Wild Bells to the Wild Sky (23 page)

"
Won't you tell me your name?" Valentine asked her again, smiling this time as he tried to get her to respond to him, but she continued to watch him distrustfully. He saw the tears welling up in her eyes before she began to cry, and he suddenly felt like the ogre he must appear to be in her young eyes. He glanced around at the men who had crowded close and did not blame her for being frightened.

"Ah, sweeting, I'm not going to hurt you," Valentine said, lifting her in his arms. "Did you see anyone else at the hut?" he demanded of the bos'n.

"
No, Cap'n. Not a soul. We was making our way back there when we saw this one and she took to her heels. I left a couple o'men on guard, just in case t'others come sneakin' back."

"
Good. I want you to take your men and go back to the hut and load up everything you can find. Strip it bare. And, gentlemen, I expect everything to be accounted for. Those are my brother's possessions, and they now belong to his family. Everything is to be stored aboard ship. We will camp out here tonight, and, if the children haven't shown themselves, we will salvage what we can from the wreck while we await their pleasure," Valentine told his men.

"
Ye think we be havin' a long wait then, Cap'n?"

Valentine smile. " These children know this island better than we do. Unless the others wish us to find them, I doubt we can," he said.

"
Ah, Cap'n. We just heard about your brother," one of the men who'd been with the other group said, coughing uncontroll
ably before continuing, "
and we be real sorry. Hear the lady is dead too. What ye think happened to them?" He asked, glancing down at the child. "Ye don't think this little one be Spanish then?"

Valentine tightened his arm around the child he held against his chest. She was quiet now, her head pressed against hi
s shoulder, her face hidden. "
Perhaps half-Spanish, he murmured.

"
Why don't we just call to them, Cap'n? Tell them we be."

"
These children have no reason to trust us. Basil was a cautious man, he would have taught them to be on their guard, especially should any strangers come ashore. It is
an impossibility
. They disappear like rats. Lily Christian has grown up on this island, as have the other two, and I'm certain she's watching us at this very moment, trying to figure out how to rescue this one."

"
Lily is the captain. I'm the bos'n's mate," Dulcie suddenly spoke. There was such pride in her voice that the
Madrigal's
bos'n grinned back over his shoulder as he headed back to the hut with his men to do his captain's bidding, his step quickening as he watched Thomas Sandrick disappearing out of sight. He snorted. What did that one think? That only gentleman could count? He had ten fingers, didn't he? He could carry out the captain's orders without any assistance, he vowed, running to catch up to the gentleman hurrying ahead.

Valentine Whitelaw stared down at the dark head, a smile curving his lips as he heard a muffled voice.

"
She is? Well, that is not surprising since she is a captain's daughter. Did you know that Geoffrey Christian, Lily's father, was my very good friend? I sailed aboard his ship the
Arion
. I even met Lily when she was about the same age as you. I knew your father, too. Do you know what my name is?"

There was silence.

"
My name is Valentine Whitelaw. I am your father's brother. Did he never mention my name?" Valentine
asked. "
Did he never talk about England?"

The child remained silent and Valentine sighed. She was so young. She would hardly remember Basil and Magdalena, much less anything they might have told her about themselves. If he was to have his questions answered, he would have to find Lily Christian.

Dulcie stared across Valentine Whitelaw's shoulder. She watched the waves breaking in splashes of white, and beyond that, she saw a ship. Her eyes widened as she stared at the white flag and red cross flying on the mainmast.

"
The red cross of St. George!" she squealed,
struggling to free herself. "
Lily always said that one day we would see it and then we would be rescued. Tristram said that it didn't exist, just like the wild white horses that would carry us home to England, but it does. It does! Let me go! Let me go! Got to tell Lily! We've been rescued!" she cried, trying to squirm free of the arms that still held her tight.

"
That's right. You have been rescued, but I can't let you go, not just yet," Valentine told her, tightening hi
s grip. "
Lily will find out soon enough. Lily is your sister, is she not?"

Dulcie nodded.

"And Tristram?"

"
He's my brother."

"
Do you have any other brothers and sisters?" Valentine asked, wondering how many children might be running wild on this island.

Dulcie shook her head. "
Just Lily and Tristram. There's Cappie and Cisco, too. And Choco, but I don't like him," Dulcie confided, a frightened look entering her eyes.

"
Who are they?"

"
Jinni," Mustafa said.

"
Maybe savages, Cap'n."

Dulci
e giggled. "
Cappie is a monkey! And Cisco is a parrot. He talks!"

Valentine laughed. "
And Choco?"

Dulcie shivered. "
He's a
tigre
. He scares me, but Lily likes him. Cisco and Choco came from that ship. Did you know it is a ghost ship? Tristram says 'tis haunted," Dulcie said, her childish confidences causing several of the crew who had been so anxious to explore the wreck to glance uneasily at the rotting hulk on the rocks.

Valentine smoothed back
a dark curl from her cheek. "
And what is your name? Will you tell me? I would like to be your friend."

" 'Tis Dulcie," she murmured shyly.

"
Dulcie. That is a pretty name."

"
And Rosalinda."

"
Sweet Rosalinda," Valentine said softly.

"
That's what Lily says my papa used to call me."

"
What happened to him?"

"
He went away. So did Mama."

"
Where did they go?"

Dulcie pointed toward the cove.

"
Do you know why they went away?" Valentine asked.

