Care and Feeding of Pirates (29 page)

"You were going at her with a knife, plague
take you. On Ardmore's orders?"

"No." Ardmore's voice broke the stillness
behind them. He strode out of the firelight, Christopher right
behind him.

Manda recognized that Christopher was in a
towering rage and barely containing himself. Ardmore was icily
calm.

Henderson swung to Ardmore. "What did you
tell him to do?" he demanded.

Ardmore's green gaze flicked from one
combatant to the other. Behind them, near the fire, Diana and
Honoria stood together, watching.

"I told O'Malley to capture her," Ardmore
said. "She'd not have been harmed."

"
He
would have been," Manda said,
still with her knife on O'Malley.

"A risk I was willing to take," Ardmore
said.

O'Malley looked pained. "Oh, thank you, me so
compassionate captain."

"Taking a hostage?" Christopher asked, deadly
quiet.

"To ensure your good behavior. You're up to
something, Raine."

Christopher turned to him, and Manda held her
breath, wondering if Ardmore had just spoken his last words.

Then Christopher took a step back and raised
his hands, a slow, deliberate movement. "Take her, then."

Manda gaped at him. Henderson glared. Even
O'Malley stared in astonishment. Christopher said, "Manda, let him
go."

Christopher was up to something all right.
Manda thought she knew what, but it would be a while before she
could get him alone and make him tell her.

She trusted him enough to obey him now. Manda
eased her knife from O'Malley's throat and set the small man on his
feet.

O'Malley gingerly touched his neck. "Much
obliged, darling."

Christopher turned back to Ardmore. "If you
want assurance against my behavior, this will do it. Everyone knows
I wouldn't make any move that would cause Manda harm." He held the
other man with a long gaze. "But I don't trust you either, Ardmore.
So I'd like a hostage as well. Your wife."

Ardmore went still. The waves rushed up the
beach, oblivious to the tension on shore. Ardmore and Christopher
studied each other, captain to captain, once friends, now
enemies.

"You already took
my
sister," Ardmore
said.

"Your sister is angry at you," Christopher
answered. "And I have the feeling you'd sacrifice her for some
scheme of your own if you had to."

Ardmore's mouth set in a thin line. "You'd be
wrong."

Manda watched Ardmore debate whether to pit
his wife's safety against the chance that one of his own men would
do something stupid. Manda knew Christopher would never harm Diana,
no matter what happened--he wasn't like that--but Ardmore did not
know. To him, Christopher was just another pirate.

Diana herself broke the silence. "It's all
right, James. I'll go."

"No," Ardmore said in a hard voice.

"It makes sense," Diana said. "If you each
have someone the other cares about, you will keep the peace."

"Thank you, Mrs. Ardmore," Christopher said.
"She can stay on the
Starcross
. Mrs. Colby will look after
her, until we finish."

"I'll go with her," Honoria said quickly.

"No, you won't," Christopher said, his voice
stern. "I want you where I can keep an eye on you."

Honoria went silent, but Manda could see her
itch to argue. Ardmore was rigid with fury. They were definitely
brother and sister.

"This arrangement will be better,"
Christopher said to Ardmore. "If Manda knows your innocent wife's
life is at stake, she won't try to kill your crew and take over
your ship. She's kindhearted that way."

Ardmore took a step closer to Christopher.
"If Diana is harmed in any way, know that Manda will die, slowly
and painfully."

Christopher's look was as quiet. "I know." He
turned away. "Henderson, row these ladies to their respective
ships. Make sure you take the correct lady to the correct
ship."

"Not Henderson," Ardmore growled.

"Why not?"

"You heard him say he was in love with your
sister. I don't trust him."

"Better still. If he's fond of Manda, he
won't harm her, and he won't harm Diana, because he likes her. He's
a true gentleman. And Manda probably won't kick his teeth in."

That was true, Manda thought.
Probably,
she wouldn't.

Ardmore at last conceded, though he was
clearly unhappy. His own fault, Manda thought. He'd started it by
sending O'Malley against her. She only worried about Christopher
now, on this island with Ardmore, without Manda to watch his
back.

