Chapter 4: A Child for Sale
Hello everyone! Ready for another chapter? Sorry for the slightly late update, it was a long week in grad school with tons of exams, but the story must go on! Last we left off, little Maggie had been attacked and her wrist broken. In this chapter, we'll see what Brianna can do to fix it, and watch Bonnet and her's relationship unfold just a little more. Not quite a romance (yet), but mutual respect is growing between them. We also meet yet another character who will be a bit part of their story!
Thank you so much to the guest who left a sweet comment last week! I'm so glad you're enjoying the slow burn. I really want to flesh out their characters before I take it too far.
Thank you as well to all the readers who are keeping up with the story, I hope you're all loving it.
Now, onto the story...
It had been a long time since Bonnet could recall being injured at sea. He had spent the last few hours putting distance between the sunken Revenge and the wounded Gloriana. The men were shaken, battered and bruised, but thankfully only 5 crew members were lost. They were easily replaceable, and he was sure that he would be able to find more willing men at their next stop—Nassau. The Gloriana's port quarter had borne the brunt of the damage, with a large chunk of it being blown away by the one well-placed cannon shot the opposing ship had fired. It needed to be fixed, and luckily Nassau was just a day and a half's trip from where Alston had instigated the confrontation.
While everyone else bustled about the ship, tending to their injuries and celebrating their victory, Bonnet had remained mostly silent, spitting out orders to his men only when absolutely necessary. He couldn't shake the thoughts of the disturbing circumstances which surrounded his shoulder wound. He did find some relief from his nagging subconscious when the remaining men of Alston's crew had their throats slit and were thrown to the fish. The bodies on the deck had also been collected and sent down to the same fate. Bonnet had personally seen to it that the other's crew members were not given the proper send-off, with the solemn curse "Go mbrise an diabhal do chnámha" bitterly hollered as the bodies hit the water. His own men who were not as lucky as he to make it out alive, were wrapped carefully in canvas sail material and sent off with a stitch through the nose by a friend.
Dugan had fared well, with hardly a scratch. He had immediately sought Bonnet out after the fighting had ended, perhaps seeing him looking pale and worse for wear as he crossed the deck to the helm. Walking slowly up the stairs, Dugan had thought the captain would hardly make it—his face was sallow and pale and his gait much less strong and confident. Upon seeing this, he rushed to the man's side to inspect the wound. Bonnet hardly seemed pleased to be bothered over something so minuscule. After bickering back and forth with him for a few minutes, Bonnet relented, removed his leather coat and allowed his first mate to take a look at it. He made no sound as he looked it over, the purple bruising that was spidering around the deep stab wound was in stark contrast with Bonnet's fairer skin. Dugan stifled a sharp intake of breath as he took it in.
"Ye need to put some alcohol on that cap'n', before ye catch a fever," Dugan eyed the man suspiciously, who hadn't said much since their plunder. He had assumed Bonnet would be overjoyed having crossed one of his biggest Carolina smuggling competitors off the list, but his face was once again unreadable. He was hiding the ugly truth behind the wound. Unbeknownst to him though, Dugan had seen the entire event surrounding the stabbing unfold.
Bonnet grumbled solemnly under his breath in acceptance, and Dugan took to caring for the gaping hole in his shoulder. Pulling his flask from his side, he dribbled a bit of the liquid onto the inflamed and torn flesh. Bonnet winced, but said nothing, keeping his eyes on the vast ocean in front of him.
"How's the lass?" Dugan asked with a raised eyebrow. Bonnet's eyes flickered for a second to the man beside him, and then went right back to the water.
"Dunno. I haven't been down to see. Have ye seen Maggie then?" Bonnet figured he'd better play it safe, and pretend that Brianna wasn't the one he was the most curious about, but Dugan seemed to see right through it.
"I haven't seen the child. I was askin' ye about Miss Fraser," he kept his eyes firmly on Bonnet's face, until he finally committed to looking over at him for longer than a glance. When Bonnet didn't reply and instead turned away without another word, Dugan decided to push the envelope.
