“We are her parents. Henry will not hinder you from your journey home if you let Sarah and me go.” She straightened to a more regal posture. “I give you my word.”
“I will think on it.” The Spanish captain glanced down at Sarah then stepped out of the cabin and gave the sailor a quick order before striding off.
The crewman gave her an anxious glance and slammed the door closed.
Chapter 20
Henry splashed water in his face to banish the weariness from his eyes and readied to go above deck. The few times he’d fallen asleep, his dreams had been as turbulent as the storm that tossed the ship on giant waves all through the night.
A clipped knock at the door sounded before it opened.
“Good to see ye be awake, laddie.” The captain smiled, though his tired features exposed his weariness. A servant pressed by the captain and put down a tray of the same food of dried meat and bread. Their limited stores were due to the supplies left on the shore.
“It looks as though you could use this fine bunk about now.” Henry waited for the captain to sit.
“Aye, ’tis true. Sleep would be nice, but I have good news that canna wait.” He motioned to the food. “Sit, eat. There is much to discuss.” The captain sunk into a chair and dug into his food then motioned for Henry to do the same.
“Tell me your news, then I’ll eat.” Henry sat directly across from the captain.
“We’ve spotted the Spanish ship ahead.” The captain shoved another bite of bread into his mouth and chewed.
“How long before we board her?” Henry stood unable to keep from pacing.
“An hour, more or less.” He took a swig of strong tea, to which, by the smell, he had added a small measure of whisky. “Plenty of time for you to eat. Ye’ll need yur strength when we catch ’em.” He paused and gave Henry a stern look. “Unless you’d prefer to let yur guards rescue yur family while ye wait in safety aboard my ship.”
“What? No. I demand to be the first aboard to rescue my family.” Henry said, fists clenched at his side.
“Then eat.” The captain smiled.
“You’re right.” With a sigh of resignation, Henry took a portion of dried lamb, stale bread and poured himself some hot tea. With every bite his body grew stronger. His ribs still ached but not enough to keep him from doing what he must to fight off the Spaniards and save Sarah and Evangeline. He drained his cup of the strong tea.
“Thank you, Captain, for the food.” A nudge of conscience made him continue. “And for all you’ve done.”
Captain Fritz stood and walked over to a small wardrobe at the end of the room. “I think ye’ll have need of this shortly.” He handed Henry a sword with a royal crest emblazoned on the front of the hilt.
“The house of Cornwall?” He rubbed his thumb across the crest of an eagle’s outstretched claws. He had never heard of this clan.
“’Tis something I acquired in my travels.” A sharp knock sounded, then a sailor opened the cabin door. The captain walked to the doorway to converse with him, his words too low to hear, but the sailor’s expression was that of a serious matter. Without a word to Henry, Captain Fritz and the servant stepped out of the cabin leaving Henry alone.
He rolled his shoulders to loosen his stiff muscles then swung the newly acquired sword to limber his arm. Shifting into a fighting stance, he thrust the borrowed weapon out with force as if to impale a certain Spanish captain. A sharp pain in his side sucked the breath out of him. Weakness in front of his enemy was not an option. Determination and a few more jabs helped assure him he could endure. Using a few more maneuvers to get familiar with the weight and hilt, he was satisfied that the sword would do well in a fight. It was finely crafted and exceptionally well balanced.
The loud slap of bare feet pounding against the oak passageway stopped at the cabin. The door was thrust open without a cursory knock.
“Cap’n says come now. We’re closing fast on the Spaniard’s ship.” With that, the young man turned and rushed up the stairs to the deck.
Henry followed on the sailor’s heels. When he reached the open air, he was met with a vision of organized chaos as crew members rushed to do their duties at the bark of the first mate’s orders.
The anticipation of the eminent battle had the commander and his men armed and ready. They stood at the railing, out of the way of crew. Henry joined them there, his focus on the ship growing larger with each passing swell.
