Chapter Twenty-One
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I let Captain Barbossa lead me to his cabin, where I discovered that he'd already arranged for the table to be set for two, and the rolled up map sat on a far corner next to the quill and ink. An open bottle of wine already waited for us, and Barbossa disengaged himself from my arm and went to pour two glasses.
"You know," I said, after surveying the way the table was laid out, "I came very close to saying no just now."
He handed me the first glass of wine and poured one for himself. "I knew ye wouldn't be able to resist me," he said, back to his teasing, arrogant manner.
I rolled my eyes at him and he laughed.
"Now," he said, "before I let you see what Jerome created for dinner, I want ye to answer me one thing." He came to stand near where I was looking out one of the windows at the stern.
"What?" I asked, taking a sip of wine, and hoping it wouldn't be the question I knew he was going to ask me.
"Ye've been avoiding me since you had breakfast with Lilith. Why?" he asked insistently.
It was, and I hesitated, not sure what I should say.
"Answer me plainly, May," he demanded gently.
"She told me I shouldn't trust you," I finally said, complying reluctantly with his request.
"She did, did she?" He seemed more amused than angry.
I nodded, not really sure what to expect at that point from him.
"Somethin' to the effect that I be a dangerous and evil man, and that ye should do yer best to part company with me as soon as possible, I imagine," he said.
"Something quite like that," I said, feeling odd to be admitting it to him.
He laughed heartily at that point. "That sly old flax wench," he said. "She can't stand not to be the center of attention fer even one night, much like meself. "I'm sure that she was beside herself to have to play second fiddle all evenin'."
"I don't follow you completely," I said, starting to feel betrayed by Lilith.
"May, 'tis obvious to me if it not be to you," he said, amused by the fact that I was being naïve. "How think ye Tortuga Lily felt to have to compete with a smart, pretty, younger woman who happens yet to be a doctor?" Barbossa asked me.
I'm sure I looked quite shocked. "I never intended any sort of..."
"Aye, that's what be all the more maddenin' fer her –none of what ye be is contrived, May," he said earnestly. "And I'm sure that the entrance ye made at the Mermaid in that smart, sexy dress, on the arm of the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea didn't improve yer standin' with her either."
I laughed a little at how charming and arrogant he could be at the same time.
Barbossa had a sip of his wine before continuing. "Did she mention that she and I..."
"Used to have an understanding?" I finished for him.
"Aye, and she's never forgiven me fer walkin' away from it," he said bluntly.
"Why did you?" I surprised myself by asking.
"That be a long time ago," he said, avoiding the question.
He saw the look I was giving him and realized I wasn't going to settle for his vague answer. "To answer ye plainly, once she became mistress of the Mermaid, she became a bit too dangerous fer my own likin', and I knew it best fer both of us to stay well clear of each one another other than business. 'Twas not a popular decision with her then, and it remains unpopular with her even now."
"Well, I didn't mean to do anything to offend her," I replied, quite annoyed with the woman myself.
"It matters not," Barbossa said with a shrug. "She let herself be offended the moment you walked in with me."
I sipped my wine for a minute, thinking that I'd like to give the old witch a piece of my mind. "Lilith's a fair bit older than me," I finally said, "and even a fair bit older than you, I imagine." I had reckoned since knowing him that Barbossa was perhaps as much as a decade older than myself.
He frowned a little. "What be yer point?" he asked.
I have to admit I smirked at that point. "Well, I didn't realize you had a fondness for older women, Captain."
He waved me off, although I think he was actually amused that I had said something to tease him. "I happen to have a fondness fer interestin' women," he replied, " age notwithstandin'." He glanced at the table. "Shall we?"
I went to pull out my chair, but Barbossa beat me to it that time, much to my great surprise. I said nothing, but realized from what I could smell, that Jerome had probably outdone himself again. I was right, and we stuffed ourselves on the best Coq au vin I'd had since being in France.
"So, tell me, May, why 'tis that ye were going back to England before we met," he said, glossing over the fact that the way we'd met was by him raiding the ship I'd been on.
"I was giving up my practice," I said simply, telling him the truth.
"Why?" he asked, seeming genuinely interested.
"I was getting tired of having to prove myself doubly every day," I replied. "It took a lot out of me to constantly have to work so hard to convince people that they should trust me as a real doctor."
"I would say that fight remains yers whether ye go to England or stay in Jamaica," Barbossa observed thoughtfully.
"Yes, that's probably true, but the final straw in Jamaica was the hospital," I replied. "You see, despite the fact that I had to work so hard to earn the confidence of my patients, Port Royal has a real need for doctors, and my small practice was outgrowing the little space I had in a clinic attached to my house."
I went on to explain that I had repeatedly spoken to the governor and the magistrates about opening up a larger facility, but that they didn't want a place where the sick would be housed anywhere near the town. No matter how much I argued, they refused to grant me license to build, and when I had finally located a place out of town, up on a bluff that overlooked the ocean, close to but not within Port Royal, no one would lend me the money needed to hire the building contractors. Primarily because they couldn't see a woman being able to make good on a loan of that magnitude by herself, despite the fact that she had a doctor's income to back her up.
