Fire and Ice Page 29

  For four days the Emerald Enchantress skimmed across the ocean’s surface. The weather remained fair and clear, and with each day Kathleen grew stronger. The ship ran smoothly under her command. Each day the men practiced their swordsmanship under her critical eye. They fought one on one and in pairs, repeatedly rehearsing a system of defense so that each man had his back covered in battle. At the end of each day, Kathleen fought the day’s winner, sharpening her own skills, and securing the admiration of her crew.

  During these sessions, Kathleen demonstrated technique, and showed her men the best means to take a man out of action with a wound rather than having to kill him. In her heart, she truly did not want any of the men she knew on either her ship or Reed’s to have to die because of her thirst for revenge. She stressed this to her men.

  If they engaged in battle with another ship and it was necessary for a few of the enemy to die, she would not grieve, but she did not want the blood of friends on her conscience, and neither did the crew, for they seemed sensitive to her feelings and agreed to her requests most readily.

  On the morning of the fifth day they reached the keys. Most of the day was spent scouting the area until they found what looked to be a very strategic position where they could lay completely hidden by vines and hanging moss. The Emerald Enchantress could anchor between two islands and remain virtually unseen while a very large and undoubtedly well-traveled area was well within their view.

  It was a day and a half before they spotted their first ship, but it was a slaver, and by mutual consent the crew declined to give chase. Nearly three hours later, the lookout spied the Kat-Ann approaching from the east and the alert went up. The hairs on the back of Kathleen’s neck stood up as the Kat-Ann passed so closely that Kathleen could make out Reed’s figure at the wheel with her naked eye. The Kat-Ann was riding too high in the water to be carrying cargo, however, so again they all settled down to wait.

  While they waited, Kathleen passed a few hours helping Dan dye his frizzled beard and graying head with some of her black hair gel. The old sailor then wrapped a boldly printed scarf around his head, donned an eye-patch and a sash, and emerged as a fair representation of a pirate. Under Dan’s lead, most of the others decided to dress up their appearances. Much to Kathleen’s glee, she was soon the leader of as motley a crew as ever sailed the seas!

  Their patience was rewarded just before dawn the next day. As the eastern sky was turning a pearly gray, the sharp eyes of the lookout picked out the shape of a Spanish galleon approaching from the west. In her wake rode her escort ship, her sole protection. Word passed silently and swiftly aboard the Emerald Enchantress.

  Suddenly the sound of cannon fire split the still morning air. Surprise registered on Kathleen’s face as she looked questioningly at her lookout perched high in the rigging.

  “Cap’n!” he shouted, the need for silence no longer pressing, “It’s the Kat-Ann! She’s attacking the escort ship, and she’s lagging behind the galleon, with the gap wider by the minute!”

  It took not a minute for Kathleen to make her decision. “To your stations, men! Captain Taylor has done us a good turn this day! We attack the galleon while he occupies the armed escort. To arms, my laddies!”

  A great cheer roared forth from her crew as the Emerald Enchantress slipped swiftly from her hidden bower in pursuit of her quarry. The galleon was lumbering along laboriously, heavily laden and riding low in the water. In what seemed but a few seconds, the Enchantress was pulling alongside the Spanish ship, grappling hooks linking the two ships.

  “Board her!” came Kathleen’s shout as she grabbed a line and swung herself aboard the galleon. Flexing her knees, she landed as lightly as a cat, her rapier ready in her hand. Hearing the light thud of boots behind her, she half turned to find Finley at her back. Her boots tapping a swift tattoo as she ran, Kathleen sprinted up the ladder to the quarterdeck in search of the captain.

  As she cleared the final step, she had just enough time to shout a warning to Finley before she ducked the high black boot aimed for her midriff. Kathleen rolled quickly to her right and bounced to her feet to face the stout Spanish captain. Finley immediately covered her back and challenged the quartermaster. Astonishment was etched upon the captain’s coarse face as he gaped open-mouthed at Kathleen.

  “Surrender this ship at once, and I will call off my men!” Kathleen ordered in a gruff tone.

  For a second he said nothing, and Kathleen was about to repeat the command in Spanish when he threw back his head and let out a loud laugh. “Niña! What kind of joke is this?” he asked. “Such a small pirata I have never seen before!”

