Secrets In Savannah (Phantom Knights) (9 page)

I said nothing while Hannah arranged my
wig for me, for she had given me much to consider.

When we reached the deck, it was a
flurry of activity. Men were shouting and laughing as they huddled along the
deck. The clang of sword against sword made my heart hurry, and my feet
followed its lead.

Leo was standing near the rail with his
arms crossed and a look of interest on his face. There was a bruise on the
corner of his mouth where Jack had hit him, but he appeared unruffled when he
greeted us with a nod.

Seeing what the bother was about, my
steps faltered.

Jack and Andrew were engaged in a battle
of blades.

“Leo...” I said as I stared, nonplussed.

Leo took my arm and guided me to a
barrel so I could sit. “There is no danger. That Madison fellow knows about the
Phantoms and wanted to see what Jack can do.”

The Jack Martin that I had first met in
Philadelphia would never have participated in such sport, but he was different
since moving to Charleston. The only word to explain the difference was free.
Jack appeared to be free.

The back and forth of thrust and parry
delighted the crew, while Leo’s watchful eyes were waiting for something.
Something spectacular.

Their styles were quite different.
Andrew relied on his strength while Jack relied on his quick and expert
footwork. Andrew lunged with a quick thrust to what would have been his
opponent’s heart on a man with lesser skill than Jack. Jack disengaged swiftly,
but Andrew, not to be bested, lunged again. There was a clash of blades with
Jack’s parry. He followed it with a riposte that had Hannah covering her mouth
and a loud gasp. Forte struck foible and with a clang of steel against the deck;
it was over. Jack lowered his point from Andrew, and the two bowed to each
other as some of the sailors exchanged coins.

Jack retrieved his coat, accepting the
hearty compliments from some of the men. When he neared, I noticed the droplets
of perspiration on his brow, the swirl of his windswept hair. He was
breathtaking.

“Do you mind me if I join you in all my
disorder?”

“A man who fights like you need never
doubt his welcome. It was splendid, truly.” Looking around, Hannah and Leo had
made themselves scarce. Jack settled on the barrel beside me.

“Coming from you, I take that as the
highest praise. I suspect that you have been dueling for years.”

“Never like that,” I admitted. Pierre
had taken the time to instruct me, but never to an expert’s level.

Jack leaned toward me and motioned for
me to lean in as if he had a secret to share. “I can teach you.” The mischief
in his gaze made my heart swell. “For an exchange. Tell me a secret.” He smiled
so intimately that I yearned to surrender everything and marry him, but I had
to be rational, not selfish.

“I do not mean some great life altering
secret, but something that I do not know about you,” he added.

Nearly every secret that I
possessed was life altering, or would be for him. I wanted him to know
everything about me and my life and my family, but I was afraid to tell him.
Looking at him, at his light blue eyes full of the love that he had for me, he
deserved to know, but I would begin with something simple. As my mind searched
for what to share, a memory sprang up, and it was a perfect place to begin.

“I have just the one,” I said as I
shifted my body to face him on the barrel. “You were the first person I
kissed.”

Jack’s eyebrows creased. “Surely
not.”

He did not remember. Well, that was
not a surprise as it happened four years ago.

“You were. When I was fourteen.”
Still he did not remember. “Baltimore, four years ago,” I said and waited.

I was living in Baltimore and got
separated from my guardian. As I was searching for him, I went down an alley
behind a tavern and was accosted by a drunkard. A boy, with more guts than
sense, or so I thought, rescued me.

I did not get a good look at my
warrior until we were many roads away from the alley. He pulled me into a house
and it was instantly pressed upon me that we were the only ones there but that
more were due to arrive for the house was well lit. I was able to get a good
look at the young man who turned out to be extremely handsome. Black hair
touching his shoulders in thick waves, and blue eyes that pierced my heart then
like they could still do this day.

He led me into a parlor and as I
was shivering he grabbed a blanket and put it around my shoulders. He stared
down at me for a few moments before asking me my name. I would not tell him. I
can still remember the amusement in his eyes as I raised my chin in the air and
refused to say a word.

“I shall call you Duchess,” he had
said and his voice soothed away my fear. “I am Jack.”

The name did not mean to me then
what it does today, but I had heard tales from my guardian. A group of children
who ran around Baltimore doing good deeds and risking their lives. My guardian
would have been furious if he discovered who had rescued me, as we were not to
associate with the Phantoms. I had to get away. I had a knife on me, but I was
no match for Jack, and I knew it. My guardian had taught me that the best way
to get out of a precarious situation was to take my captor unaware.

When Jack’s back was to me, I
pulled the knife from my boot and stood, keeping the knife out of sight. When
Jack turned toward me, I found myself looking up into his eyes.

There was only one thing I could
think to do, only one thing that I wanted to do. I raised up on the tips of my
boots, pressed a hand against the back of his head, and drew his lips against
mine.

At the time, I was frightened and
had no previous experience with kissing, but that did not stop me.

He was stunned, to say the least,
but I, too, was stunned by the shock that surged from his body to mine.
Something echoed in my head, a voice I had never heard before, telling me that
kissing Jack was right.

His arm began to move around me,
and the movement caused me to jolt back, raising the knife.

He crossed his arms and his lips
pursed, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. “What do you mean to do
with that?”

“What I must.” I backed toward the
door.

He took a step toward me. I threw
the knife. As Jack dodged the blade, I made my escape. I slammed the door
behind me, but did not run far.

