“However, his stupid move is good for us.”Jean rubbed his chin as he thought.“I think once we give Lee the treasure chest, he’ll not let Dawson go.He will try to escape, but if he is not able to do so, he will make another deal to assure we let him sail away.”
Elizabeth bit her bottom lip as she listened.“So what do we do now?”
“We’ll sail to the back side of the island.Lee will never see us approach.There, we will let off a group of men who can go over land and secretly board Lee’s ship.In the meantime, we’ll sail around to the front side and confront Lee.
“While we are going through the motions of bringing the chest to Lee’s ship, my men will have slipped aboard and have Dawson and your friend secure.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” Jonathan said.“I don’t see any other way.And we don’t want Lee to escape just to reappear again.”
Jean turned to Elizabeth.“What do you think, Elizabeth?”
“It does sound like the only way,” Elizabeth agreed reluctantly.“Lee is so evil he might even kill Dawson if he doesn’t think we are doing his bidding.”She said the words tentatively, then went on.“We mustn’t take any chances that he might harm Dawson or Tiffany.”She drew a deep breath.“We must try it your way.Let’s do it.”
Chapter 22
When Elizabeth caught her first glimpse of the Bay of Pirates, she couldn’t believe how beautiful the island appeared—a lush green forest floating in a turquoise blue sea.
Jean had told her a little about the island.Instead of sand, millions of tiny shells coated the beach that stretched for ten miles around the island.The first rays of the sun made the tiny shells sparkle.
Surrounded by coral reefs, the coast was flat with an elevated interior and steep cliffs covered by tropical green foliage.Elizabeth could hear the birds chattering in the trees, a sound she hadn’t heard in several weeks.A warm, gentle breeze blew her hair and caressed her face.As she gazed at the island, she thought it could only be described as paradise, but the circumstances that had brought them here made it just another barrier between her and her son.She wondered how many more hurdles she’d have to face.
They sailed around the back side of the island, just as Jean had planned, then dropped anchor.Elizabeth watched as a crew prepared a small boat for a raiding party to go ashore.They were busy so no one noticed when she turned away.She needed to hurry.She’d seen all she needed to see.It was time for action.
By the time Jonathan,Dominic, and three other men were ready to cast off from theCiel Bleu, it was mid-morning.They would row to shore, then scale the cliffs.When night came, they would sneak aboard Lee’s ship.
What Jonathan didn’t realize was that one of the men in his party was really a woman.Elizabeth had done a good job of disguising herself, thanks to Dominic’s help.Dressed in black breeches, a big white shirt, and a red sash around her waist, she could pass for one of Jean’s men.
Since Elizabeth was tall, her height didn’t give her away.She had tucked her long hair up under a cap and pulled the brim down so it hid most of her face.Carefully, she remained to the rear of the crew and away from Jonathan.The last thing she wanted was for him to send her back.She was going to get her son one way or the other.She couldn’t just sit on a ship and worry.
Derek’s ship had arrived shortly after Jean’s and had already laid anchor.Derek would remain where he was, and when Jean felt that Jonathan had had enough time to reach Lee’s ship, Jean would sail around and confront Lee.Jean had said they would probably wait until the next morning before coming around the island.
Elizabeth observed the two ships as she sat in the longboat headed toward shore.Jean’s plan would work!It had to.
The longboat bumped the shore, and Elizabeth scrambled out of the tiny vessel along with the men, helping as they pulled the boat further up onto the beach.She could hear the pop and crunch of the tiny shells as they walked toward the interior of the island.
Dominic pointed to an overgrown path, which went straight up the cliff and would make their climb a little easier.He led the way, since he knew the island better than anyone except Jean.Jonathan and the other men followed.Elizabeth brought up the rear, the further away from Jonathan the better.
At first the climb was easy, but as they approached the top, they had to go around huge rocks and scramble over narrow ledges.After several hours of climbing, Elizabeth paused and wondered how much further they had to go.She rubbed her fingers—sore from grasping the rocks and trees—on her breeches.She only had one more ledge to climb over, and she’d be at the top.
With her next step, the rocks below her feet gave away.She squealed and flailed her arms, desperately grabbing at anything to keep from falling.She grabbed a tree root that stopped her from going over the edge.She dangled precariously from the root.
“What the hell?”Jonathan turned at the sound.
Something wasn’t right.One of his men had slipped.How had this happened?He had to go back down for him.
There was no time for questions.He had to do something fast.Jonathan looped a rope around himself and anchored it to a tree.When he was secure, he leaned down to grab the lad’s arm.“Grasp my hand with your free hand,” he shouted.The boy grabbed his hand.At least the lad wasn’t heavy.When Jonathan had a firm hold on the lad’s arm, he hauled him up until he was secure in his arms.
“Obliged,” Elizabeth mumbled, trying to disguise her voice.
“Wait a minute.”The lad was much too soft, and he seemed to have curves where he shouldn’t.Jonathan jerked off the boy’s cap.“I can’t believe I didn’t notice,” he ground out.“What in the bloody hell are you doing here?We are going to have our hands full enough without you slowing us down.”He handed her cap back to her.“Don’t you ever obey?”
Elizabeth’s nerves were stretched to the limit.“I don’t take orders well.You should know that by now,” she retorted.“I will not wait alone while my son’s life is in the balance.”
Jonathan untied the rope from around the tree and started to coil it back up.“You bloody well will!Now turn around and climb back down!”
“I will not,” she said, defiantly, shoving the cap back on.“I’m going with you whether you like it or not.”She grabbed his arm.“You can’t spare a man to accompany me, and I promise I will not go back on my own.So you have no choice but to let me come.”
Jonathan swung around, clearly angry.“Give me one good reason why I should.”
