Second on the Right (47 page)

James ' sword lowered as he looked to her for
answers. "Eileen?" he called to her. "Eileen, tell me that isn't
true. Please tell me what he’s saying isn't true."

"James, I —" She nodded and softly answer,
"It's true. When he rescued me. It was a mistake, a horrible
mistake." At first, Benedict laughed hard, until he heard the words
'horrible mistake'
. At that, his lips hinted at a snarl.

James sneered. The man made him sick. "You
took advantage of her, of us. She trusted you. You monster!"

"Nay, Jas. There was no advantage taken. She
wanted it, like nothin' else in tha world," Benedict sighed. Then,
as the smile left his face, he asked, "Or shall I call ye' Cap'n
Hook'? It’s ye who be tha monster."

James looked from Benedict to Eileen, his
mouth partially frozen, unable to answer. He watched as her eyes
ran down his body, ending at his right arm and hook now in full
view at his side. He cringed, expecting her to cringe in horror.
So much for breaking it to her gently.
To his surprise,
there was no blood curdling scream. Eileen's eyes were wet with
tears.

"Peter?" she asked James. He nodded,
confirming her suspicion. "James, I'm so sorry, for
everything."

James smiled at her. "Nothing, and I do mean
nothing, can separate us again. Not even him. I don't care about
the past. My concern is with our future."

Eileen attempted to push the pistol away,
saying, "We're leaving."

Benedict pulled her roughly against him. He
growled into her ear, "Ah, my dear. Ye be on me ship. I’m tha cap'n
of this ship. I make the orders. Ye are stayin', fer now.” The
captain was tired of her and would have been glad to be rid of her;
however, on principle, and out of habit, he had to fight for what
he felt was his possession. Cheek to cheek with Eileen, he glared
at James. "Jas, ye fail to realize, I won't be giving up the
wench."

James pointed his sword again at Benedict.
"And you sir, fail to realize the position that you are in. He
stepped towards Benedict, "You gave your word!"

Benedict rolled his eyes.
How many times
must I explain this?
"Aye. But it is ye who failed ta specify
the terms."

"Benedict," James said in all
seriousness.

"Aye?" Benedict answered, waiting. His grasp
tightened around Eileen.

"Allow us to go free, or the
Jolly
Roger
will blow roughly fifteen large holes in the side of this
ship," James stated, nodding behind him.

The
Jolly Roger
had slipped quietly
alongside the
Mistral Thief
. Benedict looked at James. "Ye
wouldn'. Both of ye would be killed," he scoffed, though he was
impressed with James' courage, the lengths to which he would go for
the woman he loved.

"I'd rather die than stay one more day aboard
this ship with you," Eileen answered.

Benedict rolled his eyes and gave an
exasperated sigh.
Dramatic wench.
He considered the turn of
events. He believed James was near suicidal, and all for one woman.
He understood. With another dramatic sigh, he answered, "All right.
She's more trouble than she's worth, Jas. She's made me life a
livin' hell."

Eileen scoffed, pushing away from Benedict,
"I've made your life a living hell?"

"Aye. Incessant whinin', demandin'," he
growled. He tucked his pistol into his chest belt. "Like I said
before, Jas. I be needin' a woman save only for three things:
cookin', cleanin' and—"

"Benedict!" James interrupted. "We are in the
company of a lady."

"What? Was goin' ta say —" he paused. "Ah,
yer right. I was goin' ta say that," he chuckled.

"I've made your life a living hell? I've been
stuck aboard this ship with no hope of freedom," Eileen
snapped.

"Silence, wench!" Benedict barked, then
murmured to James, "Leave now. Take her with ye. But be warned, if
I see be seein' ye again, it’ll be the end of ye both. We are of an
understandin'?"

James gave a quick nod. He was happy to hear
any notion of romance had obviously dissipated between Benedict and
Eileen. Clasping arms with James, the two made an accord.

"God help ye, Jas." He shouted orders to
allow them go free. Immediately after they were gone, the
Mistral Thief
set sail. Captain Benedict, with mixed
emotions, turned with a huff and disappeared into his quarters.

James shouted orders for the ship to get
underway. As he managed the helm with one hand, he had his arm and
hook carefully wrapped around Eileen’s waist. He wasn’t about to
let her go yet. Neither said a word, both simply enjoying the fact
that they were together again.

The silence was broken when Smee cleared his
throat. "Cap'in. Beggin' yer pardon. She's asking for you, again,"
he said with an exasperated sigh.

"She?" Eileen asked as she left his
embrace.

"Uh, I—" James glanced at Eileen, a sheepish
grin on his face.

He had forgotten about Wendy, who had been
confined to the brig. He had tried to be cordial with the girl, but
every time he allowed her to stay in his quarters, she ended up
trying to seduce him. Reunited with Eileen, James had placed Wendy
completely out of his mind, and had also failed to tell Eileen
about the girl.

