Chapter 11

 

Reena knew something was amiss the minute she stepped on the quarterdeck. For one thing, several of the crew glanced at her nervously and then shifted their eyes away. For another, half of them seemed to be missing. Shrugging off the sensation, she took her position beside Abraham and gazed over the glittering Caribbean. ’Twas another gorgeous day in the West Indies. A wind, ripe with promise, fingered through her hair while rays from a glowing sun warmed her face and neck. The sounds she’d come to love—the slap of waves, the creak of tinders, and flap of canvas filled her ears with delight. Here, upon the sea, she was free. Here, she could defy the restraints placed on her gender and do whatever she pleased, love whomever she wanted, live whatever adventure came her way. And if everything played out according to plan, this grand life would never have to end.

Shielding her eyes from the sun, she glanced up at the massive sails drifting like white clouds over a cerulean sky. With topsails furled and a considerable list to larboard, the Reckless rippled through the sea on a course due east.

Grabbing the backstaff from the binnacle, she turned her back to the sun and used the instrument to determine its angle above the horizon. Then plucking a compass from her pocket, she checked the reading.

“Fletcher,” she addressed the helmsman at the tiller. “Veer another point to starboard.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n,” the man replied. “One point to starboard.”

Reena faced Abraham. “We should be at Saint Lucia by tomorrow.”

“Humph.”

“You disapprove?”

“Aye.”

“Because?”

“I dink yuh should take de man t’ Kingston like yuh promised, an’ stop chasin’ fantasies.”

“Indeed? Fantasies. Well, I shall just have to change your mind about that. And as far as Freddy goes, he doesn’t yet know what he truly wants.”

“An’ yuh do?” Abraham gave her that look that always made her feel like a little girl caught in some silly indiscretion.

“Of course.” Wind flung a strand of her hair in her face, and grabbing it, she twirled it around her finger. “That’s why God created Eve. He saw that man needed assistance to get through life.”

“Hmm.” Abraham smiled, then focused on a group of loitering sailors on the main deck below. “Holmes, Paxon, back t’ work!” he shouted, sending them scurrying.

The odd sound of whistling rose on the wind just as Jo leapt up from a hatch. She smiled at Reena before she headed toward the ten-pounder on the starboard quarter. No doubt to clean and inspect it. Another reason Reena adored the woman. She was thorough and meticulous about the guns. And for good reason. They must always be in perfect condition should they come across an enemy—or even better, a worthy prize.

The brig rose then plunged over a wave, and Reena planted her feet apart for balance. Closing her eyes, she swayed with the shifting of the ship, a mesmerizing dance of love. Which brought her thoughts to Freddy. She hated to disappoint him, but Saint Lucia wasn’t that far out of the way. Well, in truth, it was a bit out of the way. But she wanted him by her side. She wanted to stir the flame of adventure she knew he possessed within—the one his God had squelched.

Yet now he was furious with her. Yesterday, he’d given her that look of rage she knew too well before he had marched from her cabin. For a moment, she expected his temper to return, for him to draw his sword and try to fight off her entire crew, demanding they take him to Kingston. But Freddy was no fool. She was still in command of this brig, and he knew it. No matter how much he hated that fact. Surely, he would come to his senses soon. Had she not seen sparks of the old Freddy in his eyes—his lust for adventure, sword fights, treasure, and the sea? And most of all, his lust for her. Soon, with maps in hand, they would be on yet another adventure, seeking the Fountain of Youth. Then once they found it and drank their fill, they would sail these seas and love each other forever.

’Twas a dream come true and the only one Reena desired. For no other man would satisfy her. And she could not keep any man—even Freddy—if she were to grow old and die. She could not keep any treasure either, for she would lose all her strength, and those stronger than her would steal it away. ’Twas the way the world worked. Youth was everything—youth, strength, and beauty. Another reason not to follow the God of her parents. How cruel a joke He played on His creation to give them but a few years of youth and vigor before time slowly drained both away like leeches that sucked the blood and life from a man overcome with illness.

Michael darted up the quarterdeck stairs and approached, the wind tossing his wheat-colored hair every which way, and a huge smile on his face. “Heard you found the map you been looking for.”

“I did at that, Michael. And”—she raised her brows at him—“that means we shall soon be on another adventure.”

“A treasure hunt!” The lad nearly leapt out of his shoes. His eyes landed on her backstaff. “You promised to teach me about navigation, Captain Reena. I so greatly want to learn.”

“You are most anxious to learn.”

“I am most anxious to learn,” he repeated with a smile.

“Aye, I will teach you, I promise. Allow me to attend a few things, and I shall call upon you soon.” She tapped him on the nose. “You're such a smart lad and a good learner. Soon you’ll be the captain of your own ship.”

