Jaded Tides (The Razor's Adventures Pirate Tales) (5 page)

“We all carry a shield, Ivory, but perhaps if you could more carefully choose who you were defending yourself from and stop knocking down those who love you, especially Rasmus, they might pick up that shield and carry it for you sometimes.”

Cassandra’s eyes were glistening, and as always, she spoke so eloquently to my heart that I knew she was right. I removed the hat from my head and lumbered to my bed and sat down. Since I’d met Rasmus, I’d been a bear, and as much as I loved him and needed him, I wondered if he really knew it. The full head of angry steam I’d carried with me upstairs had been turned down to a simmer, and I undressed, put on my night clothes, and climbed into bed. Sleep did not come easily, but it did come. I clutched my pillow closely and longed for my husband’s big, strong arms.

Five

JUST BREATHE

Somewhere in the darkest hour of the night, I was awakened by Keara lightly shaking me. “What is it, Ke? Is everything all right?” I asked as I sat up and reached for my blade.

“Yes, but you have a visitor. I can’t believe you didn’t hear the pecking of the pebbles,” she whispered and tossed her head toward the open window.

I rushed from the bed and leaned out to find my love standing below me in the half moonlight. His hands rested on his hips, and his head tilted back as his smile beamed up at me. I’d missed him so much I thought my heart would rupture at the sight of him standing there at what felt like a million miles away. I had to touch him and hold him in my arms that very instant.

“Don’t you move!” I shouted down to him in a whisper and flew from the room, down the stairs, and out the back door so fast I tripped over my nightgown and stumbled down the back porch steps. He caught me just before I landed flat on my face in the grass.

“Now don’t ye be mad at me, little Razor,” he said as he lifted me to my feet.

I gazed upon him dressed all in black but for his white shirt sleeves, which billowed out from the shoulders of his waistcoat. His silver buttons and trim shined, and as always, his brown leather belt and baldric were heavy with weapons. He wore a large, black cavalier upon his head with one white plume tucked in the band that fluttered lightly in the breeze as he swept it from his head.

I found no words. All I could do was stare at this marvel of a man who’d had the crazy notion to call me his wife. He still held my hands as I stood like a sapling tree gazing up at a mighty oak. My heart pounded in my chest, and I could barely breathe. I didn’t know what had come over me, but I knew I wasn’t letting him get away. “I…I,” I stuttered.

“Are ye walking in yer sleep, love?” he asked me as he let go of my hands and removed his baldric and laid it over the saddle of his horse.

I’d been afraid to throw myself on him at the risk of injury on his weapons, but with them now out of the way, I rushed him and pressed my face to his chest. His arms pulled me into him until I felt completely enveloped by his embrace. Again, his scent, mixed with the bergamot essence, filled my senses with desire for him, but for this moment, his big body draped tightly around me was all my heart needed or wanted.

“I’ve come to tell ye about Robertson,” he leaned to my ear and said, low and soft.

“I don’t want to talk about that tonight. I don’t want to talk at all, if we don’t have to,” I turned my face up at him and whispered.

He stroked my scruffy hair and pressed his lips against my forehead.  Then, he reached down, slid his arm behind my knees, and lifted me. “Where are we going?” I asked him as I tied my hands around his neck.

“You’re going back to bed, lass,” he said as he carried me onto the porch.

“No, please! Please don’t leave me, Rasmus. I missed you terribly. I don’t think I could stand a night without you ever again,” I pleaded with him as he set me to my feet on the porch.

“Hush now, lass. You’ll wake the whole house. What’s come over ye?”

“I know you didn’t come here and toss pebbles at my window to just send me back off to bed like a child and…you haven’t even kissed me yet,” I whimpered as I wrapped my arms around his waist and held on.

“Wait, now,” he said.  He leaned back and lifted my face by the chin and examined it closely. “I know it’s dark out here, but is this my wife?  The wild and feisty woman who scarred my back with her passion and bosses me ‘round like a cabin boy?” He gave me that half-smile and wink that drove me over the edge of self-control. I leapt at him, pulling that sweet smile into my mouth until he snatched me around the waist and lifted me off my bare feet.

  When our lips parted, I whispered, “I love you, and I hope I haven’t been a ridiculous fool.” I hung from his neck as if I were dangling overboard and he was my lifeline. “Honest, I don’t mean to be; I just am sometimes.”

“Ye worry too much. I’m here, aren’t I? I’m not going anywhere…as if I could,” he said over a weighty sigh and put me down on the porch. “Get in there and get dressed. Yer my wife, and I’ll not sleep a wink without ye curled up against me.”

