The Pirate's Jewel (37 page)

“I’m letting you go now, so don’t run. I’ll only have to
chase you and it’s dark as hell out here. I don’t want either of us to break
our necks.” He slowly eased his hold.

She turned to face him. The fact that he wasn’t at the
beach either made the situation more desperate. He appeared to be the only one
who had retained his common sense during this ordeal. “We have to get to the
beach—my father’s going to cheat like he did before.”

“I think Nolan knows that,” Parker said, apparently resigned.

“But Nolan could be killed.” She raised her voice, trying
to break through his acceptance of something she couldn’t.

“Wayland says he won’t let that happen.” Parker shrugged.
“At least that’s what he said when I asked him to help me talk some sense into
Nolan.”

“And you believe Wayland? I have to get to the beach.”
Jewel turned and started in that direction, not expecting Parker to try to
physically stop her again if she kept an even pace. As she hoped, he fell in
beside her.

“I don’t believe any of this. I can’t believe my old schoolmaster
is fighting to the death with a known pirate. Joining with Nolan to find a
treasure seemed a grand idea back in Boston, but now I don’t know. I’d hate it
if something happened to Nolan, and serving under your father disturbs me just
as much.”

“Nolan was your schoolmaster? I didn’t know that.” Jewel
quickened her pace. Speaking of normal things helped to slow her heartbeat
while it seemed to distract Parker from stopping her.

“I wasn’t the best student, I have to admit, but I liked going
to my classes because I got to be around Nolan. There were rumors about him,
though he thought he was fooling everyone. No one ever said it to his face, but
his father’s whole congregation knew the Kentons were descended from Captain
Kent. That’s why he had such a big following, I think.”

A yellow haze, the glow from the lanterns, hovered over
the tops of the foliage that separated them from the beach. Parker sidestepped
her and blocked her way. “You can’t go on the beach.”

“Parker—”

He stopped her with a raised hand. “I’ll see what’s going
on first and then, if it’s all right, you can insist they stop. All right?”

Jewel studied his serious features. He’d not been aboard
the
Neptune
, and she doubted he could handle the sight of death and
bloodshed any better than she. He was just an ex-schoolboy.

“All right. But I’ll be right behind you. I’ll stay in the
brush until you say it’s all right—but Parker, if it’s the worst…” She
swallowed, unable to say if Nolan had been mortally wounded, or even her father
for that matter. “If it’s the worst, I want to be there.”

He nodded, and then turned and headed for the light. The jungle’s
dark green foliage writhed in black shadows from the flickering torches.
Tonight seemed excessively warm, and a thin stream of sweat wound its way down between
her shoulder blades. She’d left her hair undone, too distracted to wrestle it
into a braid, and strands adhered to her cheeks and neck.

A metallic sound that didn’t seem like the clink of swords
reached them first. Jewel’s premonition of doom grew stronger. Unaware that
something wasn’t right, Parker pushed forward with a determined stride. She grabbed
the back of his breeches, the only thing he was wearing besides boots, to stop
him.

“Wait,” she whispered fiercely. He glanced behind her, his
tan face worried. His nod confirmed that he sensed it, too. Together, crouched
behind a tropical plant’s enormous leaves, they waited and listened.

“Where’s the girl? I would so love to catch up,” said a
voice she didn’t recognize as one from the crew, but sounded vaguely familiar.
It had an aristocratic edge, with the crisp pronunciation of someone recently
emigrated from England.

“How would I know? Back in Charles Town, I would imagine.”
Nolan didn’t sound at all like himself. Something was horribly wrong. And then
Jewel knew. The British voice belonged to Devlin, the marine officer who had
propositioned her at the Quail and Queen. The man attached to the same ship who
boarded Nolan’s vessel to impress his men, and the one where they’d rescued
those same men. She’d killed one of their crewmen. My God, had they come for
her?

She leaned forward to peek past the leaves, but Parker pulled
her fiercely back, landing her on her backside. He shook his head, panic in his
eyes. She cupped both hands around one eye like a telescope, silently signaling
that she only intended to look. Apparently he understood, because he nodded.

