My Bonny Heart (Pirate's Progeny Book 1) (17 page)

Addison released her hand, and yet she still felt the warmth where his lips had pressed.

“Hold on there, lad.” Addison strode over to him.

Smiling, Anne moved forward.

After untangling his arms and legs, Addison led them on a tour of his merchant ship: down into the hold, the captain’s quarters, the galley, and even the crew’s sleeping area. Anne found herself impressed by his knowledge and the pride with which he spoke of his prized ship.

Later, as they disembarked
The Emerald Lady
, Anne paused to peruse the wares of a man selling lace doilies and beautifully arranged handkerchiefs. Addison carried Holt, worn-out and nearly asleep, into their waiting carriage.

Determined to purchase something in the way of appreciation for Elizabeth Browning, she promised the man she’d return on the morrow with some coin to purchase.

“Aye, lady, I’ll be back here tomorrow. It’d be a pleasure to do business with you.” Besides the fact his blue eyes were dark, his face pockmarked, and his voice earnest, he seemed genuinely pleased by her possible business.

“Wonderful. I shall return tomorrow. Perhaps I will purchase a few more items, as well.”

“Anne Bonny!” A man’s voice screamed from behind her. She heard it above the general voices and commotion of a busy street. She turned, eyeing the many faces and backs behind her to see from whom spouted her name. No one met her gaze, and surely no one she recognized stood before her or further out upon the street. Her stomach plummeted as she realized, too late, she’d just given herself away for anyone paying any attention. She prayed the loudness around her disguised her lack of better judgment.

“Looking for me?” Addison’s voice penetrated her intent perusal of their surroundings. She forced a quick smile, despite a sinking feeling, hoping he hadn’t heard the name to which she’d so foolishly responded.

Chapter 19

The terror of being recognized thudded around in the pit of her stomach. She desperately wanted to attribute the tightness in her chest and the tremor in her hands to the delicious intent in Addison’s eyes as he’d given her a quick kiss before helping her into the carriage. As they’d departed, she knew it was not the case.

Had Addison heard the man call her by name?

He hadn’t seem phased by it, but she would need to keep her distance from Charles Towne for the next few weeks, just to make certain she’d not be recognized again.

She took several calming breaths to fortify her for the evening’s planned activities. She mustn’t dwell on it for now. As long as she remained at Cranford Hall, all would be well. Besides, it would not do well for the people of Cranford Hall to see her despair whilst she assisted Eliza in giving the slaves a lesson in speech and reading.

Resolving to keep a low profile, Anne freshened up in her washbasin before meeting Eliza in the entryway.

The older woman greeted her with a smile, fondness softening her features. “This is very thoughtful of you, milady.”

She hooked her arm through Eliza’s, and started them forward, blushing at the praise she heard in Eliza’s voice. “Nonsense, Eliza. I agree with Lord Blackhurst on this subject. Every man, woman, and child should be able to communicate, especially at having been thrown onto a boat bound for the Americas without a say in the matter.”

Eliza grabbed a lantern from the stand near the back entry on their way through the door. “It’ll be dark by the time we’re done.”

The sky was beginning to darken already, the sun’s bright orb glowed on the horizon, pink and yellow streaks illuminated the clouds. “The sunsets are so beautiful here by the river.”

They trudged along, back past the stable, and headed for one of the larger barns. Eliza’s brown eyes were even lighter in the fading sun’s glow as she gave Anne a sideways glance. “Aye, looks the color of that wondrous hair of yours.”

“Wondrous, you say?” Anne pat the tendrils that were already curling from the humidity and breaking loose from her braid. “How odd. I’ve never heard such a marvelous word used in relation to my hair. A nest, unruly, wild, and flaming. Those are the words I usually hear.”

“Some folks just don’t see the beauty in anything wild.” Eliza chuckled, “You are a gem, Anne Morgan, do not doubt that.”

“I wish you could convince . . . well, everyone.”

They laughed as they neared the large barn. Anne could see at least ten colored men and women filing into the open gate. Children ran, no flew, through the door in their eagerness to find a seat.

“On with you!” Eliza giggled, gently scolding them.

Anne stepped into the barn and stopped in surprise. “Goodness, Eliza. It truly is a school room.”

The entire barn had been set up with long benches neatly organized and lined in rows, as if they were church pews. There were seven rows of benches, and a makeshift podium near the front. A table sat off to the left side containing parchment, ink, and inkwells.