Knowing that Jack would give
chase, I hopped over the rail, dropping down behind a pair of bushes that were
against the front of the house.

That had been the last time I saw
him until the day in Washington when he and Bess were standing on the threshold
of the giant’s house, when they were trying to steal the first artifact.

I never forgot him, and there were
times that I begged my guardian to put me on an assignment in Philadelphia,
just to catch a glimpse of Jack, but I was always refused. My guardian knew,
somehow, that I felt things for Jack that I had never felt for anyone. Perhaps
he had found my collection of newspaper clippings referencing unknown people
who ran around doing good deeds.

Jack’s hand entwined with mine as
he moved closer, his leg brushing mine. “That girl was you? I thought about her
that day at the Inn when I went to your rescue. You gave me my first kiss,” he
said as he brought my hands up to his lips. The shock was still there, even in
simplest of touches, the jolt that raced my heart and caused prickles to dance
along my arms and spine.

Someone whistled and broke us
apart, but Jack did not let me move far.

“We belong together. I have known
it since that first kiss. That little girl who would kiss me and then throw a
knife at my head. I knew if I ever found her again I would not let her go so
easily.”

He and I were of the same mind.
Marrying Jack frightened me no small amount due to the danger that could, and
had, come to him. My enemies discovered my feelings for him, and there was no
hesitation. They had tried to kill him, and if they ever received a second
chance, they would not be so clumsy. Jack would die.

That was why it was imperative
that they never receive that chance. A strong guard over my emotions was
required if we were to get through the looming battle alive, but my restraint
would only go so far. It was becoming more evident with each passing day that
the one thing I needed to make it through was Jack. There was only one thing
stopping me from agreeing to marry him as soon as could be contrived. One thing
that I may never receive. A blessing from my sister.

JACK

O
n the fourth morning of our
journey, we reached Savannah. Leo and I were standing beside the captain and Andrew
when Leo asked to use the captain’s spyglass. Instantly I was on my guard.

Whatever Leo saw
made him act as if nothing were amiss, until he thanked the captain and walked
away.

“Welcoming
party. At least ten of them and they are armed,” he said when we were away from
the captain.

“Guards?” I
asked, quickly scouting out the best means of escape.

“Nay. Brute
strength with little to no military training I would say.” He leaned against one
of the rails as if at his ease. “Hand to hand combat, and they mean to take
your lady, who will want to fight.”

“Then we will
not tell her. Have the captain secure us a carriage and an escort. If we are
approached, we will put her in the carriage, and the two of us will stay behind
to give her the time needed to get away.”

“The three of
us, if you do not mind,” came an amused voice from behind us.

Standing behind
us was not Hannah, but a man with shoulder length blond hair, a thin beard, and
some sort of club in his hand.

“What do you
think you are doing?” I asked as I glanced around to see if anyone else
recognized Hannah.

Hannah had
always been a bold woman when I knew her in Philadelphia. She did not mind
dalliance to meet her ends, she had a vicious tongue when she chose to turn it
against someone, and she was beautiful. A deadly combination in one trained by
the man who taught Guinevere.

“Preparing to
fight. We men must join together,” Hannah said calmly.

“You are not a
man,” I retorted.

“The name is
Eric,” Hannah said in a deep voice with an Irish lilt to her words, “and I can
fight just as well as you.”

Hannah
unbuttoned her coat to reveal an assortment of weapons.

“We do not have
time to waste, Jack. They will be dropping the anchor soon,” Leo said as he
pushed away from the rail.

“Right you are,
sir, and a fine specimen of manliness if I do say so myself.” Hannah bowed
before Leo. He did not look at her as he walked away to speak with the captain.
“Right fastidious this friend of yours is, Jack.”

“Hannah—” I
said.

“Eric,” she
corrected.

Heaven help me.
“—
Hannah
, if you are insistent in aiding us, you will protect Guinevere.
You will stay with her, and make certain that she escapes to safety. Is that
understood?”

Hannah touched
her forelock. “Aye,
Cap’n
, sir.”

Hannah scampered
off to arrange things with Guinevere as Leo explained things in his own way to
the captain. When he returned to my side, he assured me that the captain was
willing to help in any way that he could. Leo and I went to our cabin, loaded
our pockets with weapons,
then
saw to our baggage
being carried up to the deck.

Guinevere was
there to greet us, and she was in fine spirits which assured me that Hannah had
done well in keeping things secret. As Guinevere went to thank the captain, Hannah
touched the side of her nose in some sort of code that I did not attempt to
decipher.

“If we are to
work together I was thinking that I should have a name.” Leo and I stared at
her, and she rolled her eyes. “A Phantom name.”

“You are not a
Phantom,” Leo informed her in a low voice.

“I believe Eric
is enough of a name for this day,” I interposed to keep the two from coming to
cuffs.

“The captain
tells me that you are in need of a carriage. I offer mine to convey you where
you need to go,” Andrew said as he joined us.

Guinevere was
still speaking with the captain, so there was a decision to be made. Andrew
took it out of my hands when I hesitated.

“What is amiss?”

When Leo and I
exchanged looks, Andrew bent so that he would be closer to my height.

“Whatever it is,
I offer my aid,” he said and appeared genuine in his offer to help, but still I
hesitated. “You cannot lie and tell me that nothing is amiss, for one only has
to look at Mrs. Lamont to see the truth.”

Leo and I both
tossed Hannah pointed looks.