Other Oceans: Book Two of the Hook & Jill Saga (21 page)

Three doors opened off the stern section of this deck: Hanover’s to starboard, Smee’s to port, and in the center, a cabin for use as need determined, infirmary or storage. Just that morning, Mr. Cecco had informed the surgeon that in spite of its proximity to Smee, who had administered his punishment, he’d taken his rest on the bunk there those nights when the fire of his back had prevented him from sleeping in his hammock. A handy room for Hook, into which his victims might slink.

This ship, Hanover reflected, was full of people suffering from Hook’s decrees, Hanover and this lady included. And now a new outrage! With Smee, Hook’s favored lackey, as always the willing tool. Masking his fury, the doctor arrived at the door to his quarters with Jill on his arm. He stepped aside, indulging his aversion at this moment to touching any part of Hook’s ship. He signaled Liza to push the door open for them.

The girl wore a mauve dress today. She had grown since it was made for her. Early this morning her father acquainted her with the fact that the brevity of its skirt displeased him. As her ankles chilled in the sea breezes, Liza hung back from the doorway, hesitating. Her father and the mistress entered the cabin, but Liza stood pushing the dress against her thighs.

“Well, you must come in, Liza. I trust you tidied the bunks since this morning’s business.” Liza heeded the brusque note of anger in his voice, but understood that this time it had nothing to do with her. And unlike this morning, the lady’s presence would assure that he restrained his annoyance. Finding it enough for one morning to have provoked the ire of both her captain and her father, she hastened to obey, and ventured inside.

The curtains hung open, and starboard windows illuminated the room. Two bunks lay straight ahead along the stern, one on top of the other, each with its own canvas curtain for privacy. A sea chest reposed at the foot of the lower bunk. On the inside wall of the cabin, left of the entrance, a pigeon-holed desk was secured, with two chairs waiting before it. The surgeon’s bag, books, and instruments were arranged in orderly fashion on the desk. A lantern stood sentinel on either side of its top shelf. The other side of the cabin contained another chair and a small table, a chest of drawers, and a mirrored shaving cabinet hanging on the wall. To the right of the door were pegs on which Liza’s few dresses were draped alongside the doctor’s tailored suits. A wooden bucket in the corner contained her blue dress, saturated and ballooning over the surface of the water. Except for her clothing, nothing suggested that a girl lived here.

Jill stood just within the doorway and cast her gaze around the room. “Everything looks to be in order, Liza. You keep it tidy. It appears you have settled in.”

Liza resisted the impact of Jill’s smile.

“I will tell you that I am satisfied with your service so far, and I hope you will take full advantage of the opportunity granted you— today, under your father’s instruction, you will begin to read.”

The doctor bowed, but his speech was clipped. “I was gratified, Madam, once I understood that the captain’s order was prompted by
your
request.”

“Yes. I think it high time for Liza to begin her scholarship. Doctor Hanover’s daughter must grow into an accomplished woman.”

“Like you. And so kind of you to make your quarters available. To us.”

“This cabin is pleasant enough, but hardly conducive to study. And I will be pleased to enjoy your company each morning— both of you.”

Jill had done it again; the doctor sloughed off his bad mood. His eyes warmed, and he now reclaimed his smug smile. “The benefits of the arrangement have not escaped me, Madam.”

Jill smiled at his insinuation, then turned to Liza. “Is there anything more you need, Liza?”

Sliding her eyes sideways toward her father, the girl pinched her skirt and lifted the hem an inch.

“Ah. I see.” Jill bent to inspect the dress. She raised it a fraction, and Liza, under scrutiny of her father, clapped a hand below her knee, preventing further exposure of her leg. Jill looked up to the girl’s frightened face. Pausing, she stored this puzzle for future reflection, then went on, “There is plenty of fabric here to lengthen it. You’ll need a needle and thread.”

Liza shook her head and retreated to the chest of drawers. She knelt down to open the bottom drawer, and removed a small sewing basket. Needles and pins made a prickly bouquet of its pincushion. She set it down on the floor and looked at Jill, bunching the tips of her fingers together, then pulling her hands apart.

“Thread, then?”

Liza nodded, her lips sketching the outlines of a smile.

