Where Seagulls Soar (30 page)

Barnard looked slyly at him. ‘Ah, you’re as willing to bypass the widow as I was, then. Now, let me see.’ Barnard did some quick calculations on a piece of paper, then looked
up and named an extortionate sum.

Seth chuckled as he put in his counter offer, which was less than half of what Barnard demanded. ‘That’s a fair offer, and there will be no negotiations, Barnard. I have taken crew
entitlements, provisioning and lack of profitable cargo into account.’

Barnard hesitated for just a moment. ‘Cash?’

‘I can get that amount in cash, if you wish.’

Barnard eyed the shabby coat he was wearing and sneered, ‘From where?’

Seth spared his brother the finer details of his wealth, telling him briefly, ‘A legacy from my aunt.’

Along with the greed, suspicion surfaced in his brother’s eyes. ‘I’ll see the colour of your money first, then.’

An hour later, James Stark witnessed the signatures, and Seth became the owner of an ocean-going clipper with no cargo and hardly any crew to her name.

James punched him on the shoulder when they got outside. ‘You certainly move when you have to. What are you going to do with the ship?’

‘Leave it to the experts to run, but it seems I must swiftly learn how to operate a shipping company.’

Seth also had an idea forming in his brain, one he thought might suit everybody. But he had to think it through a bit more. So he grinned, and said nothing.

Joanna woke to pitch darkness, her head thumping relentlessly and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She must have died and been buried, she thought, and now
she’d woken up. She was so thirsty, and desperate to relieve herself.

She gave a soft groan, indulging in a moment of panic before she thought to reach out and explore her immediate surrounds. At least she was thinking more clearly now. Her bed was too big for a
coffin, and her fingers only encountered rough wood. Faintly she heard creaks and cracks, the slap of lines against the masts. She smiled, she must be on board the
Joanna Rose
. But how did
she get here?

What’s more, she wasn’t in a passenger cabin, and she could sense space around her now. She was lying on a mattress. Feeling around it, she found a place where she could swing her
feet down to wooden decking. Cautiously, she stood up, cursing when her head collided with what appeared to be a cubicle above her. She dislodged something soft, which fell and enveloped her. After
she’d fought herself free of it, she said crossly, ‘Where the hell am I?’

There was the scrape of a Lucifer and a flame was applied to a lamp swinging from a beam. Joanna nearly screamed when an odd, grinning face was illuminated by it. A demon!
She was
dead!

‘You awake now, Missy Morcant?’

It was Thaddeus Scott’s former cabin boy. Joanna breathed a huge sigh of relief. ‘Mr Lee? How you startled me.’

He beamed a smile at her. ‘You remember Chin Lee?’

‘Of course I do. You looked after me so well. Where am I on the ship?’

‘Women’s quarters for the Irish passengers. Captain Staines had partitions built for sleeping in.’

Water slapped against the hull. ‘Are we underway?’

‘Too soon. We sail later tonight. The master said there are bad men aboard, and you must stay here, out of sight. All right, missy?’

Her head set up a drumbeat when she nodded. She felt stale and smelled worse, as she said with heartfelt pathos, ‘Would it be possible to have something to drink and some water to wash in,
Mr Lee?’

He passed her a metal jug filled with water and a bucket with a cake of soap in. ‘Drink first, wash second, make pee-pee third. Clean clothes are on the next bunk. Chin Lee will bring you
food soon. I go now, tell master you’re awake.’ He disappeared silently into the darkness.

The water was almost freezing, and it took all of Joanna’s courage to apply it to the warm folds on her body, for her skin puckered in protest and her teeth began to chatter. She felt
better afterwards, however, as if the removal of her painted mask had lessened the humiliation of the abuse she’d suffered – though the physical abuse was still all too apparent in the
various bruises, aches and grazes that disfigured her flesh. They looked worse than they were.

She reached for a set of clean clothes and blessed Seth for taking the trouble to return to his house to fetch them. Her familiar skirt, bodice and shawl, washed and repaired by his housekeeper,
felt comforting after the red gown, which stank of Bisley’s sweat, his cloying lavender oil and liquorice.

Shuddering, she threw the garment to the floor, kicked it into the darkness and pulled Seth’s coat around her shoulders. She snuggled into it for the warmth and comfort it brought her. It
was almost like being in his arms.

