A Pirate's Possession (24 page)

He stopped suddenly, went rigid. He angled his head, his eyes boring into the trees. A flock of doves scattered noisily from their perch, their wings flapping in haste. Nate shook his head and pressed his hand over her mouth when she tried to talk. Claire, too, strained to hear, but there was nothing. It was deathly silent, which was never a good thing. Claire had learned from spending countless nights outside that the sound of silence was the scariest sound. It meant something was about that shouldn't be.

Nate's eyes met hers and in them she saw what she herself was thinking. If it were Vincent, wouldn't he announce himself, whistle, or make noise to let them know he was there? Wouldn't he call their names?

Without a word passing between them, Claire and Nate grabbed what weapons were at hand and ran.

Eighteen

It was nearly as satisfying to see the camp as he expected it would be to find the treasure. He hadn't been wrong. Nate, or someone from his ship, had been there. The question remained: Were they still on the island?

James felt the ashes. Cold. He looked round, saw the bed made of ferns and the canvas that protected it. One bed? What the hell? Nate and the kid? Shuddering, James turned deliberately from the bed and its rumpled covers.

The camp, he realized, looked well lived in. There were crates at the end of the bed, and there was a stack of sticks yet to be burned. It looked as though the inhabitants had merely stepped away, to return later. It certainly didn't look abandoned.

James opened the crates and poked through them. Among the supplies were mugs, plates, cutlery, and a small pot. He found coffee beans, bananas, a handful of eggs wrapped in a shirt. There were tools as well. A small ax, knives with blades of varying lengths, another strip of canvas, and a small length of rope. He raised his brows at the weapons and ammunition he uncovered beneath some clothes. James smiled. Nobody in their right mind left ammunition behind.

He sniffed the air, as though he could smell them. Of course the only thing that hung in the air besides the humidity was the sweaty smell of his men.

In another trunk, James found more clothing. He felt another spurt of satisfaction when he pulled some of them out. Judging from the size of the garments, it was likely that Nate was ashore.

“Aren't we going to look for them?” Horace asked.

“I'd rather we stay together, at least for the moment. They can't be well armed”—he gestured to the weapons he'd tossed out of the box—“but I don't want him picking us off one by one the way he did in Nevis either.

“Besides, judging from that”—he pointed to the clean shovels—“they haven't found it yet. Let's have a closer look. If they heard us and hurried off, or if they weren't expecting visitors, they may have left something valuable behind.”

It was the kid, James realized, when he picked the soiled hat from a box. The kid from the game was with Nate. It made no sense to James's way of thinking, but there it was. The kid and Nate were hunting the treasure together, and from the kid's size and the tears he'd seen in his eyes when he'd lost the poker game, James knew he had nothing to fear from him. His crew was more than able to take Nate down. He threw a glance over his shoulder, saw his men pillaging the camp, and thought they'd better take Nate down this time.

James didn't take the food that remained but he covered it. If they were here for long, they'd need it. He found the coat Nate had been wearing in Nevis. Could he be so lucky? he thought. But fate was feeling generous, and when James reached into the pocket, he felt it immediately. He sat back on his heels and grinned.

“Captain? What do you make of this?”

James rose, went to the man who stood next to the bed, and accepted the copper box he gave him.

“Hmm, looks like a snuffbox.” He opened it, turned it over, and saw the inscription.

“What does it say?” asked Horace, who'd come to see what was found.

“It says, ‘The glory is in the tomb.' ” He pondered the words a moment, then shook his head and chuckled. “Do you suppose it could really be so easy?”

“Easy, sir?”

“Horace. There was a town here at one time, was there not?”

“Aye, sir.”

James rubbed his thumb over the engraving. “Then doesn't it stand to reason there would also be a cemetery?”

“We're checking there first?”

James pulled out the two pieces of the map. Horace whistled, leaned in to see. James read the riddle, tried to match it with what his great-grandfather had said. The old sailor had talked of the answer being in the last. The last what? James wondered. And the map said “marked waterline,” which meant they should search near water. Since they hadn't seen anything on the beach they'd come ashore at, it stood to reason there could be something on the other.

“We'll make way to the other beach. If we find nothing there, then we search for a cemetery.” James pointed to some of his men. “You four, stay here. On the slight chance they don't know we're already here, don't do anything stupid like start a fire and announce our presence.”

“Aye, Captain,” they agreed.

The rest, Horace included, followed James out of camp.

 

 

Nate's stomach was a snake pit of nerves. He knew he had to get the hell away from camp, but to where? He had no way of knowing where their pursuers were going. If he went to the town site, they could be caught. If he took Claire to the beach, they could end up being open targets. He leapt a fallen tree, glanced back to ensure Claire didn't need help, then kept running.

His mind raced along with his legs. He needed to think of a plan, but he couldn't do it when he was rushing through the forest, ducking tree limbs and leaping rotting vegetation. After another few moments he saw something that would work. A tall tree with a gnarled trunk that split into smaller, crooked trunks perfect for climbing.

Nate tucked his pistol into his trousers and turned to Claire. Since he hadn't time to fuss with a sheath before leaving camp, there was no place to keep his sword but in his left hand.

“We can't keep running blind,” he whispered. He had no idea if their visitors had heard them run, but they'd no doubt found their camp by now and knew there were others on the island. “Until I can think of something, we'll hide up there.” He pointed to the sturdy branches with his right hand.

Claire, who also carried a pistol and sword, managed to climb easily with her weapons. Nate stayed below for a few moments. He stepped back to study the effectiveness of their hiding place. It was a heavily leafed tree but still Claire was easy to spot. Damn. Hopefully their pursuers would be too busy running to look up every tree.

