by Cheryl Howe
Again, her captive merely nodded.
Jewel stepped out of the path and motioned for the men to proceed her, her sword at the ready. Who looked more unhappy was a toss up between Devlin and Parker. Of course, she couldn’t see herself and didn’t doubt she appeared as haggard. With her sword positioned in the center of Devlin’s back, they marched to the beach. “You’ll tell your men to drop their weapons and free our crewmen,” she said—not that she didn’t think he already knew what they had in mind.
“They’ll not,” he croaked, and then stopped. Now she knew why he’d been so complacent. He couldn’t speak. Parker must be stronger than she thought, or more likely his terror had caused him to use more pressure than necessary. Thank God they hadn’t killed him. She dared not glance at Parker to share her fears. They both were drawing courage from places they didn’t know existed. When she’d followed Nolan onboard the Neptune, she’d not known what she’d merrily thrown herself into. Though she’d been grateful that she’d saved Nolan’s life, she’d have taken back killing the young man if she could. Now, sooner than she could ever have imagined, she’d be forced to do the same thing. But nothing was too drastic to rescue her husband.
“They’ll not lay down their weapons for me, so you might as well run me through,” Devlin whispered in a brittle voice that was painful to hear. “They’ll shoot you on the spot,” he said in barely a whisper. He panted and swallowed afterward, the effort obviously costing him dearly.
“I believe they will trade you for our crewmen. We’re willing to stake our lives on it. We have nothing to lose.” Jewel finally glanced at Parker, and his determined gaze proved her words to be true for him as well. “And if a single shot is fired, you’ll perish with us.”
The lights from the torches still on the beach shone just before they heard the roll and crash of waves. They pushed Devlin through the foliage. His voice would do no good in reassuring his men all was well, so Jewel didn’t bother suggesting he do so. The soldiers left to guard the remaining crew didn’t appear immediately concerned when the three of them walked onto the beach. They glanced in their direction without raising their muskets. Jewel spared a moment to find Wayland’s gaze, and his grin, which exposed every rotten tooth he still had in his mouth, gave her a tremendous surge of confidence.
“Drop your weapons or we’ll run him through,” boomed Parker in a voice deeper than Jewel had ever heard him use. Though she held the sword, she was grateful for his intervention. The soldiers would doubt her threat, and she had no desire to prove herself to be more than she appeared unless she absolutely had to.
The men looked to Devlin but didn’t immediately comply. Their commanding officer didn’t speak, whether because the sound of his voice would give more credence to his captors’ cause or because of a sincere sense of self-preservation, Jewel couldn’t guess. Perhaps it was the look on his face, something she couldn’t see since she remained at his back, the tip of her sword unrelenting, but the first soldier laid down his weapon and the rest followed.
The Integrity’s crew sat huddled together on the beach, their hands tied in front of them. The moment the last British soldier laid his weapon in the soft sand, Wayland jumped to his feet, and his bindings fell to the sand. They were already cut. He brandished a wicked-looking dagger and picked up a musket from the sand. “You did it, chit! Knew you could. Now, let’s go get our captain.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
A key rattled in the door, and Nolan sprang from his slump against the curved hull of his prison. He’d not sunk to the floor as Bellamy had, but the complete darkness, lack of air, and time to do little else except contemplate his life had made him lightheaded. If this was his chance to escape, he wanted to be ready. He took a deep, cleansing breath, though that didn’t help much, considering it consisted of stagnant air from a disease-laden ship.
Only dim light from a distant hatch reached them. Their visitor didn’t carry a lantern. “All right, boys—before I let you out of here, we’ll be talking our terms.”
“We’re listening, Casper.” Bellamy spoke somewhere beside Nolan, his presence only a vague shape. Nolan hadn’t even heard him rise. “We know you’re not much better off than us. They’re going to hang you sooner or later.”
“Glad you see the spot I was in, Bellamy. And I’d like to say I’m glad you’re not dead.” Handsome Jack kept his voice lowered, but he didn’t bother to step into their makeshift cell. He must not trust them any more than they did him. “How ’bout you, Nolan—you willing to let bygones be bygones?”
