that out.

  “What’s going to happen to me?” she asked, not sure exactly what to do.

  “Keeping a mistress aboard ship is not uncommon for an officer. My cabin is small, but I assure you, your situation will vastly improve. And you’ll not be without means when my tour is done here. You have a lovely mouth. Have you been told that before?”

  He traced a thumb over her lower lip.

  “Would you like to go into the brush?” she asked. Parker apparently didn’t understand that the plans had changed, so she had better go to him.

  Devlin laughed. “You have been mistreated. I won’t handle you so crudely. I can wait until we return to my cabin. I need to find my men. You’ll be safe waiting here. You have my word…I don’t even know your name.”

  Before she could answer, Parker slipped onto the path. He appeared terrified, completely unsure of himself, but he had the rope they’d recovered from the pond, their only weapon, stretched taut. He slipped up behind Devlin. Jewel brushed her hand over the officer’s chest to keep him distracted.

  Despite his claimed hatred of this task, Parker brought the rope over Devlin’s head and yanked it around his neck with dexterity and enthusiasm. Devlin struggled a bit, thankfully didn’t scream, and then rapidly turned from red to purple before his eyes rolled back in his head.

  “That’s enough,” yelled Jewel when Devlin collapsed, yet Parker didn�
��t show signs of easing his hold. The officer wouldn’t be any good to them dead.

  The lieutenant finally eased his hold, panting as if he’d been the one deprived of air. “God, I hope he’s not dead,” he said.

  Jewel drew the sword from the scabbard slung across Devlin’s shoulder, and then searched him for any more weapons. A hand with surprising strength grabbed her wrist and squeezed. Devlin glared at her with red-rimmed, furious eyes.

  “Again, Parker. Now!” Jewel whispered fiercely. The urge to scream the command was hard to resist.

  Parker tightened the rope still around their victim’s neck until Devlin ceased his struggles. Jewel stood, took the officer’s sword and pressed its tip against his chest. Parker released his stranglehold before Devlin passed out again.

  “So that you understand I know how to use this, I’m the boy you’re looking for.” She pressed the point of Devlin’s sleek sword against his chest until the tip pierced his shirt, nicking his skin and forming a distinct circle of blood. “But I don’t intend to kill you unless I have to.”

  He held her gaze, not flinching at the abuse but nodding his understanding.

  “Tie him,” she instructed Parker. “Cooperate, and he won’t have to strangle you again,” she said to Devlin. This time, he didn’t bother to nod, but neither did the officer resist when Parker rolled him over to tie his hands behind his back.

  Jewel spotted the forgotten torch that had dropped into the moist soil that formed the trail. A small flame sputtered but had found no other purchase in the verdant surroundings. She returned her gaze to Devlin. Parker helped him struggle to his feet. The marine officer’s coloring had returned to normal, but he chose to remain silent. The red burn around his neck stood out clearly in the weak starlight that filtered through the jungle’s canopy.

  “Yell for your men and we’ll gut you, then disappear into the jungle,” Jewel warned with a calmness that surprised her.