"Idiots," Barbossa growled. "I've not met anyone more likely to keep up her end of a bargain."
I smile at him for his vote of confidence.
"What will ye do now," he asked, "stay in Port Royal, or try again to get back to England without bloody pirates interferrin'?"
"I'm not sure," I said honestly. "I've been a bit too preoccupied with those bloody pirates to give it much thought."
He chuckled at my comment and then spoke up. "I think ye ought to give it another go in Port Royal, if a humble pirate's opinion is to be counted fer anythin'."
"Should I discriminate against your opinion just because you're a pirate?" I asked, teasing him.
"Pirate or no, I wouldn't think my opinion would matter to ye," he answered me simply.
"Neither would I, but for some reason, it does," I said softly.
"Well," he said, standing and clearing the rest of the plates off the table, and then pouring the last of the wine in our glasses, "I'll take that as quite a compliment, since it's comin' from you, Madeline Gray."
He fetched the map and the ink, and set them out on the table in front of him, and I dragged my chair closer so that we could puzzle out the last clue. "The last one be Greek," he said, "Father of the sun, father of the moon."
I remember letting my head fall back in my chair as I concentrated, trying to piece it together. I have to admit that after dealing with the style of the five other stanzas, it really didn't take much to figure out the answer.
In Greek mythology the sun was Apollo, and the moon was Artemis, and the father of each of them was Zeus.
Barbossa must have seen the slight smile that crossed my lips at that point, and he spoke eagerly. "Do ye have it?"
I nodded.
"Well, what is it?" he asked, quill poised to write it down.
I shrugged innocently, deciding that it was finally my turn to torment him.
"Do ye know it or not, woman?" he asked, getting a little impatient.
"Oh, I know it, sure as we're sitting here," I said. "I'm just thinking that I might hold onto that information as a bit of insurance."
I think the look he gave me was actually more hurt than angry, and he got out of his chair and went to stand by the windows again. "If yer makin' a game of this, that be all well and good, but if you mean to say that ye really don't trust me to keep my part of our bargain..."
Of course I'd been making a game of it, and I never suspected that I might offend him so much with what I'd said. I got up and went to stand next to him, and placed a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry," I said, earning myself a bit of a glower from him where he stood, obviously pouting. "I didn't mean to imply that I didn't trust you. I was just teasing you a little."
"Does that mean ye do trust me?" he asked, looking down at me where I stood next to him.
I nodded, somehow not being able to find my voice at that moment.
"Then give me the name later," he said softly, turning toward me and reaching up to trail his fingers gently along my cheek.
I recall that I thought my heart skipped a beat or maybe two, as I realized not only where things were heading at that moment, but that in fact, I wanted to go where he was taking us.
I also recall feeling my own hand trembling against his arm where it still rested, and closing my eyes as his hand touched my face. In fact, I recall vividly that it wasn't only my hand that was trembling, and that he must have been very aware of that fact.
"Easy, lass," he whispered, and he pulled me against him gently. I found my hands resting against his chest, and discovered that he was tall enough that my head just tucked under his chin as he drew me in close. "You know ye'll come to no harm by my hand, don't ye?" he asked quietly.
"Yes," I managed to whisper back, short of breath as I was becoming at that moment.
"Good," he said, and he held me gently for another minute to steady me before he spoke again.
"Madeline?" he said into my hair.
"What?" I asked, feeling my heart racing along faster.
"If this be not what ye truly wish, then ye'd best leave now," he said, with no trace of menace, no hint of threat, just a last chance to make sure I knew I had a choice in the matter.
I pulled back slowly half a step and whispered to him. "Where would be the adventure in that?" I asked, and then I felt myself gasp a little as he pulled me in closer and he placed the fingers of his free hand under my chin. He drew very near, tipping my face up, and I finally let my eyes close and my head fall back a little, wondering what it was going to be like to be kissed by the pirate as he leaned down, intending to press his mouth against mine.
I am sure that it would have been quite some kiss, if it weren't for the fact that a huge impact rocked the ship at that moment, and glass exploded from the windows behind us, interrupting our romantic encounter.
Instead, I found myself screaming and tackled ungracefully to the floor as Barbossa dragged us both out of the way of the imploding windows.
"Merda!" he cried out. "What the bloody hell?" He looked back at where I was pinned under him on the floor. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," I gasped, just as the door to his cabin flung open and Turk rushed in.
"Navy ship off our starboard quarter, Cap'n! The bitch came out of nowhere, and she's gaining on us fast!"
"Fuckin' bloody hell!" Barbossa screamed with outrage, scrambling to his feet. "Get all hands on deck!" he yelled, reaching down to grab me by the arm and yank me to my feet, probably a little more roughly than he intended.
He whirled on me. "You stay in here!" he cried, and he grabbed up his sword and ran out the door with Turk, leaving me standing in a pile of broken glass, and feeling almost as fragile.
