Chapter One.
Alexandria Glenister took yet another turn around the manor gardens in the warm evening air. The palm trees swayed lazily in the slow, warm, evening breeze which played with Alexs' dark flowing russet hair. The island of St Kitts was situated in the midst of the Caribbean's largest archipelago, so the temperature was, least to say; less than forgiving.
Before long she grew impatient waiting for her riding partners and readied to leave without them. When she was done and Florian, her proud white Andalusian stallion was waiting for her. She took one last glance around the grounds and with a bored sigh, left to ride alone. It was her daily ritual to ride in the evening with her father to the town, have a drink in the tavern, talk to the locals and return home before dinner. This evening however, was to be a particularly marked occasion; she was to meet and ride with her father's captain of the guard who was 'interested' in her. Alex had danced with the man at the summer ball; he was nice enough but far more insipid and lackluster than Alex would have hoped for. Being a hopeless romantic Alex dreamed of adventure and a whirlwind romance, while she knew her dreams were fanciful, she was not willing to let them die yet. Much to her father's dismay; for at twenty seven she was becoming past the marriageable age.
"Alex please, think of what your mother would say if you gave up this offer." He said to her when she expressed her dismay at the match.
She smirked to herself thinking of what her late mother would say had she seen her now: A young lady of high standing travelling at dusk, alone, mingling with common folk and sin of sins; wearing britches and not riding sidesaddle. Alex had loved her mother very much but they never saw eye to eye when it came to etiquette.
The dirt road was quite silent, too silent. No hustle and bustle of closing market stalls, no townsfolk heading home or at the ale house for a fortifying brew, no urchins playing in the road. There was no one to be seen or heard. Something inside told Alex to take the smugglers path that ran alongside and out of sight of the main road. No sooner had she taken cover under the cocas palms when a patrol marched by. But they were not the usual British Marines in their lobster red coats; these uniforms were light blue and their overcoats white: French. At this Alex decided to go straight into town by the smugglers path, and try to get to the town hall were her father should still be and see what was going on.
When she arrived, she tethered Florian to a tree, hidden among the jungle he snuffed quietly in protest but let her go without a fuss, the soft crack of a faraway gunfire sounded. There was smoke coming from the town and Alex could finally hear some English voices.
"Hands off me you French gits!" it was Mr. Harper, the tavern landlord. He was being led to Redmond prison, flailing his arms to no avail, as were many other men of Redmond. The women looked on from the windows of their homes crying out helplessly. The troops ransacked and pillaged mercilessly. Fire blazed on the horizon where the trading port was. French troops were everywhere, the sound of screams and cries were thick in the air. Redmond was being sacked. Not an uncommon thing in such a place at such a time- but Alex had never seen such things and had always been naive enough to believe she was safe at Redmond. A deafening crack resonated through the air, Alex jumped and spun to see Mr. Harper, the tavern landlord laying sprawled in the dirt, blood gushing from his chest, a French officer knelt over him and spat in the dying man's face, his comrades laughed at Harper's pleas, he was still barely alive, gasping for air between splutters of blood. One of the soldiers cocked his rifle and aimed straight at the man's head. Alex looked on in horror, unable to turn away, unable to do anything at all to help a man she had known since childhood.
"N...No please." He rasped and choked again holding his hand out to the man before him. He was cut short by the second shot and he lay still, but not peaceful. The look of terror etched across his face would never leave Alex, nor would the screams of his wife and child. She wanted to throw up, curl in a ball and pretend none of this was happening, pretend it was all a horrid nightmare, but something spurred her on and she ran from where she hid: Ducking and diving between houses and through alleyways to avoid capture, Alex made her way to the town hall. If her father was still there she could at least save him from imprisonment, or worse. She snuck though the storerooms below the town hall and made her way to her father's office.
Alex's hand gripped the doorknob, but she could not turn it for all her might, fear gripped her and all she could do was pray her father would still be there. Steeling herself she opened the door silently, as she heard no one within. A silhouette moved among the shadows. He was there thank Christ; pacing around the room irritably. His back was to the entrance, when he heard the door open he froze.
"If you are here to arrest me, you shall have to be vigilant!" he spun around and whirled a pistol, pointing it directly at his only daughter. When he recognized her his face tuned white and he dropped the sidearm. "Alex! My god what are you doing here? Are you alright?" she opened her mouth to speak but couldn't and merely nodded. "I am so glad." He walked over her and held her tightly. "You must get out of here now. The Dawn Chaser is in port and a few of my men are aboard." He rummaged through his desk and produced a hefty bag of silver and gold doubloons. "This shall more than suffice, go to Tortuga and stay there until I get you. This shan't take more than a few months to set right, the Kings men will come and all will be well again." He also handed her his pistol and took down a brass-hilted smallsword from the wall. "Tortuga is a less than savory place, however, it is a free port and you shall be safe there if you don't draw attention to yourself."
"B-but father... wont you come with me?" He deflated at the sight of her pleading and fearful look.
"I can't my child, I won't leave my citizens under the jurisdiction of those scoundrels. Nor will I hear any more of it." He paused looking at his daughter, and held up her chin. "You have your mother's courage, no doubt of that." Alex had to look up to fight the tears welling inside her. "You brought Florian yes?" she nodded. "Good, go fetch him and meet Captain Evans at the dock. I will meet the Gendarmes and try to negotiate." He then gave Alex a letter with his seal holding it together. The Governor held his daughters hand tightly for longer than he dared then pushed her out of the office.
Alex did as she was told and made it safely to the port. The air had now lost its balmy warmth the town bell was being rung with frantic speed and then suddenly stopped at a final gun shot. Alex shivered, not because of the temperature, the town was silent now and very still, a complete contrast to moments before. The devastated marketplace still smoked from the cannon fire and the produce and goods from the stalls were strewn on the ground. Alex rode under the cover of darkness and reached the docks easily. Captain Evans was waiting for her, unable to speak she simply showed him her father's letter, he immediately understood and asked no questions. Which was just as well as Alex could do little to stop herself from falling apart.