“And leave us open to attack from his men? Think, Ezra, with their leader killed it would just be a matter of time before they would turn on us. What about the children? Could we chance it?”
“No, you are right. I was just so damned angry. . .”
“At least if we play along with him we will gain one thing—time, but how much I don’t know.”
“You’re not going to him tonight?” Ezra was aghast.
“No, of course not. The very thought makes me shrivel up inside. But we have to get away, and soon. I’m not so sure that even after the ransom is paid he will let us go. There is something diabolical about the man and I don’t think he has played all his cards yet.”
“I wonder what he will do when you don’t show up at his room,” pondered Ezra pacing the floor. “It will be something drastic—that much I know. His men are afraid of his unpredictability.”
“Whatever it is we will have to wait and see, but please hurry and find a way of escape. I don’t think we have much time left.”
“I’ll sleep outside your door tonight. I will guard you with my life.”
“Thank you, Ezra, but I don’t think he would try and force his way into my room. He is much too wily for that. He is sure he will get his way and I shudder to think of how he will succeed.”
“But he won’t.”
“I have the most awful feeling that he will. And if he does—I don’t think I will ever be the same again.”
“Don’t say it! Don’t even think it!”
“Did I ever tell you about the Bratach Sith?” asked Angela looking up at him sadly.
“The what?”
“It’s a long story and I’m afraid it will get longer still!”
One day passed and then another while Angela and the children holed up in their rooms expecting the worst. They didn’t even venture into the courtyard or garden so apprehensive was Angela over the situation. Laporte had not tried to see her or send her any kind of a message and she could only guess that he was thinking up a punishment so hideous as to stagger the mind. She almost wished it was over with—whatever he planned to do—because the waiting was grueling.
Ezra wanted to stick close to her side in case anything happened but she had other ideas. They must get away at any cost so he was sent out to try and find a way. There still was no probable escape off the island but Ezra didn’t tell Angela about the project he was working on. Not long after their arrival he had started constructing a raft of bamboo and odd pieces of wood but it was far from completion and very small. They could only use it as a last resort.
Inspecting it critically he admitted to himself that he would have to be absolutely desperate to set out to sea on the flimsy thing and chance shipwreck or drowning. But he continued working on it and hid it carefully at the end of each day on the secluded beach he had chosen. It was rather inaccessible there so not many people ventured near and it was perfect for his secretive work.
Angela went into the children’s room for the fifth time and looked around perplexed. Molly still wasn’t back. Shoving a chair beneath one of the high windows she stood on it and looked down into the courtyard. She wasn’t down there either. It was highly unlike Molly to be gone all morning without telling her where she was going—unless she had been overcome with a sudden urge to get out of the room and away from the children.
She had to admit that the enforced confinement of two very active children hadn’t been easy on either of them. Molly had probably just gone for a stroll in the garden and lost track of time. That has to be it, Angela told herself logically.
“Lorna,” she called, and her daughter looked up from the toy soldiers she and Robert were playing with. “Did you see Molly at all today?”
“No, Mama,” replied the precocious six-year-old. “When I woke up she wasn’t in the room and I haven’t seen her all day. Do you think she is all right?”
“I hope so, baby.”
“Really, Mama, I am not a baby anymore. I can see what is going on around us. I’m not stupid.”
Angela couldn’t help laughing. “Of course, you are my grown up little girl. When I was your age I didn’t know half what you do.”
“You didn’t have a mother like you or a father like mine,” observed Lorna.
“Yes, sometimes parents seem to forget how observant their children are and we haven’t had an exactly tranquil existence, have we?”
“I don’t know. I never remember a tranquil time—everything is always upside down.” With a little sigh she crossed the room and asked the repetitive question she had asked so many times before: “When will we find Papa again? I miss him so!”
“Soon, baby,” she said, sighing herself at the thought.
“I’m not a baby!”
“Of course not,” said Angela watching as Lorna went back to her game. She is too much like me, she thought, too much for her own good.
The evening brought Ezra back to the house after another fruitless search and a long hard day working on the raft. Today he had tried bribing one of the pirates to let him have a boat. He had offered him Angela’s diamond necklace but the man had refused backing away from him as if he were poison. Laporte had instilled terror into their hearts, and loyalty.
“Ezra,” she cried throwing up her hands as he entered the room, “have you seen Molly today? She has been gone all day and I have been frantic over her whereabouts!”
“No, I haven’t. All day? Let me go and see what I can find out.”
“I’m afraid; scared that something has happened to her. What if she went for a walk and ran into one of Laporte’s men? What if. . .”
“Don’t start speculating. I’ll go now and I won’t come back before I find her.”
“Please, please find her quickly! I have the most terrible foreboding. . .”
He was gone leaving Angela and the children to dine alone but she couldn’t eat a bite. Something was very wrong. Good, reliable Molly who had loved her since she was born, whom she often took for granted. She found herself praying that she was all right and was surprised when the meal was over so quickly.
Angela put the children to bed and then paced the floor like a caged lioness. Several times she tried to read or embroider but she threw down the book or work after just a few minutes. How could she concentrate on anything but the missing Molly?