“But where are we going?” I asked as I hung from him with my hands clasped tightly beneath his ponytail.

“I told ye. You’re going back to bed,” he whispered and slid my arms from around his neck. “Seems crazy to have built ye a nice place like the one at the cove and rent a room in town, but that’s just what I’ve done. I figure we’ll need a place nearby to rest our heads and be together when we can’t get over to the house. Now, go and get dressed. Me and Esmerelda here will be waiting.” As I turned to run inside, Rasmus snatched me by my hand, pulled me back, and swept me into his arms again. His hands cupped the sides of my head, and he crashed his mouth onto mine, instantly stealing what breath I had left.

His kiss never failed to leave me light-headed and weak, and this time, I didn’t fight it. I welcomed that molten response within me that started in my head and poured down through my body like a waterfall of fire. “Razz, let me go. Every moment we spend here is a moment I’m not lying next to you in your arms.”

I pushed off from him, nearly stumbling over my trembling legs, and raced inside the house. When I returned, he was already waiting in his saddle. I ran to him, and he snatched me by the arm and pulled me into his lap. I leaned back into him and let out a swooning sigh as Esmerelda trotted off into the night.  

“How is it that I’ve hardly slept at all, and yet I feel so relaxed?” I asked as I stretched and squirmed beneath the deep-red silk sheets of our beautiful room at the Maison de Fleur. Rasmus was naked to his waist and standing between two open French doors, as a breeze filled with warm sea air blew past him and flowed over the bed until it brushed against my bare shoulders.

“I can see the
Jade
from here,” he said. “Come take a look.”

I slid my legs over the side of the bed and pulled the sheet around me as I stood and held it closed at my breasts. As I stepped behind him, I kissed him lightly on his shoulder, and he wrapped one big arm around my waist.     

  “I’ve ordered our breakfast to be brought up. Are ye ready to talk now?” he asked, sweeping my bangs across my forehead.

“I certainly am, and I’m hungry too,” I said, rising onto my toes for a kiss.

Once our food arrived, I poured us a cup of tea and even filled his plate for him before sitting down to my own. Oddly, it felt completely natural, all of the sudden, to do little things like this for him. I loved the look in his eyes as he watched me. They were filled with pleasant surprise, and dare I say, what appeared to be pride that I’d extended the notion to please him beyond our bed.

“Robertson has accepted our offer, and we’ll be ready to sail by tomorrow. The provisions will be brought aboard today, and I’ll be meeting with him this afternoon aboard the
Jade
to plot our course for the
Virginia Belle
.”

“Oh, Razz!” I shouted. “You’ve done it. You’ve done it all.” I dropped my fork and leapt from my seat with joy and then flew to him and embraced him tightly.

He pulled me into his lap and said, “It’s a bittersweet bit of news, but yes, we are as ready as we’ll ever be. This is all for ye, little Razor. We still need to go over the plans, so finish your breakfast, and I’ll fill ye in on how we’re planning to run this hunt. And for God’s sake, put on your robe, or my breakfast will spoil before I get around to eating it.” He winked.

Once we’d bathed and dressed, Rasmus told me that, along with the ship’s new name, came new articles of agreement, new crew positions, and the need for several votes we still hadn’t taken yet. Although after the commandeering and subsequent sinking of
Thunder Cay,
the crew had unanimously voted him as Captain, as well as accepted the articles, there was the matter of the mission being transparent; but not without the inclusion of a more tangible reward for their duties.

“We’ll be hunting these ships as pirates, lass. We’ll be running these missions as hunts and as such, we’ll be conducting them in the same fashion as any pirate ship.”

“So, what you’re telling me is we’ll be robbing these ships as well as rescuing the girls,” I said. I only wanted clarification and nothing more. The manner in which we conducted our recovery of the girls made no difference to me. If we’d have to rob them in order to keep our crew supplied and paid as well, then rob them we shall.

“Yes. It isn’t necessarily what I’d have wanted, but it’s the only way for us to cover our true purpose, as well as keep our crew fed and happy.”

“Razz, you know as well as I do how most of these men conduct themselves in the company of women. How do we know we can trust them? I’ve become acquainted with many of them while we worked on restoring the
Jade
and believe me, I’ve been privy to more conversations than I cared to.”

“It’s all part of the bargain, lass. As ye saw when you signed the new articles, they’ve made their mark in agreement that they’ll not touch a hair on those girls’ heads, lest they be shot. As long as these fellas will be filling their pockets with gold, as per our bargain, I feel secure in knowing we’ll not have any issues.”

“There’s always at least one, though.” I frowned.

