He smiled at the gentle young girl who had risked her life to bring the warning to them. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. “And see that our young lady is rewarded well.”
The bawdy drunkenness and laughter of the men had ceased. Each crew member placed his hand upon his sword hilt and awaited with sharp attention what would come as Sloan and Robin left the tavern.
Sloan was puzzled when he and Robin at last reached theSea Hawkwith their heavy loads of grain. Paddy challenged them when they would board, and then laughed heartily at their disguises.
“What ye be up to now, Sloan?” he demanded.
“Paddy—has no one come to accost or question you. Have you seen no troops, or king’s men?”
Paddy scratched his chin. “Come to think of it, I did see some men in uniform idling about the waterfront shops.”
Sloan threw off his cape. “Give me the glass, Paddy. I’m going up the crow’s nest.”
Sloan quickly shimmied up the mainmast to the lookout point. Carefully he scanned the dock and the waterfront shops. Aye, the uniformed men were scattered throughout.
Why, he wondered fleetingly, hadn’t Matthews stormed the ship? Probably because he didn’t want a battle with the crew. Sloan’s men were known as fierce fighters.
No, all Matthews wanted was Brianna—and himself. But how else could he get Brianna unless he came aboard ship?
A cold terror suddenly gripped his gut so that he shook, and sweat broke out in furious beads across his brow. He clutched the mast with the muscles of his thighs and shimmied back to the deck. “They are still about,” he told his confused first mate quickly. “Paddy—when did you last check on Brianna?”
“Oh, not more than an hour ago, Sloan. I’d never leave the lass longer than that with you not aboard.”
Sloan tore across the deck to the bow and down the short flight of steps to the hallway that led to his cabin. He crashed the door in with his shoulder, and the terror that had gripped him found full substance.
She was gone.
Brianna had listened throughout the early morning hours to the shouts and movements of the crew as they brought theSea Hawkinto dock. She had not cried, but sat numbly, waiting. And then, when the scurry of footsteps overhead had grown silent, she had stood and carefully inspected the lock upon the door.
Sloan’s desk provided her with a scrap of parchment which she carefully wadded in her hand—and held until Paddy came to deliver her breakfast tray. She chatted as he set the tray upon the desk, meanwhile backing silently to the door, and stuffed the tiny wad into the keyhole, praying that it would keep the bolt from sliding again.
She managed it, folding her hands behind her back just as Paddy turned to offer her his kind smile. “I’ve work to do, Brianna, but I’ll not leave ye all day! I’ll be back fer yer tray—and to take ye topside in the afternoon to see the dock. Ye’ll be okay till then?”
“Oh, aye, Paddy. I’ll be just fine!” Brianna promised softly. “I’ve been reading a book. I’ll finish it this morning.”
Paddy nodded, pleased and relieved by her apparent complacency. “I’ll be about me business, then, and should ye need me, give a loud shout.”
“I’ll do that, Paddy.”
She held her breath as she heard him twist the lock, and then forced herself to wait until the sound of his footsteps had faded down the hallway. She heard him shout an order, and slowly released her breath. She approached the door and twisted the knob.
A shaky weakness swept through her when it gave way, and she had to hold to the paneling of the door to stand.
This was it—the time to escape him! The opportunity she had prayed for. She had nothing but her faith in herself, and yet with that she was determined to leave. She would work her way across the country until she could find the Powells. She now believed that Sloan sincerely thought she would only be safe away from the British Isles. But he just didn’t understand the Powells, or the ways of their Puritan society. They knew she was not a witch and they would fight with her against the world, if need be. But who would ever find her in a small, seldom-visited village?
It was what she wanted, for she could not be his brief passion. Not according to the morals imbued in her for a lifetime, and not when she loved him with such intensity. She had longed to be free of him but now that it was time to leave, she was sadly realizing that all along he had been her knight in shining armor. He had rescued her, and swept her away, far from danger.
“Because I love you,” she whispered out loud, tears sliding silently down her cheeks as she looked about the cabin for the last time. His desk, where they had shared so many meals in both hostility and peace; his bed, where she had slept beside him, and learned that she desired and loved him.
Brianna swallowed and approached his desk, where a gold coin and several silver pieces had been cast. She bit her lip, knowing she would be a fool to leave without the coins. Hurriedly she made her decision and pocketed the money within her dress—bitterly remembering that she had “earned” his coins. Sloan would not care about the money—that she knew. She picked up his quill and scratched out a quick note upon his blotter—asking him not to search for her, if he cared for her at all.
Then she left the cabin, closing the door quietly but firmly behind her.
Brianna hesitated as soon as she reached the deck. She would never manage to walk smoothly off the plank to the dock. Paddy was guarding theSea Hawk—no one would come or go by that avenue without his challenge.
She nervously ducked partway down the steps and watched the few crew members still aboard as they mended sails or attended to other tasks. She noticed that a hemp ladder had been rigged portside for the men to work upon theSea Hawk’shull. If she could just cross the deck…
She waited, barely breathing. Finally the deck cleared except for Paddy, who lounged against the mainmast, arms crossed as he relaxed in the warmth of the sun. She took a deep breath and sprinted the width of the ship on her toes and, taking a firm grasp upon the ladder, vaulted over the side in one fluid movement.
