Pirate's Prize Read online

  “If I try to escape with both women at the same time, our progress will be slow and we’ll probably be recaptured.” His voice brought a little life to the darkened cell. “That pirate would then execute me, leaving the women at his mercy. . .or lack of it. I could travel more quickly alone. I could run for help to rescue the women and to capture the outlaws. These men need to be stopped, and they must pay for the crimes they’ve committed.”

  But where could he get assistance? If he escaped from the ship near shore, whom could he trust? Any port the pirates might approach would undoubtedly be in a raw, undeveloped land filled with lawless men.

  If he could return to Señor Fuente, Brian was sure the man would give him the aid he needed. But first, Brian would have to confess his own part in allowing the attack. His boss might never forgive him. Still, if he wanted to rescue the women and capture the pirates, Brian would have to convince Angelina’s father to trust him. God, I need Your help.

  ❧

  Aunt Elena stood at the porthole transfixed by what she saw, a look of horror on her face. Angelina moved toward the next porthole so she could see what was going on.

  Elena turned toward Angelina. “Mi ángel, it might be best if you didn’t watch. I am supposed to be protecting you, and I have been remiss. Please, come away from the porthole.”

  “I have to know what’s happening.” Angelina pressed her nose against the cold glass.

  The enormous captain strode across the deck as if searching for anything the other pirates might have left behind. He spoke to one of his men, but from this distance, Angelina had no idea what he said. The sailor started toward the cabin where Angelina and her companion had stayed during the voyage. When the man came back on deck, he was carrying one of Angelina’s trunks. He took it to the captain.

  Etienne Badeau, upon seeing the trunk, barked out orders to two other pirates, who hurried toward the cabin. They returned carrying Angelina’s other trunk and Aunt Elena’s. Angelina hoped they weren’t going to throw the baggage overboard.

  As two pirates carried the women’s trunks across the gangplanks to the pirate schooner, Etienne Badeau returned to their cabin. When he came back on deck, he was carrying their hand luggage. Angelina shuddered to think of that awful man touching her personal items.

  The pirate captain strode across one of the gangplanks as if it were level ground.

  Aunt Elena turned from her porthole. “What do you think that man is going to do with our things?”

  Angelina glanced at her and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  A knock sounded on the door of the cabin.

  “Who—?” Angelina cleared her throat, trying to dislodge the lump that impeded her words. “Who’s there?”

  French words sounded through the wooden door. Angelina shivered. She stepped to her aunt and grasped her hand.

  “Walter,” the pirate said in English, “go get the Irishman. I need him to translate.”

  Angelina let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “He’s getting Brian,” she explained to her aunt.

  Aunt Elena wrung her hands. Angelina quoted the scripture they had used before. “ ‘O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.’ ”

  ❧

  Brian stopped talking to himself when he heard footsteps approach his cell door. As the key scraped in the lock, he got up from where he had been sitting on the floor.

  The blond Englishman stepped through the doorway. Walter something, if Brian recalled correctly.

  “Mr. O’Doule, the captain requires your services.” The man approached with a length of rope in his hands.

  “Walter, if I promise not to try anything, would you leave me unbound?” Brian knew it was a long shot, but he had to try. “It’ll upset the women to see me tied up.”

  The man looked deep into Brian’s eyes before he nodded. “All right. But try anything, Irishman, and you’ll die.”

  For an instant, fear sliced through Brian, but the words from Psalm 56 played in his head again. Did God prompt the words this time?

  Brian followed Walter across the deck and up the steps to where Etienne Badeau waited outside a cabin door. From its position on the ship, Brian surmised it led to the captain’s quarters. Perhaps the pirate was respecting the women’s privacy, after all. The thought made him breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Irishman.” The pirate spoke in French. “I need your help.”

  The captain thrust a large skeleton key into the lock on the door and turned it. Brian wondered if the screech of metal against metal scared the women.

