Page 57 of Devil of the High Seas
Gavin and Ronnie stared at the man lying face down in the mud of a pigsty.
“I suppose he’ll have to do,” Gavin said.
“Aye, he’ll have to. Sheridan is the only vicar on the island. We can’t risk going anywhere else.”
They had stopped at Sugar Cove, a well-known pirate haven that the navy thankfully hadn’t seemed to have set its sights on yet.
Gavin waved at the sleeping man. “Very well, get the man up.” The two sailors who had accompanied him from thePixieraised their buckets and tossed cold water on the man lying in the sty. He scrambled to his knees, blubbering, as the muddy water sluiced over his body.
“Oi!” the vicar roared, and Gavin was surprised to see the man was far younger than he’d expected and built more like a man who fought in boxing matches than a man of the cloth. He couldn’t have been more than twenty-five or thirty years old.
“Youarethe vicar named Henry Sheridan, aren’t you?” Gavin demanded.
“Amongotherthings, yes.” The man swiped the mud off his once fine coat and glanced around for something.
Gavin held up the bottle of rum that had lain just outside of the fence of the pigsty. “Looking for this?” The vicar reached for it, but Gavin turned the bottle upside down and poured the contents on the ground.
“You’ve justwastedthe best spiced rum to be had on this side of the Atlantic.” Sheridan shot Gavin a black look that promised retribution.
“Come with us and we’ll pay you enough to buy all the rum in Jamaica. Until then, I need you sober.”
“Sober?” The vicar slowly climbed out of the sty. “You’re not offering me enough forthat. What is this task you want me to do that requires the unfortunate state of sobriety?”
“I need a man of the cloth to wed me.”
Sheridan snorted. “No offense, but you’re not my type.”
Ronnie shoved Sheridan hard from behind. “That’s the cap’n. Show some respect.”
“I’ve seen plenty of captains. It’s a coin toss as to how many deserve respect.”
“It’s a highborn lady that I wish to wed,” Gavin said, unfazed. “Are all of your licenses or whatever vicars require these days in order? I need this wedding to be aboveboard.”
“Yes, unfortunately, all of my licenses are in order. I get offers every day to marry the bloody prostitutes to half the pirates on this bloody rock some fool decided to call an island,” the vicar replied sourly.
“Good. Then come with us.” Gavin led the way back through the pirate haven. Dozens of men drank or fought in the street, while prostitutes offered their favors by displaying themselves in colorful but ratty gowns. The vicar paused a moment to let a group of men carrying a drunk man pass them as they tossed the man through an open window into a tavern rather than out of it.
“Huh. Usually they toss a man out of a tavern, not into it,” he said dryly, and they continued on their way. Shouts exploded from inside the room following the sound of knocked-over tankards clattering onto the floor.
“May I ask how a man of the cloth ended up in a place like this?” Gavin inquired.
“I used to be a captain in the navy.”
“A bloody navy man,” Ronnie hissed from behind them.
“Obviously, I’m not any longer,” Sheridan spat. “I pursued a career in the church after I resigned my commission. As a second son, you don’t have many options when it comes to making your own way.”
“I can understand leaving the navy, but you don’t seem like a man destined for the cloth.”
“’Tis a long story and I’m not interested in telling it.”
“Fair enough.” Gavin was not a man to pry into others’ secrets. Sheridan was a handsome enough fellow, built like any navy man. He still looked more like a captain than a man of the cloth. It must have been something truly desperate to drive him this low.
They had nearly reached the wharf when Gavin saw a familiar face among the men by the docks. Dominic Greyville was there, speaking to the harbormaster. The man shook his head and shrugged at whatever Dominic had asked.
“Blast.”
Gavin motioned for the men with him to duck behind the wall of the nearby tavern. He had paid the harbormaster off when they’d arrived at Sugar Cove for his silence on any movements they made. It was a longstanding arrangement that the harbormaster wouldn’t want to ruin since he was well paid. Gavin had thePixiecircling the island rather than making berth in the port. He was no fool. He wouldn’t dare put thePixiein the harbor, not when there was a chance of Dominic recognizing his own ship if he visited here.