"
Lily says it was the fever. We played all the time and there weren't any lessons, Lily says. Then we made the cross. Lily let me help. We go there everyday to say hello. And even though Mama and Papa aren't here anymore, we still set a place for them at the table. Lily says 'tis so we won't ever forget them. We don't go to the other graves very much. Tristram says we don't need to go at all, but Lily says Mama and Papa would want us to. Lily says Papa always wanted us to be civilized."

"
What graves of those, Dulcie?"

"
The other graves. The crosses aren't as pretty."

"
Who are the people buried there?"

"
Castaways, like this. Lily says their ship sank in a storm and they were the only survivors. Papa and Mama tried to save them when we found them on the beach, but they all died."

"
Why didn't you become sick, Dulcie?" Valentine asked his young niece.

Dulcie shrugged. "
We built a big fire, the biggest ever. We burned everything on the beach. Papa told us to. I'm hungry. Can I go now? Lily will be looking for me," she explained, struggling to free herself.

"I'm sorry, Dulcie, but you are going to have to stay with us for a while, at least until Lily comes. You don't know where she is, do you? Is there a secret place where she takes you and Tristram when she thinks there is danger?"

A secretive look entered
Dulcie's dark brown eyes. "
We have lots and
lots of secrets," she said. "
I'm not going to tell you any of them. I promised not to."

"
Your father would want you to. He trusted me like you trust Lily, Dulcie. Will you call to her for me? If she would come out of the forest I could talk to her and tell her that I knew her father. She can stay hidden while she talks to me. I will not hurt her. You want her to come, don't you, Dulcie? When Lily and Tristram are here, I'll take all three of you aboard my ship and then we will sail away to England. That is what your Papa would want, Dulcie," Valentine said softly, persuasively.

"
Cappie and Cisco, too?" she asked worriedly.

Valentine raised an eyebro
w, then nodded reassuringly. "
Now, would you call to your sister? I really would like to talk to Lily," Valentine told her, and, unable to resist, he pressed a quick kiss against her smudged cheek.

Dulcie's eyes grew wide, and she giggled.
“That
tickled," she said, then she gasped, putting her
small hand over her mouth.

"
What is the matter?" Valentine demanded, concerned by the look of uncertainty that had suddenly entered her eyes.

"
Lily isn't going to be very happy when she
sees you," Dulcie declared. "
She won't be able to be the captain anymore."

Valentine Whitelaw grinned. "
And why is that?"

Dulcie touched his bearded face, then quickly withdrew her hand as if stung. " 'Cause you have a beard. Captains are supposed to have beards and ships. Lily isn't a real captain. You will have to take command now, and I don't think Lily will like that. Lily has always been the captain," she said.

Valentine laughed softly. "Well, I shall have to try very hard then to make her like me," Valentine told Dulcie as he walked up the beach, little realizing how difficult a task he had set for himself.

"Where is Dulcie?" Lily asked as she and Tristram huddled close together under a low palm, their faces peering out between the long, sweeping fronds.

"I don't see her anywhere?" Tristram said. "Look! There! Two of the pirates are inside the hut. I saw one of them peeking out, Lily! Do you think they heard us calling Dulcie?" Tristram asked, looking behind them worriedly. "If she was here, she would've heard us. I don't see her anywhere. She wasn't by the spring. She knows to meet there, Lily. Where could she be? You don't think they have her, do you, Lily?"

"I don't know?" Lily said uncertainly. Basil had never told her what to do if one of them got caught by pirates. He had only taught them how not to get caught.

"Look, Lily, here come some more pirates," Tristram whispered hoarsely as a group of men approached along the path and disappeared into the hut. Several minutes passed while Lily and Tristram listened to muffled voices and laughter. "Look at them! They're stealing everything, Lily," Tristram squeaked in growing indignation as they watched several of the men leave carrying their chests.

"That's Mother's chest," Lily said angrily. "Those are my clothes. And those are Dulcie's shells he's got," Lily hissed as she watched the finely dressed gentleman walk quickly by.

"That's my fishhook and line," Tristram muttered.

The
Madrigal's
bos'n was carrying out his captains orders with no lack of haste for there were only a few hours of daylight remaining. It hadn't taken long to clear the hut: The sea chests had been repacked and carried out; the gold plate and silverware counted under his watchful eye before going the way of the chests; a clothes, personal belongings, and food, even the coat of arms over the door, had been gathered up with the bed mats and blankets and dispatched to the beach. Soon, nothing but the bare furnishings remained in the hut.

His job completed, the bos'n followed his men back to the boat. Once or twice, hearing a rustling in the trees behind, he glanced over this shoulder, but there was nothing to be seen. When he reached the beach, the crew had just about completed loading the boat.

"We goin' to be stayin' ashore or goin' back aboard?" one of his men wanted to know.

The bos'n glanced over to where the captain was standing, the little girl still held in his arms. "Reckon the cap'n'll be tellin' us when he wants us to be knowin'," he said. "Finish this up now and be quick about it."

"Ain't nobody answered him so far, even if they be in there watchin'," one of the crew remarked as he followed the bos'n's gaze to where their captain, now in conversation with Thomas Sandrick, stood near the edge of the forest. "Called to them, but no answer, unless ye be countin' all the birds squawkin'. Reckon we might
talk
the cap'n into lettin' us catch something
fresh
to eat? Saw some wild pigs runnin' through the bushes on the far side of the headland and there's all kinds of wild fowl we can catch. Sure would taste good," he said, voicing the rest of the crew's sentiments.