Into His Arms (7 page)

“The kind of Englishman who captains this ship and decides your fate. Humor me. What sacred commandment have I broken?”

Another chill of dread made her shiver. Keeping her voice and manner meek, she replied, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

Geoff snorted. “He’s your god, you keep his commandments. Me, I’ve no use for him or them.” He strode to the bedside and lifted her chin in his hand. “And why do you do that?”

She tried to pull free, but he kept her chin in a gentle yet firm grip. “Do what?” she asked.

“You did it at the dock, too, when that pompous, overbearing preacher interrupted us. You tuck your chin down and go all meek and mild, but in your eyes there’s something completely different. Why do you hide yourself?”

Was she really so transparent then? No one had ever seen it before, but first Reverend Williams and now this man had divined rebellion in her.

Instead of answering, she sought to change the subject again. “I have forgot your name,” she said.

For a moment, he contemplated her face, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “All right,” he said at last, “we’ll drop that, too, for now. I am Geoffrey Hampton, captain of this fair vessel, and you are Faith Cooper.”

“How did you know? I’m sure I never told you.”

“‘Twas how your betrothed addressed you. How likes he your trip to Jamaica? Is he to join you there, stowing away on some other ship?”

Faith dropped her gaze to the sheets.

“Damn it! Look at me when we speak, Faith Cooper!”

She gasped in alarm, but fury surged through her, as well. Who did this man think he was to speak to her so?

When he spoke again, his voice was treacherously soft. “Do I frighten you, Faith? Well I should. But I anger you, too. I like a wench with a bit of fire in her. I take it your affianced husband didn’t approve. Prefers his women mild as milk, does he?” She glared at him, and he laughed. “Go on. Tell me about your holy husband-to-be.”

“Throw me into the ocean, if you will, but I’ll not return to that man!” Embarrassed by her own passionate outburst, she looked away, but then looked right back for fear that he would yell at her again.

“So, ‘twas not exactly a love match, was it?”

He spoke gently now, smiled sympathetically, and Faith found herself suspicious of the sudden change. Still, it would do no good to try to pretend otherwise, and it was a sin to lie.

“Nay, not for either of us.”

Geoff shook his head in disbelief. “Your betrothed did not wish to marry you?”

“He wished to marry me, but ‘tis sure he never loved me. He didn’t even pretend to like me. Now, why would a man do that, set his mind to marry a woman he didn’t want?” she wondered aloud.

“Mayhap ‘tis true he didn’t like you, but he would have to be made of stone not to want you,” he answered.

The compliment brought a blush to her pale cheeks, but again, she dropped her gaze. “You are too bold.”

“What now, Faith? My words please you, and yet you would hide from me.”

She tucked her chin shyly against her shoulder, causing silky strands of flaxen hair to spill forward. “Pride is a sin,” she replied.

Geoff rolled his golden-brown eyes cynically. “Spare me. Nothing wrong with a wench who knows her worth.”

“A woman’s worth lies not in her face!” Again, she realized that she had responded more sharply than intended. Again, she cast her eyes down, only to bring them up quickly before he could comment. What was it about this man that made her so forget herself? More calmly she added, “I mean, her value is in her obedience to God and her family. Which means I am of no value at all.”

The captain’s tone was as sharp as hers had been. “That preacher is not God!”

“Nay, but he is one of God’s own men, and I have scorned him. I—I don’t like him, not at all. There, I have spoken it! I don’t know how this happened to me. I’ve long curbed my rebellion and my tongue, and now it seems I shame myself at every turn.” She looked up into his clearly irritated countenance. “Forgive me. I do not mean to trouble you with my woes. You have been so kind already.”

“Do you really believe all your sanctimonious prattle?” he asked, shaking his head.

She knew not how to answer. She had never before spoken to anyone who questioned the teachings she had learned from infancy. It struck her as dangerous, this conversation with a man whose heretical words mirrored too closely her own thoughts of late.

Despite her worries, she spoke her mind. “He does not strike me as godly,” she admitted. “And honestly, sometimes I think I confuse thinking I ought to be ashamed with actually being so.” Giving voice to these thoughts left her somehow lighter inside, and she felt a sudden, odd trust in this man who listened without shock or dismay. “What think you of that?” she asked, lifting her chin defiantly.