“Aye, and let that one do his worst, for he will be made an example to the rest.”

When the time came for Rasmus to again meet with Robertson and Master Green, I hung back a while before going down to the ship myself. I’d spent the time going back to the Chandler’s to retrieve everything I’d need to take with me aboard the ship for our journey. My stomach was turning over like a wheel on a rickety cart, but it was caused by the excitement of knowing we were ready. For a change, I wasn’t the slightest bit frightened or anxious. Every thumping heartbeat I felt was like a drum marching me into battle.

“Ivory, you must be even the smallest bit afraid, aren’t you?” Miranda asked. The girls were watching me as I rushed about, stuffing things into my duffle.

“Don’t forget your book, Ivory. I’m sure you’ll want something to read,” Cass said.

“Thank you, but I doubt with so much work to do I’ll be able to hold my eyes open at night long enough to read,” I answered. I was doing my utmost not to worry them. Any chatter of fighting or danger I swept aside for more lighthearted discussion, such as reminding them of upcoming church functions that I hoped they’d attend, and how I expected to hear all about them when I returned.

“I’d rather go with you,” Keara grumbled. “I know I wouldn’t pass well as a man at my size, but someday you’re going to have your own ship, Ivory, and when you do, I’ll be at your side every time you set foot on her.”

I tied my duffle closed and turned to her and said, “I know you will, and I couldn’t imagine anyone, including me, could stop you.”

I was packed, dressed, and ready to set sail as Ivan. The girls walked me out to the stable, and as I mounted Peppi for the last time, I smiled down at them and made them promise not to worry about me. “You know I’ll be back, so stop your sniveling. I’m leaving Cassandra in charge, so don’t give her any guff, or you’ll have me to answer to when I return.”

“We’ll miss you,” Cass said, reaching up and taking my hand.

With a nod and a grin, off I flew to the
Lady Jade
.

Six

A NEEDLE AND THREAD

Throughout those two months working aboard the
Jade
, Rasmus had also required that I learn doctoring. Although I wasn’t a fully qualified doctor, I was the closest they could hope to come to one. I’d been schooled by an elderly physician by the name of Seamus McGraw, who, although sightless in one eye and confined to a chair for most of his days now, was not only an excellent teacher but storyteller as well.

I met with him on Sundays after church at his home. He no longer practiced medicine, but he’d been the Chandler’s family doctor for nearly twenty years before losing the sight in his left eye and most of the use of his legs due to a hard fall from a horse. His snow white hair and brogue told me before he did that he’d come from somewhere in Ireland. Although he’d lost his wife several years before, he’d managed to secure the services of a lovely young Jamaican woman who he referred to as his daughter. Her skin was the shade of tea with a splash of cream, and her eyes were a honey brown. I wondered if perhaps calling her his daughter was more than simply his appreciation of her doting care.

Doctor McGraw hadn’t lost his sense of humor and often teased me about being such a young fellow to take on a task as weighty as medicine, but he admired my long, nimble fingers, despite my callouses. In those two months, between his lengthy stories of gruesome wounds, infection and disease, he managed to impart to me basic medicine that he believed was sufficient to assist me aboard a ship. I’d, of course, not informed him of the nature of the ship’s business or possible injuries I’d be required to tend, but I could properly clean and stitch a wound, amputate a limb, and address basic stomach ailments and abrasions. Of course, stitching and removing splintered wood I was already familiar with.

On the final day of my brief education, Doctor McGraw had gifted me a medical kit to rival his own. It was far too much to carry, so he told me he’d have it delivered to the ship for me by nightfall. Bandages, a mortar and pestle, and even a saw for amputations were included, as well as some herbal remedies for everything from boils to pink eye. He’d even included a frightening looking instrument used for pulling bad teeth and told me sailors always needed a tooth pulled. Most importantly, he gifted me a copy of his personal medical instruction book which I did carry with me, as well as a sewing kit for my personal use—not that I certainly wasn’t well acquainted with pulling things together with a needle and thread.

I paid him and thanked him, and as I made my way out the door of his home for the last time, he called me back with one final word of advice that had nothing to do with doctoring; stay out of the brothels. “You can catch the worst sort of diseases in those places. Find ye a nice girl, laddie.”

If he only knew.

After leaving Peppi at the stable and paying a boy to take her back home, I slung my duffle over my shoulder and walked the remaining hundred yards or so to the
Jade.
The ship was still being loaded with supplies, and Master Green was ordering the sailors about. When he caught my eye, he shook his head and waved me aboard.

“Mister Razor, do you yet have your orders?” he asked me as I dropped my duffle at my feet.

