Moses scrunched his nose as if he smelled something foul.“I would not say dat, Miss, if I was you.”
“Then tell him I’m not feeling well.”
Moses’s expression remained stoic, though his eyes drifted to Omphile and then to the book still in her hands.Sunlight angled in through the window and landed on a mark on his neck, peeking above his ever-present scarf.A brand?Aye, it had to be, for no doubt Moses had once been a slave.She tried not to stare, but it looked like a lion in the center of a shield.
“Do you have time now?”Omphile asked him, to which he nodded, the first flicker of excitement crossing his eyes.
Gabrielle stared between them.“Time for what?”
Omphile bit her lip and studied Gabrielle.“Don’t tell no one, but I’s teaching Moses to read.”
Gabrielle’s brows shot up.“Indeed?And where didyoulearn such a skill?”
“My last benefactor, afore he became violent, taught me.Wanted an educated servant to hep run his estate.”
The deck shifted and Moses put a hand on the bulkhead.
“I won’t say a word.I think it’s marvelous.”Gabrielle’s thoughts drifted to Jackson, a freed slave on her father’s ship.Her mother had taught him to read, and it had opened up the world to him.Still, some of the crew had protested against a Negro being educated.“Surely, this does not please some of the pirates.”
“Which is why I teach him in private.”Omphile shared a loving glance with Moses.
“Stay here, then.”Gabrielle said.“I can rest while you read.”
Moses offered a rare smile and managed to lower himself to the floor as Omphile opened the book.
Hence, Gabrielle lay back down and slowly drifted to sleep to the words ofThe Pilgrim’s Progress.
???
Before the lady even arrived, Cadan was full of rage.First of all, how dare she deny his invitation as if she were some princess sitting in her palace and he a mere courtier?He had put a quick end to that by threatening her should she not make an appearance.Now, she was late.Verylate.And his men were getting deep in their cups awaiting her arrival.He’d throw himself to the devil before he wasted any more time waiting for a female.
Sipping his port, Cadan raised his hand for the two pirates standing off to the side to fetch the food from the galley when the door creaked open and in strode Lady Fox herself—more like waddled—one hand on her back and one hand at her throat as if the thought of having dinner with him was already making her nauseous.Her lustrous blue eyes glanced over each of his crew sitting at the table, then at the table itself, set with pewter plates, silverware, fine glassware, and flickering candles, and finally onto him before she proceeded to the empty chair to his right.
She wore a faded but clean gown of purple trimmed in lace, that spread out from her waist over her enormous belly.The curves of her breasts peeked over a tight bodice, and he found himself wondering what her figure looked like before…Scads!What was he thinking?
Pell rose from his seat and pulled out her chair, which earned him a smile.A twinge of envy caused Cadan to pour more port into his glass.
“Forgive my tardiness, gentlemen,” she said with the grace of a woman attending a soiree.“I fear my condition oft slows me down.”
His men stared at her, confused.No doubt they’d had little dealings with genteel ladies.
Cadan had.And he’d vowed never again to be fooled by the polished, mannerly exterior that so oft hid a deceptive, cruel interior.After sending his men to bring the food, he introduced his crew to her.Smity, his boson, Durwin, his first mate, Pell, his quartermaster, Soot his master gunner with Hellfire in his arms, and Moses, his carpenter and surgeon.
The lady nodded and smiled at each one, though he could tell from her expression, she’d rather be anywhere but here.
Why had he invited her?He sipped his drink as two of his men brought in platters of food and set them on the table—fresh biscuits, peas, rice, and a plate of roasted fish.The savory scents moistened his mouth, but he found he had little appetite.
He had been trained by his mother and father to treat women well, to honor the weaker sex.Surely that was the cause of his present madness.Or perhaps ’twas her little snooty nose she kept lifting in the air that made him want to prove to her that he and his crew were not savages.
There was, however, the slight possibility that she had been ravished, in which case, she deserved more care than he’d thus far shown her.
The ship crested a wave, shifting plates over the table and serenading them with the creak and groan of its timbers.
His men leapt upon the food like starving pigs at a trough, grabbing biscuits, shoving spoonfuls of peas onto their plates and making a muck of things in the process.It never bothered Cadan before, but as he watched Lady Fox cringe at the display, he hated the flush of embarrassment that passed through him.
Only Pell waited for the initial onslaught to cease before he served himself, and Cadan always wondered if the man was praying a blessing over the food.
The preacher passed Lady Fox a bowl of steaming rice, and after she declined, he handed it to Cadan.Grabbing it, he plopped a spoonful onto her plate.
