The Clover and the Tartan
A small transitional chapter before we get to the last part of this story... I can't believe there are only 5 chapters left after this one. It has been almost 11 months since I started writing this story and it is almost over now… Sigh. Enjoy the sweet life of our newlyweds, after all these adventures they deserve it!
Thanks weheartnoelle, Rath101 and Carvel2806 for your reviews!
Weheartnoelle: Ooooh I'm so glad you liked that wedding! Don't worry, we'll see Claire and Jamie before the end! You'll also know more about Mary in this very chapter :) Thanks for your review!
Rath101: Jimmy will be true to self – caring, adorable, sweet… and convincing, ahahah. Thanks !
Carvel2806: oooh I'm so glad to hear I was able to make you like Stephen! He's an evil character in the show, but the plot could have been soooo great and different if he hadn't raped Brianna in the first place. I wish he had been Bree's love interest… (I just can't stand canon Roger, ugh). You'll have more Jimmy and Mary in this chapter, hope you'll like it! Thanks for your review!
~o~
32. Lem' Ais Arís (Back again)
Brianna stretched languidly, enjoying the caress of the sheets over her naked body, as Stephen rose to fill two cups with French Champagne, offered by Murphy for their wedding. The advantage of being in a French colony…, Brianna thought, straightening up to grab her drink. She squirmed to tuck herself in the back of the bunk, against the hull, and struck a suggestive pose, exposing just the right amount of her private parts while bringing the cup to her lips. She smiled when Stephen's lustful look said a lot about the effect.
"What now?", she smirked.
The pirate raised an eyebrow, mistaking her question for a salacious proposal, and took a sip of champagne. "You want to do it again already?"
"To answer your question: yes, definitely...", she laughed, eyeing the Irishman's naked body greedily. "But mine was more general. Now that we are married and free as birds... What are we going to do?"
Stephen collapsed on the bed and Brianna immediately intertwined her legs with his, as if it was now impossible for her to separate both of their bodies for more than a few seconds. "On that night when I left…", he began, referring to the night following his disastrous marriage proposal. "Something reminded me of the promise I made to you and O'Brien."
"What promise?"
"To get some rest for a while, stay away from the sea... until things get easier in there", he said, tapping his temple with his index finger. Brianna nodded, inviting him to continue. "I entered the first tavern I found to drink myself to death. I sat down, ordered a bottle… There were only two other customers, at a nearby table, so even if I didn't want to, I couldn't help but overhear their conversation."
The redhead laid back on the mattress and snuggled up against him, not wanting to let him talk about that dreadful night again without feeling her warmth against his body.
"They were talking about a property on Cuba, a place called Cajo Babo about 115 miles east of Santiago. Big estate, a main house on the beach, countless outbuildings, but left to rot since the death of the owner. They said no one wanted to take over the estate: Santiago is several days' walk away and there are no other residents for miles around. Uninhabitable for a single family…"
"But not uninhabitable for all of us, with a ship at our disposal...", Brianna finished with a smile.
"I thought maybe it was worth having a look… It's only a whole day of sailing from here…"
Brianna straightened up on one elbow. "You don't have to stop everything if you don't want to, you're already feeling a little better and-"
"Ten days ago, you and O'Brien were this close to tying me to this mattress…"
"I know... I just don't want you to feel pressured into giving up this life and end up resenting us..."
Stephen smiled and slid his hand through his wife's crazy hair. "I need to… and I want to. As unbelievable as it sounds."
"What do you think is most unbelievable: me, making you want to take root on a piece of land or you, convincing me to get married?", she mocked.
With a groan, he grabbed her by the hips and toppled her over to lie on top of her, as she let out a shrill laugh. "You weren't very difficult to convince, darlin'…", he whispered insolently into her ear.
Unfortunately for him, she answered tit-for-tat, in the same tone, as she used to do when they always tried to have the upper hand on each other. "Neither were you…"
Against the young woman's thigh, a light pressure indicated that Stephen desired her again and Brianna bit her lip, sensually raising her eyes, provoking him even more. A second later, he had yielded to temptation.
~o~
As promised, at dawn, Jimmy had shown up at the brothel doors to find Mary. No one was waiting for him there, so he screwed up his courage and entered, surprised to see the number of customers still sprawled on the many sofas and surrounded by girls in different stages of undress. One of them walked past him, chased by a laughing old bourgeois whose white wig had slipped down on one side of his bald head. The girl's voluminous and very naked breasts bounced with each step in an almost hypnotic way and Jimmy immediately lowered his eyes, his cheeks burning red. But as he tried to avoid the bewitching movement of her nipples, he only got a breathtaking view of the limp penis of her pursuer, whose pants were pulled down to his ankles. Obviously, the last customers who had stayed until dawn were drunk enough to lose all inhibition. Unable to look ahead or down, he decided to stare at the ceiling when a whisper caught his attention.