“I’m too young for that, Captain.” He laughed, but his face grew red at the compliment. “Maybe Captain Carlton can teach me how to sword fight?"

“No need to bother the captain. I can teach you. I’m just as good as he is.”

The lad looked at her, blue eyes sparkling. “I know you are, but I heard he fought bravely yesterday at Port-de-Paix. And he's got injuries to prove it. Can he teach me how he fought off so many?” He sliced the air with his arm like a cutlass.

Reena was not offended. She knew the lad desperately needed a father. Abandoned by his own family on Providence Island, he longed like any child to find someplace where he belonged, a family, a home. She’d done her best to be a mother to him, but she also had to be his captain and ofttimes, the two conflicted. In truth, the lad needed a man's influence, and Freddy was just that man.

Speaking of, the man himself leapt up from the hatch in all his masculine glory and marched across the deck as if he owned the brig—a born leader, confident, strong, able to make quick and wise decisions. All those qualities wasted on a mere preacher.

He gripped the railing and gazed over the sea as if pondering jumping over rather than dealing with her. Then he gazed up at the quarterdeck, spotted her, and ascended the ladder.

She braced herself for his temper.

Michael darted to him. “Captain Carlton, Captain Reena says you'll teach me how to sword fight.”

Freddy looked at her with his usual disapproval, though she caught the hint of a grin on his lips…especially when he stared down at the boy. “She did, did she? Well I suppose I will have to accommodate her, then. Her being the captain.” He winked at Reena, and even that small gesture sent a thrill down to her toes.

“Now? Can we do it now?” Michael leapt from foot to foot.

“I need a word with your captain first. But soon, I promise.”

The warm exchange and the kindness with which Freddy treated Michael did odd things inside of Reena she dared not admit.

Michael started to leave, but suddenly halted, closed his eyes for a moment, then glanced over the brig. Something in his eyes gave Reena pause. No longer glistening with exuberant youth, they seemed suddenly older…wiser. He looked up at her, then over to Freddy, then down at the swords at their sides.

“Are you all right, lad?” Freddy asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Michael nodded, gave a tight smile, then stepped back to take a spot by the helmsman with a stance that stole his youthful innocence.

Reena didn’t have time to consider his odd behavior as Abraham shouted to the crew to get back to work. Odd. Even though they were pirates, most of them usually attended their duties without complaint.

And there was that whistling again. She glanced over the brig, seeking its source. Jo and a few of the gun crew were cleaning one of the guns, the topmen were aloft, adjusting sail, other sailors were either holding lines or coiling them, while the rest skittered about nervously. Sedley appeared from below.

Freddy took a stand beside Reena. “Alas, I had hoped and prayed you would reconsider breaking your promise to me. But I see you are set on your course.”

Blast his navigation skills! “Never fear, we are still going to Kingston. I’m merely stopping at Saint Lucia first.” She knew he was frowning, mayhap even grimacing. She knew that his temper could erupt at any moment. She also knew she should say something to placate him, but the crew was acting strangely again. Why were at least half of them below decks? Even when not needed for the running of the ship, they were usually above deck, playing cards, whittling, or dancing to a fiddle. ’Twas far too hot and putrid-smelling to stay below all day.

Freddy seemed to notice as well. She felt him stiffen beside her. Gripping the railing, he gazed down across the deck as the wind shifted, flapping the sails, and the brig groaned over a wave.

Several men emerged from the hatchway, cutlasses in hand. Before Reena’s mind registered what was occurring, her instincts caused her to grab Michael and shove him behind her.

“Stay close to me,” she told the lad as she drew her sword. Abraham and Freddy did the same.

Blood pounding through her so loudly she could barely hear the sea gushing against the hull, she glanced down at close to thirty armed men, some with muskets, some pistols, some axes, and Baines, her top rigger, leading the pack.

“What is the meaning of this, Baines?” she roared, though she could quite tell it was a mutiny—a tragic event she had thus far avoided. She'd always kept the crew in line, always kept them teetering on a razor’s edge between fear and respect. Why, half of these cogheads owed her their lives!

“Stand down, Baines!” Abraham shouted. “While yuh ’ave a chance.”

Several sailors, vile grins on their faces, slowly mounted the ladders to her left and right, leading up to the quarterdeck. She quickly scanned the remainder of the crew for those who might still be on her side. Back by the foredeck swivel gun, two sailors pinned Jo’s arms behind her back. Other men, not part of Baines’ pack, had frozen in place, staring wide-eyed at the proceedings. The topmen slowly descended the shrouds.