“Master Green, good evening. Yes, I’m to report to the surgery and set up my bunk there.”

“You’ll have a small separate sleeping area for obvious reasons. You are also to report to the chef. The Captain has ordered that when you are not tending to the sick or injured, you will be assisting the chef in preparing meals and serving.”

“I’m what? Why? I don’t know the first thing about cooking,” I said, raising my voice.

“Mister Razor, a word with you please,” Master Green said. He tossed me my duffle and escorted me to the surgery. There was no one within a close enough distance to overhear our exchange of words. “You are fortunate that the Captain has even granted you the privilege of being on this ship. The first thing you will learn today is that you never, ever disobey an order from the Captain. I am his eyes and ears when he is not around; you should know that I am also his voice. Therefore, you shall not disobey an order I give you on his behalf. Do you understand?”

Master Green leaned over me and conveyed his message through his glowing eyes as well as his words. I didn’t intend to cause any trouble on this voyage, and I backed down and obeyed my quartermaster. “Yes. I understand,” I said and lowered my eyes. “I’ll do whatever Rasmus orders me to do, whether it comes from you or from him.”

“Good. Now, I’ve taken the liberty of having your medical supplies placed in here for you, and there is also everything that was left here from the previous man who occupied this position.”

“Thank you. Doctor McGraw said he would have the chest he put together for me sent down. I’m pleased to know that it arrived.” I turned and surveyed the area that I’d be calling home while at sea. “I think I can manage this by myself, Master Green, and I don’t want to keep you from your work.”

“Is everything all right in here?” I heard Rasmus say, and I spun around to face the doorway. My heart instantly raced, and the breath blew from my lungs at the sight of him.

“Yes, Captain. Everything is fine. I was just showing Mister Razor the surgery and the adjoining cabin where he’d be bunking,” Master Green said and then excused himself back to his work.

Rasmus’s blue eyes stared me down, his hands on his hips and his thumbs hooked in his belt. He wore a smoky gray surcoat trimmed with black embroidery at the cuffs. The curls and swirls of some tailor’s fine work weaved their way down the front of either side of the fine garment and then wrapped around the bottom hem. Underneath, he wore his black waistcoat, white shirt, and black breeches tucked neatly into his boots. On his head was that fine black cavalier with the white feather. He was so striking I could barely stand still. I cupped my hands together tightly behind me to keep them from touching him.

  “I’ll need to organize a bit, Captain, but she’s a tidy and well put together space. I’m certain I’ll make myself at home here.” I glanced away and down at the floor when I heard him take a deep breath, and I looked up from under my hat.

“I’m sure you will, Razor. I suppose Master Green has also informed you of your other duties?” he asked, lowering his right brow as the other rose.

“Yes, sir, he did. I’ll report to the chef as soon as I’m finished here…if that is agreeable to you?” I unclenched my hands and brought them around to my sides as the discussion settled on business, and then I straightened my back and shoulders.

Rasmus turned to look into the passageway and then back to me and said, “I’m proud of ye, little Razor. Just keep to your orders, and hopefully we’ll get through this without ye losing your head.”

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Inside, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to throw my arms around him and kiss him, or punch him square in the jaw. Thank goodness, I was finally learning that giving in to every urge or inclination that came to me was not the best course of action. I loved Rasmus even when he made me so mad I could scream, and oh, how I wanted to in that moment. However, I’d promised us both that, once I set foot on this ship, I would fulfill my duties without so much as a sigh. I’d nearly crossed the line the moment I arrived, but thankfully, I was kindly reminded of that promise, and I prayed hard that I could keep it.

“Well then, ye have your orders, so I’ll be getting myself back to my own duties. We leave at first light, Razor.” He nodded to me, and I to him, and away he went. I watched him go, and with every step he took until he was out of sight, I pushed not only my anger at him but my desire for him to return as far down and away as I could, until my stomach ached.

I immediately went to work, organizing my doctoring tools and apothecary bottles into the small drawers of the wooden chest Doctor McGraw had so generously provided me. I rolled bandages into neat bundles and stowed them tightly away to keep them clean. Doctor McGraw had told me that disease was born of filth and to keep my hands as clean as possible at all times when working with a patient. I figured it couldn’t hurt to protect and clean my instruments as well. Before I knew it, the twilight was upon us, and I was heading off to introduce myself to the cook.

“’Bout time ye showed yer mug,” he groaned at me and handed me an apron. “Can ye cook?”

“No sir, Mister Hock,” I said as I tied that blasted thing on.

