Thanks once again for continuing to read my story and leaving your comments for me. I'm trying to keep the pacing right so I hope it's good. Not to be beggy but any comments you leave really keep me inspired and make me remember that people want me to keep going.

Chapter Fifteen: A Black Spot

Cook winced; his head bobbing slightly from the punch he had just received, a small droplet of blood landed on his shirt. He wasn't entirely sure where the blood came from; his entire head hurt pretty badly.

"You've got the bloody letter…so what is this…a bit of fun?" he spat, almost literally, as he lifted his head once again.

Captain Stonem stood in front of him, rubbing her knuckles lightly, while Thomas stood behind him holding the chair Cook was tied securely to in place. She turned and reread the letter they had taken off of him when they first dragged him on board.

"This wasn't written by Campbell," Effy stated smoothly.

The sandy haired man laughed. "Course not. She's got herself a new secretary, red's sister…" he squinted his eyes maliciously and added. "You've been replaced."

"You're one to talk…" the brunette sneered back. "Since when are you an errand boy?"

"…you gonna hurt my feelings now?" Cook laughed.

The prisoner twisted his head around, trying to make eye contact with the man standing behind him.

"Hey Tom-o…how's our Panda lately?" he jeered fearlessly.

The captain took a step back, making a gesture to her first mate that clearly implied he's all yours. "Just leave him conscious…" she said as she turned to leave the room.

"What? Not going to stay and watch, Effy?" The boy howled before receiving the first of what was sure to be many blows to the head.

Just outside the door Katie waited nervously. "We have the letter…is this really necessary?" she asked.

The wild woman staggered a bit, not expecting the redhead to be close by.

"Don't worry," she crooned. "You can kiss it all better when Thomas is done…" the brunette added spitefully.

Katie rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying, we have all the information we need so…"

"No we don't," Effy interrupted. "It's not just the handwriting that's different here…there is no way this is Campbell's plan…something is off…"

Both women cringed at the sound of something snapping in the other room; Captain Stonem steadied the redhead, who looked like she might faint for a moment.

"You would know all about off wouldn't you…" the girl said, only half joking as she allowed the captain to guide her down the hallway a ways.

"Obviously we would," the other girl mused.

"So let me read the letter…" Katie tested. "That's what you think after all, right? That Emily wrote it? Maybe I can make sense of it."

The captain let her go when they reached the stairs, giving her a sideways glance as she caught her breath.

"I don't think it'd be a good idea…" Effy said carefully.

The redhead's face turned determined as she made an unsuccessful grab for the letter. Her lips pushed out into a pout.

"Why?" she asked.

The brunette's forehead creased momentarily as she eyed her employer but soon enough she was laughing again.

"It's all boring anyway…just demands and courses…that is, if your sister knows anything about how to read a map…" The wild girl shrugged. "If you trust this…"

"She does…and I don't see how anything she wrote could be less reliable than a sea shell…" Katie huffed.

"Well we will just have to wait and see what we can pry out of dear old Cookie…" the captain continued.

Katie blocked the captain's exit to the stairs, standing one step up so that they were eye to eye. Her face set in complete seriousness as she leaned in close as though to kiss the other girl.

"Give me the letter…" she whispered, "or no more sex…"

"You're bluffing…" Effy whispered back, making an unsuccessful attempt to steal a quick kiss.

It was the brunette's turn to pout as the other girl narrowed her brown eyes.

"Try me," Katie insisted.

Captain Stonem cocked her eyebrow, contemplating for a moment. "On one condition…I'll give you the letter now, but, you read it after…"

"Uh…sure…" the girl answered, snatching the letter and placing it in her pocket.

"I must be getting soft…" Effy chuckled as she brushed past the redhead, taking her hand as they made their way up on deck. "…after all…you wouldn't have been able to hold out that long…"

"I have the letter don't I?" Katie corrected. "So I think it's fairly obvious you can't do without me," she teased.

The captain gave her a blank look as they entered their quarters.


"Emily didn't write this…" Katie insisted as she read over the letter, trying to convince herself that it was not her sister's handwriting on the parchment.