“I think, Faith Cooper, that you are a singular woman. And,” he added, “I’m thinking that I’ll have to see that you do away with shame altogether someday soon.”

Chapter 6

Giles might have missed the heavy footsteps of the captain behind him on the deck, but for the sullen looks upon the faces of the men who had gathered ‘round him to voice their complaints.

“Cap’n,” he began, his voice all business, any warmth of friendship banished. “Word of our new passenger is out, and there’s some question as to what’s to be done with her.”

“And you’ve explained that the decision’s already been made?” Geoff asked.

“I have,” Giles assured him. “But there are those who would contest it.”

Geoff met and held the gaze of each man who surrounded him. Many an enemy had likened his golden orbs to a lion’s in battle, and one by one, the men looked away. “Then which of you will step forward and voice your questions to me, instead of sniveling to my first mate?”

Pete Killigrew stepped forward. He was a bandy-legged sailor with long, greasy hair, rotting teeth, and a nose that was at once grotesquely humped and skinny. He sailed for profit, not patriotism, and he made sure all who met him knew it. Though he stood directly in front of his commander, he studied the main mast behind the man and grumbled sorely, “Keepin’ ‘er fer yerself, are ye, Cap’n?”

Geoff kept his face carefully bland. It was this complete absence of emotion that had chilled the blood of his enemies, even before his cutlass spilled that very blood upon the decks of their ships. He raised his left hand, from which dangled a weighty cloth bag.

“Take this, Giles,” he said, but his eyes never left the face of the man who questioned him, “and add it to the crew’s profits from this voyage.”

Giles opened the bag and let a handful of rich gold doubloons pour into his palm. It was a small fortune, no doubt!

“That’s to pay her passage. She’s my affair now, and of no concern to the rest of you.”

In terms of the crew’s immediate discontent, Geoff’s gesture soothed Giles’s worries. The men might well have preferred the woman to the gold, but none could afford to raise the ante. Paying for her would seem, to most, a fair enough way to settle the matter.

The morning’s orders were issued, and the men set about their tasks, some busily, some indolently. Giles joined Geoff at the helm, gesturing away the crewmen who loitered there.

“You’re an unrepentant rake, Geoff,” Giles challenged quietly. “Lord knows we’ve wenched together often enough in the taverns of Port Royal, but a virtuous Englishwoman’s a different story. She’s no whore, Geoff, and I’ll not have it said that we’re pirates and rapists here. She’s protected by the very Crown that we serve under the king’s marque.”

Geoff’s brows shot up in genuine shock. “You know me better than that, Giles. The girl’s safe with me.”

“Would you have me believe you can keep a temptation like her in your very bed and yet seduce her not?”

The grin that crept across his friend’s face did little to allay Giles’s concern. “You said that we’re not rapists here, Giles, and I’m with you on that. Seduction is another matter entirely.”

“‘Twas me Old Thomas came to when he found the girl. ‘Twas my care he gave her into,” Giles protested. “I cannot stand by and do nothing when I know that you mean her mischief.”

Geoff raised an authoritative hand, halting further objection. “I am the captain, and even would you and the crew vote me down over this, I’ve paid her way. She stays in my cabin, and I’ll be the one who’s responsible for her.”

‘Twas clear by the look on Giles face that he had no intention of letting him pull rank again, so Geoff let the command slip from his tone. In friendship, he appealed, “I mean her no mischief, Giles, and I’ve no taste for force. If it makes you feel better, I’ll swear to you now that I’ll not do a thing to her that she doesn’t want done.”

Giles narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “I’ll not abide by ‘her lips said nay but her eyes said aye,’” he warned.

A slight smile tugged at the corners of Geoff’s serious lips. “If I do not hear her speak her desire with her own sweet mouth, I’ll not lay a hand on her.”

With a shake of his head, Giles said, “I’ll wager all my booty from this voyage the girl wouldn’t know what to ask for. Do you swear it then, that you’ll do nothing she does not directly ask you to do?”

Geoff stood a little straighter and put his hand over his heart. “I swear it.”

Giles grinned in spite of himself. “And what will you swear upon? The devil’s had your soul since you were six!”