Wheeling about, Baines addressed the crew. “Cap’n Hyde were not goin’ t’ give us our proper share o’ the booty she hauled in yesterday.” Several groans and moans rumbled through the sailors as he pointed his blade at Freddy. Sunlight glinted off the steel, stabbing Reena in the eye. “She were goin’ t’ give what's due us t’ this newcomer. And I says, o’er me dead body!"

“Aye, o’er our dead bodies!” the mutineers shouted, while others on deck shrank back, their faces filled with horror. Baines shouted to them, “Those what come wit’ us will be spared. Those what don't, will die by the sword.”

Freddy groaned beside her, gripping his cutlass tight. “Thunderation, of all the…”

Terror like she’d never known clawed up her spine. With thirty armed men, Baines could easily subdue the rest of the unarmed crew. Still, would no one stand with her? Would no one put up a fight?

Freddy nudged her behind him as if he could protect her. The sentiment warmed her heart, but it would be of no use. “Men, I am not your captain,” he shouted. “I don’t wish to be your captain. I fully intend to get off this brig in Kingston. I do not want any share of treasure. You have my word, you will receive your proper shares according to the code you signed. Hence, I urge you to cease this nonsense at once and get back to work. Or you'll have to answer to me and my blade.”

At first, silence, save the creak of wood and flap of sail, invaded the ship. But then Baines laughed as if someone had told a joke. His men soon followed suit. “We’s gettin’ our proper shares, wit’ or wit’ out yer permission, Cap’n.” He dipped an exaggerated bow before Freddy.

Pushing past him, Reena tossed her chin to the wind and scanned the crew. Aye, she had made a fatal error in favoring Freddy with the treasure. But who had disclosed her intentions? The treasure was worth a vast amount, and hence their shares would be so large, they wouldn’t have noticed. Sedley. But the man was nowhere in sight. Commotion drew her gaze to the hatch where Brodie’s head appeared, followed by the rest of him, his hands bound behind him and a cutlass at his back.

Indignation welled inside of her, and she gripped the railing again and shouted to her mutinous crew. “Hendrick!” A middle-aged sailor with a gut as round as the capstan stared up at her. “You'd be dead if I hadn't dragged you out of that sewage pile in Barbados, sleeping in your own vomit. And you, Eris.” She gestured to another man, this one young and sturdy as a mast. “I paid your gambling debts just as your debtors were stringing you up. I paid in full and took you aboard my ship, expecting naught in return.” She scanned the deck for others she had saved. “And what of you, Northwick? Your last captain left you for dead on a beach in New Providence with your leg half blown off. And what did I do? I brought you aboard my ship and Brodie there”—she nodded toward the surgeon, still bound and held at sword point—“patched you up and gave you a wooden leg so you could live a normal life.” Drawing a deep breath, she allowed her fury to speak for her. “How can you betray me, thus? How can any of you betray me? I order you to arrest Baines and those with him and lock them in the hold!”

“Yuh ’eard de captain!” Abraham held his sword aloft. “Or yuh’ll ’ave t’ face me first.”

“And me!” Freddy once again took a stance of protection before her.

“And me,” Michael added with more courage than a lad should possess.

Though warmed by the chivalry of her friends, Reena could take care of herself. She was the captain of this brig, after all. And she'd need no one to defend her against her mutinous crew.

The Reckless slid into a trough, flinging foam into the air and sending black squalls over the deck. Above them, the sun whipped rays of searing heat upon the scene. Sweat slid down her back, and she shifted her stance, leveling her blade before her.

Though many of the sailors seemed to ponder her words, none of them rushed to subdue the mutineers. No doubt they realized some of them would die in the effort, for Baines had recruited the most bloodthirsty of her crew.

Brodie struggled against his bonds and looked up at her with a glazed haze of sympathy. Freddy's jaw was as stiff and unyielding as the steel of his blade—growing stiffer as the sailors proceeded onto the quarterdeck.

It appeared there was naught to be done but fight for their lives. Three blades—though capable blades—against thirty pirates. Not great odds.

Was this to be the end of her life? To die as she had lived—by the sword? Wasn’t there something in the Bible about that? Mayhap ’twas God's judgment on the life she had chosen—her rejection of the principles she’d been taught from youth. But there was no time for regrets as the men advanced.

Abraham took a stand before her while Freddy protected her rear. He shoved Michael against the quarterdeck railing. “Stay there and don’t make a move.”

Reena leaned toward Freddy. “If you’re on speaking terms with God, now might be a good time to inform Him of our predicament.”

“Trust me, He already knows.” Freddy leveled his blade before him.

