My Lady Vixen (31 page)

At that point the twenty-four pounders aboard the second frigate blasted forth, but all the shot fell short. A second volley came closer, as did the first frigate dogging their trail. To Alexa it looked hopeless as her own eighteen pounders answered the English guns. And then both frigates commenced firing as Alexa charted a zigzag course in an effort to escape total destruction. But to no avail. To Alexa’s horror she found
My Lady Vixen
sandwiched between the two British ships.

It almost appeared as if they meant to take
My Lady Vixen
intact, along with her entire crew, for the guns were stilled as the two ships closed in on either side of the
Vixen
. But until they were too close to fire, Drake kept their own guns belching forth. One of their volleys brought down the mainmast and sails of the frigate on their starboard, but Alexa’s joy was shortlived. Both
ships were bumping against her hull, tixing their grappling hooks and running out the boarding planks.

Then Alexa saw a sight that froze her blood and sent her heart plummeting to her feet. Both ships were teeming with British soldiers! And they were swarming aboard the
Vixen
in ever increasing numbers. As brave as her men were they were no match for the vast number of soldiers who engaged them in hand to hand combat. In swift order Alexa dispatched two of them herself, then wheeled to engage another.

“We meet at last, Vixen,” declared her opponent.

Alexa was startled to find she knew the young captain who faced her, his sword raised in mocking salute. Captain Lance Barrington, a nasty sneer twisting his lips, took a stance opposite her. “General Prevost dispatched a dozen ships to search the seas and destroy you. Too bad we couldn’t snare the Fox in the same net. But you will do,” he declared, thrusting dangerously at Alexa.

Alexa was far too busy concentrating on lunging, feinting, thrusting and sidestepping Barrington’s spirited attack to answer. She was certain the final outcome of their bout meant little for she realized by the sounds around her, or rather by the lack of sound, that her men had already been subdued by the scores of British soldiers and sailors. But she fought on bravely, refusing to give over until she won or fell to her death.

“Are you surprised to see soldiers boarding your ship?” Barrington asked, stepping up the tempo. “It’s the Governor’s idea, really. He convinced the General to place troops on all the ships joining in the search. We’ve been looking for you and Fox, you know. From the Carolinas to the Floridas. And now we have you. It will be a red-letter day for the English when you’re swinging from the gallows.”

His words were meant to goad, and Alexa knew it. Still, she could not help but hurl a scathing reply. “It doesn’t say much for the English when it takes a platoon of soldiers and the crewmen of two ships to capture one woman.”

“Beware, Vixen,” Barrington gritted out from between clenched teeth. “It will not go easy on you when I finally take you back to Savannah in irons.”

“I can only die once,” retorted Alexa brazenly as she skillfully lunged beneath his guard to slice a long shallow cut through his coat along the right side of his chest.

Warm blood soaked Barrington’s clothes but his step did not falter. He was good. Alexa thought despairingly, too damn good. Suddenly Alexa was aware of quiet all around her, save for the clanging of her sword and Barrington’s. Her arms were like two pieces of lead, responding automatically but feeling nothing except a bone-weary ache. Her legs were so tired they began to tremble, but she fought on, determined to kill or be killed.

At least an hour had passed since the English soldiers had leaped upon the teak decks of
My Lady Vixen
capturing her crew by their sheer numbers. Now, every eye was focused on the battling captains, Alexa’s long, slim legs and bouncing breasts garnering the most attention. She was perfection, from her silvery locks to her leather boots; beauty in motion as she danced and lunged just out of reach.

Until her luck ran out. She never knew what caused her to falter, a turn of the ankle, a misstep, or just plain weariness. Whatever it was nearly cost her her life. She was saved by her quick thinking as she turned aside just as Barrington’s sword reached beneath her guard to pierce her heart. Instead the blade sliced through the fleshy part of her left arm. Searing pain engulfed Alexa,
nearly paralyzing her. Beads of perspiration broke out on her forehead and her right arm, though uninjured, grew too heavy to wield her sword.

His mouth curled in a derisive sneer, Barrington bleated triumphantly, “I won. Vixen! The day is mine!” The tip of his blade pricked the tender skin of her neck as Alexa’s sword clattered from her numb fingers to the deck. Barrington’s men began cheering so loudly they failed to hear the shout from the watch stationed high in the crow’s nest.