  Kathleen eyed him coldly. “Señor, ’tis no laughing matter! I intend to relieve you of this ship in short order. Defend yourself and your ship or surrender it! The choice is yours!” Taking her stance, she brought up her rapier. “En garde,” she challenged.

  With an elaborate shrug of indifference, the Spaniard brought up his weapon. “So we must play out your charade, eh? So be it. I will try not to harm you too badly, señorita. It would be a pity not to be able to enjoy such a prize, no?”

  She refused to be baited. Instead, she parried his first blow with a strength that made his eyebrows rise in surprise. Then she launched into her attack. The ease with which she outmaneuvered him almost disappointed her. In half a dozen swift blows she lured him to drop his guard, and neatly pierced his shoulder through. He dropped his sword at her feet, clutching at his wound in mute amazement.

  Kathleen kicked his weapon beyond his reach. “Surrender the ship, sir, and your life will be spared.” She watched as he called off his men, noting with great pride that her crew had obviously been besting the Spaniards anyway.

  Stepping forward, her long legs splayed beneath her lithe frame, she called out her orders. At once all ablebodied seamen from both ships began transferring the goods from one hold to the other.

  Stepping up beside her, Finley said quietly, “Beggin’ yer pardon, Captain, but I’d say we have no more than a quarter hour to load and set sail before we have unwelcome company.” He nodded toward the Kat-Ann.

  “We’ll take what we can and sink the rest,” Kathleen decided cooly.

  What little color remained in the Spanish captain’s face drained slowly downward. “What of my men, señorita? Would you sink the ship with all aboard?”

  “I am not completely heartless, Captain. We will allow you to lower the jolly boats before we fire the ship.” Eyeing him amusedly, she gave a short laugh, and added with a toss of her head, “Of course, there is a price for my courtesy.”

  “Which is?” he asked doubtfully.

  Pointing to the Kat-Ann, still engaged in battle but winning decisively now, Kathleen elaborated, “That ship you see engaging your escort will soon be wanting her rewards, which I am about to make off with. Either you head your jolly boats in her direction, thereby slowing her progress, or I shall direct cannon fire into your midst and you may join your mother ship in her descent. A simple choice, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Damn you for a sea devil!” the Spaniard swore.

  From the corner of her eye, Kathleen caught Finley darting her a quick glance of admiration. “Order the jolly boats lowered, Finley, and prepare to fire the ship.”

  Two minutes later, Finley brought word that all prisoners but the captain were aboard the jolly boats and about to cast off. In the hold, a keg of blasting powder was ready to be set to the torch.

  Kathleen gave the order to return to the Enchantress, and turning once again to the defeated captain, she said, “We depart with profound thanks and, of course, your cargo.” With a tinkling laughter, she swept him a low bow. Then, graceful as a gazelle, she swung back to the deck of her own ship as Finley lit fire to the thin line of black powder leading into the hold.

  “Cast off, and be quick about it!” she commanded from the quarterdeck. Several men were already severing the lines to the grappling hooks, while others raced to lengthen sail. They lurched away from the ga
lleon, and catching the morning tide and trades, made haste to widen the gap between the two ships. The Emerald Enchantress responded to Kathleen’s sense of urgency as she deftly manned the wheel. Even at a safe distance, the ensuing explosion rocked the Enchantress, and bits of flying, flaming debris littered her wake.

  As they rounded the first island, Kathleen dared a look back, and the sight that met her eyes made her heart glad.

  The Kat-Ann, wildly attempting to pursue her, was being effectively hampered by the jolly boats, three of which had capsized with the force of the explosion. Seamen were afloat and swimming everywhere in chaotic confusion. Kathleen could just make out the Spanish captain as he shouted at Reed and gestured frantically in the Enchantress’s direction. Then they rounded the bend and entered the twisting maze of waterways that wound around the islands.

  They were safely enclosed in their hideaway of greenery and snickering to themselves as they watched the Spanish sailors being rescued by the limping, but still seaworthy, escort ship. The Kat-Ann was gone from view, having made a vain attempt to catch tbe Emerald Enchantress. Lord only knew where in this labyrinth of channels she was now, but because she could well be close by, those aboard the Enchantress maintained a disciplined silence. Only the sparkle of mirth in each pair of eyes betrayed the smothered laughter.