Effy lay loosely covered in a sheet as she smoked another cigarette.

"You were right…none of this can be true…" the redhead asserted.

"How so?" the captain questioned.

"Well…obviously…it's ridiculous…" the girl spat as she tossed the letter aside and slipped back into her corset.

"I assume you mean that part about love…" the brunette persisted.

"Of course!" she maintained as she turned to face Effy. "Oh now this," she added gesturing to herself and the captain, "doesn't mean anything. I know what you are thinking…but Emily…she can't know what she's saying and there is no way…absolutely no way…"

"That they could be doing what we are doing…only…really…" Effy finished for her, a glimmer of hurt betraying her for a second.

"Exactly!" the redhead agreed, not noticing the other girl's discomfort. "This Naomi must be a real piece of loony…to make all this up…I mean Emily's never even kissed a boy."

Katie spun around when the wild girl erupted with laughter. Her eyes narrowing and her lip jutting out into another pout.

"What? What's funny?" she snapped.

"Doesn't exactly help your point that it's all made up now does it?" the still naked girl pointed out.

"You don't know what you're talking about." The other girl huffed as she stomped around the room collecting the rest of her clothes.

"All I said was something was off about the plan…" Effy stated, "but if that's what you want to believe…"

"Just shut up about it..." Katie snapped again. "And get this piece of junk to where they are headed before that lunatic does something to my sister."

The redhead stormed out of the room and the captain could hear her making her way back down below deck, no doubt to question Cook herself now.

"Lucky girl…" Captain Stonem chuckled to herself before tossing back the sheet to get dressed.


Mr. Thomas stood outside the holding cell, wiping his hands with a rag, his knuckles were swollen and he kept his eyes down as Katie approached.

"I'm pretty sure he has said all that he knows…he never read the letter…" The man sighed.

"Are you ok?" the girl asked, noticing the change in the first mate.

"It was shameful…" Thomas said guiltily, "…beating a bound man…even if he deserves it a great deal of the time…"

"Because of the wit…of her?" she asked softly. "You couldn't help that…I could tell he was an arse the moment I met him."

"What's done is done." The man sighed again. "He will heal. Guess we will be heading out soon."

"Go make sure she does," Katie said. "Please…" she added softly.

Thomas began to make his way down the hall, turning once to look back at the girl who still stood at the door fidgeting.

"He's an arse…as you said…" he called. "Are you sure you want to go in alone?"

"Yes," she answered.

She composed herself before opening the door and stepping in; she gasped when she saw the man, who was still strapped firmly in place, his right hand with several fingers in makeshift splints and his face swollen and bloodied.

"Oi! Have to have an ol' nap or something?" Cook howled as he lifted his head. "Oh…it's a red! 'Ello red!" he bellowed.

Katie shifted uneasily as she tried to convince herself not to have any pity for him.

"Think you could do me a favor?" he slurred through swollen lips.

"I'm not untying you," she insisted.

"Course not!" He chuckled. "But I'll make you a deal…I can tell you a little about your sister for a some water."

"You can tell me about her anyway!" Katie replied. "Water or no water."

"Emily wouldn't be like that…" He pouted. "…guess she got all the sweet in the family ehe?"

The redhead sighed, rolling her eyes as she picked up a pitcher of water from the desk, and slowly made her way over to him. She held the pitcher just out of reach of his lips for a second.

"Did any of you hurt her?" she demanded.

"Course not!" Cook said, his voice clearly indignant. "Don't you know anything about ransom?"

She breathed a sigh of relief and held the pitcher to his lips so he could take a drink. He gulped desperately at the water and then sighed.

"So you never even read the letter?" the redhead asked.

"Why would I?" he asked. "Dear Mr. Moneybags, sorry, but I won't be needing your money anymore, thanks anyway though…and don't kill my mate…at least I hope that was in there."

"I assume you can't read anyway." Katie sighed as she walked back to the table to pick up a rag and basin.

"So it's true that Ems got all the sweet…" Cook said in a mock pout. "That hurt me feelings…"

"Well you should be less worried about your feelings and more worried about your face…and hands…and whatever else they can break..." she remarked.