"I saw ye when ye had the dagger plunged into ye. Ye never have lost focus like that cap'n', not since I've been with ye on the Gloriana."
Bonnet realized immediately what Dugan was implying, and this time when he looked at him, his weary eyes burned with rage. The first mate shied away ever so slightly, nearly imperceptibly, but it was enough for Bonnet. Enough to know he was still feared regardless of his slip up today.
"The woman was ravin' about Maggie. I was tryin' to explain to her that this is what she does. She picks the locks for the rest of the crew. She didn't want to hear it. By the time I'd left her to fend for herself, there was a dagger in me," Bonnet replied carefully and shrugged, momentarily forgetting about the extent of his injury, and grimacing as he did so.
Dugan didn't dare press it further, even knowing that the truth of the matter was far from the picture Bonnet was painting. The fact was, the woman had been his sole priority at that moment, and protecting her had come before his duty to himself and the crew. It was absurd behavior coming from the level-headed and consistent captain who had guided him through more than a hundred battles at sea. He was the wolf of the ocean, the pirate whose flags behind other ships caused men to shake in their boots. He was not a man who would give up glory—or his life—for something so cheap as sex. Though his behavior was erratic to say the least, Dugan let it go, the discontentedness coming off Bonnet in waves indicated he knew of his own error and that was what mattered.
"Aye, the child looked grim when I saw 'er last, bein' carried like a limp thing into the hold. Her 'and didn't look right," Dugan mimicked Maggie's broken wrist, contorting it sideways and backwards as Bonnet relaxed his murderous gaze. There would be no more talk of how the dagger found its way into his shoulder, lest his most trusted friend lose his own hand. Bonnet mumbled again inaudibly as Dugan abandoned the topic and ripped the sleeve of his shirt off to create a makeshift bandage. His shoulder was still bleeding, much more slowly than when had it happened, but still bleeding nonetheless. It needed to be stemmed before Bonnet could no longer stand. After seeing many fights and much death, both men knew the importance of keeping one's lifeblood in if they wanted to survive.
As Dugan wrapped it tightly around his deltoid and the shoulder's joint, Bonnet realized just how tired he really was. It had been a long day, and he had come far too close to showing his entire hand to both Alston and his own crew. He suddenly looked up, blinking the dire need for sleep out of his eyes. By now the sky had become a light pink, and the sun had begun its final descent behind the horizon. Having hardly gotten more than 10 total hours of sleep since beginning their journey from North Carolina, he wasn't sure if it was the wound, the woman or just plain exhaustion that was pulling him back to his quarters.
"Can ye take the helm for a few hours Dugan? I need a bit of sleep before we reach Nassau and port. I have some business there I need to attend to in addition to fixin' the Gloriana,"
Dugan's eyes lit up. He could count the number of times he had been trusted to guide the ship for more than a few hours on both of his hands over the years.
"Sure cap'n', will ye need anything else?"
"No. I'll be back in a few hours, just need a bit of rest," Bonnet relinquished the helm slowly as if he had to pry his own hands from it, his body resisting the unnatural exchange of power between the two men.
As Dugan took command, Bonnet turned away with some effort and headed for the hold.
-O-O-
Brianna had carried the child down the ladder carefully, slinging her over her own shoulder to get her down to the hold safely. She still had not opened her eyes, and her wrist grew ever more swollen as the minutes ticked by. There was no doubt in Brianna's mind that it was broken. She cursed softly as she made her way to the captain's quarters. She would give anything for her mother's skills at the moment, to be able to fix the little girl up and promise her that she would not be permanently disfigured from the incident. But, it was a promise she couldn't make. Setting the girl lightly down onto the bed, she nervously felt again for her pulse. It was there, but seemed much softer and threadier underneath of her fingers. She swallowed the lump in her throat and moved to inspect her mangled hand.