It was close to ten when Ezra returned bleak-faced. “Nothing! I could find out nothing! It’s as if she has disappeared from the face of the earth. No one has seen anything—I think they have all been struck dumb, deaf and blind!”
“There is only one thing to do,” said Angela with a determined set to her chin that Ezra was becoming familiar with. “Laporte will know where she is; he knows every leaf that drops on this island. I’ll go to him.”
“Hell!” cried Ezra slapping his hand to his forehead. “That’s it!”
“What?”
“Laporte’s playing his card at last. He will know where Molly is because he took her! Look, my lady, I don’t like this at all. It’s a trap and Molly is the bait!”
“And I am the mouse to be lured into his lair.” Comprehension of his treachery only reinforced her hatred. To use an innocent bystander as a pawn in his game was going too far. “I will write him a note and you will deliver it.”
The note was short and curt, to the point. Angela folded it in half and handed it to Ezra. “Please, hurry!”
It was an hour before he came back and Angela rushed at him, her nerves worn to a frazzle from the suspense.
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know,” replied Ezra handing her a note. “I don’t read other people’s letters—no matter how great the urge!”
With shaking hands she unfolded the crisp paper almost dropping it. It was even shorter than hers had been.
Midnight in my room.
Gaston Laporte
Dropping the note on the floor she burst into tears at the quandary. He hadn’t said he had Molly, but in her heart she knew
he did. He made no threats or promises; if there were any negotiations to be made it would be up to her. There was only one thing he wanted of her, the one thing she was not willing to give to him or any man but Scott.
Ezra picked up the paper and scanned the terse words. “He’s bluffing! You are not going, even if I have to tie you up and stand guard over you!”
“What am I going to do?” she sobbed wildly, torn in half by the emotions raging inside her.
“There is nothing you can do,” he stated forthrightly. “I have made the decision for you!”
Neither one of them slept that night. They sat staring at the floor or pacing up and down the room sure Laporte would come pounding on the door at any moment wanting admittance. With the coming of dawn Ezra picked up the sleeping Angela from her chair and deposited her on the bed. Making sure the door was locked he went into the children’s room to await their waking up.
With a start Angela sat bolt upright on the bed aware instantly of the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the window. Without bothering to even smooth her rumpled clothes she flew to the other room to find Ezra reading aloud on the small sofa, Lorna and Robert on either side of him. They greeted her but her mind wasn’t on anything but her maid.
“Molly?” she whispered, despair showing on her sleepy face. Ezra only shook his head and her heart sank right down to the carpet.
“How would you like to look after these two hellions while I get some sleep? I’m dead!”
“Of course,” she said drawing him aside. “See if you can find out anything. She has to be all right!”
“I’ll do my best.”
When the slaves brought dinner one of them pressed a letter into her hand and left. This is it, thought Angela unfolding it hurriedly.
If you wish to see your maid
before she dies meet me in the
library in fifteen minutes.
Gaston Laporte
Springing to her feet she stifled a cry crushing the note into a crumpled ball. He did have Molly and since her rejection of last night was admitting it. Could she do it—actually let Laporte touch her, lie with her to save Molly’s life? She had to, no matter how detestable it was to her. How could she let him destroy the life of her faithful maid who was only in this predicament because of her? There was no alternative.
“Lorna, I have to go on an errand,” Angela explained. “You are in charge until Ezra gets back. Lock the door after I’m gone and don’t let anyone in but him or me. Do you understand? Not anyone!”
“But where are you going?”
“To find Molly!”
“I promise, Mama, I won’t let anyone in.”
Angela dragged slowly downstairs, each step bringing her closer to doom. Laporte’s words rang in her ears, the awful suggestive things he had said to her when he cornered her in the courtyard. Had it only been a few days ago? It seemed years. At the foot of the stairs she turned around and started back up.
“I can’t, I can’t!” she whispered to herself.
“Ah, there you are,” said the hated voice. “You are late. I did specify a certain time.”
Angela jumped like a frightened rabbit and grasped the balustrade. “I have changed my mind. I can’t do it!”
“Do what? My note just said if you wanted to see Molly again to meet me downstairs—nothing else. You read between the lines.”
“You made it perfectly clear the other day what you wanted from me and now you are trying to get it by threatening Molly!”
“Come, come,” Laporte soothed reaching the level where she stood. “I promise not to touch you. All I want is your presence on board my ship. I have planned an entertainment and you are the guest of honor.”
“Is Molly on the ship?”
“Yes, waiting for you. She can return with you as soon as the party is over. You see—I have no ulterior motive in mind.”
“Like hell you don’t! I know what that note said as well as you do. You threatened her life.”
“Just a little scheme to get you out of your room.” Laporte took her elbow. “Have I ever broken any promise I have made you?”
“No. . .” Angela admitted hesitantly. He never had.
“Then come along.”
He steered her down the stairs and out the front door. Angela shook off his hand. “You promised not to touch me.”
“So I did.” She saw his teeth flash in the moonlight. “I will lead the way then.”