Alexa clutched her left arm with her right hand in an effort to staunch the bleeding. Barrington’s blade did not waver from her jugular as defiance blazed from the depths of her violet eyes. “I should kill you here and now, Vixen, but I won’t,” spat Barrington contemptuously. “I’d much rather see you at the end of a rope. But I will unmask you, my lady pirate.”

Alexa stepped backwards as he reached out to remove the silken cloth hiding her perfect features. He laughed harshly and grasped her good shoulder to hold her in place. Quiet descended as every Englishman present realized they were about to see the infamous Vixen unmasked. But at the last moment fate intervened in the form of booming cannon and belching fire.

The thunder of cannon reached them the same instant as the watch who, unable to gain attention from his lofty perch, climbed down from the riggings to warn his mates of the swiftly approaching danger. “A ship, Captain!” the man yelled through the din. “And nearly upon us.” His last words were superfluous for at that moment cannon shells exploded into the ship lashed to
My Lady Vixen’s
starboard, setting several small fires.

Alexa’s relief was enormous as Barrington relaxed his hold upon her long enough to view the oncoming ship. “My God!” he cried, “The Fox!” All eyes turned to
watch the sloop skitter across the water with amazing speed, her big guns firing again into the frigate that had already received the brunt of his initial attack. By now one British ship was already ablaze and it was obvious something had to be done fast. “Cut her loose!” ordered Barrington as his men snapped to obey his command.

“We’re a sitting target, sir!” called out one of the seamen. “We’d best get back aboard our own ship before it’s too late.”

Nodding in agreement. Barrington prodded Alexa forward as he ordered crisply. “Abandon the burning ship! Step lively, men! All hands over the side to our remaining ship!”

“What about Vixen’s crew, sir?”

“Leave them. We haven’t room to transport them what with two crews and a platoon of soldiers crowded aboard one ship, nor the time to dispatch them. I have the Vixen and that’s who we came for. Hurry men, over the side!”

Faint from loss of blood, Alexa was prodded, shoved and dragged onto the English frigate. By now the
Ghost
was close enough so that she could see the magnificent figure of Fox standing on the quarterdeck, arms akimbo, feet wide apart, and Barrington reacted swiftly to the danger, ordering all their sails unfurled in order to escape the range of Fox’s cannon. Though Barrington hated to admit it. Fox had caught him off guard and their best defense was retreat. With Vixen aboard perhaps Fox would be reluctant to fire upon them for fear of harming one of his own, allowing them to escape. But Barrington had underestimated Fox’s cunning.

Alexa was lashed to the mainmast by Barrington’s men, in plain view of the
Ghost
. Though Fox did not fire upon the frigate, he had little difficulty dogging their
path. His sloop did not wallow beneath the weight of the combined crew of two ships and numerous soldiers, and could have run rings around the three-masted frigate. He was careful to keep well out of range of the big twenty-four pounders as he stood by helplessly watching the Vixen being lashed to the mast, blood flowing freely from her wound.

Fox considered an all-out attack, tacking in a zigzag pattern in order to avoid the cannon, but suddenly help came from another quarter. The crew of
My Lady Vixen
, having freed themselves from their bonds, and under the expert direction of Drake, joined in the foray.

The moment Barrington was made aware of
My Lady Vixen’s
pursuit, he roundly cursed himself for neglecting to order the Vixen’s crew killed or her ship fired in his haste to return to his own ship to escape Fox. But he still had Vixen and she was his passport to safety, if she lived, he thought wryly as he noticed her waxy pallor and the way she slumped against her bindings.

Immediately his ship came under the guns of both privateers as they fired warning shots across the frigate’s bow. The frigate answered with a volley of her own, and when quiet prevailed once more, Barrington cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted across the water.

“If you hit us, Fox, you risk the life of the Vixen!”

“I’ll take my chances,” bluffed Fox, replying in a like manner. “Between my
Gray Ghost
and
My Lady Vixen
, we’ll blow you out of the water. We’ll trust in luck to rescue Vixen alive.”