“Dead ahead, Cap’n.” A sailor shouted down from his perch in the crow’s nest.
“Aye. I see ’er, Davy.” Captain Fritz walked toward Henry and the king’s guards.
Henry pressed against the ship’s railing, hoping to catch sight of Evangeline. He watched the sailors on the Spanish ship running for their posts. The salty mist hit his face with every dip of the hull, cutting through the waves. They were speeding toward his family and his future. “Please, God, keep them safe.”
“Aye. With God’s help there’ll be no blood shed today.” The captain patted Henry on the shoulder. “However, we must be prepared.” He motioned to the commander and gathered in the center near the main mast. “Commander, we’re not warriors with yur battle experience, but we can fight. You don’t live on the sea without knowing a thing or two about how to protect yur ship, crew, and cargo.” He spread his feet with the ease of a man used to the movement of the deck beneath him. “I yield to yur leadership in battle. How can we help?”
“I am more used to fighting on solid ground.” Commander Garrett grinned. “Therefore, while on board, my men and I are at your command, Captain.” He snapped to attention.
The captain of the Sea Hawk nodded his approval. “I suggest you leave yur armor behind and take only yur weapons.”
The guards interrupted with mumbled displeasure.
“Laddies, if you be knocked overboard, you’ll sink like a rock.” As the English guards removed their armor without further comment, the captain gave simple instructions detailing the process of sailing the Sea Hawk alongside the Spaniard’s ship and throwing grappling hooks to secure their vessel to the enemy’s ship. With that accomplished, the crew would make ready the gangplank for the commander’s men to board. He assured them his crew would assist in the taking of the enemy’s ship.
“I will board first.” Henry’s words were addressed to the commander but his eyes never left their destination.
“But…” The commander’s protest died in his mouth when Henry turned and scowled at him. “We will be right behind you.”
“Our sole objective is to find my wife and child and get them safely back aboard this ship. After that, do whatever necessary to take the Spanish captain captive to answer for his crime of kidnapping.” Henry glanced back at the commander, who nodded his agreement, contrary to his pinched lips and scowl of disapproval.
Boom!
The unmistakable explosion of a cannon followed by the swoosh of the projectile arching toward them. The sea exploded in a geyser, rocking the Sea Hawk but not touching it. The cannonball had landed in the ocean directly in front of their ship’s bow.
Captain Fritz expression of calm control never wavered as he encouraged all aboard to stand fast.
Another warning shot, this time close to the starboard side, rained sea water across their deck. The crew of the Sea Hawk continued in their duties. No sign of fear shown in their eyes, only determination to follow their captain’s orders to the letter.
Admiration swelled in Henry’s chest at such dedication of the crew to the man who led them. It said something about the captain’s character, which Henry had already concluded was trustworthy and honorable. He would see that the king rewarded this man for his bravery when this was over.
“Bring me the prisoners, Mister Shamish.” The captain shouted at his first mate. The man disappeared below deck. Within minutes, he and two other crew members shoved the combatant brigand and the loudly complaining first mate of the Spanish ship toward the waiting captain. “Fasten them to the railing
at the bow.”
Another cannon ball rocked the ship in a narrow miss. The Sea Hawk was shoved to the right by the large wave, but the helmsman quickly corrected its course.
The prisoners were now chained to the bow, each of the men had a hand left free to show they were uninjured. They waved wildly at the Spanish ship, screaming at them to stop firing.
It worked. No further cannonballs came at them as the Sea Hawk drew near enough to board.
Captain Fritz stood at the railing and nodded to his first mate.
“Give us the woman and child and in exchange we will give you our prisoners.” He shouted in Spanish. The first mate’s words evoked cursing from the Spanish crew and taunts intended to provoke the sailors of the Sea Hawk, but Captain Fritz’s crew restrained themselves from trading insults.