Where the two bones of the forearm joined the wrist joint was a grotesque bulge of both shattered bone and blood. It was curved unnaturally outward and Brianna's head began to spin for a moment before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Now was not the time to lose her nerve. Maggie needed her.
There was no doubt in modern times the girl would be taken in for surgery immediately. She remembered Claire's stories about the operating room, and one in particular stood out in her memories. She thought hard, trying to bring the fuzzy past to the forefront of her mind.
"We had a child come in today to the emergency, it was positively awful. He had fallen off the top of a swing-set and landed wrong on his wrist. It was not a pretty sight. We had to call the plastic surgeon in." Brianna remembered her mother's worn-out expression and solemnity of her voice. She forced herself to recall more of that night, anything that would help her fix Maggie.
"We had to open him up. Put some pins and rods in. His growth plate was completely shattered, it's unlikely that the function of the child's wrist will ever be normal again. At least, he probably won't have the dexterity you and I do. I splinted it before he was sent off to the OR, it was about all I could do for him at that point."
Brianna opened her eyes, coming back to the present. A splint. She would have to manipulate the hand into the proper positon and place something hard against it like a light piece of wood so that Maggie couldn't move it.
Leaving Maggie on the bed, Brianna headed out of the door and to the right where the crew's quarters were. She paused at the room's mouth, remembering how poorly her interaction with Gordon had gone. But this is for Maggie, she thought. Lifting her head, she swallowed her fear and entered the dingy space in the hold which was lined with hammocks. There were about 20 men there, seemingly checking their belongings, making sure none of Alston's men had snuck away to steal anything which had gone with them to the depths when they were thrown over. The men had a habit of leaving the dead or soon to be dead with their jewelry. It was said to be bad luck to wear a dead man's rings, and all but Bonnet on board the Gloriana subscribed to that superstition.
Brianna coughed lightly to gain the attention of one of the nearby men. He looked up at her gingerly, perhaps still shell-shocked after witnessing Gordon's untimely ending.
"Can I help ye Miss Fraser?" the boy appeared young, perhaps just a bit younger than her. He stood up from a small chest beneath his hammock and walked up to Brianna.
Before she could respond, he leaned in and spoke more quietly, "Is Maggie alright? I ken she wasnae awake when ye carried her below," he looked clearly concerned as he spoke, and continued to rattle on.
"I grew up near the little lass in Saint-Dominique. We're not related, but I think of her as a sister, ye ken?"
Brianna's heart instantly warmed and she felt less afraid. There were people here that cared about Maggie and had her wellbeing in mind. More than I can say for Bonnet, she thought angrily. He hadn't even come to check on the girl.
"She's still unconscious, I think from the pain. What's your name?" the boy smiled slightly and relaxed after hearing the good news.
"It's Mr. MacAulay, miss, I'm one of the ship's deckhands," he remarked proudly, straightening himself up as he said it.
"Well, Mr. MacAulay, I could use your help in finding a piece of wood for Maggie's arm. Her wrist is broken quite badly I'm afraid, and I need to make a splint," the boy's eyes widened as he heard the word break, but he quickly beckoned for Brianna to follow him.
They left the hold, and made a beeline towards the front of the ship. MacAulay headed quickly down another ladder ahead of Brianna into the very deepest bowels of the ship. Once she had made it to the bottom, he ushered her to the dark stock room just a few feet away from the hole they had descended into.
"What do ye need for her, miss?" he bent down and picked up a thick piece of wood and Brianna shook her head.
"Please, call me Brianna," she smiled sweetly at the boy before continuing, "We need a small and light piece, like a branch to hold her arm in place so she can't bend it. She needs to be able to lift her arm though, so it can't be too big," she motioned with her hands about how long it should be and MacAulay nodded slowly as he looked around.