"Sticks and stones love." He shrugged, causing him to flinch a little.

"Ok…" Katie began again as she wiped at the blood on his face as gently as she could. "So she's been unharmed. Where has she been locked up?"

"Locked up? You mean like me?" Cook laughed. "No, first week or two sure, we kept her locked in but not tied up…and she had a better view than I have now."

"What do you mean first week or two? Oh, sorry…" she apologized as he flinched again. "You mean they don't keep her confined now?"

The sandy haired boy laughed again. "Why would she be locked up now? She don't want to go nowhere."

The basin clattered to the floor as Katie bolted to her feet. "What do you mean? Of course she does."

The man squinted the eye that wasn't swollen. "What does that letter say exactly? They were calling off the ransom on account of…you know…true love." He all but sang the last part.

"That's a lie," Katie spat. "Emily wouldn't do that."

Cook just stared at her for a moment. "I'd love to agree with you there…but I think I fucking know love when I see it…and for better or worse they've got it…no amount of gunpowder or steel's gonna break that…so the rest of us well…fuck all…we gotta just live with it don't we?"

The pitcher crashed against the wall behind him and Katie leaned in, her hands resting on the arms of the chair he was tied to. Her face was red and her breath came in angry gasps. When she finally spoke it was through her teeth.

"Now you listen. She is not in love. We will intercept them and I will get her back and Captain Campbell will pay for taking her away from me. That is what's going to happen. I don't know what you think you know but it's not true." With that Katie pushed back, towering over him for a moment before heading for the door.

"Suit yourself red, but you're in for a shocker…" he called after her.

Before she knew what she was doing she had punched him square in the nose; she turned and ran from the room before she could do any more damage. As she stomped down the hall she could hear him bellowing out a rowdy ballad about women in love. She pressed her shaking hands against her ears and made a dash back to the room, slamming that door behind her loudly.

From behind the wheel, Captain Stonem could hear both the sound of Cook's lusty refrain and Katie's crashes of anger inside their quarters. She called to her first mate to take over the wheel.

"If you would be so kind…" She sighed as he took over. "I have a songbird to strangle…"


"Where are we going?" Emily asked as she stood next to Naomi behind the wheel.

"I showed you on the map," the captain said, still slightly lost in thought.

"I know. But why? What's there?" the redhead persisted. "Naomi?"

The blonde let out a sigh. "The treasure."

"But…but you said you couldn't get to it without the book and we don't have it yet." She stopped herself quickly.

"What do you mean yet?" Captain Campbell asked, eyeing her with a little panic.

"I meant we won't be getting the book," Emily corrected. "So why are we going?"

"I'm just going to have to try without it then," the blonde continued, a little too cheerfully. "What's the worst that could happen? A few bumps and scrapes."

The redhead stared her down as she chewed at her lower lip.

"Stop that…you're going to ruin my favorite things to kiss," the blonde teased.

"Your favorite?" Emily teased back.

"Well one of my favorite things to kiss." Naomi giggled, then cleared her throat and put her serious face back on. "Really, everything is going to be fine. You should go to bed before you get sick or the crew starts to see what a pushover you've turned me into."

"You should come to bed too then…" the redhead whispered in a raspy voice.

"In an hour or so," She promised. "Just as long as I can possibly stand it so the men will see I'm still in charge."

"So the men will think you're still in charge," Emily teased as she brushed a light kiss on the back of the captain's neck.

Captain Campbell shuddered restlessly as she let out a quiet moan. "Yes, so they can still think that I am not utterly prisoner to your charms. Happy?"

"With you…" the redhead whispered huskily in her ear, "always."

She made her way to their room and waited impatiently, trying to ignore the truth that buzzed at the back of her mind. Things were not going to be perfectly fine. Naomi wouldn't have kidnapped her to get the book if she didn't needed it to get to the treasure in one piece; it was going to be dangerous. Emily could only hope that Cook reached her father with the letter in time and that she could stall the captain long enough to receive the book.

Hope you enjoyed it! Every comment I get makes me so grateful that I apparently can do something that makes other people happy. (And I always appreciate some constructive criticism as well, I would like to improve as much as I can.)