“Our sail maker has only coarse twine. But there is one man aboard to supply your sewing needs. Our very skilled tailor, who can fix anything that needs mending, from sails to stockings. You must see Mr. Smee.”

The girl’s eyes panicked and she stood up hastily, backing into the table. Mystified, Jill looked to the doctor. His lips twisted in an unpleasant manner.

“Doctor? What is it?”

“Your Mr. Smee, Madam. The ‘exception to every rule.’”

“Why? What has he done?”

“Liza.” Hanover jerked his head toward the bunks.

The girl cast a wide-eyed look at her mistress, then stepped forward. The little pearls on her ring glowed in the daylight as she grasped the curtain of the lower bunk. She swept it aside.

At first Jill saw nothing but the darkened interior of the bunk. Then she made out a white pillow, and then a coverlet. A long, thin shadow lay over the pillow, something that didn’t belong. It coiled around the bedpost and snaked in heavy links, ending in an iron cuff. Jill allowed her mouth to fall open.

“Shackles?” Her voice achieved uncertainty.

“Again, Liza.”

The girl obeyed, reaching up and yanking the upper curtain open as well. Jill stood on tiptoe to see another iron snake stretched over the higher bunk, eighteen inches of cold captivation. She stared.

“Yes,” Hanover remarked. “Your Mr. Smee is the man to fix everything! He has fixed us quite nicely, as you can see.”

“Doctor…”

“Captain Hook summoned me this morning, as you know. After you left, he offered me my first opportunity to sign on officially as a member of the
Jolly Roger
’s company.”

“You refused him?”

“Of course I refused! And then the consequences were made clear to me.”

“So you are still considered a prisoner.”

“Until I swear an oath and sign the ship’s articles, it seems I cannot be trusted to roam free— under certain circumstances.”

“But you’re not to be marooned, or confined to the brig?”

“The captain indicated that he is being uncharacteristically merciful in my case, still hoping I will change my mind. Then he ordered his Mr. Smee to set these irons in place, to be used whenever the
Roger
approaches a port or a vessel.”

“So that you can’t escape in the confusion. But Liza, as well?”

“Your captain is a shrewd man.” Hanover laced his words with bitterness. “He won’t give her the chance to choose between her father and her master.”

Her master
. The girl shrank back, smiling only inwardly at the knot of satisfaction tightening her chest. She sat down on the end of the lower bunk. Inconspicuous, she listened, without seeming to do so.

“Yes,” Jill said, “he is shrewd indeed….Johann, I am sorry.”

The doctor raised his head. The anger in his eyes lessened. “It is almost worth the humiliation, to hear you say my name.”

“It is worth saying your name to comfort you. Johann. It isn’t surprising, is it, that Captain Hook already knows what I know? You would leave us if you got the chance.”

“No, it isn’t surprising. You warned me of his methods.” He paced as far as the narrow limits of his cabin would allow. “How I would like to see him caught in his own chains! But…” The doctor turned and focused on Jill, his taut face relaxing. “Perhaps you could help me. It could mean helping yourself as well.”

Jill was cautious. “What would you have me do?”

“I would never place you in danger. I seek only the answer to a question.”

She shot a glance at the girl on the bunk. “I told you, Sir, I am not prepared—”

“No, no! A new question. I held a conversation with Mr. Cecco this morning. He impresses me as a decent sort, and unlike most of Hook’s crew, unintimidated by that Irishman. Mr. Cecco had the courtesy to inform me of Hook’s arrangement with Captain LeCorbeau.”

Watching the surgeon closely, Jill commented, “Yes. We were all surprised by the
commandant
’s unusual proposal.”

“Madam, can you learn whether Hook intends to have me shackled when we rendezvous with
L’Ormonde?
And if so, persuade him otherwise?”

“So your hope of deliverance does have something to do with
L’Ormonde
. It was my guess, after our conversation last evening.”

“Out of respect for your situation, I won’t answer, Madam. But I must have access to her captain.”

“I can ask your question without putting myself at risk. It is one I would ask the captain in any case. But I won’t argue with his decision, whatever it may be. If you are to be restrained, you must manage to change his mind on your own.”

“I understand. Thank you. I am sorry to say, however, that in light of recent developments, I will be unable to make the necessary arrangements as quickly as I had hoped.” Bitterness surfaced again. “I am, to say the least, disappointed.”

