Page 9 of The Pirate Lord
Peter’s ears pinkened. “Thank you, miss.”
After he left, she dropped into a chair, relief coursing through her. Now she wouldn’t have the entire burden of worrying about the women.
Suddenly, the trip that lay before her seemed a little less daunting, a little less grueling. Maybe everything would be fine, after all, thanks to Jordan’s forethought. And if she and Peter could keep the ship from becoming a “floating brothel,” who knows what they could accomplish in New South Wales?
Chapter Three
Go tell the King of England,
Go tell him thus from me,
If he reigns King of all the land,
I will reign King at sea.
— ANONYMOUS, “A FAMOUS SEA FIGHT BETWEEN CAPTAIN WARD AND THE RAINBOW”
The tropical sun dusted the palm trees with its fading light as Captain Gideon Horn of theSatyrand the ship’s cook, Silas Drummond, climbed the path through Praia carved into Santiago’s mountainside. Santiago was the last and largest Cape Verde Island Gideon and his men had visited. They’d gone to the smaller islands first, thinking they’d have better luck finding what they wanted, but they’d been wrong. Now Gideon feared they wouldn’t find it even on Santiago.
So he’d decided instead to buy provisions to carry back to Atlantis Island. If Praia couldn’t provide them with what they really needed, there was no point in staying here any longer.
He scanned the nearest market stall, where a grinning native woman wearing a crumpled straw hat offered bolts of dyed cotton and called out to passersby in the bastard Portuguese the islanders used.
“How much?” Gideon asked in English, then waited while Silas, who spoke a little Portuguese, translated.
The woman shifted her gaze to him and let forth a torrent of words, gesturing to Gideon with jerky motions.
His burly translator chuckled. “She says if the ‘American pirate’ wants the goods for his lady, he’ll have to pay dearly for ’em.”
Gideon scowled. “Tell her I don’t have a lady and am unlikely to have one soon.” Before Silas could get out a word, he added, “How did she know who I am, anyway?”
Silas talked to the woman animatedly for a few moments. Apparently Gideon’s presence at her stall alarmed her.
When at last Silas faced Gideon, he was tugging on the ends of his heavy brown beard. “It seems they all know that the notorious Pirate Lord and his crew are here, Cap’n. She took one look at that saber tucked in your belt, and figured you were him.” He looked thoughtful. “Maybe that’s why we’ve had little luck gettin’ what we want from these damned islanders. When they found out who we were, they started hidin’ their young women.”
“Maybe.” Gideon shot the stall-keeper an ingratiating smile that didn’t seem to mollify her. “Tell the confounded woman I don’t want her cloth after all. What good does it do us if we can’t get any women?”
Silas nodded solemnly as Gideon spun on his heel, headed for the docks. After muttering a few words to the stall-keeper, Silas hurried after Gideon, moving with surprising speed on his wooden leg. “So what do we do now, Cap’n?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to talk to the crew. Maybe some of them have had better luck today.”
“Maybe,” Silas said, though he didn’t look hopeful.
They strode down the rock-strewn paths in silence. This whole scheme was pointless. Gideon should have seen that from the beginning.
Suddenly, Barnaby Kent, his first mate, rushed up the mountain path toward them. “You’ll never guess what’s come into port!”
Barnaby was the only Englishman Gideon had ever allowed to join his crew, but he’d never regretted it. The man was a gifted seaman, even if he dressed like a dandy.
“What is it?” Gideon asked as Barnaby drew to a halt in front of them, gasping. It must be something fantastic to excite Barnaby enough to hurry. The man generally strolled languidly about, surveying everything and everybody with a jaundiced eye.
Barnaby bent over and planted his hands on his thighs as he sought to catch his breath. “A ship … has come into port … one that might interest us.”
Gideon groaned. “We’ve been through all that, Barnaby. We’ve got enough blasted jewels and gold and silver to fill a warship. It’s women we need, not more prizes.”
“Aye, sir.” Barnaby straightened, then took out his handkerchief and mopped his face. “And this ship has women. Lots of women. All for the plucking.”
Gideon and Silas exchanged glances. “What do you mean?” Gideon asked.