He moved fluidly around the piles of canvas, wood, and gunpowder in the complete dark, seeming to know exactly where everything was. He bent down and dug around in what looked like scraps of timber used for the mast spokes and suddenly exclaimed "Aha! Will this work?" he picked up the piece he found and carried it back to Brianna who was struggling to see without any windows or light. She backed up to the ladder where some candlelight had filtered down into the darkened space from above.
MacAulay placed it into her hands and Brianna smiled broadly, "It's perfect! Just the right weight and length!" the boy seemed genuinely excited and he laughed, an infectious sound filled with happiness. Brianna felt like jumping for joy. It was a small thing, but it was something—perhaps she could straighten it out enough to help it heal somewhat normally. She was deep in thought, considering how she would attach the wood to her and how she could make a sling, like her own mother had given her when she sprained her arm. Her mind was working at a million miles a minute when suddenly the boy's voice snapped her back to attention again.
"Will Maggie be alright then? I dinnae know what I would do without her here. I told Bonnet when he took us on I would look after her. I feel like I failed her today," MacAulay looked at his feet in shame. Brianna moved towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder lightly. He seemed surprised by the gesture, but didn't move and allowed her to comfort him.
"I don't know, but I'm going to do my best to fix her. I'm no doctor, and have nothing close to the healing capabilities that my mother has, but I'm not going to give up on her arm just yet." The boy lifted his eyes from the floor and grinned weakly.
"I can see why the captain likes ye so. Let's go back up to the lass, I'll help ye if ye need it."
Brianna rolled her eyes at his comment but started for the ladder nonetheless without another word. She was doing quite well making new friends now, it was best not to ruin the rapport she had built by insulting their respected captain.
MacAulay and Brianna made their way back to the captain's quarters without another word. It was still silent within the room as they approached the door. Brianna swung the heavy oak slab open without a thought and strode into the room as if she owned it. Not hearing the footfall of MacAulay behind her anymore she spun around to see him lingering awkwardly at the doorjamb, looking as if he were guilty.
Brianna stared at him with exasperation. "Well come on then!" she motioned with her hand for him to enter the room.
"I'm not really supposed ta be in here, ye ken?" He looked around the room ominously before elaborating, "These are Cap'n Bonnet's quarters, none of the ship's crew is to enter without his explicit permission. Could ye carry her out so I can help ye out here?" MacAulay swallowed nervously and remained at the threshold.
"I can't move her and risk hurting her. Bonnet hasn't been down here all day. If he hasn't come yet, I don't think he's going to," she remarked bitterly, her plan of concealing her feelings toward the pirate flying out the window.
MacAulay raised his eyebrows in surprise, her tone obviously the source. As quickly as his face had changed, it softened and he finally stepped into the room. He walked slowly, still seemingly expecting to be attacked at any moment.
Brianna stood near the young girl's side at the edge of the bed. She hadn't moved an inch since she had left her there 15 minutes prior to find the wood. MacAulay joined her at her side, looking mournfully at the young girl. He reached out and pushed a black lock from her sweaty forehead behind her ear. His eyes darted down to her distorted right wrist which rested on her stomach, and quickly flicked back to her face, his own turning pale.
"It looks really bad, miss…" he whispered softly.
"I know. We're just going to have to do our best. I need something to make a sling for her arm." Brianna stated, her hand moving to her chin as she thought hard.
MacAulay stared at her quizzically. "A… sling?"
"You know, like a thing to wrap around her arm to hold it up," Brianna said absentmindedly. "Ah, I know!" she raced to one of Bonnet's many chests which rested on the floor against the wall and threw open one of the heavy lids with a clang. Her eyes falling upon nothing but gold coins, she moaned and moved to the one next to it. MacAulay stood back awkwardly, looking over at the door every so often.
"Miss I'm not sure you should…" the boy started but gave up as Brianna pulled out a linen shirt from one of the chests and squealed with delight.