“Aye, Lord Blackhurst has spared no expense. He’s even encouraged me to offer a selection of books from his library.”

Upon spying the future mistress of Cranford Hall entering their domain, the once-vibrant discussion and treble of voices ceased. Anne realized they had no knowledge of her character, and stared in her direction with worried—some curious—expressions. There were around thirty slaves in all, waiting on pins and needles to hear what she would say. She spied Delcie and the serving girl, Boda, near the back of the temporary schoolroom.

Years of pirating, and dealing with vicious, insolent, and rude individuals had been easy compared to the look of hope she saw on some of their faces. Swords, daggers, flintlocks . . . all items she could deal with readily and with ease. The deep compassion and admiration for the people standing before her, in a barn far away from their homeland, nearly brought on tears.

Instead, she straightened her spine, eyed them with the courage she’d been famed for, and hoped her admiration shined through her genuine smile.

“Good evening, ladies, gentlemen . . . children. I wanted to introduce myself, and Eliza has graciously agreed to allow me to join you tonight.”

There were several shuffling feet, and a few people sat on the benches. She gave Eliza a wide smile and turned back to her captive audience. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you all. I am Anne Morgan, and I’d like to watch, and maybe help, your reading and writing session tonight.” More individuals sat on the benches, the children all running up front to sit on the straw upon the floor.

“Mrs. Morgan is going to be our new lady here, so make certain you all give her the courtesy and respect she deserves. I know you all are anxious to start.”

Anne made eye contact with several students. “Please, just treat me as you would your own. And . . . I’d be honored if you call me Anne, and not ‘my lady’.”

A sideways glance at Eliza showed her rolling her eyes heavenward, before shooing a few children from her path, and instructing everyone to take their seat.

There were a few gasps of surprise as Anne moved two benches in, and asked to sit in an empty space between a dark-skinned man, and a light-skinned girl of about her own age. Anne was startled to see the girl’s blue eyes. Covering her shock at such exotic eyes, she put her hand out to the girl. “A pleasure to meet you. What may I call you?”

The girl swallowed, giving a shy smile. “Josie, ma’am.” She had no accent that Anne could determine, so the blue eyes had come from mixed parentage. Anne grinned, “Hello, Josie. And, it’s Anne, remember. I’m just here the same as you are.”

The girl nodded, and Anne turned to the gentleman on her other side, introducing herself again, and finding his name to be, Beedee, and his accent to be thick. He did smile a gap-toothed grin, however. Anne introduced herself to three others, and finding names by the time Eliza had cleared her throat to begin.

Anne shrugged, giving the older lady her cheekiest grin. “Carry on, Mrs. Teach.”

Eliza’s lips twitched, only a tad, but Anne spied it.

As the night wore on, Eliza proved to be an excellent tutor, asking each person in the room to recite the carefully constructed sentence she’d used for her opening teaching session. Varying degrees of accents and halting speech came from the people gathered in the building. Anne joined in the instruction, assisting here and there as needed, feeling a sense of joy during the process. When the night had neared its end, she found several of them played instruments. It didn’t take much coaxing to convince them to play some lively tunes. Dancing broke out among them all, and she even partnered Mr. Knox in a spirited jaunt around the barn. The dance they shared hadn’t resembled anything like the English dances she’d been instructed in at an early age. They simply jogged around the empty part of the barn, grinning and laughing.

Breathless, Anne stood to the side of the barn enjoying the look of pleasure on all the faces, even Eliza. Her hair was hopelessly undone from her braid, the tie having fallen out long before.

“I’d wondered where you’d gone.”

The lazy, seductive tone of Addison’s voice sent the familiar tingle from the base of her spine up to the roots of her hair. The thump of her heart slammed her ribs, and the pool of heat settled down low.

He leaned against the open doorway, strong arms folded across his chest, the white sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

“Surprised to find me here, are you?”

He regarded here with sizzling gray eyes, and surprise was not the look he projected.

“I’d not expected to find you dancing with my workers, no.” His gaze wandered over her mess of hair, moved down to rest on her lips, and then his eyes met hers, an appreciative gleam in them. “Your curls are marvelous. To think you hide the fire of it in a braid.”

Had anyone given her a compliment prior to Addison, she would have scoffed. But, his eyes . . . his voice . . . had the uncanny ability to make her feel as if she were just a young girl and discovered her first tender stirrings of a crush.

Before her courage could desert her, she did the mock curtsy she’d been perfecting until his arrival, a grin playing about her mouth. “Would you care to dance, then? I’d not have you left out.”

