“At least you’ve stopped most of the bleeding. Do the best you can for now. I’m going to get some of her things so we can take them to the ship along with her. I’ll bring the bodies in here and leave it to someone in town to bury them. We just can’t take the time now.”
Cloud quickly searched the bedrooms until he found Alexis’s; then he took the things he wanted. He placed dresses, undergarments, shoes, and jewelry into a satchel, then took it to the front entrance. Afterward he dragged the bodies into the house, placing George’s and Francine’s together, with Pauley’s nearby. Next he brought in the man he had killed and the one Travers had murdered. He found Allen and Briggs out back and he pulled them through the servants’ entrance. He did not have time to consider what had happened to the Quintons’ servants. He only knew their absence had saved their lives. When he finished he went back to Landis and told him it was time to leave.
“Just a few more minutes, Tanner. I’ve got to get these bandages around her and it is damned hard since I can’t turn her over.”
“I’ll help.” Cloud sat down on the edge of the sofa and together they lifted Alexis’s unconscious form to a sitting position. Cloud stripped away the remainder of the shift that covered her shoulders and breasts. He forced himself not to recall how lovely she was beneath her matted hair and bloodstained face. As Landis wound the strips of cloth around her, her breasts brushed against his chest and Cloud caught himself thinking that if none of this had ever happened today he would still have found a way to take her from her husband and would never have let her return to the island. He would have made love to her until neither of them could go on or would want to. When he looked up Landis was staring at him.
“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” he asked as he completed the wrapping.
“Yes. Very.”
“Can an old man give his captain some advice?”
“When the old man is you, he can.”
“You’re not going to like it, and I don’t expect you to take it, but here it is anyway.” He stood up and washed his hands in the basin. Drying them off on his trousers, he said, “Don’t bring her with us. You heard what she said on the cliff before she fainted. If she lives she will want to be here, not aboardHamilton.”
“You really think she’ll go through with it?”
“I do. Do you remember that Travers threatened to punish her earlier if her father and her husband didn’t lay down their weapons?” Cloud nodded. “Then remember what she told them. She screamed she would hate them if they did as Travers ordered. And they held their pistols.”
“They were fools.”
“I don’t think so,” Landis answered. “The girl was willing to make a sacrifice for the people she loved most in the world. In her mind her act had ceased to be a sacrifice and she would have despised them for not accepting what was hers alone to offer.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Only this. If you take her on board and stop her from leaving when she decides she has to go, she’ll hate you also.”
“Christ, John, you talk as if I am going to keep her on the ship forever. We’re going to take her to Washington, where she can make some kind of new life for herself. Maybe Boston. My sister would care for her. She can’t stay here.”
“And I’m saying that is not a decision you can make for her.”
Alexis moaned softly and her head fell limply against Cloud’s shoulder.
“This girl’s not in any condition to make decisions for herself. You’re right; I am not going to take your advice.”
Landis shrugged and ran his fingers through his short silver beard.
“Come on. Let’s get her out of here before she wakes up,” Cloud urged.
Landis helped him get Alexis to her feet then he let his captain sling her over his shoulder. “Easy, Tanner. She’s not baggage.”
Cloud nodded. “I know, but she’s not as light as she appears either. I’ll start toward the ship while you get her things. Meet me on the beach.”
Landis watched Cloud leave with the girl securely in his arms. She intrigued him too. He could understand his captain’s fascination with her. If he were thirty years younger he would do what Tanner was doing now. Thirty years ago he would have had the strength to put up with the demands a woman such as she would place on him. She had not made her vows lightly. She had a powerful rage burning inside her. He did not think that kind of rage could be dismissed by taking her away from Tortola. As he followed with the girl’s belongings, he wondered if his friend had given any thought to her second oath. He should have. If she lived Tanner was going to find himself a victim of it.
On boardHamiltonCloud gave the order to sail, ignoring his crew’s curious stares as he took his unconscious burden to his cabin.
He unwrapped the bandages around Alexis, pulling at them gently to prevent any more bleeding. When that was finished he washed the rest of her, discarding her ruined clothing. He made new bandages, and after he applied an ointment to her cuts, he put them on her. He pulled a sheet over her nakedness; then washed the dried blood from her hair. Afterwards he used his fingers to untangle the knotted mass of gold and brushed it all to one side to keep it from wrapping around her throat while she slept. When he was satisfied he could do no more for her, he left her alone and went on deck to make sure everything was proceeding smoothly.
It wasn’t. Landis was trying his best to explain the events that had just taken place, and he was not doing it very well. The crew was outraged at the loss of two of their mates and even more so by the inhuman treatment of the girl. Some of his men had had the distinct misfortune to have sailed with Travers and they counted themselves lucky to have escaped impressment.
“Captain Cloud?” asked Harry Young, who was familiar with Travers’s discipline. “The girl? Is she going to live?” His usual lopsided grin had vanished in response to the concern and anger he was feeling. He pulled nervously at the dark brown hair curling at his ear, thinking about his years on Travers’s ship. His face aged drastically, just remembering Travers’s cold, black eyes.
“I don’t know, Harry,” Cloud said quietly. He understood what the man was going through. Hadn’t he felt the same way when he saw the ship? “She’s strong. She might pull through.”
“Yeah,” Tom Daniels added. “Mr. Landis has been telling us how she stood up to Travers. She’s got to be strong.” His Georgia drawl was as soothing to hear as his words.