"Psst… James Walsh… Over here!"
He turned his head to the left, then to the right, before finally noticing the worried face of the young handmaid. She was hiding behind a door that seemed to lead into a broom closet near the entrance and he noticed as he approached that she had stored a large leather satchel inside, which probably contained all of her stuff.
"You're blushing…", Mary quipped in a low voice, glancing around the area. She looked worried.
"I'm just... I'm not used to..."
"First time in a den of iniquity?", the teenager finished with a smile.
Jimmy blushed even more. "You could say that…"
"Too bad for you, we're not staying... The madam knows that I am up to something, she has been on my back since last night..."
"Aren't you free to leave?", Jimmy asked, outraged to think that the girls were being held against their will.
Mary smiled. "You're so naive, that's cute… To her, I'm just a big pile of virgin gold. Let's go before she finds us..."
The young maid grabbed the strap of her satchel but Jimmy took it from her hands and passed it around his own neck. They slipped out of the broom closet to the exit, when a hoarse female voice rose somewhere in the building, yelling in French.
"Mary! Reviens ici, sale petite garce!"
"Oh shit, RUN!", Mary laughed as she pushed Jimmy towards the door. The teenagers rushed forward, bumping into a departing customer, and scampered off the alleys, laughing like children until they stopped for a moment to catch their breath.
"Do you think she's following us?", Jimmy gasped as he scanned the surroundings.
"Not a chance… With her stiff leg and crossed eyes, she never sets foot outside her dump…"
Jimmy laughed and straightened up, readjusting the strap of the satchel over his shoulder. They resumed their walk in the streets of Fort-Dauphin, stopping here and there in taverns and pubs in search of a vacant maid or waitress position. But every time, the young woman entered, stayed there barely a minute, and came out empty-handed. The more the hours passed, the sorrier Jimmy felt for her and he soon invited her to lunch in the harbor.
He soon learned that Mary's parents had sold her at the age of ten to a wealthy French family to become the English maid and playmate of a little girl her age. But the family had gone bankrupt and left the Caribbean, parting ways with her. At only fourteen, she had started a string of dead-end jobs, until she ended up here in the brothel.
Despite her precarious situation, the girl remained in good spirits and was excellent company. Sparkling, that was the word Jimmy would have used to describe her. Funny, quick-witted… and she had that cheerful glow in her eyes, as if nothing and no one could unsettle her let alone hurt her. He felt inexorably drawn to her, not in the same way as he had been drawn to Miss Brianna – or rather Mrs. Bonnet, now. Brianna was lost, sad and distraught when he had met her and he had felt the need to reassure her, finding in her an older sister at the same time. But Mary was different. She seemed stronger, as solid as a rock, both intimidating and fascinating.
All afternoon, the same thing was repeated over and over again. Mary would walk in somewhere, disappear for a minute, and come out, shrugging but still smiling. Around vespers in the late afternoon, as the tropical sun was getting dangerously close to the horizon, they had walked all over the city in vain. Mary hadn't found any other job and Jimmy started to worry. Of course, he had saved her from the brothel, but he had also made her homeless.
"I'll leave you some money for a room in a tavern, until you find something better", Jimmy muttered as they strolled side by side along the harbor. His remorseful expression contrasted with the serene look of the young girl beside him. "It's my fault you don't have a place to sleep anymore."
"Keep your money, James…", Mary sighed with a smile. "And you're wrong, I have a whole bunch of places to sleep in! On this island, there are miles and miles of beaches, covered in the softest and finest sand you've ever seen. And if it rains, I'll just have to find a stable and snuggle up against a fluffy sheep… See? I'll be fine."
"You never give up, don't you, Miss Mary?"
The young girl laughed and shrugged. "My situation is far from hopeless... I can always go back to the brothel, I'm sure I'll have my job back. And if I don't... I guess I'll have to find a husband to support me..."
Jimmy's eyes widened: these two options were – to him – far more intolerable than a night out under the stars or in a stable. A husband... He would have been happy to volunteer, but she would probably laugh in his face: a penniless cabin boy, sleeping in a hammock in the bowels of a ship. He didn't stand a chance. Not all women would agree to live at sea like Miss- no Mrs. Bria-
The young boy froze, suddenly realizing something. How could he not have thought about it earlier? It was obvious! Now that the Captain and Brianna were married, they would soon have children, and maybe even a house... They will need a governess!