Geoff laughed out loud, and the two men’s joviality cut the tension between them. “Aye, well, there’s that,” he said. “I’ll swear it as your friend and as a loyal Englishman. I’ll take nothing from the lady that she does not consent to give.” He rolled his eyes in mock chagrin. “God help me,” he added.

“God help you indeed,” Giles replied.

*

As soon as Captain Hampton left, Faith placed her bare feet carefully upon the chilly floorboards of the cabin and tested her legs. They wobbled, and she felt weak, but she found they would support her, so she wrapped the sheet about her waist to cover her legs and explored the room.

Dark wood paneling and furniture gave it a cozy, masculine feeling. Though the glass in the large window was too thick for a clear view, the mere thought of the unfettered ocean and sky soothed her troubled soul. The cabinets were unlocked, and with a twinge of guilt she perused their contents of heavy leather-bound books on navigation and neatly rolled charts. She unrolled thick ivory vellum to reveal a beautifully wrought map of the coast of the Spanish Main.

From the desk, she picked up and hefted a shiny compass made of brass. It was solid and cold in her hand, and she idly turned it to align the needle. Also upon the desk rested some instrument with three metal rods fixed at two angles, each topped by wooden curves along which slid some sort of marker. The larger curve was inscribed with a mysterious grid, while the other was labeled with degrees. Fastened to the bottom was a small brass square with a slit. She picked it up, turning it this way and that, but could determine no practical use for the contraption.

“‘Tis a backstaff,” said a voice from the door, and she nearly dropped it in surprise. “A navigational tool. Did I frighten you?”

She turned abruptly back to the door and to the stranger who stood somewhat formally in its frame. “Well, you startled me, that’s sure!” she said.

Though she was instinctively afraid of anyone she met on this fearsome journey, she could not help but note that this man had a kind face. He was perhaps as old as the captain and wore his hair in the same queue, but his face was soft and kind, rather than hard and lean. His eyes were the same soothing gray that spilled through the cabin window from the sea and sky beyond. He was a bit shorter than the captain, as well, and the cumulative effect was far less intimidating.

“Forgive me,” the man apologized. “The door was ajar, else I would have knocked.” He stayed just outside the entrance, and Faith pulled the sheet more tightly about her. “I am Giles Courtney,” he said, “the first mate and quartermaster here. I brought you to this room actually, but I don’t suppose you remember that?”

“Nay. It seemed I was below, thinking I could never climb the ladder from the hold and would die there, then I was here with the captain.”

She did not speak it, but wondered if he had assisted in changing her clothes. The thought brought a stain to her cheeks, and she fixed her eyes upon the tool in her hand.

“Aye, I thought you’d not remember. You were out cold when we found you.”

“We?”

“The ship’s cook found you first. If you’d not made your way up that ladder, we’d not have found you in time. ‘Tis glad I am to see you well and comfortable. You are comfortable then?”

Nay,
Faith thought,
I am most assuredly not comfortable.
But to the sailor she replied, “Aye, at the moment.”

Giles smiled mildly at the uncertain look in her eyes. “I see Geoff has been his usual forthright self. Frightened you a bit, has he?”

“I seem to be a stowaway upon a ship with a man who mocks the Almighty without a thought of divine retribution. I am at the mercy of the sea and your captain, and I have done nothing of my own accord to secure God’s grace. Why would I have cause to fear, Goodman Courtney?”

“Call me Giles, please, and with regard to God, well, Geoff and He have never been on the best of terms. If you hope to win a soul for the Lord, you’ll fight a losing battle there, Faith.”

She started to bristle at the use of her Christian name, but was struck by the irony of her circumstances. She sighed and gave him an uncertain, little grin. “Nay, Giles, I’m in no position to admonish anyone in the name of God.”

He gestured as though to entreat entry, and she nodded, sitting at the desk. He moved with the same confidence as his commander, but without the arrogance, and it struck Faith that she had, indeed, studied the other man’s every move. Why?

“How came you on our ship?” he asked. “Are you in some trouble?”

“Aye,” she admitted without thinking, but shook her head at his knowing nod. “Nay, not of that sort! I assure you, I am a virtuous woman! I was...no longer welcome in my village.”