They walked in silence to the cove where a boat was waiting to take them out to the ship. It blended into the night like an apparition and only the lanterns on board were visible, like fireflies dancing over the sea. She sat far away from Laporte as they were rowed out to the ghost ship and a shiver of apprehension went through her.
Stars were just appearing, pale in the bright overpowering light of the moon. The island and cove were beautiful in the fractured silvery rays, the palm trees swaying across the stretch of water like shadows of great fans. In any other circumstance Angela would have found it peaceful and romantic but not now with Laporte sitting next to her and what she feared was an unwelcome surprise waiting for her on the ship.
Once on board Laporte led her to the forecastle deck and she looked around in vain for Molly. In fact the ship was deserted but for the four men that had rowed them out to it. With a curt nod of his head two of the pirates grabbed Angela and began tying her hands in front of her. She fought kicking one in the shins and bringing her knee up hard between the legs of another. For a moment she staggered free but the others lunged at her, completing the job and then tying her hands to the railing with another length of rope.
“You son of a bitch!” she screamed. “So much for your promises!”
“But I haven’t laid a hand on you,” he laughed.
Her head jerked up defiantly. “So it was a trap after all.”
“Could you expect any less from me?” Laporte moved very close to her, still not touching her. His cold green eyes bored into hers with malevolent determination. “Don’t worry. You are safe. I just had you bound so you wouldn’t get hurt. You are far too impulsive and I wouldn’t want you injured during the coming entertainment.”
She was magnificent, truly spectacular, thought Laporte, as she stood bound with fiery defiant eyes and nostrils delicately flared in anger. He longed for the time when she would grovel at his feet. Oh yes, he would humiliate her so completely that he would finally break her proud spirit and turn her into his slave. He smiled in anticipation of the event and then stepped back in surprise as Angela spat in his face.
She stared at him daring him to slap her as he wiped his face with a lace-edged handkerchief. “You are lower than a snake,” she taunted, “and I will make you a promise now. Someday I will kill you. I keep my promises too!”
“My weapons are more formidable than yours are, chérie. ”He circled around her inspecting her as if he owned her. “Tonight you will find out what a strong hold I do have over you!” He left her standing there alone while he and his men went below deck.
Angela pulled at the ropes trying to work herself free and only succeeded in rubbing her wrists raw. Sailors were expert with knots and they held just as they were intended to. Swearing beneath her breath she looked down to the main deck as Molly was brought into sight, held firmly by two pirates.
“Molly, Molly,” she cried straining forward, leaning over the rail. “You are all right, you’re not dead!” The maid looked up in bewilderment to find her mistress tied on the forecastle. “Milady! I’m so glad to see you. I have been locked up on this ship for two days!”
“Sound the bell,” ordered Laporte and Molly was dragged from Angela’s sight.
The bell sounded, some sort of a signal, because within minutes the deck was swarming with pirates, spewed forth from the bowels of the ship. Laporte joined Angela again watching with amusement her baffled look.
“Do you have a good view?” he inquired solicitously.
“Of what?” she snapped.
<
br /> “You will see!”
There was a commotion on the deck below as Molly was pushed out among the mass of men. She started fighting and screaming as they ripped pieces of her clothing off shoving her from one man to another and laughing at her distress. Reeling wildly she tried to cover her naked bosom only to have her hands caught and twisted behind her. One man held her while another rooted at her breast.
“Stop it!” screamed Angela her voice hardly heard over the noise below. “You can’t do this! You can’t let this happen!”
“I can do anything I want.”
“Then stop what is happening and I will....” She gulped hesitating, painfully aware of what would be happening in just a moment, “I will do what you want.”
“It is too late for that now. I gave you a chance to save her last night but you didn’t take it.” Laporte explained it very clearly as if speaking to a backward child. “One chance is all I ever give—so what happens to Molly is your fault.”
“No! I don’t believe you!”
“Look, you are missing the fun.”
Angela’s eyes widened in terror as the first man took Molly. Her mouth opened like a large cavern screaming and screaming until Angela thought she would go deaf. The grunting, groaning men fell upon her in swift succession as four pirates held her pinned to the deck. It was a scene of horror as the lantern light played over the writhing forms, the pale outstretched limbs of Molly and the filthy pirates naked and waiting their turns.
Angela fell to her knees hiding her face against one upstretched arm but she could still hear the sounds. Tears soaked through her sleeve and she could still see the gang rape etched on her closed eyelids.
There were at least thirty men below raping Molly, the spinster who had never known a man before. It had to be over soon; it just had to! And what then—would Laporte turn her over to the crew to have sport of? The vileness of the man was utterly unbelievable. If only she had gone to him last night. Nothing he could have done to her could be as bad as what was happening to Molly.
The screaming stopped and Angela couldn’t help peering between the balusters to see what had happened. Molly was unconscious and Angela hoped she stayed that way. At least then she would be spared further pain and humiliation. She looked up at Laporte to find that he was not watching the deck below but her. His eyes glittered as evilly as the devil’s.
Across Captive Seas Page 28
