The Captain's Pearl (7 page)

As she straightened, he shook his head. “I wish we had left you in that brothel. You're so coldhearted, you would have been a good whore.” He opened the door and strode out.

She hid her face in her hands as she dropped to her knees. Deep sobs burst from her. Rocking back and forth, she wept for every dream that had died with Davis today.

Tropical sun seared Lian's hair, but she shivered with the cold inside her. Standing in silence, she watched as the sailors prepared for her brother's burial in the sea. Her brother's spirit would have to seek beneath the waves for his body, if he returned to this world. She tried not to stare at the corpse which was set on a plank near the railing. These
Yang Kuei-tzÅ­
were barbaric!

Bryce walked toward her. With his hands clasped behind his back, he said, “You shall remain silent through this. I don't wish to hear any Chinese caterwauling. Davis Catherwood was a man of dignity. I intend for him to have dignity in death.”

She stared in astonishment. She would not do anything to ruin her brother's funeral. “Bryce—”

“You should call me ‘Captain,'” he replied in the same cold tone. “I have assumed command of this ship.”

Her back stiffened as she met his eyes. “You need not worry. I shall not shame Davis.”

When he took her arm, eyes of the other men followed. Their loose clothes billowed in the same stiffbreeze which twisted her hair in a macabre dance. Pushing the dark strands from her face, her eyes locked with the man she remembered was named Simmons. She bumped into Lieutenant—
Captain
Trevarian, as she met Simmons's grim expression.

“Watch where you are going!” Captain Trevarian ordered. “You're incredibly clumsy for a Catherwood, blue eyes.”

Pulling away as far as she could while he continued to hold her arm, she murmured, “Excuse me.”

“Save your excuses for when I care to listen.”

Only her promise to Davis kept her from retorting as Captain Trevarian read the short service. Tears pressed against her eyes, but she would not cry again and dishonor her brother's memory with her weakness before these strangers.

When the railing was opened, and the body dropped into the waves, she gasped. How could they send Davis into the sea with only the clothes he had been wearing? A man as powerful and wealthy as her brother should have his favored belongings to give him pleasure in the next life.

She whirled. She thought she heard Captain Trevarian calling to her, but she ran to Davis's cabin. She swept his possessions from a shelf onto his bed. Quickly she selected the heaviest ones. They would sink to his body.

Struggling to stay on her feet, she ran to the rear of the ship. Waves sprayed salt into her eyes. She shouted a blessing into the wind and called Davis's name. She was spun away from the railing.

Captain Trevarian stripped Davis's possessions from her fingers. “You little fool!” Not giving her a chance to answer, he called, “Willis!”

A sailor came running.

“Take those to my cabin,” he ordered, as he motioned to the items on the deck.

“Cabin? Which one, sir?”

Bryce looked at Lian who was glaring at him with those bewitching blue eyes. If he left her to her own devices, she would cause more trouble. She was too smart. The women he had dealt with in China had been whores who thought only of the gold they could get in exchange for a few minutes' pleasure. Lian dared him to challenge her as she had challenged him since they had met.

“I'll be using the captain's cabin,” Bryce replied. As Willis left to follow his orders, Bryce gripped Lian's arm more tightly. “Come with me. It's time you understood a few things.

“I understand you are a beast! How could you stop me from giving my brother—”

“Silence. Or are you forgetting your promise to your brother already?”

When she blinked back tears, he resisted the irrational urge to draw her into his arms and comfort her. He could not. Then he might find himself forgetting that he had to get the
China Shadow
back to Massachusetts at top speed. There was no time to dally and savor her luscious kisses.

When Lian hesitated outside the door of Davis's quarters, Captain Trevarian pushed her through. “Scared of ghosts, blue eyes?”

“Why should I be frightened of my own brother?”

“Sit!”

She lowered herself to the very edge of the room's only chair.

“I know all about your heathen traditions,” he went on. “What you don't realize is that, if you had thrown our navigational tools over the side, we could have spent the rest of our lives wandering the Pacific.”