  When the door opened, Brian saw Angelina and her aunt standing together with their heads held high as if they were unafraid. He could tell that fear lurked behind their forced expressions, but he hoped Etienne Badeau didn’t recognize it. Brian was proud of the women’s bravado. He tried to convey his feelings to Angelina with his gaze.

  “Irishman,” Badeau said, “tell the women they’ll be safe in this cabin on the voyage.”

  When Brian translated the message in Spanish, both women looked relieved.

  “Tell them I’ve brought all their luggage from the other ship.”

  Angelina nodded after Brian repeated the message.

  The pirate captain went out into the passageway and bellowed in French. Several of his men appeared, carrying trunks. They deposited them against one wall of the cabin. Badeau went outside for a moment and came back in, holding the hand luggage.

  “Tell them I am sorry I had to touch their belongings, but I did not want any of my men to do it.”

  Angelina’s eyes flashed when Brian conveyed the message. His heart broke for all the assaults on her sensibilities. Oh, God, I’m so sorry I brought this on her.

  ❧

  Too soon, the pirate escorted Brian from the cabin, shutting and locking the door behind them. Angelina slumped, tired from holding her body erect. Her aunt rushed to the porthole and peered out. Angelina’s attention was also drawn toward what was happening outside.

  With her holds empty, the Angelina Star rode high in the water. She had been a beautiful ship before the attack, and Angelina had been proud she bore her name.

  Aunt Elena turned her attention toward her ward. “What do you think they will do with your father’s sailors?”

  “I don’t know.” Angelina hoped he would spare them, but she knew that hope was probably in vain.

  She turned back to the porthole. Etienne Badeau strode across one of the gangplanks and stood before the prisoners. He spoke to them, then waited. Two of the men nodded. The pirates untied them from the rest of her father’s sailors. Other pirates escorted the two across a gangplank to the schooner. Angelina had heard about sailors who agreed to join the pirates rather than face death. But she had never expected any of her father’s men to do so.

  She knew that whatever came next would be gruesome, but she had to watch. The captain spoke again, and one of his men slid a small plank through a slit in the side of the merchant ship. The prisoners were untied from one another. Using short lengths of rope, the pirates tied each sailor’s hands behind his back. One by one, they were led to the plank and forced to walk to the end, then jump.

  Angelina let out a gasp. Her father’s sailors were going to their deaths. She knew that few of them could swim. Besides, it would be almost impossible to stay afloat with their hands tied. That beast was killing them as surely as if he had thrust his saber through their hearts. How could he treat her and Aunt Elena so well and kill the others?

  And what about the men who had come aboard the pirate ship? Had Etienne Badeau offered them a place on his crew? If so, would they be prisoners for a while, until he felt he could trust them? Her head buzzed with the questions that whirled in her brain.

  After the last sailor left the end of the plank, all the pirates returned to their schooner. Before the captain left the merchant ship, he grabbed the rope holding the anchor. With a quick slash of a knife he pulled from a sheath at
his waist, he cut the anchor loose.

  After he returned to the pirate ship, his men pulled the large gangplanks back aboard their boat. Once again, the cannons began firing at the Angelina Star.

  Each time a ball hit the hull, Angelina felt as if she herself were being battered. Over and over, the wood splintered. The pirates aimed the balls at the vessel’s waterline, and water rushed through the holes. Her father’s favorite ship sank deeper and deeper into the ocean. After a few minutes, one end tipped lower than the other, going completely under the surface of the water. After a moment’s hesitation, the rest of the Angelina Star slipped beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. When she disappeared from sight, Angelina released the sobs that tore at her heart.

  Four

  As the pirate schooner pulled away from the sunken merchant ship, Angelina couldn’t tear her gaze from the area where the Angelina Star had slipped beneath the waves. She felt as if that spot was her only connection to her father. But as they sailed farther away from the field of debris and bodies, she felt that tie loosen. The hope that she would see her beloved parent again diminished as the distance grew. Her heart cried for the warmth of his arms cuddling her to his chest, his strong, soothing voice reassuring her that everything would be all right. He had been her anchor in every storm since her mother died. She felt that nothing would ever be right again.

