A Pirate's Heart (St. John Series) (4 page)

“Well, as you know, my mother loves the latest fashion. I had happened to acquire, during one of our last business acquisitions, a rather fashionable bonnet from France and I—”

Max held up his hand silencing Alex’s explanation. “Hold everything. You mean you are wanting me to tromp through that Godforsaken jungle,” Max protested as he pointed his figure towards the shore, “for a
hat
?!”

“Bonnet,” Alex corrected, “And no—”

“Good.”

“—I want you to watch Samuel.”

“What time are we leaving to go get this bloody hat?” Max replied abruptly before Alex had even gotten Samuel’s name out. Samuel was Alex’s twelve-year-old son, who had become part of the crew about six months ago after his mother was murdered by the
noble
Commodore Andrew McClain. Max liked Samuel well enough when he had to only deal with him when they docked at Port Royal. He would keep him busy loading and unloading cargo. But since coming aboard, Samuel had been nothing but trouble in Max’s eyes. Too rambunctious to suite Max, too mischievous, too . . . Alex. Max said that only one Alex was enough for him to take.

“Thought you’d see it my way. Glad that’s settled,” Alex replied agreeably. “I have already made arrangements. There are horses waiting for us at the livery. We leave within the hour.”

“Can’t believe were going into that damn jungle for a stupid hat,” Max mumbled as he left the quarters.

Chapter Four

Kristina had never been so mortified in her life! She had been forcefully stripped down—as in her clothing cut from her body—after which she was scrubbed until she changed colors and doused with lye, all the while with the two escorts watching. She attempted to cover her breasts with her hands, but the bonds made it impossible to cover both. A man poured a bucket of cold water over her head to rinse the lye from her flesh and a flimsy, musty smelling gown was forced over her body. She had attempted to give them a piece of her mind, but wound up with a moldy rag shoved into her mouth and tied.

The women were marched into another room of the building and held there for two days while they awaited the captain to arrange the perspective buyers. When he finally arrived, several appalling individuals accompanied him. Kristina instinctively knew who they were—the owners of the assorted taverns and brothels in Tortuga. A shiver went down her spine. She had to escape, but how?

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen,” Captain Hawkins replied as he looked at the group who had followed him. “Let’s start the bidding, shall we? We’ll being with that tall Jamaican.”

Kristina watched as Montie was dragged from her location and forced to stand on a small crate in the center of the room. Her clothing was removed so all could examine her tall, thin frame. Kristina watched in horror as one after another of the women in the room were forced to undergo the same embarrassment as Montie. Each lady was pulled forward, one at a time and examined like cattle. When she glanced around the room a startling realization came to her, she was the only one left!

Kristina was dragged towards the small crate. She was not going to stand up there without a fight. She kicked at the crate, sending it sprawling across the room. All that managed to get her was a smack to the face, making her fall to the ground. Billie grabbed her by her hair and forced her to stand. She refused to allow the thin dress she was wearing to be removed. She locked her arms down, but that did not stop him. Billie just cut her clothing away.

“Now this one will cost ya,” Hawkins began. “A virgin we acquired from one of our last stops.”

“How do ya know she’s of pure quality?” came the question from the overweight woman in the back of the room known to all as Miss Annie.

“I acquired this exotic beauty from a mission near Matanzas. She was being reared by nuns. Now tell me, where can you find a purer body than those of nuns?”

The answer the captain gave satisfied the woman. She nodded her head and her dyed black hair bobbed up and down. She puckered her overlarge lips as if she was kissing the air and replied, “Fair enough.”

All buyers approached Kristina. The clients poked and prodded. They pinched and squeezed. Kristina had every body part examined physically and visually. She was mortified!

Kristina could hear the bids, but did not pay attention to the amount. Her mind was racing. She must escape, she must! Before a plan could form in her mind “Sold!” echoed throughout the room.

“What?! No!” Kristina screamed as she was covered with a sack. She began bucking and kicking, but all that managed to get her was a hit on the head. The blackness came.

When Kristina awoke, she was sitting in a storeroom of sorts. There were crates and barrels of various sizes around her. She blinked several times as she attempted to focus on the objects in the room. She noticed shelves of different heights, all with multitudes of small bottles, what-knots, and packages. The pungent aroma of cheap perfume and liquor made her stomach turn. She attempted to cough to help ease her nausea, only to find that a moldy rag was lodged in her mouth. . . again.