I could hear the distinct sounds of the cannon fire from the ship that was pursuing us at that point, and not really feeling that I was going to be all that much safer in the cabin after being in there when half the windows had been blown out, I picked my way through the glass and ran out on deck to see what was happening.
The crew was rushing about as Barbossa stood near the helm, shouting orders across the deck. "I need more canvas and I need it yesterday, Master Harlow! Master Turk, make ready the guns, starboard side!" Turk ran below, leading a group of pirates to haul out the cannons.
Barbossa shouted orders at Hoskins, who was at the wheel. "Hard to starboard, Master Hoskins! Now!"
"Cap'n, we'll present more of a target if we give her our starboard profile!" Hoskins argued.
"Aye, but she be after our rudder!" Barbossa cried, shoving Hoskins out of the way and turning us hard to starboard.
I nearly fell as the ship came around, and more canvas dropped simultaneously, causing us to jump forward a little at the same time that we turned. Another cannonball struck our stern, blowing out more of the windows in the cabin, but still missing our rudder, thanks to the quick maneuvering by Barbossa.
Thunder roared from below my feet as Turk's group let the first volley from the cannons on the starboard side fly at the navy ship, and I could hear the damage caused by several impacts, even at that distance.
I was anticipating that the next round would follow from our pursuers, but at that moment Barbossa spotted me on deck and yelled in my direction.
"May, get yer arse below!" he cried. Trying to concentrate on escaping from the navy ship, and seeing that I wasn't inclined to follow his order, he spotted Bellamy, who was jumping down from the rigging, and yelled to him.
"Master Bellamy!" he called across the deck. "Take the doctor below, and lock her in her cabin!" Bellamy hesitated for a single second, and then darted my way as Barbossa bellowed at him again. "Now!"
"Come on, May!" he cried, gabbing me by the arm and dragging me to the companionway. Large chunks of wood exploded behind us as a section of railing near where I'd been standing disintegrated, and I hit the deck with Bellamy next to me, as wood shards showered all around us.
The last few sails dropped open, causing us to fall together again as we tried to get up, and the ship lurched forward again, catching more wind. We finally made it to our feet and to the companionway stairs, just as Barbossa swung the ship back hard to port, trying to present a moving target to the navy ship, while buying us a minute or two to gain some speed.
The last thing I saw before Bellamy dragged me down the stairs was Barbossa standing his ground as we were hit again, and a yard torn from the mizzenmast slammed into the deck only a few feet from where he stood at the wheel.
"Michael," I pleaded as he started to yank my cabin door shut, "don't lock me in! I don't want to be down here not knowing..."
"Sorry, May, the captain's right," he said apologetically. "You're safer down here."
He shut the door and locked it from the outside, and I pounded on the door in frustration, not wanting to be stuck in there wondering about what fate might befall the Rogue, and indeed, myself. I also didn't want to be stuck in that cabin being completely useless to anyone that might be injured on board, and I suddenly realized how worried I was about some of the pirates, and especially Barbossa.
I sat down on my cot and cried in frustration and fear, trying to discern what was happening topside by what I could hear and the movements of the ship. It felt like I was there forever before the sounds of the battle seemed to fade. When it had been several minutes since I heard the last cannon fire from either side, I realized that we must have outrun the naval ship, or were at least attempting to do so and had managed to get out of range of her guns.
I pounded on the door, yelling for someone to let me out, but my efforts were in vain as no one came to release me from my prison until well after dawn.
Turk stood on the other side of the door when it opened. "We've lost them for now," he said, answering the question I had before I could ask it.
"Is everyone alright?" I asked, stepping through the door.
"Everyone is fine, May," Turk said, giving me a smile that said he knew what I had really been asking. "He's friggin' pissed as hell at the crew lettin' a navy ship sneak up on us like that, and in a right state about the damage to his precious Rogue, but once he bashes a few heads and chucks their balls to the sharks, he'll be fine," Turk said jovially.
I trotted up the stairs next to him, anxious to get topside as he spoke again. "'Course seein' the fact that yer unharmed'll probably do him some good as well," Turk said slyly, smiling again as he saw me blush.
"Don't think I don't know what's been going on," Turk added softly as we neared the top stair.
"Nothing's been going on," I said, still a bit red.
"That's a load of shit and you know it," he said, taking me by the arm and halting us on the top stair. "Look at yeh. I already told you he's fine, yet I can barely keep up with yeh on these stairs because yeh can't help but want to see fer yerself."
I said nothing, knowing I couldn't defend myself as I felt my face get warm yet again, and Turk laughed at me.
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A/N: Just a head's up that I'll be away from the 23rd until the 1st without access to my computer. Conference in Kansas City, and then a few days vacation in Bar Harbor. I'll do my best to post a chapter in between, but I may not be able to. I promise if I don't I'll post the next one the second I get home. So, if I don't answer reviews and PM's as quickly as I normally do, you'll know I'm not ignoring you guys!
While I'm gone, stop by my profile page and vote on the poll. The question won't surprise any of you, I'm sure, but I thought the results would be fun to have by the end of the story!
Cheers, gang!
Nytd