"This'll work perfectly! Can you cut it for me? I need it to be a specific length to fit her. It needs to go around her shoulder and behind her head to support her arm, like this." Brianna modeled the fabric for him so he could understand what she wanted done. He nodded slowly in response, obviously not thrilled to be destroying some of his captain's best clothes.
Just as MacAulay took the shirt from Brianna's hands, the unamused voice of the very man the boy had been waiting for piped up at the doorway.
"Ye'll not be rippin' up my shirt boy. Now, get out." Both Brianna and MacAulay jumped, startled by his sudden presence and the annoyed timbre of his voice. The shirt fell to the floor as the boy turned to look at Bonnet, his eyes wide with fear.
"You really do have an incredible knack for just showing up," Brianna moaned. She looked at the boy who was practically shaking and thought about reaching out a hand to comfort him again before she decided against it. If she was the reason MacAulay was harmed, she could never forgive herself. She settled on looking at him kindly and reassuringly, willing him to speak with her eyes and explain the situation.
"Cap'n, I'm so sorry, ye ken I wouldnae be in here, but Brianna—err, Miss Fraser, she asked for my help sir to assist her in fixin' up Maggie." MacAulay stumbled over his words and waited for Bonnet to reply. He looked less than pleased and motioned for the boy to come over to him.
MacAulay slowly walked over to Bonnet, his entire body stiff as a rail. As he stood in front of him, Bonnet reached out and brought his lips next to the boy's ear. "I find ye in here again, yer likely to lose yer prick. Don't make me ask ye to get out again, because I won't be so kind to ye the next time." He whispered with all the venom in his voice that he could muster.
"Yessir, I'm sorry, it won't happen again, ye have my word," MacAulay all but ran out of the room, leaving Brianna and Bonnet alone with the injured girl. He turned to look at her after watching the boy scamper away with a charming grin on his face.
"Do you have to be such a brute to everyone?" Brianna asked incredulously. She felt bad for including the boy in her efforts when he warned her Bonnet would not be pleased.
"Aye, I do, yer just lucky ye've not been on the receiving end of it yet. I'm quite sure that'll change in the near future." He winked at her, and she shuddered in response. He tried to act as if it hadn't bothered him that she was so repulsed by him, but deep down it certainly did.
"Well, now that you're here, I need you to help me with Maggie," Brianna motioned to the child still laying silently on the bed, her sticky forehead wet with perspiration. She was shocked he hadn't yet shown his displeasure for the child being placed in his bed. Brianna held her breath, hoping he would remain calm for the little girl's sake.
Bonnet paused for a moment then walked to the edge of the bed and gave Maggie a once over. She looked downright awful, he thought to himself. Scanning her arm, he took stock of the damage to her wrist and clicked his tongue in distaste. It was nearly black with bruising and was contorted in a way a wrist should never bend.
"Are ye sure ye can fix this? Or should I just put an end to her sufferin'. It won't be right ever again, ye know that." Bonnet looked to Brianna who's face displayed an expression of utter horror.
"We'll not be putting her out of her misery like some dog! I can help her. Or at least, let me try to." Bonnet seemed to be more subdued than usual, Brianna noted. He had yet to shove her into a wall or try to do anything to force her into a box. His civility both worried her and intrigued her. Perhaps it's the blood loss gone to his head that has him acting like less of a beast, she wondered to herself. She noted the bandage on his shoulder poking out from beneath the hole in his coat from the dagger and felt relieved she would not have to help him, too. Of all people on board, his death would cause her the least grief, she suspected.
"Alright, what do ye need me to do?" Bonnet looked at her for direction and Brianna nearly choked. She hadn't expected it to be so easy to get him to comply. Obviously, her surprise showed because Bonnet followed up quickly with a growl. "If yer not goin' to fix her, I'll throw her over myself. Tell me what ye need me to do," his features darkened as he said it and Brianna refocused, reminding herself just how dangerous Bonnet could be if she didn't tread carefully.