  When the debris became tiny smudges on the rippling surface of the ocean, Angelina finally turned away from the porthole. She looked around their luxurious prison cell, finding nothing familiar except the luggage against one wall.

  Aunt Elena made her way across the swaying room and sat on the curved lid of her trunk. “Come, child, sit down.” She gestured toward one of Angelina’s trunks. “It is not very comfortable, but I do not want to touch anything that belongs to that awful man.”

  Angelina rubbed her arms as she paced across the expanse of empty floor. “I thought Papá said that piracy was no longer a problem on the high seas.”

  “It was much stronger in the mid-1700s, before the majority of the pirates were captured or killed. Most people feel perfectly safe traveling on the oceans now.” Elena leaned over and picked up her reticule, then worked to untie the handbag’s drawstring. “But a few pirates continue to ply their trade. Unfortunately for us, this French giant is one of them.” After she finished looking through the contents of her bag, she clutched it to her chest. “It doesn’t look as if anyone bothered my belongings.”

  Angelina picked up her own handbag and peered inside. “Mine, either.” She glanced around the unfamiliar room and shook her head. “I wonder how long we will remain safe here.”

  Her duenna dropped her bag on the floor beside her trunk. She stood and pulled Angelina into her arms. “We will stay strong and face whatever comes. I will try not to show my weakness again.”

  The two women clutched each other for a moment. Then a loud knock on the door resounded through the room.

  ❧

  Brian rapped on the wooden planks covering the entrance to the captain’s quarters, hoping he hadn’t startled the women. He waited for a moment but heard nothing. Fearing that something had happened to Angelina, he motioned for Walter to unlock the cabin.

  When the portal swung back, the room appeared empty. But when the door opened wide, he saw Angelina and her aunt close to their trunks by the wall, almost behind the door. Although they stood ramrod straight, he noticed a fragility about them that hadn’t been there before. Of course, after all the devastation that had occurred that day, even the strongest woman would be affected. As would any decent man, himself included. But he needed to remain strong for the women.

  “Walter brought me to have supper with you.”

  Brian heard the door close behind him. The rasp of the key in the rusty lock punctuated his sentence.

  Angelina rushed across the room. “I am so glad to see you.” She threw her arms around him. Surprised, he stood still, enjoying the embrace.

  “Mi ángel,” Elena cautioned, “do not throw yourself at the man. Whatever will he think?”

  Brian looked across Angelina’s shoulders at her aunt. “It’s all right.” He enclosed Angelina in his arms, trying to comfort her. “She’s been through a lot today.”

  After patting her on the back for a moment, he turned her around and walked beside her toward her duenna. “I’ve been praying for both of you.”

  Angelina turned concerned eyes toward him. “Where are they keeping you?”

  “Below deck.” Brian didn’t want her to know about the dark, smelly cell.

  “In the brig?” Her eyes dared him to try to keep from answering her.

  He couldn’t do it. “Yes. . .but it’s not. . .so bad.” His words sounded hollow, even to his own ears.

  Angelina gave him an empathic look. “I have seen the brigs on many of my father’s ships. They are nothing but dark holes.”

  Brian stared into her eyes. “It’s not the best of accommodations, but at least I’m on the same ship with you. I’ll do all I can to keep you safe. . .somehow.”

  The scrape of the key in the lock interrupted their conversation. Walter entered carrying a tray with three bowls on it. The aroma of well-seasoned beef filled the cabin.

  “Here now,” Walter said in English. “This is your stew. I’ll go back for the bread and water.” He set the bowls on the table, then turned toward Brian. “Aren’t you going to tell them what I said?”

  Brian realized his error. He had almost given away the fact that Angelina could speak English. He nodded, then turned to the women and repeated in Spanish what the young Englishman had said. He was going to have to stay alert. One more mistake like that could cost one or all of them their lives.