  Their silence soon proved prudent. As the last of the floundering Spaniards was hauled aboard the warship, new sounds, faint but distinct, reached their ears. Muffled voices, the creaking of lines and wood, became clearer minute by minute.

  Aboard the Emerald Enchantress, each man stood frozen in his stance as the Kat-Ann steadily approached. Hardly daring to breathe, they watched as the Kat-Ann passed their stern so closely that a man could have reached out and touched her planking. Kathleen clearly saw Reed standing at the wheel, and when it seemed he looked directly at her, she wondered that he had not heard her heart, it was pounding so hard in her chest. Blood hammered in her ears, and moisture gathered in her eyes from the strain of not blinking. She could feel rivulets of perspiration streaming down between her breasts and shoulder blades.

  When finally the Kat-Ann had passed and gone, a collective sigh of relief rose from all aboard. Kathleen caught Dan’s look of mixed relief and disbelief, and smiled broadly. “By the saints! I thought we were found out, old friend,” she whispered. “I held my breath so long I nearly passed out!”

  Dan grinned back at her. “Were thet yer heart or mine I heard poundin’ so loud, Cap’n?” he chuckled low.

  “Both, I’d imagine, and it won’t surprise me if my boots slosh a bit when I walk, too.”

  “Yea, well I’ll tell ye, it didn’t feel none too good when I swallowed me tobacco neither, lass,” he added with a grimace.

  Tears of merriment danced in her eyes as she doubled over in an attempt to restrain an unladylike hoot of laughter. “Oh, dear heavens! You didn’t!” she choked.

  “Aye! And it burned like the fires of hell!” He eyed her with disdain. “Well, I couldn’t very well spit just then, could I?” he exploded. “It would have sounded like a cannonball hittin’ the water!”

  At a strangled sound behind her, Kathleen turned to find Finley wiping tears from his eyes and struggling to regain his composure. “What are your orders now, Captain?” he managed between breaths. “Do we head for home with our take?”

  “Nay. I’m thinking we’ll cruise about a bit and see if we can’t give Captain Taylor a good look at the lady pirate he’s most likely very curious about just now.”

  Reed was more than merely curious. He was furious! Of all the absurd, idiotic things to have happened! To top it all, that imbecile Spaniard telling that ridiculous tale about a daring lady pirate! Impossible! Especially if he were to believe the Spaniard’s description of her! He had said she was tall, with beautiful long legs encased in black knee boots. Reed smiled scornfully as he recalled the captain’s words.

  “She wore an outfit all of green and black, and her— uh—her breeches, well, they were cut off short to just below her buttocks. Such things! The shirt and vest did nothing to disguise her luscious breasts. When I think how they would fit into the palms of my hands!”

  “Damn it, man!” Reed had stormed. “What did you do, give her your entire cargo in exchange for a hop in the sack? You don’t expect me to believe all this rot, do you?”

  The captain had looked offended. “The woman can fight like a man, I tell you! Do you think she did this to my shoulder with her fingernails? I still cannot believe that I was bested by a beautiful pirata! She is very bold, and so sure of herself. She is the captain of that band of cutthroats! She leads them!”

  “And I suppose she has the face of an angel with a voice to match?” Reed’s voice was venomous.

  “What I could see of her face, sí. She wore a mask, but I can tell you she has sea-green eyes and long hair as black as midnight.”

  “I’ll tell you what else she has!” Reed countered. “She has my booty!”

  “Ha!” The Spaniard laughed tersely. “If I had to lose my ship, at least it was to her and not you!”

  “Yes, well I intend to remedy that situation and see this pirata for myself. We’ll see how good she is pitted against a real man!”

  “Yes, indeed,” Reed thought again. “I know how to handle myself with a sword, and I’ll be damned if some woman will best me! I hope we meet soon, lady pirate, and I won’t be surprised to find you are as fat as a sow, with breasts like udders and thighs like tree trunks, and a face that would turn milk sour. These Spaniards have no taste —no taste at all!”