“I do not—I do not understand.”

“I realize that. Did you ever consider asking me first?”

“They are my brother's possessions.”

He smiled grimly. “No, blue eyes, they are mine. Just like the
China Shadow
is mine. Your brother gave them to me with his last breath.” He opened a bottle and poured rum into a cup. Taking a slow drink, he muttered, “I can't imagine what Davis was thinking when he decided to bring you back to Stormhaven.”

“Stormhaven?”

“Stormhaven, Massachusetts. Your new home. It should be interesting to see what a mess you make of that life. You sure as hell have made a mess out of this one.”

Rising, she said, “You have no compassion for me.”

“Why should I have compassion for you?”

“I have lost my brother. I have no idea if my mother is alive or dead. And you are a …” She flushed as she recalled she must treat him as an esteemed, older brother. Dropping to the chair, she stared at the floor.

His finger brought her chin up. “I was beginning to wonder if that fire in your eyes went any deeper. You may prove me wrong, after all.”

“Prove you wrong? How?”

“The Catherwoods are renowned for their fiery tempers.” He tapped her nose and laughed. “I should have guessed you would inherit the worst from both sides of your family.”

“And you, captain? Did you inherit your beastly behavior from the one who sired you or the creature that whelped you?”

With a chuckle, he cupped her chin in his broad hand. “Remember, Lian, I'm captain of this ship. If I choose to toss you overboard, no man will tell me nay.”

“You wouldn't!”

“Wouldn't I?” His laugh remained behind, as he slammed the door and shut her in the room with the horror she feared was only beginning.

Six

Through the rain, Lian stared at the strange buildings. Painted in a variety of colors, although most were white, they rose two or three stories high like a temple. Dozens of windows stared at her, making her curious as to why these people wanted to spy on each other. Some buildings had fences around them which seemed to serve no purpose, for the gate at the front was wide open. Without the graceful, curved eaves she was accustomed to, the roofs seemed pallid.

“What are they?” she asked.

“What are what?”

Hearing impatience in Captain Trevarian's voice, she glanced at him before looking out the window of the carriage again. “What are these buildings?”

“In English,” he insisted.

She frowned. During the long months of their voyage, he had spoken to her in Cantonese. If he had helped her practice English, she would be better prepared now to meet her father. Framing the question in her mind, she struggled to keep her words free of an accent, as Mother had taught. “What are those buildings?”

“Homes.”

“Homes?” she repeated.

“You don't know the word? It means—”

“I know what a home is. It is where people live. They look different from those in Canton.”

“You'll find most things in Stormhaven very different. After all, we don't live in mud-floored hovels.” He laughed as he leaned back on the plush seat of the carriage that had been waiting when the
China Shadow
docked.

Bryce's mirth vanished, as he thought of the coachman's frown when he had ordered the vehicle to leave with only two passengers. So well trained were the Catherwood servants, that neither the driver nor the footman had asked any questions. If he had spoken of Davis's death on the docks, which were stained red from the blood left by the whalers, word would have reached the Catherwood home faster than any carriage.

Their hundred days at sea had not lessened his pain at losing his best friend. He had tried to devise a way to offer consolation to Captain Catherwood. All the old man would receive from this voyage were its profits and a daughter he had not known existed.

He wished he knew how Davis had intended to introduce Lian to his family. Each scenario Bryce imagined ended with his being dismissed for allowing his captain to be killed.

Frustration filled his voice as he drew Lian back from the window. “Stop gawking. Don't you want to make a good impression on your family?” He frowned. “Or the best you can make.”

Lian brushed her hands against her
ch 'eÅ­ng shaam
. The blue silk was spotted with salt from the long months of the voyage. “I shall shame neither my family nor my brother's memory.”

“Really?”

At his sarcastic smile, her knuckles bleached with her outrage, but she did not voice it. Soon Captain Trevarian would be gone, for he did not share the Catherwoods' house. She was unsure how long the
China Shadow
remained in port, but she hoped it would be a very short time.