Jill noticed that Liza kept her head down. Jill, too, remained silent. She sensed what was coming.

“I was unable to ask earlier, and it seems immaterial now. But…did you sleep well, Madam?” As entitled as he felt to ask it, he had the grace to accompany his very personal question with a blush.

She hesitated, managing a modest coloring of her own. “As it happens, Doctor, I slept quite well.”

“That, at least, is something. But I will not be content until a plan—”

“I will hear nothing more. You should know, Doctor Hanover, that I have signed the ship’s articles. I have sworn the oath of loyalty.”

Her revelation gave the doctor pause. He looked her up and down, not with anger, but with eager relief. “So
that
is it? That is why you are reluctant to listen, or to make promises? You are honor-bound to Captain Hook! But,” he relaxed his stance, “once I have removed you from his power, such an oath to such a man will count for nothing.”

“It would seem that, like Captain Hook, you are concerned with my honor only until it no longer suits your purpose. The captain has chosen his physician well! As I observed once before, Mister Hanover, we are
all
pirates here aboard the
Roger
.”

“Perhaps I deserve that. I admit I am becoming reckless where you are concerned.”

“You deserve it, Doctor. But since you admit the truth, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Your own set of standards, again?”

“Yes. You see it works to your advantage, as well. And I will be honest with you once more. If Captain Hook allows you to visit
L’Ormonde
, it may be a concession to win you to his side. But I know he genuinely wishes to appease you. He has merely ordered shackles, where he might have condemned you to much worse. The fact that he shows you such leniency should convince you how sincerely he hopes you will join us…as do I.”

“I will never join a pirate company!”

“Would it be so bad? To be free of your rules, the restrictions of your ‘decent society?’ Whatever it is you hide from me, you would no longer have to hide from anyone, as a buccaneer.”

The girl on the bunk kept perfectly still. Jill proved as canny as she had supposed. The woman’s instincts concerning the brilliant Doctor Hanover were accurate. Almost.

Hanover protested, “It is not in my nature to avoid moral restriction, or my responsibilities. I have important work to do—”

“Whatever that work is, you can do it as well or better aboard the
Jolly Roger
than you did on the
Julianne
. Think again, Johann. Consider our offer. You have seen today how clever Captain Hook is, how he is three steps ahead of you. I told you the first time we spoke— if you open your mind to him as you have opened to me, you will come, in time, to admire him.”

Hanover closed in on her. “Do you think I could bring myself to serve the man— the criminal— who is three steps ahead of me in possessing you?” His scarred jaw tightened. “When I think of the arrogance of that man, how he takes what I want, how he owns you—” He seized his watch, as if he wanted to throttle it. “How he owns
me
.”

Jill’s tone turned to ice. “Look about you, Mister Hanover. What you’ll see is not slavery, but loyalty. No one, including Hook, owns me. If you look for ownership, I am hardly the woman for you.”

“No indeed. I seek instead to release you. I watched your face last night, when I told you of my desire—” Hanover stopped, tossing a glance toward his daughter. He stepped nearer to Jill and mastered his voice. “I am learning this about you. You are a strong woman. As such, your ardor will be all the more rewarding, in the end, to unleash. I will bring you to heights of sensation, ecstasies, which you have never imagined.”

The lady arched her eyebrows. “You think to do more than Hook?”

“I think of it, and little else.” Standing close, almost touching her, he gazed down into her eyes. “And so do you.”

She pulled in her breath and stepped back, bumping into the door. She hadn’t realized he’d backed her nearly against it. Catching her balance, she forced herself to speak evenly once more. “Sir, let us go back to the deck now. We can walk again, the exercise will calm you, clear your head. And then, I think, you will be in a better temper to begin Liza’s lesson.”

“Yes. It is unbearable here, with those iron reminders of my helplessness.”

Conscious of the medicine bag on the desk, Jill said, “You are anything but helpless, Doctor.” She turned to leave, then halted before the doorway. “As I can see by your weapons. But these are beautiful swords, Sir.”

Hanging on hooks in the wood of the wall were a foil, a rapier, and the doctor’s walking stick. Made of fine workmanship, they swayed with the ship’s movement.