Once she moved into position, Parker crowded behind her to
get a glimpse from the same opening she created in the foliage. It was worse
than she’d imagined. Surrounded by soldiers with muskets at the ready, Nolan and
Bellamy stood together, chains around both their wrists that led down to their
ankles. The rest of the crew, including Wayland, had been herded together in a
group, and were circled by a similar number of red-coated men. Devlin, the
officer from the tavern, lorded over them all. He’d discarded his wig, and his
light brown hair slipped from the tie at the back of his neck, but he still had
the privileged bearing that made him easy to recognize.

“Come now, Captain—”

“I’m the captain. You’ll be addressing me if you have any
questions,” interrupted Bellamy.

Nolan didn’t show any reaction; no one did, except for
Devlin, who raised an eyebrow, obviously skeptical.

“Very well, Captain. Your crewmember here is not only
mutinous, but a liar as well. We picked up Jack Casper in dire need of
rescuing. He and his mates were crammed together in a leaky skiff, three sheets
to the wind. Since we were already on your tail, he pointed us in the right
direction. He also mentioned you two had a falling out over a female passenger
with dark hair and an unusual shade of green eyes.”

The marine officer delivered his speech to Nolan, only providing
Bellamy one or two dismissive glances. “So, where’s the girl?”

Both Nolan and Bellamy remained silent. They had their
backs to her, but Jewel imagined the defiant expression that played on their
features.

Devlin shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. “I’ll find her,
you know. It’s a small island. And you don’t have to worry that I intend to do
her harm. That is the last thing on my mind. Since her protectors will soon be
indisposed, my inquiries are for her safety as well as my curiosity. But on to
the business at hand…”

Devlin swung his gaze to the other crewmen. He trudged
through the sand in his heavy boots. He wore a red coat that reached his knees
and a white vest of similar length. His dexterity and stamina were surprising,
considering the heat and consistency of the powdery beach. Before Jewel
realized what she was doing, she sized the man up for a fight.

After a casual perusal of the
Integrity
's
crewmembers, he turned back to Nolan. “So, where’s the boy?”

Again, no one spoke.

“Captain or Captain?” Devlin prompted. “The boy who killed
our officer on watch. The other wounded man described you”—he nodded to
Nolan—“and a slight youth who had incredible skill with the sword. We’ll want
to single him out, of course. Not that you all won’t most likely meet the same
fate. But that’s for the Lord High Admiral to decide. My job is simply to
deliver you.”

“And our fate is...?” asked Nolan.

“Hanging. They hang pirates, or didn’t you know?” said
Devlin with the same polite, condescending tone he’d used to Jewel at the Quail
and Queen.

Bellamy laughed. “Captain Kenton here ain’t no pirate, or
didn’t you know? He’s a privateer.”

Devlin strode toward Nolan and examined him. “Who issued
you a letter of marque?”

Nolan stiffened somewhat, and Jewel knew he was doomed.
She thought of his grandfather and realized that, despite all Nolan’s efforts,
he had fallen into the trap he’d been trying to dodge since he started on this journey.

“I plan to obtain one from the Continental Congress.”

Devlin nodded, unfazed by his answer. “Ah, treason, then.
That simplifies things. Looks as if I’ll be delivering you to London instead.
Newgate should teach you some manners.”

Jewel fumbled for Parker’s hand and gripped it. Parker
squeezed hers in return, his palm hot and thick with sweat. He knew as well as
she how dire was the situation. Nolan should have scoffed at Bellamy and
claimed to be a pirate. At least then there would have been hope. Nolan had
committed no crimes of piracy, so at his trial they’d have no evidence with
which to convict him. But with treason, Jewel knew he had no chance.

The royal courts in Charles Town had no qualms in
convicting citizens of the crime for merely speaking out against the crown’s
representatives. Sneaking aboard a man-of-war and rescuing his impressed crew, and
then admitting to being at war with his mother country, would result in
immediate and swift punishment.

“Corporal, let’s first take our two captains to the
Neptune
’s
brig. A snake’s no harm without its head.” He turned and gazed out to sea. “I
imagine our men have dispensed with the crew left on Captain Kenton’s ship. With
these torches on the beach, I can’t make out whether there are three lanterns
on the bow or not. For now, we’ll keep the rest of the crew on shore while I
search for the boy—and for our lovely female friend.”