“Give me my first mate, and I will let you live.” The man Henry had watched taking Sarah up the gangplank now stood with his hands on his hips and an angry curl of his lips. “If you do not comply, I’ll sink you all.”
“No, brother!” The first mate’s whine had been all in Spanish, but Henry, and apparently Captain Fritz by his grin, understood the language and the leverage they had been given with the man’s revelation. “Free me, Juan. What would Isadora say?”
“Shut up, you fool!” The captain cursed the man and glared at Henry and Captain Fritz. He must have recognized their understanding of the new information for he spun on his heel and disappeared from view.
“What now?” Henry turned to Captain Fritz.
“We wait.” The Sea Hawk’s captain kept his gaze trained on the other ship. His crew waited his orders.
A man’s scream of pain was followed by a woman’s angry protest in Spanish, then English and Latin. Her appearance on deck was followed closely by a sailor with blood on his tunic.
“Evangeline!” Henry shouted. She held Sarah in her arms.
A hand restrained him from climbing the railing and leaping aboard the other ship. A second glance proved they were not yet close enough for him to have survived that leap. His heart thudded in anticipation for the moment the ships shifted closer. Ropes were being thrown across and secured by each of the crews. Tension was high, every man prepared for battle at the first call to board by either captain.
Evangeline wore a silk gown of blue marred by the coarse material of that ratty bag of hers that she’d strapped across her chest. She gave the long dress an impatient kick with her foot as it impeded her movement. She held fast to Sarah on one hip and wielded a dagger with her free hand.
The Spanish captain motioned for a nearby sailor to restrain her, but the man backed up instead when she pointed the blade at him.
Two more of the crew stepped closer with intent to capture her.
“Don’t touch her, or he dies!” Henry’s tone was heavy with intent. He held a blade against the Spanish prisoner’s throat.
“Go ahead. He is more trouble than he is worth.” The Spanish captain spoke in heavily accented English, perhaps to keep his crew from understanding his words.
“No! Please, Juan! Mother of God, save me!” The prisoner sobbed in unrestrained anguish.
All activity halted on both ships. The crew’s attention was trained on the scene before them.
The rustle of blue silk caught Henry’s eye as Evangeline edged toward the gangplank now connecting the two ships. His heart thumping with fear for his wife and daughter barely allowed enough air to breathe. With determination controlled by experience, he returned his focus to the Spanish captain, who eyed him as if trying to discern if Henry would follow through with his threat. Henry tightened his hold on the prisoner, his eyes narrowed with intent.
“I will let the woman and child go.” Capitan Fernando motioned the Sea Hawk crew forward to help Evangeline cross over with the child. “Send my idiot brother-in-law to me.” He hesitated then added. “And the one-eyed man.”
“Only if you give me your word that you will not fire on us as we leave.” Captain Fritz stood, arms crossed, to confront the Spanish captain.
“I swear on my mother’s grave that you will not come to harm by me or my crew. You may depart in peace…this time.” Captain Fernando’s anger at his defeat did not set well by the glint of fury in his dark eyes. “Until next we meet, Captain Fritz.” He gave a nearby crewman a hushed order, then turned on his heel and disappeared below deck. The incident was finished as far as he was concerned, but his threat hung in the air like a snake coiled ready to strike when least expected.
With a nod from the Sea Hawk’s Captain, Henry dropped his hand and let the crew deal with loosing the prisoners. He rushed to the gangplank and met Evangeline as she stepped aboard.
“Here, let me take the wee lass below. I’ll tend to her needs and guard her with my life.” An older crewmember with a wrinkled face and kind eyes stepped forward. He reached out toward the child.
Evangeline felt the tension on deck. Was it possible the Spaniard was waiting for the prisoners to reach his ship then try and take their ship? She wanted Sarah safe and looked to Henry, who nodded his approval before she handed her daughter to the man. He hugged Sarah to his chest, turned and escaped below deck.