"MacAulay was going to cut this for me, like this," Brianna held up the cloth again to her body, showing him what parts needed to be sheared off to make it fit. She waited for him to protest, to tell her he would not be using his good clothes on little Maggie, or something of the sort. To her surprise, he shrugged, took the shirt from her, and began cutting it judiciously.
"Oh, and save some strips to tie her splint on too please," she added as an afterthought. Bonnet hardly seemed to acknowledge it, but he began tearing small strips from the base of the shirt as he went along.
Brianna watched him out of the corner of her eye, pretending to look intently at Maggie whenever his eyes strayed from the shirt. He was actually doing it without complaining. Perhaps he did have some sort of soft spot for the child.
"Finished," he handed her the cloth and she inspected it, nodding her head appreciatively. "Now what?" he snapped.
Brianna twitched at the acidity of his words. "Now I need you to hold her shoulders. I need to move her wrist back into place," as she said it, her face turned green and Bonnet narrowed his eyes.
"Ye have done this before, haven't ye?" he asked her, moving to place a hand on each of the tiny arms.
"Uhm, not exactly…" Brianna trailed off meekly and Bonnet looked at her like she had five heads. "But I've seen my mother do it before!" Though it wasn't exactly the truth, knowing her mother could do it brought her strength and seemed to relax the pirate in the process.
Gulping, she took hold of Maggie's right hand gently. "Alright, now when I do this, just make sure she doesn't move. I'm going to set it back into place as best as I can." Bonnet nodded and cocked his head to the side.
"I don't think she's goin' anywhere, darlin'," he replied with a forced laugh.
Let's hope not, Brianna thought to herself. Taking hold of the last wisp of courage she had in her, she placed her other hand on the girl's arm to steady it and bent the hand back into place. As if she had been thrown suddenly into a pot of boiling water, Maggie's eyes shot open and a blood-curdling scream escaped her lips, nearly sending Bonnet backward. For half a second it looked as if his eyes would pop out of their sockets as he watched the little girl scream and writhe, begging for the pain to stop. But, he held her tightly as Brianna manipulated her hand around. The sound of bone-on-bone and the squelch of the girl's damaged tissue moving under her fingers making Brianna's stomach turn. The girl continued to scream, a sound that seemed to go on and on with no reprieve. She wondered briefly how the girl could hold her breath for so long.
"Shhh," Brianna crooned, trying to capture the child's eyes with her own, "I know it hurts, it's okay, we're trying to help you," she hoped hearing that they were there to help would ease the situation, relax her even an ounce, but she continued right on screaming. Her face turned red, and new sweat beads popped up along her brow. She wriggled with all her might, trying to escape the pain, but Bonnet did not relent. Realizing sitting up was a lost cause, she kicked out violently with her legs, narrowly missing Brianna's side as she stepped out of the way just in time.
"By Danu the kid can scream," Bonnet groaned. Brianna was terrified he would lose patience with her and snap her neck at a moment's notice but he held steady.
"I—I don't know what to tell her to relax her!" Brianna yelped. She felt for the child but knew the captain had a short fuse. She moved in next to Bonnet again and tried to take Maggie's good hand into her own, but it was no use.
Bonnet watched her futile attempts to calm his youngest crew member and finally, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
"HEY! Knock it off ye wee harecop!" He shook her hard, enough to refocus her attention onto the present instead of the pain. Brianna grabbed his arm, trying to get him to stop before it escalated too far. But, the shaking had its intended effect and Maggie seemed to finally be aware of her surroundings. Brianna released his arm and stepped back, terrified of the consequences of trying to stop his actions, but he hardly seemed to notice she had touched him at all. His attention was completely and unequivocally focused on Maggie.
The little girl looked up at her captain, tears flowing freely and wetting her shirtfront. Her eyes were pleading, and Bonnet felt a pang of guilt pass through his chest.
"I'm sorry cap'n', it hurts so bad," Maggie cried out. She looked down at her wrist and her eyes nearly rolled back into her head again.