"Oh boy. I know this is going to look bad,
but it's not like that," he began, sputtering the words out.

Eileen raised an eyebrow. "Bring her up," she
said. The crewman looked at the captain, who gave a nod.

Wendy emerged from the bowels of the ship.
Her hair flowed around her bare shoulders, her dress partially
falling off them. The front of her bodice was loosely laced up,
showing more cleavage than was appropriate. She had altered the
hem, creating a slit that exposed one leg up to mid-thigh.

As she reached the deck, she pushed back her
hair and smoothed out her dress, giving it a slight tug to lower
the front even more. James, who had been looking at his wife in
concern, was startled as a pair of hands grabbed both sides of his
face and pulled him into a kiss. He floundered, trying to push
Wendy away without scratching her with his hook, but she held tight
until she was finished.

With a playful frown, she said, "I've missed
you."

Eileen had placed her hand over her mouth, a
smirk playing at her lips. James flushed with embarrassment. He
looked at Eileen. His eyes said it all:
Help me!
Eileen made
no move to assist. He wasn’t amused. As James looked at her
incredulously, he felt the same pair of hands run up his chest and
around his neck. He jumped at the touch, pushing back, this time
with success.

At last, to James' relief, Eileen spoke,
"Darling, would you please keep your hands off my husband?" Eileen
gave Wendy a smile, though a cold one.

Wendy sized Eileen up, her eyes moving from
head to foot and back again. She held a sneer on her face. Eileen
gave her an understanding look as she walked over to her.

"Let's have a chat, shall we?" Eileen
asked.

Wendy looked at James, who nodded
encouragingly. The two disappeared into the captain's quarters,
leaving James to slump in a flood of relief, but also some
dread.

A few hours later, Wendy left the cabin,
seemingly happy. She waved to James and then struck up a
conversation with the crewmen nearby. Eileen signaled for James to
join her, which he was more than happy to do. Those few hours
absent from her had been agonizing.

"How did you manage to turn that around?"

Eileen smiled as Wendy giggled like a school
girl at something one of the men said. "I gave her reasons why she
should pursue other younger men. You know, a handsome strapping
fellow."

James frowned slightly, "I'm not
handsome?"

"Of course you are, but she’s young, dear.
Her standards are very fickle. I think her attraction had a lot to
do with your confidence and intelligence," Eileen answered.

"Wait. That's it? There's nothing else that
she found attractive?" he asked. "That's like saying I have a great
personality." He entered his quarters in a huff, collapsing into
his chair. Eileen closed the door to the captain's quarters.

If Wendy doesn’t find me physically
attractive, how could Eileen? It's probably because of this damned
hook.

He struggled to remove the harness, cursing
under his breath when his fingers fumbled to undo the belt. Eileen
waited. Just seeing her there was beginning to calm him down. As he
took in deep cleansing breaths, she unclasped the buckle and gently
removed the apparatus that held the hook in place.

Eileen placed the harness and hook on the
table. Self-conscious about his missing limb, James tucked his
right arm to the side. With a tender smile, Eileen took hold of his
right arm and moved it back around to rest in his lap. She wrapped
her hands around the stump. Her touch, her act of kindness and
understanding was overwhelming. His eyes glistened.

"James, I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you
when you needed me," she said softly. He stared at the hook, but
she moved his face to look back at her. "I don't care about that.
If it helps you, use it. It doesn’t make you a monster. You’ll
always have doubts. I know that. All I can do is show you through
words and action that what I love about you is more than your
handsome exterior. What is most important resides in your heart and
not in your physical form." Then she added with a wink,
"Savvy?"

James felt more at ease about his missing
hand. In fact, he felt so comfortable that more often than not,
during their journey, he chose not to wear the hook or harness at
all.

“What is it ye want,” Benedict grumbled.

“Only to visit, dear Robert,” Daria said
sweetly.

“I’m goin’ ta help,” he said, feeling
harassed by everyone at every turn. “We set sail fer the island.
The knife will be dealt with.”

Daria scoffed, “Dealt with? Last time I
trusted you and your captain, it ended badly. With my time and
effort, I defeated him only to have him released again by a beggar
boy, a thief named Peter.”

“But how —”

“Do you really believe you could keep such
information from me? I’ve always known. You and Captain Davis were
to make right what was wrong. You both failed.”

“I plan ta set it right now!” he said
exasperated.

“Your descendant will see to that. Where you
failed, he no doubt will succeed,” she said in a darker tone.

He wondered if she was only referring to the
knife or the wound in his heart from unrequited love. “James?”

“He’ll recover the knife, as you should have
done. But she’s the one who must endure a higher price. It was her
ancestor, Captain Davis, who failed to protect and destroy it as
was required, by forge. Now she must complete the task or meet the
same fate as he.”

He turned ashen. “No! Let me take her
place.”