"Come on, I just had an idea!", Jimmy exclaimed, grabbing Mary's hand to take her to the docks. Still smiling, the young woman let herself be dragged down to the Gloriana. They climbed up the gangway and hardly had she set foot on the steerage when almost all eyes turned to her.
"Gentlemen!", Mary said happily. Nothing seemed to ever intimidate her, not even a bunch of men of all ages staring suspiciously or insistently at her.
"Is the captain available?", Jimmy asked, approaching O'Brien. The first mate was smoking a cigar with Doherty as he took stock of the food they had just loaded in the holds.
"You mean, 'are they finally out of their room', lad?", Lowett sneered, a little further, as O'Brien's lips stretched in a mocking smile around his cigar.
Jimmy blushed and gave Mary a brief apologetic look. "The captain got married last night..."
"Oh, I see…", she said with a smirk that spoke volumes.
"You should hurry up and do the same, Jimmy, or I might try to steal your girlfriend…", Boyle quipped as he walked past them, grabbing Mary's hand to bring it to his lips. "Nice to meet you. Aedan Boyle, your future husband."
"Hands off!", Jimmy protested, glaring at his colleague.
"I'm flattered, Mr. Boyle, but… I'm not that desperate yet", Mary blurted out, with such lightness and delicacy that Boyle almost felt offended.
The sailor put a hand to his heart, as if he had just been hit by a bullet, and there were a few laughs among the crew members. "Ouch…", the young man said, staggering towards O'Brien, who was still smiling.
"You heard that? She said 'yet': for the first time in your life you might have a chance with a lassie!", the first mate mocked before dodging a slap from his friend.
Jimmy sighed loudly, ashamed of their behavior in front of the first girl he was really interested in. But she didn't seem embarrassed in the least, and even chuckled at O'Brien's retort. The boy suddenly felt Murphy's heavy, callused hand on his shoulder and turned around.
"The captain is on the upper deck…", the carpenter muttered before frowning at Mary. "I don't know what you're up to, lad, but don't build your hopes up too much. One woman on this ship is more than enough..."
"Thank you", Jimmy hastily answered before taking Mary's hand to go up the stairs to the upper deck.
Brianna and Stephen were both leaning against the railing, reading a map that the young woman held out in her arms while Stephen pointed at something on it. "It's here. The nearest neighbors are in Imias, 9 miles west, and Rio Seco, 7 miles east."
"I think Frank told me about a place called the Pirate's Cave, somewhere in this part of Cuba, but that shouldn't have been a solid lead because he never told me anything else about it..."
"We will have plenty of time to explore the area... Even if we will be somewhat surrounded by the jungle..."
Brianna smiled. "With the sea right outside our door..."
"At nights, we'll open the windows and hear the sound of the waves… It will be a bit like sleeping on the ship…", Stephen whispered into the crook of her neck and the redhead chuckled like a teenager when the pirate's breath tickled her skin. Jimmy suddenly cleared his throat, making them both jump.
The two newlyweds straightened up and whirled around, as if they had truly forgotten that they weren't alone on the planet. But even more than the shock of being interrupted while flirting, it was the presence of a young girl with Jimmy that took them aback.
"Captain… uh… this is Mary…", the boy stammered, while Bonnet was staring at her with a doubtful expression. Mary waved her hand happily, before remembering those people might be potential employers, and gave a little bow. Brianna frowned slightly. "She's looking for work and I thought that maybe..."
"What kind of work?", Brianna asked, a little more sharply than she would have liked. The poor child had done nothing to deserve her suspicion, but her huge smile made her uneasy, as if the girl had no manners at all.
"Oh, I can pretty much do anything. Lately, I was working in a brothel. Taking care of the laundry and doing the housework, not… actually working as a prostitute", the blonde hastened to answer, not taking offence at the slight sneer that had escaped from Bonnet's lips, "I was also helping the girls dress up, comb their hair… taking care of their babies. I have all skills required to be a maid, ma'am. Or your children's governess…"
Well, that explains the absolute lack of manners, Brianna muttered inwardly. "Thank you, but we don't have ch-"
"Excellent idea!", Stephen interrupted, smiling widely at the girl, which returned it ten-fold. Brianna's eyes, on the other hand, became round like saucers. "You should know, however, that we are leaving tomorrow morning for Cuba. If you want to follow us, I suggest you bid your family and friends farewell tonight."