Henderson helped Diana into the rowboat with
exaggerated care, then he and Manda pushed it from the beach. The
crews dispersed, excitement over. As Manda climbed over the
gunwale, she heard Christopher say to Ardmore, "It's good to see
you care so much for someone. I always thought you were a
coldhearted bastard."

"I
am
a coldhearted bastard," Ardmore
said. "I just happen to love my wife."

The boat ran up a wave, and Manda heard
nothing more over the rush of the sea.

*** *** ***

Manda helped Diana climb aboard the
Starcross
, leaving her in the care of a surprised Mrs.
Colby. Diana was carefully polite when she said her good-byes to
Manda and Henderson. A cool lady, and resilient.

Henderson rowed Manda toward the
Argonaut
, Manda taking the bouncing tiller. Warm yellow
lanterns outlined the
Argonaut
from bow to stern, and
moonlight bathed it in a chill white glow.

Henderson continued to pull the oars,
oblivious to Manda's scrutiny, his muscles straining under his lawn
shirt. He managed to be graceful even at this menial task.

Where was she supposed to start? Saying,
So you love me, do you?
sounded trite and hopeless. She
should have asked Honoria how she went about talking about her
feelings. Manda had never learned how to broach any subject
involving emotions. Avoiding them was easier.

Henderson stopped rowing, shipped the oars,
and sat back to catch his breath. The
Argonaut
hung out of
reach, rocking on its anchor.

"We're not there yet," Manda said.

"I know." The moonlight turned the lenses of
his spectacles opaque. "We need to clear up a few things."

"You want us to talk about our feelings, you
mean?"

Even in the dark she saw him flush. "You
heard me say I was in love with you. Very well, where are your
sarcastic comments? Your derisive banter?"

Manda's heart beat faster. "If you love me so
much, why did you leave the
Starcross
and go back to the
Argonaut
with your captain? Without a word to me?"

Henderson rested his strong arms on his
thighs and regarded her quietly. "Because all my things are there.
I have a silk waistcoat and some boots that--" He broke off. "Never
mind. I wanted to fetch them. I'm quit of Ardmore. I told him
so."

Manda's throat ached. "You are?"

"I told him why too." He smiled, a quirk of
lips. "Because I fell for a warrior woman. Me, the proper English
gent."

The waves slapped quietly at the hull, the
tiller moving a little under her hand. "Why didn't you tell
me?"

"And have you spit in my face? I was going to
take things slowly. I didn't mean to say it back there. It slipped
out when I saw O'Malley going for you with his knife."

Manda let go of the tiller. They weren't
moving anymore, only drifting on the waves. She climbed over
benches until she could sit facing him. "I don't want to spit in
your face."

"Or kick me. I've seen you kick." His smile
broadened. "You knocked a man out with your bare feet. I admire
your technique. And your legs. You have beautiful legs, Manda."

She felt her face heat. "Never mind my legs."
So why was she so absurdly pleased that he liked them? "I thought
you'd want only prim and proper ladies, like Honoria."

"So did I. I think . . ." He trailed off,
staring out at the dark water. "I think in the past I tried to
court ladies like Honoria and Alexandra precisely because they were
unattainable. I didn't truly want them, I only thought I did. What
I need is a bit of wildness in my life." Henderson turned to Manda
again, the spectacles still obscuring his eyes. "No, what I need is
you
. I knew that as soon as I saw you."

Manda leaned forward and snatched off the
damned spectacles. His eyes were fixed on her, clear gray, pupils
wide in the dark. "So what are you going to do about it?" she
asked.

Henderson sat up straight and put his hand on
his heart. "I am going to ask you, dear lady, to marry me."

Manda's jaw went slack. "What?"

"As soon as we make the next port. I have
money; I'll obtain the license. All I need is a bride."

He was serious. Manda's heart pounded until
she was queasy. But his eyes were so warm, his smile rueful and
handsome.

The smile was not all that was handsome about
Alden Henderson. His broad shoulders filled out his fine shirt, and
Manda knew what it felt like to be held in his strong arms. She
swallowed. "But you're a proper English gentleman, and I'm the
illegitimate daughter of a freed slave."

"Yes, my family will be shocked. But they
will come to accept it. They are kind people, underneath it all.
They've already become used to the idea that I am a pirate hunter
shipping out with the fugitive Captain Ardmore."