He wasn’t, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to mention it right now. “You help us, Jack, and I’ll show you in coin how forgiving I am.”
“I was hoping you’d say that, Kenton.” Jack slipped into the small hold and shut the door behind him, plunging them all into total darkness. “Me and my crew have been biding our time. Looks like tonight’s our best chance to take this rat trap.”
A rattling of chains sounded next to Nolan, followed by a metallic scraping noise. Bellamy had something with which he was trying to pick the lock of his shackles.
“I don’t want to take the ship. I just want to get to shore and Jewel,” said Nolan, the hair on the back of his neck suddenly standing on end at having to cast his fortunes in with these two.
Nolan heard Bellamy’s chains fall to the deck. Before he could fully comprehend what that meant, Bellamy gripped his shoulder. “Hold your hands up. We have to take the ship. They’ll catch us otherwise.”
“I can outrun them.” Nolan held his hands in the air while Bellamy poked his wrist a few times with a metal object, finally fitting it in the lock and releasing him from his shackles. He placed the key in Nolan’s hand, and Nolan attacked the metal bands on his ankles.
“What do you know, Jack?” Bellamy asked, as if Nolan hadn’t spoken at all.
“Well, there ain’t nothing to speak of resistance-wise on the ship right now. All the marines who aren’t sick are on shore. They had to send some regular seamen over to your ship, Nolan, to take your watch. Don’t know how that turned out. The rest who are here probably wouldn’t put up much of a fight. Everyone’s scared of the yellow fever. Too many to count’s held up in their hammocks. I don’t think any of ’em’s really got it, but I told ’em they did.”
“How many men do you have?” From the sound of Bellamy’s voice, he had already moved to the door.
Nolan remained silent, glad to let his old mentor take over in this respect. His only goal was to get out of here and find Jewel. He’d never be glad to serve under Bellamy again, but when it came to surviving, Bellamy Leggett was your man.
“Only ten, but I figure we can rid ourselves of some of the seamen quiet-like. Don’t have to be an out-and-out fight. I already took care of the fellow with the keys. One of my crew’s paying a visit to the captain in his cabin right about now.”
Nolan didn’t have to wrestle with the idea of slitting the throats of men unawares. He’d do whatever he had to do to get off this ship and rescue his wife. “Agreed. Do you have weapons for us?”
The door opened and light flooded the cabin. “A couple knives right now, but we’ll pick up more as we go along.” Jack stepped out of the cabin.
Bellamy blocked Nolan from following. “You get off first chance you get and go find Jewel.”
Nolan studied Bellamy’s face, searching for the hook in his bait. Bellamy nodded, and Nolan could find only one conclusion. The old captain said, “That’s right. I care about her, too. Not as much as you, that’s true, but I don’t want her to come to harm. Never did. Even when I gave her the map, I never intended to tell anyone else.”
Nolan nodded and followed Bellamy from the cabin. Jack had already made his way up a moonlit passage. Bellamy paused one more time. “And instead of thanking me, you can just have my hunk of the treasure ready when I find you again.”
Nolan smiled for the first time since he’d agreed to fight to the death the father of the woman he loved. This was
as close to a truce as he and Bellamy were ever likely to come.
***
Wayland grabbed the first rung of the rope ladder that hung over the Neptune’s side. The ship seemed to have lanterns on every rigging. The girth of the vessel outlined in light made it its own constellation in the murky night, blotting out the moon and stars. Jewel wondered if the extra lanterns were merely an illusion created by the fact that they had doused the torches on the beach, or if the crew of the Neptune expected them. Wayland continued to hover above the skiff and stared up at the ship, and she suspected he pondered the same question.