Fox had no intention of firing on the frigate, and knew Drake would follow his lead, but he did all in his power to convince the English otherwise. “We’ll grant no quarter should you force us to fire,” taunted Fox, his voice hard and cold. “Every one of you will die unless
you give Vixen over to us.”

The captain of the frigate, William Crisp, upon hearing Fox’s words, approached Barrington. “This is still my ship, Captain, and I’m responsible for it as well as the lives involved. Unless we do as Fox orders and release the Vixen we’ll be annihilated.”

“I refuse to believe Fox would deliberately take the life of one of his own, Crisp.” Barrington shook his head. “I don’t believe he’ll carry out his threat.”

“I believe him,” Captain Crisp declared. “The man’s utterly ruthless. What’s one woman’s life to him? He’s well aware that she’ll face the hangman once she is returned to Savannah. Given her situation death at sea might be preferable. I say we give her over and consider ourselves lucky to escape with our lives.”

Barrington was not so easily convinced. He trusted Fox not at all. He knew that the moment Vixen was off his ship the guns of both the
Ghost
and
My Lady Vixen
would not hesitate to blast them out of the water. For the moment Barrington settled on the ploy of wait and see, unwilling to give over his prize and unconvinced Fox would actually fire upon them with Vixen aboard. His answer was not long in coming.

Carefully instructing his gun crew on where to place the shot, Fox ordered a round of cannon aimed at the frigate. It hit well forward, starting several small fires. The frigate immediately retaliated only to find the sly Fox had maneuvered out of range. Next
My Lady Vixen
moved in position to fire which convinced Barrington more than anything that Fox would risk all, even Vixen, to sink an enemy. But Barrington was far from defeated as he slanted a sly glance in Vixen’s direction, the beginnings of an idea forming in his mind.

He realized that Fox would not allow the frigate to escape once he had Vixen safely aboard the
Ghost
, so it
stood to reason that a ploy must be devised in order to gain them the opportunity to escape the Americans, some sort of diversion. Captain Barrington’s devious mind worked furiously as he quickly discarded several ideas, finally settling on one he was certain would work.

“You can have Vixen, Fox,” he suddenly called out to the
Ghost
standing off their starboard. “Come and get her, we won’t fire.”

“If you do,
My Lady Vixen
will put a volley midship,” warned Fox ominously.

“You have my word,” shouted Barrington. Then he wheeled about to issue orders to Captain Crisp. Next, he went to Alexa, removed the ropes holding her in place and half-carried, half-dragged her to the railing in full view of both American ships.

Alexa was barely conscious, her head lolled from side to side, her mouth slack. Blood still oozed from her wound and she had a large bump on her forehead where she had been struck by one of her captors when she struggled against captivity.

Holding her firmly in place at his side, Barrington waited patiently as the
Ghost
slowly closed the gap between them. When he deemed the time exactly right, with the
Ghost
neither too close nor too distance for his purposes, he lifted Vixen’s limp form high in his arms so that she hung partially over the rail. When he was certain he had Fox’s full attention, he leaned out over the water, dangling Alexa like bait before him and calmly let her drop, down, down, down …

From the moment the Fox heard the roar of distant guns and realized it could only be Vixen in some kind of trouble, he was like a man demented. Without a moment’s hesitation he ordered the
Ghost
about but it was still over an hour before he came within sight of the British frigates lashed to either side of
My Lady Vixen
. When he was close enough he fired a volley into one of the frigates; one of the balls evidently finding the magazine, setting the ship ablaze. But he had not arrived in time to save Vixen and he watched helplessly as an English officer dragged her aboard the second frigate after setting adrift their sinking mate.

The blood froze in Fox’s veins when he saw that Vixen was wounded and bleeding profusely, appearing to be barely conscious. Only when the officer turned did Fox recognize him as Captain Lance Barrington. He nearly jumped into the water to swim to Vixen’s aid when he saw one of the Englishmen strike her in the temple with the flat of his sword when she roused herself long enough to resist.

Then help came unexpectedly from the crew of
My Lady Vixen
and Fox hoped to bluff Barrington into releasing Vixen. After conversing with Barrington across the water. Fox took heart when he realized the captain believed he would destroy the frigate with Vixen aboard rather than allow an enemy to escape unscathed.