LITMIR.BIZ

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treat you as such. You will not be harmed while we hold you for ransom.’

      ‘How can I trust your word?’ She would be a fool to believe him for an instant, but something inside her responded despite herself.

      ‘Because I give it. Behave yourself, lady, and I shall restrain my hand—but cause me trouble and I may just put you across my knee and teach you a lesson.’

      ‘You would not dare!’ Maribel stared at him. She saw that he was laughing and realised that he was mocking her. Her cheeks flushed; she knew that he might have done exactly as he wished with her, yet she could not accept her fate so easily. Her tone was more moderate, but still cool as she said, ‘You are a rogue and a thief and—and no gentleman, sir.’

      ‘I believe you are right. I was once a gentleman of sorts, but life has taught me that I must take what I can from it.’

      ‘Do you give me your word that I shall not be…ravished and despoiled if I come with you?’

      ‘If any man lays a finger on you I shall hang him. You have my word on it.’

      ‘And my servants? My maid and groom?’

      ‘Your maid may attend you and she is also safe from my men—but your groom returns to Spain with the ship, unless he cares to join us and become one of the brethren.’

      ‘You do not intend to keep the ship? Surely it is your prize?’

      ‘We have the cargo and you. The captain will deliver my message to your father. If he sends the gold we demand, you will be returned to him.’

      ‘And if he does not?’

      ‘Then he will never see you again.’

       Chapter Two

      Could this pirate truly mean his threat? Maribel’s heart was beating wildly. She hardly knew how to breathe as he took her arm and steered her from the cabin. Yet firm as his grip was, he was not hurting her and he seemed to mean her no harm, at least for the moment. As they went on deck she saw that his men had surrounded and disarmed the crew. Some of the men were bringing up wine from the hold and transferring it to the pirate ship, which she saw was called the Defiance. As far as she could tell only a few men had resisted, but there had been some fighting and one or two men had been wounded, but it appeared that none had been killed. She saw Samuel Hynes on his knees, a knife being held at his throat; it was obvious that he had not surrendered immediately.

      ‘What do you intend to do with Captain Hynes?’

      ‘My men are of a mind to hang him, but I think we may send him back to Spain this time.’

      Maribel did not like Captain Hynes but she hated brutality. ‘You should not treat him so disgracefully.’

      ‘Why, pray, should we not?’

      ‘He deserves your respect.’

      ‘Indeed? You have known the man a long time, perhaps?’

      She flinched beneath the pirate’s dark mockery. ‘I know little of him—but I believe that all men should be treated with dignity.’

      ‘Then perhaps you should know that Captain Hynes has men flogged for being in the wrong place at the wrong moment and sometimes just because it amuses him.’

      Maribel gasped and lowered her eyes, because against her will she believed him. She had always felt something was not right when Samuel Hynes smiled and bowed to her, sensing that he was hiding his true nature.

      ‘He may be a cruel man—but if you allow your men to ill treat him you are his equal.’

      ‘You think so?’ Justin arched his brow, his manner icy cold. ‘I shall remember your words, lady. Now you must go aboard with your woman and those of the crew that have chosen to serve with us.’

      ‘Are there many?’

      ‘A cabin boy and a few others…’

      Maribel turned to Anna as she joined her. The pirate captain had moved away. He was talking to the pirate who had a knife at Samuel Hynes’s throat. Another man, older, with a scar on his cheek and a red band around his brow, had come to help them cross the plank that had been placed between the two ships to make it easier for the women to cross from one to the other.

      ‘Give me your hand, lady,’ Higgins said gruffly. ‘You, lad, help the lady down there.’

      Maribel felt a hand on her arm steadying her. She looked round to thank whoever it was and saw the cabin boy who had spoken to her when she first came aboard the Mistress Susanna.

      ‘They have taken you too?’

      ‘I came willingly, lady,’ he said and smiled at her. ‘It can’t be worse than my last berth.’ Sides, I’ve never had more than a few silver coins in wages, and if I do my work well for the brethren I shall be rich.’

      Maribel looked at him doubtfully. ‘Do you not know what could happen to you if the ship is taken? You might be hung as a pirate.’

      ‘I’d as soon hang as starve on the streets of London, lady—and the life at sea is hard for every man jack of us. I could die of the typhoid or the pox any day.’

      Was life so harsh for a young lad? Reared to the privileges of birth and wealth, she had not realised what others suffered. She felt humbled and a little ashamed.

      ‘What is your name?’

      ‘I’m called Tom, lady.’ Tis as good a name as any for I know not my own. I was born in prison. Me ma died and I was brought up by the parish until I ran away to sea.’

      ‘Why did you run away?’

      ‘Because they made me work for nothing and gave me scraps to eat. I was better off at sea, and if I’d stayed with my last berth I shouldn’t have left the captain—but this one is a monster.’

      Maribel reached out to touch his hand, her heart moved to pity by his plight. She had not realised there was so much suffering, for as unhappy as she had been after her stepmother’s death, she had never known what it was like to go hungry or go in fear of a cruel master.

      ‘If I am ransomed, I shall ask to take you with me. As my servant you would be fed and paid a wage—and I should not beat you.’

      ‘I thank you, lady,’ Tom said and lifted his head with a touch of pride. ‘Here on this ship all men are equal. We sail by the laws of the brethren and share in the spoils. I reckon I’ll be a servant to no man or woman in future—though if I were I could not want a better mistress.’

      Maribel inclined her head, uncertain whether she had been rebuffed. Did servants dislike working for their masters? She had never considered it before. For the first time, Maribel was aware of the sheltered life she had led, protected, kept apart—but not loved, at least by her father.

      The older man with the scar on his face was ushering her below deck. She obeyed, moving towards the hatch, but lingered for a moment looking about her. Tom seemed to think he had made a change for the better and somehow her fear had evaporated.

      Of course their captain was a wicked, arrogant rogue and she disliked him, even though she had felt something very odd when he kissed her. She would do her best to avoid his company, but it would appear that for the moment she had little to fear from the pirates. They were not as wild as she had feared, and, as she looked back and saw that the captain was coming aboard, she understood that he was in complete command of his ship. The men jumped to obey his orders as he indicated they should disengage with the other ship, but they did so willingly. She had seen no sign of fear or resentment in their faces.

      Her gaze went beyond him to the deck of the Mistress Susanna. She saw that Samuel Hynes was tied to a mast and that his men were beginning to cut the ropes that bound him…but they were taking their time. She had seen both fear and resentment on board that ship—as she had seen it in some of the men who served her father. Why was it

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