Other Oceans: Book Two of the Hook & Jill Saga (34 page)

From her father’s improved temper during the days before mooring, Liza knew that the lady had at last accepted him. There was some setback here in port, but Liza didn’t worry about that. In his chains or in the company of Mr. Cecco, her father and his moods didn’t much affect her. And whether or not Jill’s feelings for Hanover were genuine, the fact remained; after the doctor and his medicine established control of the lady, Hook would need Liza.

He didn’t know it yet, but she’d make him understand. With or without words, he would hear her. He’d follow a trail of treasure and come to that special place— and Jill would never get Hook back.

§ § §

Hook would never get Jill back. Hanover was determined. His sense of honor no longer troubled him. As he told Jill once before, an oath to such a man meant nothing. But the ship left the port of Gao this evening, with
L’Ormonde
a short distance behind, and Hanover was no longer eager to pledge his loyalty. Nor did Hook seem inclined to demand it.

The surgeon was only mildly surprised that his conscience didn’t nag him as he and the Frenchman designed the newest plan of escape— and added an element of revenge. Hanover’s only concern now was getting all parties off the ship before detection. It wouldn’t be easy, and LeCorbeau insisted that every detail be nailed into place this time. Nothing must go wrong.

Mr. Cecco himself gave the doctor the idea in his remarks to Jill that first morning in port. It was a bold scheme. ‘Captain’ Cecco must have no reason to suspect the surgeon, and every reason to trust the privateer. For a short while, Jill would be distressed. How fortunate that her new husband would have just the right tonic to recover her spirits.

Mrs. Heinrich would, in fact, discover she had nearly inexhaustible energy— but none to spare for mourning her pirate captain.

§ § §

Relieved at last from his guard duty, Mr. Cecco leaned his elbows on the rail, eyeing the flickering lights of Gao in the distance. The first time he’d left this town, he hadn’t seen her lights. He’d been stowed away in the leaky hold of a broken-down tramp, an island-hopper, stinking of fish. An hour before, three of his brothers released him from his cage. They hadn’t seen him in six months, but there was no time for reunion. They’d handed him a knife and some gold pieces, and at great risk to their own freedom, stood guard while he conducted his business with the prison governor. Then they’d bundled Cecco into a cart, headed for the docks, and paid the mate to look the other way as Cecco, in his bloody prison shirt, slid over the side to conceal himself below. The boat pushed away from shore and, over time, the nightmare of Gao receded.

It all happened so fast— gypsy, prisoner, pirate. With good fortune, he happened upon this ship off the next island. But Cecco had been lucky most of his life. The days of his youth were spent traveling the Italian countryside, tinkering, mending knives, watching his mother tuck coins in her sash as she read the white palms of ladies. His mother taught him to respect fine things. Her business proved profitable for her, and enlightening for her son. She understood these girls. When he was young, he watched how she flattered them, how she built suspense into their fortunes, milking the rich ones for a few more coins. And as he grew handsome, his mother got a glint in her eye, and always, after that, the boy of her predictions was dark, and persuasive, with a gold-colored ring on his finger and a shining smile. The girls emerging from her wagon had only to walk a few paces to meet him. For the sake of his pleasure, Cecco learned to put up with the giggling. But he never got used to the giddiness. Gypsy girls had much more sense. He had always intended to choose one. But fate intervened, and he hadn’t had time for that to happen. Giovanni the gypsy tangled with the wrong girl, a mayor’s daughter, and within hours of exchanging rings on a bed of pine needles, he lay bleeding on the cold stone floor of a cell. Cecco was never sure which had angered the mayor more, the exchange of passion, or the exchange of a brass ring for gold. In any case, the girl was shut in her room to see if she’d ripen, but the gypsy boy was shipped far away— to rot. Here, in Gao.

As the lights on shore receded, Cecco wondered if, there in Gao, the prison governor still lived. If so, the name of the hot-tempered young ‘thief of a gypsy’ he had so loved to bait would still be etched in scars on the man’s back. He’d been robust for a bureaucrat, a man with not enough feeling and too much power. He’d made it his mission to beat the spirit from the dirty wanderer who’d had the gall to dally with decent girls. Duty demanded he teach the gypsy a lesson. The lessons Cecco learned, however, were of a more practical nature, and by the time he got his knife and his opportunity, the man’s clothing was the only impediment to justice. Cecco shook his head as he remembered. He still regretted that, in his hurry, he’d had to tear that shirt away. It had been a fine material.

