The Pirate's Willing Captive

‘Aye, aye, Captain Sylvester.’

Higgins saluted and left him alone with their patient. Justin smiled. He had given a false name to the bosun when he was first ordered to report for duty. No one knew his true identity and he would never reveal it. He was Sylvester and would now be the captain of a pirate vessel; for he had no doubt that they could take the ship. Justin was not sure that first officer Hendry would be prepared to sail with them as pirates, but he would be given his chance. If he could achieve it, the mutiny would take place with no loss of life, but he accepted that there might be casualties. Facing reality, he understood that he could not ply his trade without some bloodshed, but he would offer a safe passage to the crews of the ships they took. If they refused…Justin’s expression hardened. They would do what was necessary and no more.

He had not asked to be brought on board this ship. Injustice and prejudice had forced him to flee from England, and a press gang had robbed him of his liberty. In time he would part company from the ship and its crew and make his way to France, as he’d planned, but for the moment he was committed to leading the men to the fortunes they all hoped to make.

‘I have had word that Lord Roberts is to send his cousin to escort you to England, daughter,’ Don Miguel Sabatini said. ‘You have had time enough to grieve. Captain Hynes will be here within days. You are to have your possessions packed and be ready to leave.’

‘But am I to have no choice? Supposing I do not like him?’ Maribel’s head went up, her expression defiant.

‘You will obey your husband, as you obey me. I have made my decision, Maribel.’

‘What of my lands here in Spain?’ Maribel had hoped that he had forgotten his plans for her marriage these past six months, but it seemed he had not.

‘You may trust me to administer them for you. Once you are married, they will belong to your husband. He may wish to sell them and I shall await his instructions.’

‘They belong to me. Pablo left them to my care. I do not wish to sell them.’

‘Pablo has no son to inherit. Your new husband will instruct you in his wishes. Perhaps if you please him he will allow you to keep them and send his agents to inspect them.’

Maribel stared at him, mutiny flaring. She was angry that he refused to listen to her plea, but uncertain what she could do. Had Pablo’s father lived, she might have applied to him for help, but her young husband had had no family. She was quite alone and had no influence with anyone; instead, she was at the mercy of her father’s will.

As she left him and went out, wandering to the crest of the hill to look out over the sea, her thoughts were heavy. Even if she denied her father he might send her to England. There was little she could do; her fortune was in her father’s hands. The lawyers had told her it was for the best and she had foolishly signed—but Juanita had been living then and her father had not been so stern…so unforgiving.

Hearing a muffled sound out to sea, Maribel shaded her eyes. The ships were too far out for her to see them properly, but she believed that one was firing on the other. What was going on? She had heard her father complain of the pirates that often attacked merchant ships in Spanish waters. Could it be a pirate vessel—and whose ship was being attacked?

‘We found a rich haul in the holds.’ Higgins grinned at Justin as he swung aboard the Defiance. ‘The captain would not tell us from whence he came, but we found chests of unrefined silver…’

‘From the New World, you think?’

‘It would seem so, Cap’n.’

Justin nodded. Since he had taken command of the ship, putting its master and most of the officers ashore, they had been fortunate and had already taken three rich merchant ships, all of whom had surrendered when the first shot was fired across their bows.

‘They surrendered the ship without a fight. Johnson told me that the crew have no love for the owner of this vessel. They were ordered to kill the slaves who mined the silver for them before they took it aboard and it hath sickened some of them.’

‘That is beyond forgiveness!’ Justin was angry. ‘By God, the man responsible deserves to be taught a lesson!’

‘Don Miguel Sabatini is the owner of the Juanita. He has men whose job it is to run the mines and they do not treat the slaves well. I have heard of him before from crew I met when we went ashore at Cyprus. His name is feared. Once he knows we have attacked his ships we shall be marked men.’

‘We are faster than any Spanish ship, be it man of war or merchantmen,’ Justin said. ‘I do not fear Don Miguel nor yet any Spanish merchant. Only an English fighting ship can challenge us—and thus far we have outrun them all.’

‘Aye, the luck has been with us,’ Higgins agreed. ‘The men think you are their lucky charm, sir.’

‘We have been fortunate so far.’ Justin laughed, feeling a surge of elation. ‘This is the third rich prize we have taken. One more and we shall sail for Cyprus to re-provision and give the men a chance to spend some of their booty.’

‘On wine and women,’ Higgins agreed. ‘For myself I’ll be saving it to invest, perhaps in land in the New World. I had a wife once, but when I returned from a long voyage I found her in bed with her new lover. She wanted a man who was content to live ashore. I needed to feel the wind in my face and the waves beneath me so I left her to it and signed on for a decent master. I’m in no hurry to retire, but when I do I’ll find me a good woman and become a man of property.’

