Page 52 of Devil of the High Seas
More than a dozen people flocked to the shallows as the boats slid onto the white sand of the beach. Men, women, and a few children, all of them dark-skinned, gathered to wave at them as they climbed out of their boats. Men doffed their straw hats and women smiled in warm welcome.
“Gavin!” A young boy in rolled-up trousers and a white shirt rushed over and tackled Gavin in the waves.
“Sam, you devil! Been up to trouble while I’ve been away?” Gavin wrestled with the boy, who couldn’t have been more than six, and lifted him up, carrying him under one arm like he was a sack of flour. Josephine covered her mouth to keep from laughing at the pair of them.
“Josephine, this is Sam,” Gavin said, depositing the boy back on the sand in front of a beautiful dark-skinned woman who wore her hair tucked up in a scarf around her head.
“It’s about time you brought a woman home, Gavin.” The woman held out a hand to Josie as though she had known Josephine all her life. “Come, let me feed you. Ship food is nothing compared to island cooking.” She studied Josephine’s manly garb. “And I will find a dress for you to wear. My name is Jada, and this wild child is my son, Sam.”
Gavin gave Josephine an encouraging nod before he faced his men and began giving instructions. Jada led Josephine toward a two-story white house.
Thick forests surrounded part of the home and a garden in the side yard was a garden full of vegetables rather than flowers. As they drew closer, she marveled at both the garden and the home itself. A porch wrapped around the other side of the building and was decorated with four comfortable-looking chairs that faced the sea. She could easily imagine sitting in one of those chairs and watching the sun set over the water. Large windows were open and white curtains billowed out with the sea breeze. The beautiful home felt light and airy.
“Will Gavin be joining us?”
“Come along, Miss Josephine. Your man will come soon enough. He has to see to his men and tell them the rules of this island.”
Josephine couldn’t help but blush at Gavin being calledherman. While they’d been on thePixie, the two of them had felt like they were in an intimate bubble. Now they were back in the world again. It felt different, somehow even more surreal than ever that she waswitha man.
Jada led her inside the home, and Josephine’s lips parted at the sight of the staircase leading up to the floor above. Even though the house was outwardly like many of the lovely houses she was used to back in Cornwall, the interior of the home was vastly different. Seascapes had been painted on the walls. It made this home feel like it was right on the edge of the water.
“Does it ever flood here?” She had heard Dominic spin tales of fierce hurricanes that could sweep entire villages off the map, killing everyone.
“No, this island is blessed.” Jada chuckled. “We see the storms, but they always pass us by.” Jada led her upstairs and opened a tall wardrobe in one of the bedrooms, where several dresses hung.
“Let’s try this one,” Jada said as she held up a light linen gown the color of pink coral, like the reefs surrounding the island.
Josephine was startled to realize that the gown Jada had given her did not take any sort of undergarments. No padding, hoops, or panniers were required to give the gown shape. Instead, it there was a single billowy petticoat under her dress. Josephine supposed that was to be expected, given the climate. It would simply be too hot to wear more than that beneath a dress most of the year.
She stood before the tall mirror in the corner of the large bedchamber and gazed upon her natural form, with her curves displayed gently rather than in the exaggerated fashions of London. The dress was short enough to show her ankles and let the breeze ruffle the skirts. She grinned and swayed her hips, making the skirts twirl around her legs.
“Much cooler, yes?” Jada chuckled and lightly squeezed Josephine’s shoulders. “So, you are Gavin’s lady?”
The hint of a question echoed in Jada’s voice.
“Um... yes. I’m Gavin’s wife.”
Jada’s eyes twinkled. “Newly married?” she guessed. “It is good to see that man finally settle down.” Jada’s smile faded. “But where’s theSiren? That is not Gavin’s ship anchored in the cove.” She nodded at the open window, where they glimpsed thePixiefloating on the water.
“No, that’s my brother’s ship.” She wasn’t sure how much Gavin would want her to tell Jada. Did Jada already know that Gavin was a pirate? If not, Josephine did not want to be the one to tell her Gavin’s secrets. “He gave us the ship as a wedding present.”
“I see.” Jada mused on that thoughtfully, then flashed her a bright smile. “Let’s put some food in that belly of yours.”
They wandered down to the kitchen on the ground floor, and Josephine noticed more men and women moving about the house, seeing to the various duties of cleaning. She couldn’t help but be curious as to their role here. Gavin hadn’t mentioned anyone when he’d spoken to her about the island. Slavery was not something her family approved or condoned. As a woman, she often felt owned herself. The thought of owning another person simply felt wrong.
“You must be wondering if we are slaves. We are not. Gavin stopped a slave ship three years ago and freed everyone on board. My son Sam was only three years old and I was one of the lucky women who didn’t have my child taken from me because of his age. Thirty of us chose to come here to this island with him. It is safer than the other islands, and we risk recapture if we go anywhere else. Here... it is only us. We have fields, we sow crops, the people here have their own houses. We live quiet but content lives.” Jada’s voice held such peace that Josephine envied her. What would it be like to feel so at peace with one’s world?
Jada ushered Josephine to a seat at the table and then joined an older woman who was cooking in the kitchen. The two of them spoke softly to each other in a lyrical language before the older woman leaned over the stove and pointed at Josephine, whispering something. Jada nodded in reply. The woman’s eyes widened, and she smiled shyly at Josephine.
Jada came over and introduced the woman. “This is Kai, our cook. I am Gavin’s housekeeper. There are another six people who choose to live in this house and help Gavin with household duties since he is gone many months of the year. The rest of the island’s residents work in the fields and gardens and live in a group of houses on the opposite side of the island. While Gavin is away, which is often, we all share the work of keeping the island supplied with food and the houses repaired. It keeps us busy, but we enjoy working and owning our own land and homes.”
Josephine was impressed and glad to see that Jada and the others had escaped a life of slavery and now had lives all their own in this little bit of paradise. It was all she’d ever hoped for too.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Kai.” She smiled at the shy cook.
Jada chopped a pineapple into chunks and brought Josephine some of the fruit on a plate to eat while they waited for Kai to finish. Something delicious was cooking on a skillet, and when Kai removed the skillet from the stove, Josephine was treated to spicy grilled chicken. Wonderful new flavors exploded on her tongue.
She was licking her fingers clean, unashamed of her unladylike behavior, when Gavin stepped into the kitchen. He greeted Kai and Jada with a roguish grin. Kai said something to him in her language and tossed a towel at his face. He caught it and laughed, then kissed Jada’s cheek in a brotherly way. She realized thatthiswas Gavin’s family now, one that he had made all on his own.
