Night pulled the remainder of light over the horizon and flung glittering stars above, reducing her view of movement on shore to shifting shadows and the dancing flames from a fire.
Omphile emerged from the darkness, a lantern in one hand, and a stack of blankets in the other.She never once acknowledged Gabrielle’s guard but merely plopped to the sand and exclaimed.“Laud, but all my bones ache!”
“I can imagine.From what I saw, you worked hard today and then had to cook.”
The sound of a fiddle rose from the pirates’ camp.
Omphile set down the lantern and reached for Gabrielle.“I’s sure you need to relieve yourself by now, an’ after, we can make our beds for de night.”
With great effort, Gabrielle rose to her feet, pressed her hand on her aching back, and followed the mulatto a short way into the brush.Once the task was completed, they returned to find the pirates’ revelry had increased as shouts accompanied the ribald ditty and off-key singing.
“What happened to the captain’s back?”Gabrielle asked as Omphile shook out the blankets and spread them over the sand.
“You mean his scars?”She shook her head.“Word is he were an indentured servant on Barbados for a few years afore he took to pirating.”
Gabrielle’s heart shrank.“He’s a criminal?”
Omphile laid two more blankets atop the others, forming a soft bed.“This’ll do nice, aye?”
One of the blankets lay skewed slightly from the others, but she resisted the urge to fix it.“Yes, very.Thank you.”Glancing back toward the pirates, she found the captain standing away from the revelry, staring out to sea.“What did he do to deserve such a sentence?”
“I can’t say, Miss.”Omphile put hands on her hips and followed Gabrielle’s gaze to the man.“I hears something to do wit’ a woman an’ a betrayal.He don’t talk about it to me.You might ask Pell.De Captain confides in him.”
From the look the man had given her earlier—one of pity and disgust—she doubted he’d answer her questions.
Gabrielle longed to ask Omphile more, but the lady promptly lay down on the blankets, patted the space beside her for Gabrielle, and closed her eyes.
To Gabrielle’s right, the pirate who’d been guarding her was gone.The warble of night birds joined the lap of waves on shore, bringing a soothing cadence.Or it would, if not for the noise coming from the pirate camp.“How can you sleep with all this discordant clamor?”
“Dems will quiet down soon.Best git some rest, Miss.Only de good Laud knows what tomorrow will bring.”
Struggling to lower herself, Gabrielle eased beside the woman with a huff.She didn’t want to be alone.She had so many questions, and talking to Omphile eased her nerves.But no matter how much she huffed and puffed and groaned, the woman soon fell fast asleep.
Not so for Gabrielle.The sounds of the debauched drunken revelry kept her awake for hours, not to mention the racing of her pulse at what awaited her on the morrow.
???
Cadan, one arm behind his head, lay in the sand staring up at the night sky.A myriad of stars, too many to count, winked at him as if they knew his plan and approved of it.If only that were so.If only whatever God existed beyond those stars was anything like the one his mother had espoused and worshiped.She’d said her God was worth following.But Cadan knew differently.A God worthy of worship would not have allowed his mother to die, would not have allowed the heartache and betrayal and imprisonment that happened to Cadan later on.Hence, the only conclusion he could come to was that either God did not exist or He was not worth knowing.
Which put Cadan as the master of his own destiny.In truth, he liked the sound of that anyway.
A breeze swept over him, stirring his hair and spinning the sand by his arm.The scent of the sea—all salt and fish and freedom—filled his nostrils and made him smile.He was master of this wild sea, had more than proven that as a member of the Brethren of the Coastandto more than one merchant ship.And soon he would prove that to the infamous Damien Allard, only infamous in the blackguard’s own skewed perception.
Once that injustice was corrected, Cadan would find the long-lost treasure of Captain Dempster and with it, create a new life for himself.A life in which he would be counted among the world’s nobility, those with land and wealth and hence, power.He’d long since learned that only those with wealth and power could rule their own destinies.
Snores rumbled behind him, along with the spit of dying embers from the fire.One of the pirates shouted in his sleep, but soon settled down.They were a squawky bunch of thieving barracudas, but most were faithful hands before the mast.Still, they were his to command as long as he kept them drowning in rum and gold.
Pushing himself to sit, he stared over the dark sea beyond the cove where moonlight rippled white lace over waves.Out there, Allard should be setting sail toward this cove.IfCadan’s plan had worked.And what a surprise the man would receive.
Smiling, Cadan pushed to his feet and stretched his back against a pinching ache.He would not be sleeping tonight.Yet, no different from most of his restless nights.Would he ever find peace?His glance wandered to where Omphile and his prisoner slept, but he couldn’t find them in the darkness.What hedidsee was Moses’s large shadow standing before the women, keeping an eye out for intruders as Cadan had ordered.
No sense in both of them not sleeping.
“Get some rest, Moses,” Cadan whispered as he approached the man.
With one quick glance at the women, Moses asked.“You sure, Cap’n?”
“Aye, get to it.”