The only reassuring bit was that he and Claire would have the advantage of seeing their enemy first. And though they hadn't had time to bring extra shots, at least the pistols they'd taken were loaded. It would allow them to shoot and run. At which point they'd only have their swords. He hoped it bloody wouldn't come to that.

He settled himself on a branch one down from Claire's, which allowed them to talk quietly.

“I don't think they're following us, at least not yet. Do you suppose once they reach camp and realize someone's here, that they'll come looking for us?”

It was what he'd first assumed they'd do, but now that he had a moment to think on it, he wasn't as sure.

“If it were you, would you waste time searching an island for a few people?”

She shook her head immediately. “If it were me, I'd keep all my men together—there's strength with that. And once I located the treasure, I'd post men all around to safeguard it.” Her eyes grew round. “We left the map behind!” She grabbed his arm. “Do you have the snuff box?”

He shook his head.

“How could we have been so stupid?”

“Well, we weren't given the luxury of having time to pack.”

“Nate, with the map and the box, they have everything they need.”

“They still have to figure it out. It took us a few days to accomplish that. Vincent will be back by then.”

“Are you suggesting we hide in the meantime?” she asked, the outrage in her voice increasing its volume. She took a breath, then spoke much softer. “Nate, there are things we can do. We can attack them at night. I know we're outnumbered but we can slow them down.” Her spine stiffened and her chin angled upward. Her eyes glittered. “I won't sit back and hide while they take what we've worked for.”

Nate could do nothing but smile. God, he loved her. She had such life, such passion in her. True, her temper was also fiery, but it made Claire who she was. Everything she did, from swimming to treasure hunting, to giving him hell, to making love, she did with a depth of passion behind it that amazed him. Even now, outnumbered and outgunned, she wasn't giving up. She wanted to fight back.

If he hadn't been afraid of falling on his head or having her fall as well, he'd have leaned in and kissed her, swept her mouth until that passion consumed them both.

“What are you smiling at?”

“You're beautiful.”

She flushed, then fussed with her hair using her free hand. “You've spent too much time in the sun lately.”

He angled his head. “That's the second time you've ignored my praise. You doubt me?”

She wouldn't meet his eyes. “I thought we were supposed to figure out what we're going to do.”

“We are. We will. Surely that doesn't mean I can't pay you a compliment?”

She puffed her cheeks and blew out her breath. “Fine. Compliment taken. Now, what's our plan of action?”

He chuckled. Claire wasn't used to compliments. She certainly hadn't been in a position to receive any the last while. Nate intended for that to change.

“We need more than what we have. I'll go back to camp tonight. While I expect there will be some men there, I don't think they all will be. If I wait until they're asleep, I can take care of them quietly. I'm not worried about food or blankets, but we need ammunition and we need flint. I hate knowing all I have is the shot that's in my pistol and I want to alert Vincent that there's trouble. Hopefully he'll be close enough to see it.”

“There's a problem with that.”

Nate frowned. “What?”

“You said, ‘I,' not ‘us.'”

“That's right. I'll go.”

She shook her head. “
We'll
go. What if something goes wrong? Or there's more men than you think? You need the extra help and you're a fool if you believe I'll cower in the tree like a frightened maiden.”

“It's not cowering, Claire, it's sound logic.”

She rolled her eyes. “Only to your ears. Would you ask Vincent, or your friend Blake, to stay behind?”

Nate set his jaw, knowing she'd trapped him.

“Of course not, because they're men. Nate, are we in this together, or aren't we?”

Had he really admired her passion only a moment ago?

She leaned as far forward as she could without falling. “I'll follow you or I'll go with you. But I won't be left behind.”

He set his teeth, wishing he'd have had the time to bring along the extra length of rope from camp. Then he could have tied her to the damn tree.

 

 

James saw the chests the moment he stepped onto the sand and had two immediate thoughts. The first was, who would be idiot enough to leave such things in plain sight? The second, following quickly behind, was that those chests couldn't be all there was to the
Emmeline
's treasure.

His boots sank in the sand but it didn't slow him down. He dropped onto his knees before the chests. They'd been forced open, he saw by the broken lock, but the wealth within them had been left unprotected. Why? He plunged his hand between the gems, which were warm from the sun.

“That sure isn't anything to be left about,” Horace commented. He remained standing and peered over James's shoulder.

“No,” James agreed, letting the pearls, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds slide through his fingers.

“Is it a trap, do you think?” Horace asked, turning toward the trees.

James heard the pistol cock. The other men who'd come did the same and a wave of clicks echoed down the beach.

“I doubt it. I'm more inclined to believe they left it thinking it to be perfectly safe.”

“They didn't expect trouble?”

“No. And it's a mistake that will cost them dearly.”

Horace lowered his weapon and turned back to James. “Do you believe this is all there is?”

“Absolutely not. There's more.” He took the map from his pocket and read it again. “Thrice to fail.” Well, there were three chests and clearly it wasn't all the treasure the
Emmeline
had left with. “Marked waterline.” Hmm. James stood and went to the water's edge.

“What are you looking for?”

“A marked waterline. Have a look around. It's possible they found the rest and this is all they've carried away so far.”

“But the shovels were clean, Captain.”

“Yes. And if the treasure was found in water, they could be, couldn't they?”

Horace nodded. “Aye, Captain.”

James looked out to sea, but saw nothing except a few crops of islands. While Horace and the men searched the beach, he went back to the chests and pulled out the map. “A lone piece.” All three chests were full. He turned to the snuffbox. It didn't fit with what was before him. Coins of gold and silver, gems the color of a rainbow. And a snuffbox? It could be the lone piece, he thought. He turned it over. The glory was in the tomb.