"Was there any problem today with our passenger?" he inquired.
Tobias shook his head. "She was up on deck earlier, but she's spent the afternoon below." He noticed the package Zach held under his arm. "What have you there?"
Zach glanced up, shoving the manifest back at Tobias. "A very pretty young lady in Lisbon reminded me that a gift might help tame an angry lady." He started for the companionway.
"She's been quiet down there most of the day." Tobias puffed at his pipe as he followed Zach back down the ladder.
A furious shout greeted Tobias as he stepped down into the companionway. His gaze swept the cabin when he reached it. All was neat, orderly, everything in its place.
"Search the ship!" Zach ordered, sending Tobias and the crew that remained aboard into the various parts of the ship.
The entire ship was searched. But he already knew what they would find, as he stared out the porthole in the cabin. Nothing.
"Father in heaven!" Tobias muttered as he crossed to the porthole and stared down at the water below. "How on earth did she manage?"
Zach swore as he came away from the porthole.
He had a dilemma. He assumed Elyse had been gone most of the day, at least- since midmorning, when Tobias had last seen her. The crewmen who were ashore still had not returned. They were due aboard at any time.
Though he'd given them strict orders to be aboard by now, Zach knew they would trail back one by one. Ashore, it would be impossible to find them, and with the gold still aboardRevengeawaiting the finalization of the transaction, he dare not take any of the remaining crew to search for Elyse. It was much too risky with theSultanaand El Barracuda nearby in the harbor.
He quickly made a decision and dispatched Tris to the landing with the landing boat. As soon as any of the crew returned, he was to immediately bring them to the ship. Zach would set out to find Elyse himself.
Didn't she realize the danger of being alone in a seaport without protection? A woman was a vulnerable target. That thought brought him up short. His mind filled with images of the little girl he'd met in the plaza, dressed like the little boys who begged in the streets.
Elyse wouldn't be dressed as a woman! The only clothes she had were the pants and shirt he'd given her. She didn't even have any money...
A thorough search of his cabin confirmed his suspicions. He couldn't see that any clothes were missing, but the bag of coins he'd kept in the desk was gone.
When he returned topside, Tris had returned, along with Kimo. Zach quickly ordered Tris to prepare to take him back, then he told Tobias to send others as they returned to help in the search. He brushed past Kimo, not seeing the puzzled expression on the African's face.
"The little girl is gone? I wonder if dat might have been her we see in the marketplace."
Zach turned and seized the man by the shoulders. "Where?"
He was six foot four inches; Kimo towered over him. But Zach had a special bond with this loyal seaman. He'd taken him off a slaver with almost sixty others, and he'd delivered them to Sydney where they were given their freedom and the choice of returning to their native land or staying in Australia.
Kimo chose to stay with theRevenge.It was as if this large, gentle man had found his home on those oak decks. Zach had taught him English and how to read and write. For his part, Kimo was as loyal as the rest of the crew. And the huge African knew Zach's secrets, but he would die before he would give them to anyone. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Zach.
"I'm prob'ly wrong, Cap'n. But today in the marketplace I saw a young man. He was small and I only saw him for a minute, but he had fair skin, and eyes like the color of the water on the Barrier Reef."
"Where?" Zach replied. Maybe fair skin wasn't a sound enough reason to think Kimo had seen her, but those eyes. And hadn't Zach's exact thought been that they were the color of the water off the reef?
The African thought for a moment. Then a wide smile split his face from ear to ear.
"It was outside the shop where I bought this silk for Annie back home."
"I need more—the name of the shop, a location, something different that you remember."
The man's smile broadened even more. "The shopkeeper was a black man, like me. Tall, from the Zulu tribe. He was taken like I was and managed to get his freedom and come here!"
Zach clasped him at the shoulder. It wasn't much, but it was something. There couldn't be many black men who owned shops in Lisbon, much less from the Zulu tribe. Zach went below. When he returned, he tucked a gun into his belt.
"I go with you, Cap'n," Kimo told him.
"No, I want you to stay aboard with Tobias and Sandy. If there's any trouble, they'll need you." Zach looked up at his friend. "It's all right. I know my way around Lisbon."
Then Zach had a thought. "When did you see this boy?"
