The Jezebel's Daughter (27 page)

XXXIII

Ambergris Caye, British Honduras

August, 1718

A few days after Sebastian and the
Jezebel
left, I met with Ben in Ambergris's tavern. We ate a small meal—one of many that I seemed to be consuming as my pregnancy advanced—and over small beer and rum, I finally broached a subject that had long been on my mind.

“Ben, I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything. You be knowing this.”

I smiled and reached for his hand, curling my fingers with his and giving them a squeeze. I let go and dropped a wash-leather bag filled with coins into his open palm. “I want you to go to Le Cap and book passage to England for as many people as you can with this money.” He opened his mouth to speak, but I held up a finger, wanting him to wait until I'd finished my request. “Then I want you go to to Manman Vivienne's village and tell her that she's free.”

He stared at me for a long, silent moment. I bit my lower lip, waiting to hear him tell me that I was out of my mind, that I couldn't do this, that Vivienne wouldn't accept my help. Then he shook his head and looked down at the money in the palm of his hand. “Why?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion. “Why you do this?”

“She saved my life, Ben,” I answered softly. “I have the means to repay just a small amount of what she did. Will you do this for me? Please?”

He nodded and then scooped me up in his arms and held me tightly. I could feel him nodding his agreement but he didn't speak yet. Finally, after my ribs felt as though they might be crushed, he let go of me and rubbed the knuckles of his hands under his eyes, dashing away tears before they fell. “I will do this for you and Manman Vivienne and her people,” he said. “And for myself.”

“I think maybe this is my destiny,” I admitted in a small voice. “The one Manman Danto and Papa Legba spoke of. Maybe this—freeing your people—is why the
lwa
took notice of a European girl. Because I have the means to free them.”

He smiled. “I think you be right.” A corner of his mouth quirked up in a little smirk. “Because there don't be much else about you to take notice of.” I gaped at him for a moment and then playfully smacked his upper arm. He laughed and carefully put the bag of coins on his belt. “I'll leave with the next crew headed that way,” he said. “Be gone no more than two, three weeks, so don't go getting in trouble. There be nobody 'round to save you while I'm gone.”

I gave him a withering glare, which caused him to laugh even more.

* * *

Ben returned from his mission three weeks later, his arms filled with gifts from Vivienne and her family. They had given me hand-carved water gourds, wooden sculptures, baskets woven from sea grasses, and bolts of beautifully dyed cloth. I was amazed by my bounty and led Ben to my cabin so I could put my gifts away.

When everything was in its new proper spot, Ben and I sat on my shaded front porch and he caught me up with everything that had happened while he was in Le Cap. “I booked passage for ten on the
Swallow
. It be an English trader, bound for Portsmouth,” he said.

“Only ten?” I asked, a bit dismayed at the small number. There was at least twice that number in Vivienne's village.

He nodded. “I thought to give them money for setting up in England.”

“Oh, of course.” Why hadn't I thought of that? “Was she happy?”

“That be one way of saying what she felt. I'm to be thanking you, and she say you be welcome in their home, no matter where that be.”

“And what of the others? The ones who couldn't go? What will they do now that Vivienne's gone?”

Ben shrugged and turned his attention to the bay. “They stay put in Bwa Kayiman. It be safe there, for the time being.”

“As soon as I save up enough, will you go to them, too? Get them to England?”

“Of course.”

I hugged him fiercely, and we sat side by side in silence until Ben was called to help in the warehouse. I remained on my cabin's porch, watching the sun setting over Mexico and wondering how I could continue fulfilling my destiny. Perhaps when Sebastian and I went to America, I could work with larger groups of like-minded people, and free even more slaves.

XXXIV

Ambergris Caye, British Honduras

October, 1718

By the time the rainy season ended, my stomach was noticeably swollen. I had felt the tiny stirrings of the baby for the first time in mid-September. It had felt as though I had butterflies in my belly and I laid awake, talking to him, telling him all of my dreams and hopes for the future, what kind of man his father was, and all about Tansy and my own family. The next morning, when the baby again moved, Ben tried to feel it but couldn't. For now, it seemed, it was a secret that just the baby and I shared.