Thanks to his luck and his brothers, Cecco made his way aboard this ship. She wasn’t as pretty then, but she, too, was in a hurry to sail out of these waters, and having lost some men in dealings with the Royal Navy, her bow-legged captain welcomed a new rogue to his ranks. With a notorious name and a bounty on his head, Cecco found himself respected by his fellows. Two years later, no richer except in experience, Cecco was the first to approach the newest man— a huge, unruly runaway slave— feeling that this one was a kindred spirit. And mere months after that, while berthed in a European port, their captain was surprised in the dead of night by a moody, black-haired gentleman and a brawny Irishman. Deliberately, the entire crew was roused by the intruders. Right there in front of his men, the captain, gripped at his scruffy neck by a hand bearing impressive rings, was offered his choice between giving up the ship or a knife in his throat. Two minutes later, his pockets were empty and he was floating face down, and no doubt the authorities buried him in an anonymous grave. No one else felt inclined to challenge the newcomer after that. True to his threat, the new captain made the men work. But true to his promise, he made them rich. That was when the gypsy became a pirate in earnest.

Appreciating his change in fortune, Cecco often wondered where his brothers were now. After their brave show of loyalty, did they find a way back home? Such courage. Courage and loyalty, and a healthy disregard for the law. Gypsy virtues. He had never thought to find that combination again, so far from his people. And then, in the hidden bay of a secret island, a lady flew from the darkness and into his hand, and her face in the lanternlight was perfect above the red seam on her throat. Never again would Giovanni Cecco look farther for his desires. He’d have waited far longer for her to turn to him, but now, waiting wouldn’t be necessary. He had read her future in her blood-stained palm. He could feel it in the wind; the change was coming. Like Mr. Cecco, it was sailing out of Gao.

Under the stars of the open sea now, anything seemed possible aboard the
Roger
. After all, a drifting gypsy had become a shrewd buccaneer, and the moody newcomer was the famed sea captain of legend. With luck, the ship for Captain Cecco would fall into his hands as easily as she had fallen into Hook’s. Already, he knew what he would rename her.

She would be his very own…
Red Lady
.

§ § §

Behind Capt. Jas. Hook’s brass-plated door, lessons resumed. Hanover hardly waited for it to shut behind Liza as the girl went off on another errand.

“My darling, how I have missed you!”

He seized Jill’s shoulders and spun her around, eager to collect the kisses he’d lost over his four days’ confinement. But as he leaned toward her, she backed away, wrenching her shoulders from his hands. Before he had time to blink, she drew back her hand and dealt a blow to his marked cheek that left it burning. Her eyes blazed.

“You dare to touch me!”

“My dear…I do. I have! Why should I not?” The surgeon held his hand over his face, and even in her anger she saw that he had removed his wedding ring.

“You claimed to respect me. I see you have lied, in that and in other things.”

“Of course I respect you. I am going to marry you! I had thought that once you agreed to be my wife, you would hardly stand upon ceremony any longer, making me plead with you.” Never had he seen her so magnificent as in this fury. He had to touch her. “But if it will make you happy, I
will
ask. Madam, may I kiss you?”

“No, Doctor. Most definitely
,
‘not today.’”

It was Hanover’s turn to be angry. “What on earth has gotten into you, Jill? Why have you turned on me?”

“I, turned on you? Quite the opposite, Mister Hanover. You were about to leave me.”

Hanover stood staring at her, his mouth slightly open, and then widening into a smile. “Ah!” Nearly laughing in his relief, he caught himself just in time. She would surely have taken such behavior as evidence he was trifling with her affections. Instead, he spread his hands. “My dear, I had no opportunity to ask you to return my letter. All my plans went awry. You should never have read it.”

“You instructed me to read it; I promised that I would. Unlike you, I kept my promise.”

His voice was affectionate, indulgent. “And you kept my diamonds?”

Her features softened. “Yes.” As he moved closer, her temper flared again. “Until I could throw them back in your face!”