The crew pushed the Spaniard’s brother-in-law forward, leaving his hands bound in front, and shoved him onto the gangplank. The man scrambled across the narrow plank cursing the whole time. Halfway across, he stumbled and nearly fell into the ocean, but a quick-thinking crewmember aboard the Spanish ship jumped onto the shifting gangplank to grab the ropes binding the Spaniard’s hands and jerked him onboard, both landing on the deck in a heap. The crewmember’s reward for risking his life was a curse from the ungrateful man and a threat to have the rescuer flogged, as the man disentangled himself and stood. The crew grumbled their disapproval and helped their shipmate up with a pat on the back.
The Sea Hawk’s crew adjusted the gangplank then brought the brigand up ready to send him across next. He blanched white when he saw Evangeline face to face.
“You’re dead.” He gasped. “I killed you.” The brigand touched his eye patch and cursed her.
“Yet I live.” Evangeline held her dagger high ready to strike.
The brigand screeched in alarm and tried to back away, but one of the king’s guards grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Why should your blood be on my hands?” She lowered the knife. “I refuse to be shackled to you or your deed another day. I choose to forgive you.” The words of forgiveness tasted like bile, but as soon as they were out, it was as if a huge burden had lifted.
“Well, I don’t forgive you.” The brigand touched his eye patch with his tied hands then spit on the deck. The guard gave him an angry shove onto the gangplank and waited with raised weapons until he crossed.
The gangplank and ropes were loosed, and the ships drifted apart. The distance between the vessels grew wider with each rise and dip of the swells beneath them.
“Someday God will make him pay for what he’s done.” Henry drew Evangeline against his side.
As the ships drifted apart and the Sea Hawk’s crew made ready to sail, One-eye leaned against the railing and smirked.
“I told you I’d live to seek my revenge another day, unless Lady Millicent gets to you first. She will be very angry that you and that brat still live.” He threw Evangeline a kiss. “Until then—”
His words were cut off, when in a scurry of movement, three sailors grabbed him, tied a skiff anchor around his neck, and threw him overboard. He sunk beneath the water instantly. No last defiant words or pleas for mercy.
Evangeline hid her face against Henry’s shoulder. “As much as I wanted him punished…”
“I know.” Henry turned her away from the departing ship. “He was right when he bragged that he wouldn’t see the executioner’s blade.”
“The confession from the man she hired is your proof. Millicent was behind it all.” Her tone was low with barely restrained anger and laced with accusation as she stepped out of his embrace.
“She will not get away with more treachery.” He touched her shoulder. “We will need more proof than the last confession of a dead brigand. She is from a powerful family with blood ties to important people in high places.”
“That I live is proof enough.” She stopped and turned to face him. “If that is not enough, his testimony was heard by the king’s men. That witch will not escape the hangman’s noose for her crimes.” She continued toward the heavy oak door through which her daughter was taken. Determination stiffened her once graceful stride, and the hardened expression of a warrior readied for battle caused the crewmembers in her path to step quickly aside.
Her thoughts were jumbled with anger and worry. How would she explain why she told no one she had survived? Her disappearance and secret life would require an explanation that caused her gut to burn with dread.
Chapter 21
Henry came up behind Evangeline and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. They entered the galley. Large wood tables lined the room, where the smell of something cooking on an ancient cast iron contraption filled the space. They found Sarah hugged to the cook’s side as he paced about, singing to their daughter a happy Scottish tune and laughing at her attempt to sing along.
“She be a bonny lass.” The cook saw them and handed over his charge to Evangeline.
After thanking the older man for watching Sarah, the three were escorted to a cabin. The long gown hindered Evangeline’s every step until she bunched it in her hand to keep it out of her way. As lovely as the butter-soft material felt against her skin, she missed the freedom of her crudely woven tunic and pants. She had tucked those items inside her bag, but she doubted Henry would approve of her donning them again.
The Secret Life of Lady Evangeline Page 17