Manda barely heard his words, delivered in
his upper-class Englishman's tones. "All right," she said. "I'll
marry you."

Henderson looked the slightest bit surprised,
then he grinned. "Thank you. You've made me the happiest man in the
world, my dear."

"What if I can't make you happy?" she asked,
worried. "I'm a pirate. You're a pirate hunter."

Henderson put his hands on Manda's shoulders
and drew her to him. "I think that arrangement is already working
nicely." He kissed her lips then lifted her onto his lap. "I love
your legs, Manda," he murmured as he drew his hand along one. "And
the rest of you too."

Manda held on to him, seeking his lips again.
After a long time, she said, "The boat is drifting."

"Is it?" Henderson's breath was hot, his
touch, heavenly. "I don't much care, do you?"

She didn't. They drifted a while longer
before finally bumping against the
Argonaut,
then they
climbed aboard, ignoring the ribald remarks of Ardmore's men.

Henderson led her below, where they found
that his cabin was warm and his bunk exactly the right size.

*** *** ***

In the morning Christopher, James, Mr. St.
Cyr, and Ian O'Malley left the cove to trudge back up the ridge to
search for the gold. Honoria stayed behind at the camp, eating hard
biscuits and shriveled oranges, feeling worried and unhappy.

She knew why Christopher had allowed Manda to
be made a hostage, and why he'd taken Diana in return. He did not
want this expedition to turn into a battle.

Honoria understood how precious Manda was to
Christopher, though he'd never said such a thing out loud. But it
was plain what they meant to each other by the looks they
exchanged, the easy way they spoke, even in disagreement, as though
their words only finished thoughts they'd begun together. Honoria
envied the easy fondness between them, something she'd never had
with James and was only beginning to have with Christopher.

James, likewise, would do nothing that might
bring danger to Diana. James loved his wife with fierce intensity
that gave Honoria hope for her older brother. Manda was safe as
long as Diana remained on Christopher's ship.

But James did not understand what Honoria
knew--that Christopher was truly a gentle man. He might have a
fierce growl, but Christopher restrained his strength every time he
touched Honoria, making certain he didn't hurt her. He mitigated
his snarls with caresses, and he let Honoria do as she pleased
despite his claims to the contrary.

Christopher intimidated those who did not
know him, but those who did believed in him. Which was why Honoria
knew his men would do nothing to interfere with James or harm
Diana.

Honoria idled about camp, took off her shoes
and waded in the waves, scooped up shells, and tried not to fret.
She rubbed her nose with the sunburn cream, put on a hat against
the blazing ball of sun, and tried to find shade as the day
heated.

Just as the sun reached its zenith, the four
men returned. They were dirty and tired, and grime creased their
faces.

But Christopher was smiling, though Mr. St.
Cyr was impassive as always, James trying to remain cool, and Mr.
O'Malley looked awestruck. They had found the Mexican gold.

*****

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Right where I left it," Christopher
said.

Sunlight played on the gold of his whiskers
and his self-satisfied smirk. Christopher seemed relaxed, as though
pleased he'd be turning over all his gold to James. James, if
anything, was the more tense of the pair.

The cache lay in a cave near the top of the
cliff, Christopher explained, the opening to it a small hole
beneath an outcropping. A short tunnel sloped from that entrance,
then another hole dropped straight into the cave, which had been
carved out of the cliff by an underground stream. The caskets would
have to be lifted out with ropes and pulleys then carried back down
the hill.

The presence of the large amount of gold
brought a quiet excitement to the group. Honoria could almost feel
the treasure waiting in the damp cave, like an entity, watching
them.

The two crews assembled the ropes, winches,
and pulleys, working together without rancor. Honoria insisted on
trudging up the hill with the first party, and Christopher, to her
surprise, did not object.

Christopher and James had already removed the
undergrowth and a half dozen large, fungus-covered rocks from the
entrance by the time Honoria reached it, panting from the climb.
She squirmed forward to where Christopher and James crouched,
peering inside, and looked past Christopher's well-muscled shoulder
into a damp, rather smelly hole. They'd lowered a flickering
lantern inside, but she could see little but the circle of damp
rock around the light.