Now his gust of laughter was impossible to suppress. “My pirate queen! I know you far better than that. You have my diamonds tucked safely away in your jewel drawer. Or no…you have hidden them from Hook.” At last, the surgeon’s expression waxed grim. He stepped nearer, appraising her with a physician’s eye. “How have you fared in my absence? Has he hurt you?”

Looking down, Jill allowed the moment to fester. She intended to draw and quarter every second of suspense.

“Jill?”

“I will never tell you what passes between him and me.”

“Now you are being cruel.”

“I hope I am.”

“If he has abused you, you must tell me.”

“I will tell you nothing.”

“I hope there is nothing to tell.”

She looked at him, her face just slightly averted.

“You were intimate with him!” He grasped her arms. “Did he force you— or did you turn to him, believing I had betrayed you?”

With a quick intake of breath, she prolonged his torture.

“I could kill him!”

“I told you not to touch me—”

“Enough of this nonsense. You are my fiancée. I have certain rights.”

Twisting in his grip, she tried to shove his hands away. “You are not yet my husband.”

“And neither is Hook. Tell me, what has happened in these four days?”

She stilled. Leveling a cold stare, she stung him again. “In these four days, you have become less than a gentleman.”

He dropped his hands. Her chin rose, and she looked away.

“I apologize, my dear. Of course you are confused.”

“Oh, no, I am thinking quite clearly. You thought a few diamonds would pay for the damage you caused when you misled me.”

“No, Jill. The diamonds were meant to demonstrate my sincerity, to assure you of my return. I am sorry to have put you through this upsetting time, but, quite frankly…it warms my heart to see how strongly you feel about me.”

“Really, Doctor. The diamonds were much more effective than this sweet talk. After attempting to desert me, you cannot pretend you intended to marry me. You paid me off, instead, like a common—”

“You know to what lengths I will go to marry you. I have even tarnished my honor for your dear sake.”

“So you say, Sir, but I don’t see you making good your promise to the captain, either. You have yet to swear
that
oath, as well.”

“Only because the captain has not called for it. You witnessed my attempts to make the pledge before he confined me. As I wrote in my letter, I was only going to slip away for a little while. You must believe me. If Hook hadn’t prevented us from following my plans, we would even now be man and wife.”

“Of course I must take your word for it.”

“You took my diamonds. Why not my word?”

Suddenly, she surprised him. As the sun breaks through after storm, her smile dawned upon him, and she rushed into his arms. “Johann!”

“Madam…now?”

But although she smiled, she pulled back once more. “Now, only…I was devastated to learn you would abandon me, even for just a few days. Of course I knew you would return to me.”

“Sweet girl!”

“But I must have one more reassurance from you, dear. We will spend the rest of our lives together, if you will only tell me what our life will be. Johann. It is the last time I will ask you.”

Now it was Hanover who pulled back, hesitation shading his happiness.

“Sir…where did you get so many diamonds…and will you be getting more?”

The doubt dissolved from his features. He coaxed her toward the couch; she went willingly. They sat together on the luxurious fabric, surrounded by the splendor provided by her pirate lover. Her bare foot abandoned the Oriental carpeting and settled on his shoe. The sapphires sparkled on her ankle, the emeralds ornamented her hand. Holding the pirate queen in his arms, the good doctor, at last, told her everything she needed to know.

“I have never broken the law. Except where freeing you is concerned, I have been an honest man. After many years of research, sacrifice, and experimentation, my labors have been rewarded with success. Basing my studies on ancient legend, I developed a formula to be used for the benefit of mankind. Only I know the secret of its concoction. This philter induces passion— yes, real, physical love— in those who believed themselves beyond it. Think, Jill, how much good it will do. Wives who for one reason or another withhold themselves from their husbands need no longer be afraid. Husbands who thought themselves…unable…are now capable of performing their marital duties. It is a miracle, Jill, a stabilizing influence on families. Fathers will feel no need to stray, wives need no longer feel reluctance. And a beneficial side effect is that the evil of such dens of iniquity as— please excuse me for being so frank— brothels, may in time simply fade away. If all men are happy in their homes, the unfortunate women of the streets will cease to be used and degraded. It is a bold vision, I admit, but I am a bold man. And I have now chosen a wife who will, I am sure, sustain me in this wholesome endeavor.