“You’d better do as she asks, Captain. I assure you she can handle that pistol,” Pauley said. He did not notice George wince at the sight of Alexis holding what he knew to be an unloaded weapon.
The men looked to Travers for guidance.
“Keep your pistols,” he ordered them. “She can only fire once with that thing and I doubt she’s as handy with it as he says.”
“Would you like to discover that for yourself, Captain?” Alexis responded evenly. “After all, I have it trained at your head. Now, tell your men to drop their weapons and leave. We have no use for your kind on this island.”
Alexis was so intent on Travers that she failed to notice one of his men sideling closer to her. George did and he fired. The shot caught the seaman in his leg, causing him to fall toward Alexis. She tried to move out of his way but he grabbed the hem of her shift and she lost her balance, falling to the ground and dropping her pistol. The others were on her in a moment and Pauley and George had to stand by, afraid to fire for fear of hitting her.
Alexis struggled in vain to be free of them. When she was standing before Travers he grabbed her by the hair at the nape of her neck and twisted it hard. His eyes revealed surprise when she did not show any signs of pain. She stared at him coldly, contemptuously, and when he turned away from her gaze he did not know he was not the first to do so.
“Well, Quinton? I seem to have caught a lovely prize here. Your daughter?” He hid his confusion as both Pauley and George acknowledged the girl as his own. He did not care to whom the hoyden belonged, as long as she could get him what he wanted. “Drop your pistols and we won’t hurt her. All I want is your agreement to serve.”
“Don’t you dare do it!” Alexis called to them. “He has no right! I’ll hate you if you do it.”
Both men understood what Alexis meant and they gripped their weapons more tightly.
Travers could not comprehend the situation. The girl should be begging for mercy, yet instead she seemed more than willing to be punished for her insolence. And even more confounding, the two men seemed willing to let that happen.
“Tie her up,” the captain ordered. He barked the command again when his men were slow to respond. As Alexis’s hands were pulled roughly behind her and bound, he asked George once more, “Have you reached a decision? Are you coming with us or do I have to punish the girl for your reluctance?”
George and Pauley exchanged glances. Neither believed Travers could go through with such madness. They looked at Alexis, but she was glaring at the captain and did not turn in their direction. They only had two shots left against six men and they each made the same decision: to see what the next few minutes had in store for them.
At the same time, Cloud decided he and his men could not wait any longer. They’d heard Travers’s threat and fully believed he would carry it out. At Cloud’s signal they began their separate approaches. Allen chose to use surprise to cover the others’ positions and charged out of the trees screaming like a banshee in the direction of the house. He didn’t go far. One of Travers’s men picked him off, but the confusion that followed was enough to give Pauley and George the chance they needed.
Pauley fired first, catching Travers in the arm and knocking the gun out of his hand. The force of the slug sent the captain to the ground, but in his wisdom, or his cowardice, he had the presence of mind to grab Alexis and use her to shield his body. George fired off a shot that narrowly missed Alexis as she struggled to be free of Travers’s icy grip.
Two of the British seamen were pursuing Landis and Briggs, who had been sighted in spite of Allen’s effort as they were nearing the house from the back. As another shot was fired, George leaped toward Travers in a desperate bid to free Alexis. He was stopped in midair by a shot that sent him to the ground with a sickening thud.
Alexis cried out as George dropped to the grass only a few feet in front of her. She knew he was dead even before his body hit the hard earth. Pauley started to move forward, but he stopped when one of the men pointed his pistol at Alexis’s head. He held his position, rooted to the spot he stood in.
Peering over the edge of the cliff from Alexis’s crow’s nest, Cloud was met by the grim sight of Landis being dragged, unconscious, toward the front of the house. He knew then that Allen and Briggs were probably dead. He had decided to make his approach on the cliff side, using the same path he had seen Alexis use earlier. But she had made it appear far simpler than it was, and the delay had cost dearly.
Icy rage gripped him as he raised his pistol toward the man who had a weapon directed at Alexis. He fired. He knew a bitter satisfaction when the man clutched his head and fell to the ground.
Astonishment held Pauley rigid for a moment longer, then he forgot everything but his immediate purpose. He cared little for the fact that the sailors had pulled out their cutlasses or that they had anticipated his move. He wanted Travers.
He ran toward the group and pulled Alexis off the captain, then he fell on him, twisting his collar. Pauley lifted the man’s head and repeatedly banged it to the ground.
Cloud watched as the other men surrounded Pauley, weapons ready. He scrambled over the edge of the cliff and fired but Alexis was on her feet by this time and she lunged at him. The shot that was meant for Cloud’s heart found its target along his hairline and the captain slipped into darkness.
Alexis was at a loss to explain the presence of any of the men who seemed to have made it their business to help. As she saw the tall, lean man whose life she had tried to save, fall to the ground, she was filled with an anger so intense it momentarily frightened her. She tried to get to her feet again but because of her bound hands her movements were awkward and she was sent reeling back to the ground by a well-placed boot in her stomach.
Powerless to stop what was happening, she watched in horror as Pauley was lifted from Travers and thrown to the ground. One of the men was ready to shove his blade into Pauley’s chest when Travers’s moans halted him. Alexis could hardly believe the man was still alive. His arm was bleeding heavily and his head was cut in a number of places. He staggered to his feet, dazed and disoriented.
“Don’t kill him yet. We need some answers first.” His voice became louder and harsher as he composed himself. Alexis thought the anger in his cold eyes could only be matched by the fury in her own. He seemed oblivious to the pain he had to be feeling.
Travers walked over to Pauley and took the sword from the seaman who was standing over him. “Who are those men who tried to get to you? How many more are there?”
Pauley narrowed his eyes and stared at the captain. He did not know any more than Travers but he wasn’t about to explain that. He remained silent.
Travers moved the point of the cutlass up Pauley’s chest and let it rest at his throat. He pressed lightly until the skin broke and he could see tiny rivulets of blood coming from the opening. “Who are those men? How many more are there?” Pauley chose not to answer again and Travers motioned his men to begin a search. “One of you take the girl in the house and tie up the other woman in there. I’ve had all I can stand from meddling females today.” He grinned at Alexis as she was forced past him. His smile faded when she spit on his boots.
Alexis was pushed into the house and forced into a chair in the dining room.
“Where’s the other woman?” the seaman asked her.
Alexis shrugged her shoulders. She glanced around the room. Francine seemed to have disappeared. Alexis hoped she had gotten away and into town for help. Her eyes stopped at the sight of Francine’s shoes peeking out from beneath the heavy gold drapes. She looked quickly away but her captor had already seen her hesitation and he approached the window cautiously.