"My family is on the mainland. I don't think they care if I'm on this island or another..."
"Perfect, then. Welcome aboard, Miss Mary."
The blonde was beaming, as was Jimmy who couldn't believe he had got what he wanted without even needing to haggle. Obviously, the governess argument had hit home. Ignoring his wife's disapproving gaze, Stephen leaned over the railing as Jimmy and Mary went back down to the steerage. "Mr. Doherty! Find Miss Mary a mattress, blankets and a suitable place to spend the night."
"I'm more than willing to share my hammock, Captain…", Boyle said just before he gave a cry of pain. Jimmy had just kicked him hard in the shin. "Ow, you bloody little brat…"
"Suitable and safe from predators...", Stephen added with a chuckle.
The quartermaster nodded. "Sure, Captain."
Brianna waited for Stephen to finally turn around but he took great care to immediately lower his nose into his map of Cuba, and the young woman crossed her arms over her chest. "I thought we agreed that we would never be the kind of people with household staff?", she sulked. To be honest, she hated the idea of having to share her living space (and especially marital space) with another human being. Let alone a pretty and cheeky girl like Mary. "Besides, we don't even have a roof over our heads yet. What if Cajo Babo doesn't suit us?"
Stephen looked up from his map and tilted his head to the side. "We'll go somewhere else…" He looked at her pout, her annoyed face and folded arms, then smirked. "Are you afraid of competition?"
"Absolutely not", Brianna retorted, annoyed that he had been able to read her like an open book. "Besides, she's just a child. She's what… fifteen? Sixteen, at the most…"
Stephen looked at his map again, still smiling. But Brianna wasn't finished. She obviously needed to rant about their new recruit and shook her head.
"It's the way she smiles, like she's comfortable everywhere… Did you hear how she brought up the subject of children? What a nerve..."
"She just came up with the right arguments. This is all about selling yourself. You were very good at that in Kingston, or I wouldn't have spent a penny on you." As she glared at him, he gave her a seductive wink and Brianna found herself conflicted between the urge to sulk and to tear his clothes off on the spot.
"Oh, that was easy, I just had to say the word 'gold' to have you come running and wagging your tail..."
Stephen chuckled and grabbed her waist cincher to pull her against him. "That and the grace with which you punched that man right in the nose…"
Brianna smiled and kissed him greedily, as the pirate's arms wrapped around her waist. She was well aware that they were behaving like teens in heat, but for the first time since they had met, they finally had the opportunity to live their love freely. And soon in a Spanish colony, not far from a cave that might conceal other riches allowing them to live decently for a long time to come. The young woman broke their languid kiss and raised her tired eyes towards his. Her wedding day and night had taken its toll on her and she could barely stand on her feet.
"I'm going to lie down for a bit before Flanagan serves dinner…", she announced before noticing a lustful sparkle in Stephen's eyes. "Alone. Or we both know how this will end."
"I have no idea what you're talking about..."
Brianna answered with a sarcastic laugh as she walked down the stairs and he smirked. But his smile weakened when his wife was out of sight. The little blonde had certainly been able to sell herself. The instant she had said the words "your children", he had felt his son's silky hair against his palm. The son his brain had created to survive torture, prison and nightmares. He had heard the rustle of the wind in the tall grass, smelled the scent of the jasmine blossoms Brianna placed in the cupboards of their imaginary house so that the linen smelled good. Two words... "your children"... and he was there again. Slowly, he put his hands on the railing and closed his eyes. Soon. Soon this dream would come true, and he would be free. And the painful traces that William Tryon's abuse had left in him would disappear.
~o~
Mary opened her eyes as the floor seemed to move under her makeshift bunk and straightened up, blinking. For a second, she wondered what she was doing there, in that almost empty hold, under a few blankets with her bag as a pillow. Then the Gloriana creaked loudly and she remembered. A few rays of light filtered through the portholes and she stretched her sore legs and back, before getting up. Surprisingly, neither James nor any other sailor had ventured to her hold, as she had imagined. Her experience of men might have been a bit prejudiced because of all the things she had seen in the brothel, but she had expected at least one of them to come and whisper sweet nothings to her ear. But no, they had all behaved like gentlemen. Leaving her belongings in a corner of the hold, Mary ventured down the corridor to the surface, not really knowing where the exit was. The day before, Doherty had gone down so many stairs and passageways that she had lost count. Fortunately, a known face already awaited her at the foot of the first staircase leading to the upper level.
