“If I knew being at war could have these kinds of rewards I would have started one on my own!”
Mike stopped in his tracks. “At war?” he asked incredulously. “Since when?”
“Where have you been? We’ve been at war since June eighteenth. I’m surprised you didn’t meet up with any of their ships. Isaac Hull already had a run in with theGuerrière.TheConstitutionwon it too!”
“You know it,” called another of the men, “but don’t worry about that! With the kind of cargo you’ve been carrying you probably didn’t have time to worry about the Brits!”
Every man on theConcordknew the significance of June eighteenth. Anger swelled inside them as they realized they could have pursued theFollansbeethemselves and Alexis would have had her revenge. They returned their attention to the men on shore. The anger they felt was demanding to be released and their targets were waiting on the dock.
Mike and Frank moved down the plank carelessly, enjoying hiding their purpose a little longer, and approached the group of men.
“Tell us, Mike,” one of them said. “About the woman. Where did they take her? Is Madame Carlton finally getting a few whores with class?”
“I don’t think I heard what you said, sailor,” Mike said calmly.
The young tar was unaware of the danger associated with Mike’s forced calm, or he would have backed down instead of foolishly repeating himself. He was barely through with the statement when Mike’s right fist made further speech impossible.
The man who said, “What’s it to you, Mike?” found himself plummeting to the water as a result of Frank Springer’s actions.
Taking their cue from Mike and Frank the other men aboard theConcordcame running off the ship to take on anyone who so much as dared to look at them.
When it was over, almost as abruptly as it had begun, Mike sported a swollen eye and a cut lip. He surveyed his mates and found most of them nursing some wound. The unfortunate sailors who had managed to say the wrong things at absolutely the worst time were in no better shape. Mike could do nothing but laugh at their folly.
“Hey Frank!” he called between gasps. “What do you suppose the captain would say, seeing us now?”
Frank shrugged, grinning. “Which captain, Mike?”
This brought fresh laughter from theConcordcrew and nothing but blank looks from the defeated men. Mike helped one of them up. “I’m not going to apologize,” he told them. “But I will buy you a drink.” The rest of the crew followed Mike’s example and in a short while they had relieved their remaining tensions in a few rounds at the nearest tavern. The other sailors thought theConcordmen remained strangely quiet about the woman they’d brought to Washington, and no amount of liquor would loosen their tongues. They forgot about the woman eventually and contented themselves with bringing theConcordcurrent on affairs. Mike and the others listened quietly to the news of the first month of war, all of them wondering how Alexis would receive it when she was informed.
Chapter 11
Harry slowly wound the wagon through the streets while Alexis took in the sights.
“It’s not much, Captain,” she said. “Muddy. Cheap boardinghouses. Dull. I expected it to be bright.”
Cloud chuckled. “It’s a new city. Newer than the country. Those boardinghouses you call cheap are where most of the senators and representatives stay when they are in Washington. A lot of important decisions are made in those houses.”
“Is that where I am going to meet the President?”
“No, I doubt that. Mr. Madison has a pleasant home. So do Howe and Davidson. We’ll probably be going to one of their places.”
“Good. I have no intention of conducting business in squalor any more than I will discuss it during dinner.”
“You seem so surprised by everything. I thought you had been here before.”
“I’ve been here twice since I started searching for Travers,” she told him. “But I never left my ship. Too dangerous.” She smiled at Cloud and he returned it warmly when he saw her eyes were full of a pleasant memory. She winked at him. “I thought I might be captured by a certain naval officer.”
“And so you have been,” he answered.
“For now.” It was Harry who spoke, taking his eyes off the road for a moment in order to glance back at them. “How long are you really with us this time, Captain Danty?”
Alexis and Cloud both laughed.
“Do you see what I am up against?” Cloud asked her. “Harry doesn’t just speak for himself. My men don’t expect you to be at my home when they arrive there this evening. Landis and I expect you to leap out of this wagon at any moment.”
Alexis did not hear what he said. Her eyes were riveted to a handbill posted on a tavern wall. “Stop this wagon, Harry!” she cried. Without waiting for him to do as she commanded she scrambled to her feet, easily avoiding Cloud’s outstretched hands, and leaped over the side. She fell as she hit the ground, her balance strained. Before Cloud could catch her she was running toward the tavern. Harry started to pursue her but Landis’s hand on his wrist stopped him.
Landis pointed to the notice Alexis was studying intently and said, “She’s not going anywhere, Harry.”