The flashing of his smile, a secret smile just for her, charmed her to her toes. “I thought you’d never ask.”

For all of the lordly Englishman he was, he allowed them to just jog around the barn as the rest of the merrymakers were apt to do. He did not force her to the more rigid forms of typical dances of the day.

“All this time, I’ve overlooked the talents of my workers. I could have been enjoying their music.” Their movements jarred his speech.

“It reminds me of the music I used to hear in Barbados. It has been my experience that beautiful music can come from the most surprising places.”

“I would have to agree with you, but . . .” One dark brow rose. “Barbados?”

The heat of a blush crept up her cheeks, but she did not take her gaze from the dark centers of his silver eyes. She felt too free with him. “Not a lady. Remember?”

Her lips twitched at his firmly set jaw, but he continued to bounce along with her.

“I’ll try to remember that.” Heat radiated from the firm pressure of his hand at her waist. The way he pulled her in close to his chest and the laughter they enjoyed as they made their way around the dance floor combined to drive her adrenaline high, as if she’d been dueling with a sword.

Winded and needing refreshment, she broke away from Addison during a quick break in the music. When Beedee began to play his flute once more, he grabbed Delcie who lingered along the wall, and Anne had to grin at the surprised, and somewhat scandalized look Delcie threw Addison. The roar of his laughter filled the room. Delcie smacked at his shoulder. They, too, enjoyed the jaunt around the barn in time to the lively music.

Anne and Addison took turns as dance partners to several more of the slaves before everyone seemed ready to rest for the evening. While they all were breathing heavily, most everyone grinned like kids at Christmas, and Anne couldn’t have been happier.

Eliza had retired a little early, complaining of her knees. But, everyone else had stayed to enjoy the lord’s attention.

She was especially delighting in the lord’s attention, she admitted to herself.

Every now and again, she’d caught Addison’s gaze across the crowd of dancers, a hungry look in his eyes, as if he were devouring her.

She felt devoured. Ate up with passion and joy.

She tore her attention away from where he spoke with Beedee and Ezra, no doubt giving praise for their skill at their instruments.

Bloody hell
, what was she doing?

Falling.

She likened the feeling to diving from the side of a ship, and the free-fall right before hitting the deep, blue water.

A warm hand pulled her up out of the depths, saving her. She looked up and found herself not drowning for real, but in a sea of silver with green flecks of light sprinkled throughout. Addison’s hand held hers with a firm, yet gentle grasp. One side of his mouth lifted.

“I would be remiss as a gentleman if I did not escort you home, you know.” Giving a tug, he propelled her along behind him as he exited the barn.

Too busy drowning in her thoughts to protest—and frankly, too anxious and happy to care—she followed, her hand fitting snugly in the heat of his palm.

“How do you know I am not escorting
you
?” Picking up speed, she pulled ahead of him.

He chuckled behind her. “Somehow I do not doubt that you would try.” Pulling up beside her, they walked side-by-side and hand-in-hand. It was almost simultaneous how they both slowed the pace, making it a casual stroll in the moonlight.

“I find it difficult not to lead on occasion.”

“You don’t say? I think the term is stubborn.”

She heard the laughter in his voice.

“That’s not the first time I’ve been called that.” She smiled up at the break in the trees, delighting in actually
seeing
the stars, instead of using their brightness to the guide a ship.

“Aye, and not likely to be the last, I’d gather.” He swung their entangled hands a bit, back and forth, a carefree action that tugged at her heart. Not one of the men she thought she’d loved—Jack, James Bonny, none of them—had
ever
given her such a small gesture of affection.

“I’d much rather be labeled stubborn than some other characteristics I’ve heard mentioned with my name.”

“Feisty? Obstinate? Temperamental?” He put his free hand to his chin as if contemplating his next words. “Let me see . . .”

Anne jerked his hand. He stumbled at the sudden movement, and their hands lost contact. The momentary surprise and widening of his eyes made her giggle, and it felt wonderful.

His eyes narrowed with intent, and she turned to flee as he reached for her. “Why you—”

Screeching, adrenaline and faux-terror hurtling her forward, she ran in the direction of the stable.

She turned in time to see his white teeth flashing as he growled with laughter, fast on her heels.

Bursting through the barn door, she ducked into the shadows.

He called after her. “Don’t make me find you in the dark, madam. I like to feel around with my hands.”

Anne figured she must be delirious.

Biting her lip, she ran directly for the darkest, empty stall.