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“I don’t. ” He spoke through gritted teeth, intense focus in his eyes.
She put a hand to her heart. He’d spent over half his life out of the country—there was no way he’d have heard the songs, known the tale. “Oh, Aidan, of course you don’t know. Captain William Derby-Phipps was a famous traitor. ” She peered into his eyes
. “But why do you care? What does the connection mean?”
“He’s the man who took me. He’s my man with the black pearl. ”
Her heart hammered with excitement. Might they find their proof of Fraser’s dishonesty and Aidan’s revenge on this one sheet of paper? “How can you know?”
“This. ” He pointed to a single word. “This is my proof. ”
Xebec. She stared at the strange, foreign word, perplexed. “Is that a man’s name?”
“No,” he said, and she could hear the anticipation growing in his voice. “It’s a type of ship. A rare Spanish ship. There’s one currently docked in Aberdeen harbor, and though it sails under a different name”—he pointed to the names, the Endeavor, the León de Oro—“I think it’s the same one that took me. ”
Though loath to interrupt, she had to ask the question on her tongue. “Is it common to change a ship’s name?”
“Hardly,” he said, with a baffled shake of his head. “He’d have been hard-pressed to change the name. Sailors are quite superstitious about such things. He must’ve had some good reason—avoiding the authorities, evading his enemies. ” He gave a brittle laugh. “I imagine he made
quite a number of enemies in his time. ”
“Like you?”
“Aye, like me. Because I’m going to kill him. ” A deadly calm stole over his face. “Tell me about this Cap-tain Derby-Phipps. ”
She pursed her lips, summoning the old tale to mind. “Derby-Phipps captained an English ship, during the Thirty Years War,” she began. “Sailing alongside a small Dutch fleet, he encountered a sea of Spanish galleons and certain defeat. ”
“And, let me guess, our good captain simply turned tail?”
“Precisely. Those of his crew he couldn’t convince to turn pirate, he simply killed. But he later stole a Spanish ship and inexplicably delivered the bounty to the British. ”
“Not inexplicable at all,” Aidan said, interrupting her. His eyes danced with an excitement she felt swell in her own breast. “What else to do with so great a prize? The Dutch wouldn’t have touched it, and the Spaniards would’ve killed him. That left bonny old England. ”
“Indeed,” she said. “And bonny old England gave him the Spanish ship and a pardon for his trouble. There’s even a song about him,” she said, and sang a few bars of the old marching tune.
My name is Captain Will, oh Will,
I turned pirate when I killed good men,
Their worthy blood did spill.
Their worthy blood did spill, did spill,
Their worthy blood did spill.
He laughed, and she felt they were both intoxicated by their discovery. “I said you looked like an owl with your spectacles, but I didn’t know you sang like one too. ”
She gave him a swat. “I don’t know that that’s a compliment. ”
“Always, luvvie. ” He swatted her right back, on her bottom. He shook his head, retreating into his thoughts. “And that’s my man with the black pearl. ”
“How odd,” she said, her musing tone a match to his. “A man wearing jewelry. ”
“Not really. Sailors are a superstitious lot, fearing shipwreck above all things. They think the only way to ensure a Christian burial is to wear the cost of their coffin on their person. Gold, silver, gems … all worn in earrings, mostly. I’m sure this man—and much of his crew—is no different. His was a black pearl, though, and I’ve not seen its like since. ”
She took the paper from his hand. “This is it,” she said somberly. “This will be our proof. We’re so close now. We only need evidence of the captain’s piracy, and my father will be sure to cancel the engagement. ”
They crested the final hill on the path to her house. She slowed her pace, until her feet gradually came to a stop. Reaching home meant bidding farewell to Aidan.