“Ha! These bloody sea rats have ye callin’ me that, too, aye? I s’pose it’s alright. Me real name is Hawk, Fred Hawk. Half a’ these blokes started callin’ me that cause a’ me ham hock stew and the rest; well they’s just can’t say it right, I think. Well, I seen ye ‘round at meals when ye was workin’ on gettin’ her seaworthy. Can’t ye sail, lad?”

“Oh, I can sail, but I’ll be doctoring mostly, I think.  But since ain’t anyone sick or hurt, Captain thought I could give ye a hand.” I was working hard on my voice as well as my slang, but I wasn’t completely convinced of my own acting skills, even if Hawk didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow.

“Well, we all has ta start some place, I reckon. Unfortunately fer ye, you’ll start with peelin’ them potatoes,” he said as he waved a huge carving knife towards a fifty-pound sack overflowing with dirty, oblong spuds. He turned and handed me a small knife, and I stared at it for a moment. I must have been wearing a horrible grimace, because he burst into laughter and snatched one from the sack. “Like this!” he shouted and proceeded to teach me the proper way to remove the skin without removing too much of the potato in the process.

Within the first hour, I’d slugged it out with only one-fourth of the sack, and by the time I saw the silver beams of the full moon streaking their way through the distant portholes, my hands were raw and shriveled. “The whole sack you said?”

“We’ve close to forty men to feed, lad; three times a day. Ye don’t want me tellin’ ‘em they ain’t getting’ their meals on account a’ yer tired of peelin’ now do ye?” he asked, looking down on me where I sat on the floor, covered in potato skins and frustration.

“When this hunt is through, I’ll not care to see another one of these filthy things for as long as I live,” I grumbled as I continued on.

Hawk let out another bellowing laugh and handed me a bottle of rum. “Here ye are, lad. Ye earned it.”

I took a hard swig from that bottle which had been sucked tightly against Hawk’s filthy mouth, and passed it back to him as I swiped the excess from my lips with my sleeve. I had been aboard less than a day and had already crossed most of my personal boundaries. “Ye keep that coming, Hawk, and I’ll peel these blasted things all night.” I smiled up at him and went back to work.

It was midnight before I’d finally finished. I’d dozed off from the rum and exhaustion, and Hawk nudged me with his boot.  He sent me on my way back to the surgery with a piece of bread and a cup of warm stew. I didn’t even remove my boots or my binding when I fell into my hammock and drifted off. Unfortunately, I was abruptly awakened by a horrible nightmare, clutching the sides of my bed, and I nearly wound up on the floor.

“Jesus Christ,” I said aloud. The dream was still fresh in my mind, and I was left trembling and covered in sweat in its wake. The cabin was black as pitch, and I was dying of thirst. I climbed carefully from my swaying bed, and I lit the lone lantern. Then, I lifted the water pitcher to my lips without even pouring it into a cup.

As my head cleared, I could still see the vivid images my mind had seen fit to torture me with; houses burning to the ground, people screaming, and blood…so much blood running through the streets like a river. I removed my head scarf and raked my nails repeatedly over my head trying to scratch the images out. I poured a handful of water and splashed it over my burning face and looked down at my hands. They were swollen, and my skin was stretched so tightly I could barely make a fist.

My hands had taken a beating while sewing those damn sails, and I still bore the callouses and scars, but not being able to bend my fingers at all was torture. Now wide awake, I walked to the small desk in the far corner of the cabin to pen a journal entry, but I could barely hold the quill. It flopped about and slid from between my fingers until I tossed it aside in frustration. Tears started to well in my eyes, but I swiped them away fast. Crying was a weakness I’d refused myself from now on, and physical pain was no reason to start now. I took several deep breaths to push them down and then rested my head in my hands.

“Hey, Ivan. Whatcha doin’?” I heard a whisper coming from the doorway. I spun around in my chair and saw Fin standing there.

“Oh, Fin, come in.” I was grateful to have someone to talk to, even at whatever ungodly hour this was.

“I saw the light. Ye missin’ yer sisters, I reckon?” he asked as he stepped inside.

“Yes, that’s it. I…haven’t been away from them for a long time. I’m just worried, I suppose. I was going to keep a journal of the voyage—ye know? Something I could show them when we return, but my damn fingers won’t bend.” I laughed in an awkward chuckle and shrugged as I held my hands out to him for a look.

“That’s too bad, mate. I’d write it fer ye, but I can’t write, ye see. Never learnt how.” Fin walked to the exam table and rested his right hip on it as he spoke. “Went ta school, did ye?”

“Well, no. My aunt taught us when we were little g…when we were children back in America.”