He stared at her not saying a word, and she sensed she was saying too much, a bad habit of hers.“Are you quite finished, my lady?”
Thankfully, his tone was more sarcastic than angry.
“’Tis actually quite genius, Captain.”
He rubbed the stubble on his chin.“You confound me.”
“To my advantage or disadvantage?”
“At the moment, it matters not.”He stood.“What is your name?”
“Gabrielle.”
“Nay, your surname?”
She swallowed down a lump of fear.“Bolton.”The lie slid easily enough from her lips, for she surely could not tell him the truth.
“Hmm.”
Wind whipped hair into her face, and she snapped it aside and looked up at him.“I assure you, Captain, whatever trap you lay for Allard, ’twill not work.Whatever you wish from him in exchange for me, he will not give.As I’ve told you, he harbors no affection for me, and I am quite sure neither would he give a care for any child of his.”
A shaft of moonlit filtered through the fronds above and lit his features.Contempt burned in his eyes, and she swallowed a burst of fear.
“I seek no exchange, my lady.The only thing I want from Allard is his dead carcass hanging from my yardarm.”
???
Cadan left the wench more confused than ever.A condition to be expected from most women, he supposed.But this one?She knew a great deal about ships, setting traps, careening, and battles.By her speech and mannerisms, she was highborn.Then how did a noble lady learn so much about pirating?She’d explained his plan to trap Allard with precision.It made no sense.He hadn’t even fully disclosed the details to Pell or Smity.But this lady, watching from afar, had figured it out.Baffling.
The night passed in a slow churn of angst and bewilderment.Cadan’s heavy eyelids had barely closed when the sun christened the horizon with swaths of gray and gold.Wavelets lapped ashore accompanied by the squawk of birds and buzz of insects.He sat and rubbed his eyes.
Today would be the day he’d get his revenge.That or die trying.
Birds swooped and glided over the calm water of the bay, seeking their morning prey.Upon sighting a tasty morsel, they dove into the surf only to emerge moments later, flapping fish in their beaks.
Exactly what he was planning to do.
Struggling to rise, he brushed the sand from his shirt and breeches, grabbed his flintlock and cutlass from the ground and slid them into their scabbards.Then turning, he bellowed for his men to wake up.It took three shouts to stir the sluggards, and Cadan envied their ability to sleep so soundly.
But soon, with Pell and Durwin’s help, the men grabbed their weapons and took positions.Half joined the men manning the cannons at the entrance to the cove and half climbed on board the tilted ship.A few he stationed in the surf by the hull to give the appearance of careening, while a few remained on shore near an open fire.Two men stood at the ready to slice the lines tying the ship to shore, and one man was perched high in a Manchineel tree as a lookout.
Regardless of whether Allard entered the cove or not, Cadan was ready for him.Now, to put the bait on the hook.He started for the women where Moses stood guard.
Soot limped up to him.“Cap’n.Ye seen Hellfire?”
Halting, Cadan growled at his master gunner.“You’re supposed to be manning the guns at the headland,” he seethed out, constraining his temper with difficulty.
The man’s blue eyes skittered about the beach.“But me rabbit.She ne’er runs away.”
If the man wasn’t such a skilled gunner and loyal friend, Cadan would restrict his rum rations for such a ridiculous interruption.But Soot cherished that rabbit as a pirate cherished his gold.In truth, the creature seemed to soothe the gunner’s nerves and settle the twitch in his eye that appeared when he was out of sorts.
A twitch that now began with urgency in his right eye.
Regardless, Cadan opened his mouth to chastise him and send him off when Soot’s eyes widened, and he grinned.
Following his gaze, Cadan watched as Lady Fox—for that was the name he’d given her—waddled toward them, Hellfire snug in her arms.Moses and Omphile, her arms full of blankets, followed behind her.
She promptly stopped before Soot, glanced down at the rabbit and scratched the vermin between the ears.Then handing her to Soot, she said, “I believe she is yours?”