"Good morning, Mary!", Jimmy said, getting up from the step where he had been sitting patiently. "It's past breakfast time, but I'll show you where to find food."
"I'm starving…", the young girl admitted.
"This way." With a disarming smile, Jimmy grabbed her hand and led the girl after him down the corridors and stairs to Flanagan's lair. The cook sighed loudly and the cabin boy had a funny feeling of déjà vu, smiling as he thought of the first time he had also taken Brianna to the kitchens to steal some food. But this time, he didn't have to insist and Mary was able to walk away with some biscuits and an apple. As she bit into the latter, a noise caught her attention in a nearby corridor and she stopped, her teeth still planted in her fruit.
One of the old sailors she had met the day before was leaning over a bunch of tools he had obviously just dropped. His right hand was clenched on his chest and he was wincing in pain. But as he saw Mary, he suddenly straightened up, struggling to catch his breath. They stared at each other for a moment and the teenager was about to ask him if everything was all right when Jimmy came running, surprised that his guest had suddenly stopped.
"Are you all right, Mr. Murphy?", Jimmy asked, staring at the tools on the floor.
Murphy nodded sharply and furrowed his bushy brow. He was carefully avoiding Mary's gaze now and leaned down to retrieve his things. "I just dropped what was in my hands... I hope I haven't damaged anything..."
Mary slipped her apple into one of the pockets of her maid's apron and rushed over to help the carpenter collect the items.
"I'm fine...", the old man muttered, waving her away with the back of his hand. The young girl took a step back, still staring at the old man with a worried expression, but he quickly walked around her and disappeared into the hallway leading to the main staircase.
"Don't worry…", Jimmy laughed, mistaking her concern for disappointment at being scolded by a stranger. "Mr. Murphy is always grumpy with newcomers. Especially women. And after a few months, he insists on walking them down the aisle..."
But his remark didn't bring back any smile on Mary's lips. Quite the opposite. "Isn't he… a bit old to work on a ship?"
Jimmy laughed even more. "Don't tell him that if you want to keep both of your ears glued to your scalp… Trust me, he's stronger than he looks."
Mary was not convinced, but a single glance at Jimmy's freckled face was enough to make her smile again. Taking her hand in his, they went to the steerage to lean against the starboard rail. Fort-Dauphin gradually receded into the distance as they made their way across the bay and towards the ocean. After admiring the city they were leaving behind, Jimmy decided to give her a full tour of the ship, unaware of Brianna who was watching them from the upper deck.
"All right, I'm a tad jealous… I've lost my place in Jimmy's heart…", the young woman sighed, pouting. At the helm, Stephen laughed sarcastically as she pressed herself against him. "One younger girl is all it takes for me to be dumped like a smelly old rag…"
"Will you stop whining if I let you steer?", Stephen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"For real?" Brianna's face lit up instantly and she slipped under his left arm to place herself between him and the wheel. Immediately, Stephen snuggled up against her back and rested his head on her shoulder.
"Put your hands-"
But Brianna had not waited and immediately placed her hands at ten past ten. "One here and one there, and I hold it straight, I know…", she said before turning her head to savor Stephen's expression. The pirate narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, then growled.
"I'm going to kill O'Brien."
Brianna chuckled but didn't add anything. The feeling of being in command of the ship, with Stephen close to her and the promise of a new life just twenty-four hours away, were too exhilarating and she wanted to enjoy every second of it. But the closer they got to the mouth of the bay and to the ocean, the more the wheel vibrated under her fingers, until Stephen's hands finally came to stabilize hers, before replacing them completely when the waves started to rock the Gloriana a bit more.
Once in the ocean, they sailed for a few hours along the coasts of Hispaniola, until they reached Tortuga. From a distance, the filibuster's realm hadn't changed since their last visit, just over two months earlier, and Brianna wondered if Ayodeji had found himself a little piece of heaven as well. They would have the opportunity to discover it by themselves, though; Cajo Babo was not that far. And maybe they would find the former slave, comfortably settled and living a happy life.
Before dawn, they would arrive in Cuba, marking the start of a new chapter in their story. Would they settle in this mysterious abandoned property or somewhere else? Would they hunt other treasures? Brianna didn't know and she didn't care. She would feel at home everywhere… as long as Stephen was by her side.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Next week: Cuba! Our final destination and perhaps the little piece of heaven that our lovebirds were waiting for… I hope you enjoyed this short chapter, to know a little more about Mary and to see our wee Jimmy under her spell...
I can't wait to read your comments and until then, I wish you a wonderful week!
Xérès