She scowled at the thought of Bisley being on board, and curbed the almost irresistible urge to seek him out and plunge a knife into his heart. The tortures he’d inflicted on her had been
humiliating and painful, but she’d earned them by not listening to Seth’s advice in the first place.

Bisley had forced that foul drink down her throat, and he’d tied a rope around her neck and compelled her to crawl on her hands and knees after him, like a dog. He’d kicked and
pinched her as the whim took him, and had bound her hand and foot and threatened to prick her eyes out with his knife point and blind her. The most frightening threat was when he said he’d
cut Toby’s feet and hands off as soon as he got hold of him.

It had occurred to her then that Toby wasn’t being held in Lord Durrington’s house. Joanna began to shake with the rage she felt. She should have listened to Seth.

Just then she heard footsteps coming down a ladder, followed by Edward Staines voicing a cautious, ‘Are you decently dressed, Mrs Morcant?’

‘Yes.’

He appeared a few seconds later with Chin Lee in tow, who was carrying a steaming jug and a plate with cheese, ham and some crusty bread. There was a bottle of wine, too.

Chin Lee set his offerings on a bench and, when she thanked him, beamed a smile before leaving. Pouring herself a mug of the tea, Joanna warmed her hands on the outside of the mug while she
sipped it.

Edward shuffled awkwardly from one foot to the other. ‘I’m sorry I have to put you down here, but I can’t risk Durrington setting eyes on you. It’s only for a short time
and you’ll have company when Seth Adams comes aboard. You’re not scared, are you?’

‘On this ship, how could I be? She’s an old friend.’

Edward offered her a faint smile. ‘How are you feeling after your ordeal?’

‘Battered, bruised and damned angry, as though someone is banging on my head with a hammer. My mouth is so dry and thirsty I could swallow the Thames in one gulp.’

‘You must be desperate.’ Edward’s voice took on an authoritative note. ‘I must point out, though, that you brought most of your troubles down on your own head. And as
master of this vessel I’m obliged to inform you that you will be locked in. If you mutiny I shall use any means necessary to restrain you. Is that understood, Mrs Morcant?’

Her laugh had a hollow ring to it. ‘Mutiny? How very dramatic. You’re being horribly mean, you know, Edward. And don’t tell me I’m a fool to have gone after Bisley and
Durrington. I learned that the hard way. Lock me in if you wish, but restraint won’t be necessary, and spare me the lecture. I bet this was Seth Adams’s idea. He probably told you to
clap me in irons,’ she said darkly.

He chuckled. ‘You sounded just like your father then. It will be good to see him again. I’m looking forward to it.’

‘Don’t remind me of him, Edward,’ she said with a catch in her voice. ‘I can’t afford to become emotional about anything else until this business is over and done
with and my son is safely back in my keeping. I know I’ll never stop weeping if I start. I feel so alone without Toby, and he must be frightened out of his wits.’

‘You’re not alone, Mrs Morcant,’ the captain said gruffly. ‘Alex had a network of friends and family, and we’ll always be there for his son, believe me. You only
have to ask.’

She gave him a watery smile. ‘Why are you sea captains always so formal when you’re aboard your ships? If you don’t start calling me Joanna, I’ll throw you
overboard.’

Now he laughed. ‘Joanna it is, then. Seth Adams temporarily came back on board, and asked me to inform you of what’s going on regarding your son’s whereabouts.’

‘Does he know where Toby is?’ she asked eagerly.

‘Not exactly. But he’s learned that a cousin of yours is holding Toby prisoner in a cottage on Portland.’

‘A cousin?’ There came a sudden, clear memory of a voice against her ear when Toby had been abducted. ‘Bitch!’ Then the netmaker’s wife saying she’d seen . .
. Fear leaped into her heart like a tiger, and dug its claws deep. ‘Brian Rushmore? I thought he was in prison.’

‘I imagine somebody would have bribed a guard to allow him to escape. Bisley or Durrington, I expect.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Brian Rushmore is a man with no conscience.’ She couldn’t tell Edward that Brian had repeatedly forced himself on his own sister and had nearly starved Tilda
to death. Indeed, he had tried to rape Joanna herself, and would have if Tobias Darsham hadn’t intervened. And look what trouble that had brought them all.

