Shocked, Gabrielle stared at her.Then again, the woman lived on a pirate ship.
Minutes passed in silence.A thousand questions crowded Gabrielle’s tongue.
“You should eat something, Miss.For de baby.”Omphile started to rise, but Gabrielle held her back.
“Where is he taking me?Do you know?”
Omphile shook her head.
“We dropped anchor somewhere yesterday.Where was it?”She knew ships.Had been on them all her life, so it wasn’t hard to figure out from the sounds and the movement of the ship that they’d sailed into a harbor.Not to mention the squawk of birds and the brief glimpses out the porthole she’d been able to get if she jumped high enough.Not an easy task in her condition.
“Antigua.Cap’n an’ a few men went ashore for an hour or two den returned.Dat’s all I knows, Miss.”
Gabrielle nodded, swallowing down a burst of fear.
Omphile rose.
“Don’t leave.I’m so lonely.”
Kindness softened the woman’s expression.“I can stay a little while.Long as you eat.”She cocked a brow.
Gabrielle smiled as Omphile set the tray on her lap and slid onto a chair.The scent of buttery biscuits, eggs, and oatmeal caused Gabrielle’s mouth to water.They must have gotten the fresh butter, eggs, and milk at Antigua.She bit into the biscuit, enjoying the savory taste.
“May I ask how you came to be on this pirate ship?”
Omphile drew a deep breath.“A long story, Miss.Like I said, I’s done far worse deeds dan you.”
“I’d still like to know,” she said between mouthfuls of eggs.“If you would share.”
Omphile shrugged.“I was a slave on Barbados, but I managed to escape an’ joined a group of runaway slaves in de hills.Dem was angry people.Filled wit’ hate.Dey raided towns, killed innocent people.”
Gabrielle stared at the woman, horrified.“You?”
“I might as well have.I was wit’ dem who done it.”She released a sorrowful sigh, then glanced at Gabrielle.“See, you look at me different now.”
“Nay, I’m sorry.”Gabrielle set down her fork.“I have no right.”
“Anyways, I left dat group, stowed away on a ship to St.Kitts, an’ would have starved dere if I hadn’t met Sir Alfred Blake, a prominent landowner who took me in as a servant an’ cared for me.”Her gaze drifted away as if she were remembering the man.
“What good fortune.Did he treat you well?”But even as she said it, Gabrielle had her answer by the mournful look tugging on Omphile’s face.
“At first.But I shoulda figured he had other motives.Soon enough, I found out I was wit’ child.”
Gabrielle set down her glass of milk and moved the tray to the deck.
A lump sped down Omphile’s throat even as her eyes moistened.“He beat me.I guess he worried his wife would find out, you see, ’cause she came from a wealthy family.I lost de babe.”
Gabrielle’s eyes burned at the woman’s story.“I’m so sorry, Omphile.”
“Ah, never you mind.It all worked out.”Her tone instantly perked.“I found de Laud Jesus, an’ Captain Hayes found me doin’ laundry in de river t’ survive.”Her grin revealed a row of bright, white teeth, an oddity among the lower class.“He asked if I could cook, an’ when I said yes, he brought me aboard.”
Gabrielle shook her head.“And you trusted him?After what happened?”
“Like I said, I found the Laud, or He found me.When I asked Him, He said to go wit’ de captain.I’s glad I did.He’s been kind to me.Never touched me or allowed any o’ his crew to touch me.”
To say Gabrielle was surprised would be an understatement.Not only at the captain’s chaste behavior but that this woman, who’d had a terrible life, could continually give God praise.And more importantly, as it related to Gabrielle’s situation, how could she reconcile the kind man Omphile described with the monster who intended to use her unborn child as bait?
Standing, Omphile bent to get the tray from the floor.