Shadows danced across the tall masts, signaling a flurry of activity. Maybe it was just a luminescent reflection from the waves that lapped against the side. Jewel secured another button on the red coat she wore. She tried to reassure herself with the fact that they’d plunged the beach into darkness the moment they relieved the soldiers of all their weapons. The Integrity’s crew had made quick work of wresting the British of their coats and tying them up. They’d not bothered finding the group of soldiers who still lingered at the waterfall, but left the beach as soon as possible, taking all the longboats with them. Even if they did choose to swim back to their ship once their comrades returned to the beach and untied them, which she doubted they’d be able to do in time to fight, their muskets would be useless if soaked.
Wayland glanced down at her from his dangling position on the rope ladder. He had two muskets slung over his back and wore a red coat like the rest of them. Parker and his group used the same ploy to approach the Integrity. Hopefully, watches on both ships would think they were their own men returning.
“Stay in the boat until I give you the signal to follow,” Wayland whispered in a croak. None of the five crewmen, who included Jewel, raised a voice to agree. She’d been surprised how many wanted to join her and Wayland on the risky mission aboard the Neptune to rescue Nolan. After all, the treasure remained on the Integrity.
“Well, let’s go then,” said Wayland, before he quickly made his way up the ladder.
Jewel grabbed the rung and hurried up after him, gripping a sword in her hand. At Wayland’s insistence, she had another sword hanging at her hip, but she’d refused to carry a musket. She didn’t know how to shoot, and this didn’t seem a good situation in which to learn. The hem of her petticoat caught under her feet as she maneuvered on the ladder. She should have at least taken the opportunity to shorten its length, even if she hadn’t had the time to wrestle breeches from a soldier.
Once she cleared the Neptune’s railing, she discovered her fears about the circumstance in which she might find Nolan were not nearly as dire as the scene before her. Nolan and Bellamy had their backs to each other, swords raised, engaging no fewer than seven men at once. Clanks and shouts warned her that other battles raged around her, but only this one captured her interest.
Luckily, if there truly was any in the situation, the group of men didn’t seem happy with their overwhelming advantage. One or two would advance, and a swift parry and riposte from Nolan or her father would send them back to a safe distance. The fallen bodies she saw scattered about the deck might have something to do with their reluctance. That, and the fact that none of the men, who all wore sailor’s attire rather than soldier’s uniforms, appeared to be very skilled in combat.
Jewel advanced, after a quick glance to Wayland for some sort of last-minute instruction. She paused when she found him with his musket raised, aimed above Nolan and Bellamy’s heads. She swung her glance to the sailor standing on the roof of the companionway, a net poised to drop over them.
Wayland’s musket exploded, creating a sharp pain in her right ear, but Jewel didn’t pause to give it much thought. The old pirate hit his mark, causing the sailor to drop the net and slip from his perch. The tangle of rope landed on three of the British engaging Bellamy, giving him a momentary advantage. Jewel rushed to Nolan’s side and met the blade of the man who turned to face her at the sound of the musket.
His feeble attempt to block her thrust showed her that he’d not had much experience with the weapon. The idea of merely wounding him crossed her mind before he made a wide target of his midsection and she drove her sword home. She withdrew her weapon and found a new opponent before she had time to regret his likely fatal wound. She’d done what she had to do.
After a few passable parries, Jewel’s next opponent swung his sword at her head, forcing her to duck or be decapitated. When she straightened, eager to return the favor, the man stared at her in stunned horror. She followed his gaze to the end of the cutlass that stuck from his belly. Nolan removed his sword from the man’s back and only gazed at her briefly over him before turning to engage another opponent. Not that she could tell absolutely, considering the circumstances, but he didn’t seem particularly upset to see her. In fact, she thought she caught a hint of a smile in his eye.
Jewel turned to find another man to engage and noticed some of the sailors had dropped their swords, their hands raised in surrender. Wayland and Bellamy herded them together and forced them toward the ship’s stern. Jewel scoured the deck, averting her gaze from the litter of fallen men and the red stream of blood that had begun to make the deck slick.
With a will of its own, her gaze paused on a particularly mangled individual. On closer inspection, she noticed the worst of his wounds weren’t recent. His nose and a good portion of his lip were missing. The thick red pool beneath him, along with his vacant, unblinking stare, left no doubt that he was dead. Jewel recognized the pirate who’d boarded the Integrity, intent on stealing the map. Nolan’s compassion in letting Handsome Jack go might have come back to haunt him, but Jack Casper had got what fate intended in the end.