The men relegated to handling Bellamy and Nolan gave a
shove to start them moving. Jewel tapped Parker on the shoulder, and then
melted deeper into the dense foliage. When they reached the base of a palm,
where the green canopy above their heads was so thick she could no longer see
the torches on the beach, she stopped.

Even in the dark, she could sense Parker’s panic, hear the
heaviness of his breathing. “I have to hide you,” he said.

She paused a moment, that being the last thing she intended.
“No, we need to let Devlin find me.”

“Are you insane?” he hissed.

“Parker, we have to rescue Nolan. He’ll know what to do.
Can you use a sword?”

“No, I can’t. Not well, anyway. And even if I could, we
don’t have one.”

Jewel’s heart sank at the realization. They didn’t have any
weapons. Lifting a sword against another human being was the last thing she’d
ever hoped to do again, but do it she would, and gladly now. That her plans had
been dashed, she felt punched by Parker’s initial panic. All the
Integrity
's
weapons, at least the ones they had on the island, were piled on the beach,
confiscated by the soldiers. Only two or three crewman remained on watch aboard
the ship. Even if they had prior warning, the British would overtake any escape
easily. The torches on the beach, combined with the spectacle created by Nolan
and her father, ensured that no one noticed whether there was another ship
docked in the wide harbor.

At this point, Parker and she had absolutely nothing to
their advantage, except perhaps the marine commander’s obvious interest in her.
When he revealed he’d thought a boy killed his crewmate, she’d been confused until
she remembered she had been dressed in men’s clothing, her long braid tucked in
her jacket. Apparently, the officer wanted to continue his quest for her
company that had begun in the tavern. Fortunately for him, Jewel was in a
position in which she had nothing to lose.

Handsome Jack Casper lounged on the deck of the
Neptune
,
his head bowed between his bent knees. Nolan’s glare alone should have wounded
the mangled pirate. Not for the first time since Devlin mentioned how he’d
obtained his information about Jewel, Nolan wished he’d sliced Casper down when
he had the chance. All his worrying about teetering a fine line between piracy and
privateering had been fruitless. He fell grossly short on both counts. He’d
failed as a privateer and as a pirate. Most of all, he’d failed Jewel. What
would happen to her now made him literally sick every time he thought of it.

The heat, pain, and desperation behind his worries must
have been powerful enough to reach across the deck to Casper, because suddenly
the man lifted his head. His eyes widened when he spotted Bellamy. He stood on
shaky feet and swayed in their direction. Apparently the British had been
showing their gratitude for Jack’s cooperation with his favorite victual: rum.

“Bellamy Leggett! I knew you were too mean to die. How you
doin’, Nolan? Good to see you again, lad.” Jack sounded as amiable as he had
two weeks earlier when Nolan last saw him.

The corporal and his men paused at Jack’s approach,
apparently to enjoy the spectacle that would surely follow.

Nolan didn’t have the will to disappoint them. “Jack Casper,
you worthless son of a whore, I’m going to get out of here and slice away the
other half of your face.”

Jack tried to assimilate this information with a few rapid
blinks and a tilt of his head. Soon, he seemed to give up and turned back to
Bellamy. “Hey, I want more for this one. Bellamy Leggett’s got twice the price
on his head than Nolan.”

The corporal chuckled with a hint of affection. “Never heard
of ’em, Handsome. Go have yourself another drink.”

Jack narrowed his gaze on the soldier. “Bellamy Leggett.
He’s one of the last grand pirates to terrorize the Caribbean. I’m going to
want triple what you paid me for this one,” he repeated.

“This old codger? Sure, Handsome Jack. Don’t you worry.
We’ll give you five more bottles of rum,” said one of the guards.

Bellamy stiffened beside Nolan. Jack, on the other hand,
seemed happy with the agreement, because he grinned from ear to ear—literally.
“Good to see you again, mate. Let’s share a grog.” Jack threw himself at Nolan.
With his hands shackled in front of him, Nolan had to take the impact with his
body. He braced his knees, intending to send Jack across the deck with a heave
of his chest and tell him he wasn’t his mate. But...