Page 52 of The Pirate Lord
“True, true. But I assure you the other men are going to make your life hell until they get their wives, especially if you insist that they sleep on board the ship.”
“That doesn’t leave me much choice, does it? I’ve got to figure out a way to convince the women to stay on theSatyr—for a while anyway.” Sara, at least, would be more than glad to sleep in her cabin, especially after her encounter with that confounded snake.
The snake.
A grin broke over his face. “Call the men and women together in front of my hut. I know how to convince our prospective wivesthat they don’t want to sleep alone in our island dwellings.” Turning back to the stream, he retrace dhis steps.
“Where are you going?”
“You’ll see. I won’t be long.”
Half an hour later, Gideon stood on the beach before the entire company with the noon sun beating down, a canvas bag in his fist. They all looked disgruntled, both with him and each other. The women and men were divided, the men standing near the brush line and the women clumped together by the ocean. His men wouldn’t look at him, but their faces were set mutinously.
The women, however, looked at him with challenge in their eyes, no doubt put there by the little troublemaker standing in their midst with head held high like Joan of Arc. How she’d gone from heartfelt tears to bold crusader as quick as lightning, he didn’t know. But no matter. She’d soon learn who she was dealing with.
He held up his hand for quiet and got it for the most part, although some women continued to mutter. Until he shot them a dark glance.
Pitching his voice above the sounds of gently rolling surf, he addressed them all. “Barnaby tells me that the lot of you are unhappy with the current sleeping arrangements.” Both groups broke into explanations at once, but he silenced them with a shouted “Quiet!”
When he had their attention, he went on. “I understand that none of you wish to stay aboard the ship. And since the women still have four days to choose their husbands?—”
“Five days, Captain Horn,” a feminine voice interrupted. When he scowled at Sara, she added quietly, “We have five days left.”
It was the first time their eyes had met since their stolen kisses in the woods, and it pleased him to see a blush spring toher cheeks when he prolonged the glance. “If you say so. I won’t argue with you.” He broadened his gaze to include the other women. “And none of you need worry I’ll go back on my word concerning the choosing of husbands.”
As the men groaned and the women relaxed, he shot his men a quelling look. “We’ll give the women the time they ask, won’t we, lads?” It was more a command than a question.
“But Cap’n,” one brave seaman called out, “do we have to be thrown out of our comfy houses just because these women are too uppish to share our beds without a courtship?” Choruses of “Yes” and “Why must we?” told Gideon that the other men shared the sailor’s opinion.
Gideon waited until their voices died down. “That’s the matter we’re here to discuss. And I think when the women hear what I have to say, they’ll see it’s wisest they sleep aboard ship.”
“Look here,” Queenie called out, “your men have been shipbound for less than a week, but we been sailin’ for near to a month already. You told Miss Willis we’d be sleepin’ on land, and that’s what we want to do!”
The women murmured their assent. Gritting his teeth, Gideon glanced at Sara. She tilted her chin up. Just as he’d suspected, she was behind this little mutiny. But if he couldn’t handle a mob of women, he wasn’t much of a pirate captain, was he?
“I understand how you feel, ladies.” He gentled his voice, although he felt anything but gentle. “The problem is, this island is no place for women to stay alone at night. There are wild animals and other dangers.” When the women exchanged looks, he added, “Miss Willis can tell you about those dangers herself. Only an hour ago, she was nearly killed.” Reaching inside the canvas bag, he pulled the mamba out and held it up to show its full length, letting its tail trail along the ground. “By this.”
There was a collective gasp from the women. “Snakes?” one woman shrieked as she caught sight of the headless reptile. “Oh, Lud, there are snakes here?” The others turned anxiously to Sara, whose gaze was fixed balefully on him.
Cocking an eyebrow at her, he smiled, then went on. “Fortunately I was close by to kill it, but if I hadn’t been….” He trailed off dramatically, letting them come to their own conclusions. “Of course, when all of you are married, your husbands can watch out for things like this, but in the meantime, you’d be much safer remaining on the ship than sleeping alone in our huts.”
“Some paradise this is.” Queenie kicked petulantly at the sand. “You’re mad, guv’nor, if you think we’re gonna sleep in a place where there’s snakes roamin’.”
“Yes,” Louisa added. “You promised us a new land, and instead you brought us here to be eaten alive. I’m not setting foot on this island again until you rid it of snakes.” She scowled. “And while you’re at it, why don’t you see that those huts are properly furnished? They’re barely fit for one person to inhabit, much less two.”
Fueled by Louisa, the women began to grumble about everything they’d found wrong with the island. Sara crossed her arms over her chest and smiled sweetly at him.
“There’s nothing to worry about once you’re married, ladies,” he repeated. The women were supposed to be throwing themselves into his sailors’ arms to gain their protection, not threatening to mutiny. “My men know how to handle the snakes. As for the conditions in the huts?—”
“Yes, Captain Horn,” Sara interrupted in a honeyed voice, “do tell us about what improvements you intend to make. I’m sure you’ll agree they’re inadequately fitted out for us. As far as I can gather, there are no bedrooms to accommodate the womenwith children. Surely you don’t expect them to share their husbands’ beds in front of small children.”
“Sara—” he began in a warning tone.
She went on blithely, the women crowding behind her as if she were their standard bearer. “Then there’s the lack of secure doors and windows to keep your ‘wild animals’ and snakes out. Even your fearless pirates have to sleep sometimes, don’t they? How will we be protected from snakes then? Not to mention the woefully inadequate cooking facilities and the lack of?—”
“Silence!” he roared, making even her jump back a step. Blast the woman, he would find a way to muzzle that mouth if it was the last thing he did! He wiped sweat out of his eyes, speaking through gritted teeth. “I suspect that the kitchen facilities in the ladies’ previous London dwelling were far more inadequate.”
Thankfully, his reference to London’s prisons shut most of their mouths. Even Sara couldn’t seem to find an answer to that.