A cannon blast shattered her speculation, and instinct forced Jewel to crouch. She glanced toward the deafening sound to see Bellamy pull his bloody sword from the back of the man who’d lit the fuse.
“Damn it! The bastard signaled the marines on the beach. Nolan, get Jewel out of here. I’m going to cut anchor before they make it back,” yelled Bellamy.
Wayland and a few others who didn’t look as if they belonged with the British crew rounded up the sailors who no longer had the will to fight, who appeared to be all that was left. She searched the deck for Nolan and found him striding in her direction. “Let’s go.” He wrapped an arm around her and started dragging her to the side.
“There’s a ladder. Don’t jump,” she said, and dug her heels into the deck, reliving a similar moment with no intention of repeating it.
He paused to kiss the top of her head but didn’t loosen his grip. “I’m aware of that.”
They reached the railing, where Nolan’s men were already finding their way down. She didn’t know if Wayland had told Nolan that the commanding officer, as well as the majority of the marines, was tied up on the beach, nor did she know how long that would remain true. The cannon no doubt alerted the men at the waterfall to return to the beach, if they hadn’t already done so. Besides, she wasn’t sure how Parker was faring, and she feared he might need their help.
Nolan shoved Jewel to the ladder in front of the next man waiting to go down. She spared a brief glance at her father.
He stood at the helm, brandishing his sword. “Join or jump, lads. Name your poison,” he shouted.
Jewel didn’t have another moment to spare; she hurried down the ladder with Nolan right behind her. Once they settled in the skiff and untied the line, she realized they had forgotten Wayland. Oars were thrust into the water and furiously worked, sending them farther from the Neptune with each passing moment. Apparently no one wanted to take the time to count men.
Jewel struggled to keep silent, and to keep the surge of emotion that warned her she might cry at bay. Even if she mentioned it, she doubted anyone would be eager to turn around and retrieve Wayland. Bellamy deserved to be left behind; in fact, she didn’t doubt he preferred it. And perhaps Wayland did, too, though the closest thing she’d ever had to a father figure had mismatched
eyes and more gum than teeth.
A white bundle tossed over the Neptune’s side forced her from her melancholy. The male scream that echoed over the water immediately before the splash warned her that the jetsam was human. Lieutenant Greeley floundered in the water, a nightshirt billowing around him.
“Hey, Nolan!” Wayland appeared at the railing, assuring her he had encouraged Greeley to abandon ship. “You take care of her, or you’ll be answering to me when I see you next.” He waved, and then disappeared.
Jewel glanced in Greeley’s direction once more to find him swimming toward the beach with even strokes. The scattered lanterns on the Integrity’s rigging grew closer, while the Neptune’s blaze faded farther into the distance. A flare on the beach dragged her gaze in its direction. Soldiers were filtering onto the sand.
Nolan must have seen it, too. “We have no idea who has control of the Integrity?”
“I’m sure Parker is doing his best,” she said but realized she didn’t sound hopeful. She’d been placed in the front of the longboat, and another man blocked her view of Nolan.
“I imagine once they untie him, Devlin will be mad enough to swim to our ship and wring someone’s neck,” he said with an odd note in his tired voice.
Jewel braced herself on her elbows. Obviously, he’d been told what happened, probably by Wayland between cutting down the seamen. The old salt had been gushingly proud of her ingenuity. Though Nolan’s voice sounded stern, she thought she heard a hint of amusement, maybe even pride as well. She had been positive that if they got out of this alive, Nolan would flail her for taking such a risk.
Either way, she didn’t have the strength to defend her actions. “I guess we’d better get out of here, then.”
“I guess we’d better.” An undeniable hint of humor softened his voice.
“How did you and Bellamy get out of your chains?” Jewel asked. Crowded in a boat full of men and still in fear for her life, she had just discovered a new form of intimacy with her husband.