‘A goodly ambition.’ Justin’s eyes revealed no secrets. The austere life at sea had hardened him in body and in mind. Thoughts of his quarrel with his father no longer tortured him. Though he’d not chosen his new life he had become accustomed to it and even relished it at times. ‘Make secure the ship, Higgins. We’ll find shelter in a quiet cove for the night. The look of that sky tells me that there will be a storm before long…’

As the first mate went out, Justin looked at the small chest he had taken from the captain of the captured ship. It was locked, but he prised it open with his knife and looked at the contents. Realising just what he had found, Justin hid the parchment inside his jerkin. If this fell into the wrong hands, it might cause mutiny and endless arguments, even some bloodshed. The map might be worth a fortune, but it would be more trouble than a little. He would keep it hidden for the moment while he decided what he ought to do with the unexpected discovery.

‘Will you not relent and let me stay in Spain, Father?’ Maribel asked one last time before she departed for the ship. ‘I could go to my husband’s house and you need not see me again.’

‘To draw back now would cause offence to Lord Roberts and default on our contract,’ her father said. ‘Go with Captain Hynes. Your future husband has entrusted you to his care and you must forget all that you knew here. Your husband is a man of some stature in England. You should thank me on your knees for arranging such a marriage for you.’

Maribel understood that there was to be no reprieve for her. ‘Very well, sir. I shall obey you.’

She turned away, her face proud and cold. Since there was no help for it she must accept her fate. Samuel Hynes was in the courtyard, waiting for her with the horses. He approached, offering his hand as if he would help her, but she gave her hand to her groom, Rodrigo, and let him put her up on her horse. There was something about Lord Roberts’s cousin that made her distrust him; he had a sly, lascivious gleam in his eyes that made her uncomfortable and she would not have him touch her.

She saw him frown as he turned away. Her maid, Anna, who was to accompany her to England, was taken up behind the groom. They had both chosen to accompany her to her new home for they loved her dearly. It was Anna who had held her when she wept after Juanita’s death, and Rodrigo who had taught her to ride as a child. Knowing that they were with her gave Maribel courage. She was not completely alone. She had people who cared for her—and perhaps in time she would learn to love the man she was to marry.

It was but a short ride to the cove where the ship had anchored. Maribel knew that her father had received bad news about one of his ships recently. The Juanita, which was his flagship, had been attacked and robbed of its cargo by pirates. Having sustained damage, it was in port being repaired. She was to travel on an English ship belonging to Samuel Hynes and understood that the Mistress Susanna was not as large or as well armed as the Juanita.

‘Welcome aboard my ship,’ Samuel Hynes said as he helped her step on deck. ‘I am honoured to have you as a passenger, Donna Maribel. My cousin is a fortunate man. Had I been in his shoes, I would have made the journey myself.’

‘I dare say Lord Roberts has much to concern him with the welfare of his estate and people.’

‘Yes, perhaps. He is often at court. Yet I believe I should have spared the time for a bride as lovely as you, Madonna.’

Maribel lifted her head proudly, her eyes conveying her feeling of scorn. She would not accept his compliments for she did not like or trust him.

‘I believe I shall go to my cabin, sir.’

‘As you wish. I have given up my own so that you may be comfortable, Donna Maribel.’

‘You will address me as Donna Sanchez, if you please.’ Maribel said coldly. ‘I have not yet married Lord Roberts and am still the widow of Don Pablo Sanchez.’

‘Indeed you are, lady.’ Samuel inclined his head respectfully, but there was a glitter of anger in his eyes. ‘Forgive me. One of my men will show you the way.’

He signalled to a cabin boy, who came at a run. He grinned at Maribel and beckoned to her.

‘Come, lady, I will take you to your cabin.’ He hesitated as Maribel did not immediately follow. ‘I don’t speak Spanish, señorita…but you must come or he will be angry…’

Maribel smiled at him, because she sensed his concern. ‘I understand English very well. My mother was English and Juanita thought it right I should speak it as well as my father’s language. As a child I had an English nurse.’

The lad looked at her, but said nothing, glancing back at Captain Hynes as if he feared him. Only when they were in the cabin did he speak again.

‘He would punish me if he heard me say it, lady—but be careful of the captain. I don’t trust him. If what I’ve heard is true, he has tricked you and your father…’

‘What do you mean? How hath he tricked us?’

‘I heard as Lord Roberts lay close to death when this voyage was begun. If ’tis true, Captain Hynes will inherit the estate from his cousin—and you mayhap?’

Maribel turned pale, her head swimming for one terrible moment as she realised what this might mean. She had seen the look of lust in Samuel Hynes’s eyes and felt sick, because she knew that she would be alone in England, apart from her servants, and at the mercy of an unscrupulous man. Hearing the sounds on deck, she understood that they had already begun to cast off. It was too late to go back, and even if she were to return to her home she was not sure that her father would believe her.

As the cabin boy left, Maribel fell to her knees. She began to pull her rosary through her hands, her lips moving in prayer.

‘Save me from this wicked man,’ she whispered. ‘Please God, do not allow me to fall into the hands of such a man—for I believe I should prefer to lie in my grave…’