  ❧

  The stew consisted of fresh meat and vegetables. It had been awhile since Angelina had tasted anything so savory. And the biscuits were far better than the hardtack they had been eating the last couple of weeks on the Angelina Star. She had been longing for the tasty fare they enjoyed at the beginning of their journey. The first few bites of her food began to satisfy the emptiness in her stomach. Having Brian share the meal with them added to her enjoyment.

  Their time together was interrupted by the scratching of the key in the lock. Angelina looked at the doorway. The French giant filled the opening. He smiled at the group gathered around the table and swept his hat from his head with a courtly bow. Was he trying to impress them? She had to hold herself erect to keep from fainting.

  His words were unintelligible until Brian translated them. “Etienne Badeau says that he will join us for supper.”

  As soon as Brian finished speaking, the pirate moved an empty chair to the table and sat in it. Walter followed him in, carrying his food. After he served his master, the cabin boy left the room.

  The delicious food turned to sawdust in Angelina’s mouth. It took the rest of her mug of water to wash down the bite she had been chewing. Etienne Badeau spoke to Brian, and Brian translated the words in Spanish; but Angelina wasn’t interested in what the pirate had to say. Her eyes roved the room to keep from looking at the captain. She moved her spoon around in the wooden bowl, playing with the chunks of meat and vegetables that swam in the rich brown broth.

  Brian’s words sank into her awareness when he announced that Etienne Badeau wanted to take all his meals with them. Angelina almost gagged. She stopped even trying to pretend she was eating.

  Once again, Brian spoke to the pirate, and comprehension dawned on the man’s face.

  “What did you say to him?” Angelina whispered to Brian.

  “I told him it might not be a good idea for him to eat with you just yet because you’ve just suffered a great shock.”

  Angelina glanced at the pirate’s face. A look of sympathy lit his eyes. The man was a paradox. With a quick shout, he summoned his cabin boy.

  After Walter removed the captain’s food, Etienne Badeau stood and addressed them. When he finished, he strode through the door before Walter locke
d it behind him.

  “What did he say?” Aunt Elena asked.

  “He doesn’t want to add to your distress.” Brian smiled at Aunt Elena, then at Angelina. “He won’t force his presence on you. He’ll give you time to get used to the idea of being on his ship.”

  Angelina heaved a sigh of relief, but she couldn’t take another bite of her food. “I’m glad.”

  “That’s not all he said.” Brian rose from his chair and stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his trousers. “He’ll be coming back soon to remove his personal effects from this cabin. He won’t use it for the remainder of the journey. But he’s going to let me come here for meals. He’s hoping that will help you feel more comfortable.”

  Angelina looked up at Brian. “That may take quite awhile. I want to keep you out of the brig as much as we can.”

  ❧

  Brian was glad Angelina cared about his comfort, but he knew he would need to be careful in front of the pirate. If Badeau guessed that Brian had feelings for Angelina, the man wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of him. He silently asked God to help him be all he needed to be until he could rescue the women.

  Badeau left them alone for over an hour, obviously not wanting to interfere with the women’s mealtime. But Angelina just played with her food. Brian didn’t see her take even one more bite, and Elena only nibbled on her biscuit.

  With their bowls still half full, the women returned to sitting on their trunks. They looked very uncomfortable perched on the curved tops.

  Brian stayed in his chair at the table. “I’ll watch carefully for a way to escape from the pirates.”

  Angelina’s eyes grew as big as saucers.

  “But I won’t put you in danger. I want all of us to escape from his clutches. I just don’t know how long that’ll take.” Brian took another bite of the stew. He, too, had lost his appetite, but he knew he needed to keep up his strength, so he finished the serving.

  From across the room, he saw tears sparkling on Angelina’s dark lashes. It made him want to go to her, take her in his arms to shelter her, and assure her that everything would be all right. But although he still felt that God was with them and they would be okay, he couldn’t lie to her. Everything might not be all right, at least for a while.