Three men advanced from the right, four from the left. Reena could see the hesitancy in their eyes. They were attacking their captain, after all. Not to mention three expert swordsmen. Failure on their part would mean certain death. Their confidence, however, came from numbers, as more men ascended the ladders behind them.

A rain of blades swooped down upon them like flashes of lightning.

Abraham took on the first two men, while another two attacked Reena. With her cutlass in one hand, she drew her knife with the other and parried with them both, ducking and whirling and spinning to keep them off guard, diving toward one, while thrusting her knife toward the other. The hiss of steel echoed through the air. Shouts blared from the rest of the crew, some offering encouragements, others curses.

She glanced at Freddy beside her, engaged with three men. One sliced his arm. He thrust the man through his leg. Screeching, he fell, flipped over the railing and landed on the deck below with an ominous thud.

Reena ducked just in time before one of her opponents struck her chest. Blindly rushing the other, her knife hit its mark in the man’s side. He toppled to the deck. Still more came. And more and more.

And she knew what she’d known from the beginning. ’Twas hopeless to continue. It would only end in their deaths, and she couldn’t bear it if her last vision was one of her friends being run through with the sword.

Another mutineer came at her, cleaving downward with his cutlass. There was no time to react. This would be the end. She knew it. The sharp edge of steel advanced toward her…down…down…down, slicing a wedge of death in its path.

But then a light, bright as the sun caused her to blink. A mighty blade, gold and glistening, held back the man’s sword. Time seemed to slow as she glanced toward the source. Michael stood staunchly by the railing, a glow emanating all around him. Had she gone mad? Was she already dead? But there was no time to ponder it as the man’s cutlass continued to advance. Raising her sword, their blades rang together. Another sailor sliced her shoulder from the right. Blood trickled down her arm, but she felt no pain. No time for pain. She would feel that later. Abraham let out a yelp from her left, and she spun to see three men raising their blades to heave him in two.

“Stand down!” she yelled with all her might. Her breath came in rapid bursts and sweat stung her eyes, but oddly, the sailors froze.

Freddy looked her way. He had already left two more mutineers bloodied on the deck and was taking on the third. But a fourth, fifth, and sixth were already advancing behind him. Shoving his way past the sailors, Baines leapt onto the quarterdeck and sauntered toward Reena. “Do you surrender?”

Reena had no other choice. Either that or die here and now. Before she would have a chance to taste the waters of eternal life. Bilge water! If she had but drank her fill of the Fountain before now, she would fight this sniveling maggot to his death. Not hers. “You will not harm my friends, and you will not touch the boy. Not a thread of his clothes or a hair on his head. Do you hear me?”

Baines' beady eyes shifted to Michael, who to his credit, did not so much as blink as the brute of a sailor headed his way. Instead, he met his gaze head on and looked up at him as if he were the one in charge, not Baines.

“Those be yer only terms?” Baines laughed as he looked the boy up and down, a snarl on his face. “A tender heart is not befittin’ a pirate cap’n. Good that we’s replacin’ ye.”

Freddy snorted, blade still raised against his attackers. “You’re a fool if you think you can rule this brig better than Captain Hyde, not to mention find these greedy men enough treasure to appease them. You might just find a knife in your gut whilst you sleep.”

“And ye might jist find one in yers now.” Plucking a blade from his belt, Baines charged Freddy.

Reena leapt in his path. “Do you accept my terms or not?”

“Terms, ye say?” He chuckled and a few of his men chuckled with him. “Yer in no position t’ be dictatin’ terms.” He sheathed his blade and fingered the hair on his chin. “However, since ye saved me life, I accept yer offer. Yer friends and this lad will not die. D’ye surrender?”

Reena glanced at Freddy and saw his slight nod of acquiescence before she faced her enemy again. “I do.” She said the words with strength, but ’twas a strength that defied the agony tumbling through her. With those two little words, she not only lost all her years of hard work, but most of her dreams along with it.

She dropped her sword and watched sunlight flicker over it as it fell slowly to the deck. It clanked onto the wood—a gong of defeat that sent a shiver through her. She looked away as Freddy and Abraham dropped their blades as well and raised their hands.

“Tie up the Negro,” Baines ordered. “An’ throw him, the lad, the lady gunner, and the surgeon in the hold.”

Reena started toward the sailors who advanced upon Abraham and Michael, unsure what she would do, but desperate to do something to save her friends. “You said no harm would come to them.”

Freddy gripped her arm and halted her, shaking his head.

“I’ll keep me promise.” Baines flashed her a row of yellow teeth. “No harm will come t’ them as long as they behave. But as fer ye and yer lover”—a malicious gleam appeared in his eyes—“I have other plans.”