  The day was fine, clear and balmy with blue skies and a brisk wind to fill the sails. It had been two days since the Emerald Enchantress had attacked the galleon. Reed had searched relentlessly, constantly cruising in the hope of encountering the woman pirate and her crew. His anger had not abated, and his pride was still bruised. That, more than anything, made him continue to search.

  When all at once they did come upon the sleek green vessel, Reed was taken aback. The Emerald Enchantress was not under sail, but resting quietly on the ocean waves, rocking slowly to and fro.

  “What the devil?” The frown lines deepened in his broad forehead as Reed eyed the ship speculatively. She was flying no distress signal. A shiver ran up Reed’s spine as he got the impression that this was no chance encounter. The witch was actually awaiting his arrival!

  As if the thought of her had conjured her into being, Reed caught a flash of green as a slim figure detached itself from a group of men and walked across the deck. Her back was to him as she lightly bounded up the ladder to the bridge. Through his spyglass he got a quick look at long, well-shaped legs and a nicely rounded bottom below a shining curtain of long ebony hair. The short pants barely concealed the cheeks of her rump, which bounced tauntingly with each step she took.

  “By heavens, I believe I owe that Spaniard an apology!” Reed whistled softly. The woman reached the bridge and turned to lean over the rail to speak to a man below her, and Reed sucked in his breath as he saw she wore only a vest with no shirt beneath. The manner in which she was leaning over was affording him a spectacular view of her breasts. He wished she was not wearing the mask so he could see her face, too. While he watched, she laughed at something the man said and, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a quick flip, she walked in smooth strides to the helm and strapped on her swordbelt.

  The Kat-Ann approached rapidly, but with caution. They were well within firing range, yet no shots came from the Enchantress's cannon.

  “Shall we fire on her, sir?” called Reed’s quartermaster.

  “Nay, Mr. Young. Have the men stand ready to board when I give the order. First, however, I should like to converse with the lady captain and find out her game.”

  Aboard the Emerald Enchantress, Kathleen was struggling to maintain her cool outer composure. Inside she was a quivering mass of jelly. “Oh, why did I ever start this venture? What if he recognizes me?” She fingered the hilt of her ra
pier nervously. It was the only outward sign of her anxiety.

  She caught Dan’s eye, and he came to stand beside her. “Don’t ye be worryin’ none, gal. Yer own daddy wouldn’ recognize ye in thet outfit. Lor’! He must be spinnin’ in his grave to see ye standin’ here with all thet skin showin’!” He gave her a wicked wink, and said, “I should be tryin’ to talk ye out of this, I know, but all I can do is wish I was twenty years younger.”

  “Dan!” she exclaimed. “You old rake! You really amaze me!”

  “Yeah, well, ye got some amazin’ to do yerself jest now. Buck up, lass, and remember what yer about. Yer not Mrs. Taylor nor Lady Haley today. Yer the bonniest pirate ever to sail the seas! Yer the best at sword and sail. Yer the Emerald Enchantress!”

  Finley interrupted by pointing out that the Kat-Ann was nearly upon them. Kathleen pulled herself away from the men, squared her shoulders, and walked to the rail. She propped her dainty boot on the rail and pulled on her leather gloves.

  “Ahoy! Aboard the Kat-Ann!” she called in an affected husky voice. “That is far enough! State your business!”

  Reed stood in his black trousers and shirt, hands on hips, legs braced apart. She could see his arrogant sneer from where she stood.

  “We’re coming aboard!” he shouted back.

  “We won’t stop you, but I doubt you’ll like the welcoming committee! What business have you with this vessel?”

  “A little matter of settling accounts,” Reed announced as his crew made fast to the Enchantress. He grabbed a line and swung himself across, landing just two feet from where Kathleen still lounged against the rail.

  “Now, madam,” he said, sweeping her a mocking bow, “if you would be so kind as to order your booty transferred to my ship, we can avoid any unnecessary bloodshed.”

  Kathleen drew herself to her full height, planting her feet firmly on the deck. “I think not, Captain.”

  “Come now, madam. It is not an old, slovenly Spaniard you are dealing with this time. I am an excellent swordsman, and as such I would hate to injure either your pride or your person.” His eyes slid to her cleavage and her proud breasts displayed between the lacings of her vest.