But her precious son was another thing altogether. He was part of her heart as well as her body. Joanna would sacrifice everything she owned to save his life, which was exactly what her father
had done for her when he’d decided to fake his own death.

‘We must go to Portland as soon as possible and rescue Toby from him.’ She gave a shiver as fear attacked her again. ‘Brian would kill him without a second thought. Perhaps he
already has.’

‘Hardly likely. He’ll wait for Durrington and Bisley to turn up so he can exchange the boy for payment, then go abroad.’

‘Thank you for telling me, Edward. Will Seth be coming on board soon?’

‘He had a couple of things to do first, but aye, he’d better, else the ship will be dragging her arse along the bottom. He’ll have to sneak on board unobserved, though. Bisley
is keeping an eye on the gangplank.’

She gazed at him in dismay.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll provide a distraction when the time is right.’

A thought occurred to her and she laughed softly. ‘I won’t worry too much. Seth Adams is the sneakiest man I’ve ever met.’

Edward grinned at that. ‘He’s also a compassionate man who keeps a cool head under pressure. He’s certainly earned my respect this night.’ Reaching above him, Edward
dimmed the light. ‘Keep this low, if you would, Joanna.’

‘Edward?’ she said when he turned to leave.

‘What is it?’

‘With all of my heart, thank you.’

He gave a brief nod, then was gone. There was a click as the key turned in the lock. Edward had meant what he’d said.

Joanna ate a small amount of the food and drank half the tea, then she curled up inside the cubicle with Seth’s coat over her, and rested her thumping head. In a little while she began to
doze off.

Joanna was woken by a slight scuffling noise against the side of the ship. A pulse thumped inside her ears. She’d nearly drifted off to sleep again when there was a
click. She listened for the sound again, but there was only the noisy rushing silence of herself straining to hear, and a creak or two, as if the ship’s timbers strained against the ropes
tying her to the shore.

As she listened she could make out the faint sounds of activity on deck. They were about to cast off. Fear took root in her. Where was Seth? What if Edward sailed without him on board?

But the fear suddenly fled for she could sense another heartbeat beneath her own. He was near, there was a darker shadow moving in the shadows beyond the light. How silent he was.

She scrambled to her feet. ‘Seth?’

He stepped into the little patch of light, grinning at having his game discovered. ‘Were you expecting anyone else, then?’

Knowing he was unharmed put pleasure in her beaming smile. ‘I was worried about you.’

‘Liar. You were snoring. How do you feel now?’

‘Better by a mile. How did you manage to get on board without Bisley seeing you?’

‘I was rowed to the other side of the ship and a Chinaman threw a rope ladder over the side.’

‘Oh, Seth.’ She shrugged, knowing she must say this to him, but finding it hard to admit it. ‘I’m sorry I was so much trouble. I should have listened to you.’

He closed the space between them. ‘Never mind that, I’m just relieved you’re still in one piece. Has Edward told you what’s been going on?’

She nodded.

‘Then you’ll know we can do nothing else until we reach Portland. We’ll have to be very careful we’re not seen. No sudden moves, Joanna. From now on you must listen to
what I say.’

There was tension between them now, a new awareness on Joanna’s part that Seth was more the man than he looked. She had a sudden run of memories, of Bisley with a silver soup tureen on his
head. Seth holding her upright as they crossed the park and helping her when she heaved into the grass. Of him telling her so tenderly that he loved her. That particular memory pleased her the
most, but she couldn’t linger on it. What if she’d imagined it all?

‘Did a woman help me escape?’

‘My sister-in-law, Constance. She’s married to Barnard Charsford, who is my half-brother and one of the architects of the plot against you.’

‘Why did he do it?’

‘Greed.’ Seth was dispassionate, matter of fact. ‘It affords me great pleasure to know that Barnard and Durrington will soon be ruined.’

She gazed at him in some alarm. ‘Don’t expose them, not until my son is safely back in my keeping. Please, Seth, don’t do anything that might cause Toby harm. I’ll never
forgive you if you do, and I don’t want to place myself in that position – not now.’

He took a step closer, his eyes gleaming in the dim light. ‘Believe me, Joanna, I know how precious he is. I’m going to get Toby back for you.’

If Toby was still alive.
The thought hung unspoken between them.

Unexpectedly, the ship moved and Joanna lost her footing. He caught her in mid-stumble, swinging her against him before she could fall.