“Ah, I see you’re awake now,” came a nasally voice from her right.

Kristina turned towards the voice. She held her head up proudly as she viewed the thin, short greasy-haired balding man before her.

He walked towards her and ran a finger down her cheek. The gag in her mouth prevented her from biting his bony finger. She jerked her head away from his cold slimy touch.

“I see yer a feisty one,” said the greasy-haired man. “I don’t think I’m goin’ put ya up fer sale jest yet. Think I’ll have a taste of ya first, keep ya ta ma self fer awhile, considerin’ the price I paid fer ya. Miss Annie wanted ya fer her place real bad, which drove yer price way up. But I outbid that old hag. Mr. Nubian will be awfully mad at me fer the price I paid fer ya, considerin’ it was his money. But once he sees ya, he’ll forgive me. He’d a been pissed knowin’ he’d missed out on that auction, but once he gets back from Harbour Island and I tell him that I went in his stead and show him you, he’ll be pleased.

“Once we’ve had our fill, I’ll toss yer leftovers ta those dogs out there,” he said as he motioned his head towards the direction of the door. “Now you jest sit right here and be a good girl. Ole’ Peter’s gotta run Mr. Nubian’s business. Can’t do that if I’m in here pokin’ you. I’ll be back after I close later tonight.”

Kristina watched the nasty little man leave the room and began to squirm. She was naked under the itchy wool blanket. Her hands were still bound in front of her, but at least her feet weren’t. She took a slow breath and looked around the room. There must be something in here to cut these bonds. She stood up and the blanket fell to the floor. As she looked down at her naked form she winced as pain shot through the right side of her head. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths willing the pain to subside. When it did, she tried to remove her gag only to realize that her arms had been bound to her sides.
Damn
. She walked over to one of the shelves and began looking. A glass broke and a woman squealed with laughter. She stood motionless for several seconds before she realized it was coming from the other side of the door and she began searching again.

She picked up a large thick glass bottle.
This should work
. She walked to the door and pressed her ear against it. The noise from the other side was getting louder. Kristina hoped the ruckus coming from the other side of the door would cover the noise when she broke the bottle. She walked over to the far corner of the room and dropped the bottle. The sound of the bottle breaking echoed throughout the room and seemed to be as loud as cannon fire to Kristina. She stood motionless, holding her breath, and breathed a sigh of relief when no one came in. Picking up a small shard of the glass she began cutting the rope.

She could feel the glass fragment cutting into her fingers, but her determination helped her tolerate the pain. The rope slowly began to fray. She winced as the sharp glass cut the fatty part of her left thumb, but she continued. She moved the glass shard back and forth faster until the rope broke. Once she had her hands free she worked on her restraints around her arms. When her arms were free, she yanked the gag out of her mouth and took a deep breath, before spitting in an attempt to remove the moldy taste of the gag from her tongue.

Turning, she tiptoed to the crates and rummaged through them. After several minutes, she found a pair of gray pants and a small shirt. “They’ll have to do,” she mumbled as she quickly dressed. She kept pilfering through the crates until she found an oversized coat, a pair of brown knee-high boots and a large brimmed hat.

Once dressed, she looked towards the door. “There must be another way out.” As she scanned the room, she realized there were no other entrances. Desperation began to sink in until she spotted a tiny window close to the ceiling between two of the shelves, causing hope to soar.

Kristina worked quickly, piling barrels and crates on top of each other. Once she had the makeshift tower high enough, she careful climbed the wobbly structure and opened the window. She peered out and looked down. The only person in the dark alley behind the tavern appeared in no shape to alarm anyone. She watched as the man took a drink from his bottle, staggered and fell into some old crates. He lay motionless. Kristina assumed the man had knocked himself unconscious. Leaning farther out the window, she attempted to get a better view down the alley when her booted foot hit the top barrel sending it bounding to the floor with a crash. Kristina cringed at the sound. Afraid the disgusting bar owner heard the commotion; she didn’t waste a second and quickly shoved herself out the window head first.