"Maggie! Listen, we're going to put a splint on your arm and then a sling, it's going to feel a lot better once we do it, I just need you to bear with me." Brianna kept her voice as steady as possible, hiding the shakes that were wracking her entire body.
Maggie nodded, trying to focus on the two of them to keep herself from going under again. Brianna took hold of the stick and fitted it from the tip of her middle finger to just before the crease of her elbow on the underside of her wrist. Maggie grimaced, but remained silent, proving she had more courage than anyone Brianna knew.
"Hand me the strips, please," Brianna motioned to Bonnet who was still clutching the girl's shoulders. As if she had broken his trance, he released Maggie and handed her the strips one at a time as she fastened the wood to her tiny arm. She screamed with each tie-down and it broke Brianna's heart. She could only hope she was doing it correctly.
Finally, she had secured the splint part of the set-up and now was ready to fit her sling. Maggie was holding her brave face in place, still crying and still screaming every now and then, but staying as still as she could. Bonnet couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for the child.
Slipping the fabric over the girl's head gently and placing her damaged hand through the opening she had formed by folding it, Brianna stepped back to admire her work. It was just like the one she had had as a child when she sprained her own wrist. She smiled reassuringly at Maggie who looked back at her, her pale and glassy eyes showing nothing but excruciating pain. Brianna sat next to her on the bed and took her left hand into her own. Maggie began to weep quietly.
"I want my mama," she cried out as she squeezed Brianna's hand.
Brianna looked to Bonnet whose brow was furrowed. He seemed to think long and hard about speaking before he finally did. The silence between the two of them was deafening and she was practically begging him to break up the child's sobs with something constructive.
"We have some opium in the holds," Bonnet said slowly, calculating his words, "It's meant for Barbados, but we can spare some for the lass."
Before Brianna could reply, Bonnet turned on his heel to heed Dugan. He called his name into the crew's quarters down the hall and Dugan appeared bright-eyed and bushy tailed. "Dugan I need ye to get some opium for the lass, she's not doin' as well as I had hoped. The arm is bad," Bonnet whispered in Dugan's ear so the child didn't hear. With a nod of his head, Dugan disappeared and Bonnet made his way back to his quarters. Brianna was still sitting with the child, who now had her head in her lap. She was stroking the girl's black hair rhythmically, and her crying had slowed.
As quickly as he had disappeared, Dugan reappeared with a crude-looking pipe filled with the dark brown substance.
Brianna took it carefully, and Bonnet picked up a candle to light it.
"Okay Maggie, I need you to breathe this in. Suck on the end of the pipe and then hold the smoke in," Brianna felt terrible about giving a child such a damaging drug, but at the very least for tonight, anything that could help her sleep and relieve her of the pain was worth using. She held the pipe up to Maggie's lips and gave her the most reassuring smile she could muster. Maggie drew in the thick smoke and coughed heavily the first time. After the second puff, her erratic breathing and hiccups from all of the crying began to fade and after 3 puffs of the pipe, she began to relax. Brianna stroked her hair softly as she rested it in her lap again and after about a half-hour the girl had fallen asleep.
Bonnet was still standing like a statue in the doorway, having not moved since lighting the pipe. Brianna looked up at him and he pulled his eyes from the two of them to close the door. As Maggie was finally asleep, she couldn't hold in the burning questions that had been on her mind since she had met the child.
"How did she come to be on this ship?" Brianna was almost scared of the answer, but Bonnet looked at her nonchalantly, as if she had just asked the color of the sky.
"I bought her," he stated matter-of-factly, moving to sit on the opposite side of the bed. He was exhausted to say the least after the day's events and then dealing with Maggie. The last thing he wanted to do was talk, but at the very least he could appreciate the fact that they were having a conversation rather than fighting.
"You…bought her?" Brianna retorted, the disgusted look cropping back up on her face.