Her eyes widened as the carriage pulled through a wide gate in a white fence. The house at the top of the hill was undoubtedly the largest she had seen. Three stories high, it was topped by a glassed room in the center of its flat roof. Wooden shingles, stained by the salt air and rain, covered the exterior. Dark green shutters and white railed porches seemed whimsical.

“How many families live here?” Lian asked in awe.

“One.”

“One?”

Captain Trevarian brushed dust from his dark coat and clasped his hand around the knee of his tan trousers. With a cold smile, he raised an irreverent eyebrow in her direction. “Are you becoming a parrot, blue eyes?”

“I never know when you are being honest.”

“I'm always honest.”

She chuckled. “And the sun sets in the east.”

“When have I lied to you?”

She faltered, for she could accuse him of being overbearing and give him dozens of examples. She could mention a score of times when he had been short-tempered. More times than she was able to count, he had embarrassed her by calling her a little fool in front of the crew. But dishonesty …

He laughed. “It galls you that I might have a virtue or two, doesn't it?” He held up his hand as she was about to reply. “We'll have to continue this later, blue eyes. You are
home
.”

Lian flinched at the emphasis he put on the word. This was not home. This was the place of strangers.

When the carriage stopped in front of a set of steps, Captain Trevarian opened the door and climbed out. She was surprised when he turned and offered his hand to her instead of rushing out of the rain. She placed her trembling fingers on his. Sliding across the seat, she froze when her eyes were only inches from his.

She stared into their green depths, which were as fathomless as the sea. The pain, that had haunted her through the hundred nights since Davis died, burned in them.

“Are you sewn to the seat, blue eyes?”

Lian bit back her answer. This man did not deserve sympathy. He waited for any opportunity to taunt her. Stepping from the carriage, she jerked her hand out of his as rain pelted her. He motioned toward the steps.

She would not let him see how terrified she was of what waited beyond the wood door with its etched glass oval in the center. Gathering up the skirt of her
ch 'eÅ­ng shaam
, she walked up the stairs slowly.

The door opened before she reached it. Captain Trevarian's hand in the center of her back guided her into the entrance hall. She bowed to the man by the door, not wanting her father to think she had been poorly taught. She swallowed her grief when she saw a rug with patterns she had seen for sale in Canton. Homesickness raced through her, so strong she feared she would be ill.

“Lian, stand up.”

Bryce watched as Lian straightened. From her sleek hair shadowing her delicate features to her dress which flowed along her slender curves, she was incredibly alluring. In the months at sea, he had forced himself to forget how beautiful she was. He ignored the familiar surge of yearning. Davis had trusted him to watch out for his sister, and he would not betray his friend, even when he had awakened too many nights hungering for her soft mouth on his lips.

Clearing his throat, he said, “Lian, this is the …” He sighed as she bowed again deeply. He saw shock on the butler's face.

“Welcome, Miss Lian,” said Hyett, his composure returning. “The captain awaits you in the back parlor, Lieutenant Trevarian.” The butler glanced out the door. “Is Captain Catherwood joining you?”

“No,” replied Bryce as he took Lian's arm. He was glad the butler's question had not forced him to lie.

Seeing Lian's head swivel from one side to the other as she looked around them, he smiled grimly. There would be many things more alien to her than the furniture which glistened from beeswax. When she paused, he tugged on her arm. She did not move.

She raised a fingertip to touch a figurine. “This looks like the lion guarding the gate to Mother's Younger Brother's house.”

“I thought you had never been inside the wall.”

Lian smiled sadly. “Mother drew me pictures.”

“You are lucky Hyett isn't looking,” Captain Trevarian replied. “He'd have your head for touching the captain's temple lion. It's the symbol for the Shadow Line.”

“Who is Hyett?”

“The man at the door. The butler.”

“I thought you said only Catherwoods lived here. Who are these Butlers?”