She landed with a thud on her shoulder and let out a curse as the pain shot through her arm. There was no time to worry about her injury. She glanced at the drunken man, who did not move. She quickly stood and raced down the alley. She darted between buildings, zigzagging in every direction for what seemed like eternity. When she was sure she was far enough away, she cautiously entered one of the taverns to hide. Easing her way around the wall, she found a dark hiding spot behind one of the support pillars. She let out a slow breath and began to relax.

Now, she had to find a way off this island. Her eyes scanned the smoke-filled tavern. Kristina wouldn’t be caught dead with most of the men in this establishment. She would have been safer with that ugly tavern owner she had just escaped from. There were several men at the table by the stairs playing cards. They were arguing. One stabbed his opponent. The overweight bartender yelled at the men. Several more sordid individuals joined the group by the stairs. In an instant, they were brawling. Kristina jumped out of the way as several fighting men rolled past her. The fighting men made their way out the door. Kristina watched the men fight for several more minutes before turning her gaze back to the patrons within the tavern.

“What’s yer pleasure?” she heard a woman purr behind her.

Her eyes grew wide. Oh, surely not?! The shock struck her full force as she felt the woman’s hand run along her shoulders. Surely
she
wasn’t being propositioned? Then Kristina remembered her attire as a boy. Gathering her nerve she lowered her voice and said, “Not interested, just looking for someone.”

The prostitute stepped in front of Kristina.

A disgruntled sound came from Kristina as she closed her eyes.
This
cannot be happening
.

“Humph. Why ya don’t even have a whisker on your face,” the prostitute continued as she held Kristina’s chin between her thumb and index finger, examining her. “That would explain it. Your pecker probably ain’t even begun to get hard yet. Pity,” the prostitute continued and licked her thin lips. She leaned over and whispered in Kristina’s ear, “Well, when it does, I’ll be happy ta show you what ta do with it.” The young prostitute traced Kristina’s jaw and sashayed away.

Kristina clenched her jaw and just nodded as the woman walked away. “Ewww, yuck!” she whispered as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

She quickly scanned the bar and took refuge at a small corner table. As she sat down, she wondered how she was going to get herself out of this mess. How was she going to get home and how would she avoid dealing with pirates ever again?

* * * *

It was growing late when the weary men rode back into town from their jungle excursion to locate the bonnet. All were laughing except Max. He was angry. First, at Alex for tricking him because Samuel had actually came along, and secondly, at that damn monkey.

“Did you see Max’s face,” Smitty laughed, tears streaming down his old wrinkled cheeks. “The picture of Max a sleepin’ with that monkey sittin’ on his chest eatin’ that fruit.”

“The little creature just thought she found a nice place to eat her breakfast. But when Max woke up and noticed her enjoying her meal on his chest, he screamed like a little girl.” Alex laughed even louder, enjoying the levity of the situation.

“I haf neva seen him move sa fast in ma life,” said Slim, joining in.

Max stopped his horse and waited for the group to join him. His anger was boiling. He clenched his jaw. When the group caught up to him, he proceeded to punch the first one that came his way, which just happened to be Alex.

Alex fell from his horse but continued laughing as he landed on his backside. He rubbed his jaw. The punch had been worth it. He had never laughed so hard in his life. He continued looking at Max, but his laughter did not cease.

Max glared at his friend. He loved a good laugh as well as anyone but not at his expense. “If you think that damn little rodent was so cute, how bout I go back and swap it out for that stupid-assed hat!”

Alex sobered momentarily. “Now, Max,” a smirk appearing in his blue eyes as he remembered his friend’s reaction to the creature, “Don’t be going about giving your new girlfriend away to my mother.” A deep roar of laughter came from Alex’s chest.

“Alright! That’s it!” Max yelled as he dove off of his horse towards the captain.

Slim, Smitty, and Samuel watched with fearful curiosity as Max took his frustration out on the captain. Even after Max had thoroughly trounced the captain, and good, Alex did not stop laughing. Max turned towards him again, the wrath in his eyes letting Alex know that he was about to be in excruciating pain.

“Alright, alright,” Alex said has he held up his hands, humor still evident in his eyes, “I give.”

“I hope that stupid-assed hat is smashed and your mother boxes your ears, Alex. Or better yet, I hope she has arranged a marriage to you to some red-headed she-devil.” Max growled, knowing Alex did not care for red-headed women. His friend found them too independent to suite his needs. Max glared at the men, still not enjoying being the butt of their joke. “I need a drink,” he said as he stormed off.