Bonnet shook his head. "Aye, I did, but not like yer thinking," he looked down at the child to make sure she was still asleep before continuing. "I bought her from a whore in Saint Dominique. She was selling her for 5 pounds at the port." Brianna's horrified look caused a grin to creep across Bonnet's lips.
"And? There's gotta be more to it than that," she urged him.
"Well, her mother was a whore who had fallen in love with a smuggler named Charles Vane. When he found out his lover was pregnant, he took her from Ireland to Saint Dominique, away from her tarnished reputation," he scoffed, "she already had a rather bad reputation I hear."
He paused for a moment, expecting Brianna to say something, but she didn't, she just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. He had to admit to himself he quite liked her undivided attention and the curious look in her eyes.
"Anyway, I bought her because Vane had disappeared and left them there. She hadn't seen him for 7 years at that point, and she had long gone back to whoring to make money. Problem was, she couldn't afford to feed both of them. So, she was selling Maggie to the highest bidder. She told me she was a good pickpocket and could open locks. I took her in, and since then she's been earnin' more than her weight's worth in gold," he added and Brianna frowned at his last statement.
"But, what about MacAulay? He said that he came with her?" Brianna was genuinely curious at this point and despite Bonnet's off-color closing statement about her worth, she felt she saw something good emanating from him at that moment. Something he tried to bury and hide, but something that was there nonetheless. Perhaps Stephen Bonnet did have a heart, however shriveled and cold it may be.
"Aye, he had grown up next door to her, sort of as her big brother. He saw me buy her and followed us to the Gloriana. He wouldn't let me take her without him, so I took both of them. I thought about killing him at first, but I did need a new deck hand. I didn't pay him for the first 2 years, but he stuck around, and he looks after her…for the most part," he said looking at the child again. "Quite frankly, both families were happy to be rid of another mouth to feed. That was about 3 years ago now. Saint Dominique was not the same place then as it is now," his cryptic description made Brianna want to ask more questions, but she refrained, seeing the tiredness in his eyes and noting her own.
She lifted the child gently and placed her in the center of the bed. Bonnet narrowed his eyes at her. "Yer not suggesting she stay here, are ye sweetheart?" He eyed the sleeping child and Brianna suspiciously.
"If you won't let her sleep here, then I'll ask MacAulay if we can sleep in his hammock tonight. I'm sure he wouldn't mind doing it for Maggie," Brianna knew as soon as she said it would get a rise out of Bonnet. She also knew in saying it that she would force his hand.
"Ye'll do nothin' of the sort," Bonnet grumbled, getting into bed at the side closest to the door. Once again, she had bested him. He was too tired to argue and her argument was too convincing to begin with. Bonnet felt as if he was in a constant losing battle with this unique woman who was equally as entrancing as she was frustrating.
"She'll get to stay here tonight, but that's it. Tomorrow I want her out and back with the crew where she belongs." He thought about saying some sort of dirty quip to let her know she hadn't won yet but decided against it. The fight that would ensue would take time away from the precious sleep he desperately needed. Brianna got into the bed on the opposite side of Maggie softly. She felt she had gotten off rather easily for her insolence today and it made her wonder if MacAulay was right about Bonnet taking a liking to her.
She listened for a while to both of their breathing. Maggie's was slow and steady, and Bonnet's shortly followed the same pattern. She chanced a look over the tiny body between them and saw that he was facing towards them, sleeping on his unwounded shoulder, his features illuminated in the moonlight. For a moment, it was hard to see anything aside from the peaceful expression on his face. He looked almost kind, when he slept, the harshness of his gaze covered with his eyelids. He was as much an enigma to her as she was to him. On the one hand, he was a brutal murderer, and on the other, he had bought a child to spare her from a fate of starvation or worse. Brianna shuddered at the thought and laid a hand atop Maggie's head.
Bonnet figured that he was a closed book to everyone. However slowly but surely, Brianna was dusting off the long since hidden cover of his quintessence and prying apart the sticky pages of his soul. Whether he liked it or not.