The
Jezebel
had returned just once before the end of the rainy season. They had taken a huge prize, a French merchant ship they'd captured just off the coast of Florida. She had been carrying indigo, cotton, tobacco, and sugar to the American colonies. The ship's captain had given up without a fight, and they'd taken the ship as well as the cargo. It was a lovely fluyt called
Sirène
.

“I knew I had to have her when I saw that name,” Sebastian explained to me as we laid in the hammock, a breeze blowing over our naked skin, the sound of the nightly thunderstorm loud just outside the cabin. “She'll be the first in the new merchant fleet.”

“New merchant fleet?” I asked. “When we go to America?”

“Yes. I think we should settle in Charles Town. We've never roved that far north, so we should be able to have some degree of anonymity. I think Sebastian and Loreley Grant will do well in the Carolina colonies.”

I smiled and cuddled closer. “Does this mean we're to be married?”

“As soon as we can find a priest,” he said, turning his head to lay a kiss against my temple. “I don't relish the thought of my son being a bastard.”

“Nor do I.”

He cupped my chin and tilted my head back to kiss me gently. My body responded to his touch and I carefully climbed atop him to straddle his hips. He smiled and placed his hands over my belly, stroking it gently. “I never thought I'd be a father,” he said. He looked up into my eyes. “Thank you.”

I chuckled softly and leaned forward to kiss him before lowering myself onto him. We'd discovered through trial and error that this was the most comfortable position for me to be in now when we coupled. He held my hands as I rode him, the storm outside mirroring the passion and fire inside.

He left the next morning, intent on visiting the Eleuthera colony in the Bahamas, the closest he felt comfortable getting to Nassau. He and the crew were taking the
Sirène
, with the intent to impersonate French merchants should they be caught by the British warships that were surely patrolling the waters surrounding New Providence. I had tried to talk him out of going, but he wanted to see what had changed since Rogers had arrived on the island.

A week or so after the
Sirène
left port, Rackham and the
Kingston
limped in. The ship looked as though it had been on the losing end of a fire fight. Her masts were shattered and her sails had gaping holes in them. The gunwales appeared to have been savaged by a hungry sea monster, and most of the crew who rowed ashore were wounded; many couldn't even move under their own power and were carried to Ferro's surgery by their fellows.

I stood at the end of the dock, watching as Featherstone and Rackham rowed ashore, anxious to hear any news they might have of the
Sirène
. Rackham's face fell when he saw me, and I felt a thrill of horror snake down my spine. When he hauled himself out of the jolly-boat onto the wooden dock, I rushed to him and grasped his coat's lapels. “What? What is it? Tell me, Jack. What's happened?”

“Captain MacIsaac's been taken, Mistress Jones,” he said, refusing to meet my eyes. “Rogers has him in Nassau. He's to be tried soon.”

Sounds—Rackham and Ben's voices, the water lapping at the timber of the dock, the birdsong and insects and screaming monkeys in the trees around us—suddenly became muted. All I could hear was the whooshing of the blood in my veins and the pounding of my heart. Ben cupped my elbow and it was as if a bubble had popped. All the sounds of the jungle around me came rushing back in and I turned to look up into Ben's face. He looked stricken, scared to his bones. “Loreley?” he asked, his eyes wide, showing the whites like a spooked horse. “You be alright, girl?”

I pushed away from him and rounded on Rackham, who stood awkwardly in front of me, no doubt wishing he could be anywhere but standing there telling me of Sebastian's capture. “Where is he?” I demanded, proud that my voice didn't shake and that I didn't sound like an hysterical woman, screeching at him like enraged fishmonger's wife. “Where, Jack? In the fort in Nassau?”

“Aye, ma'am,” he said and cast a desperate look at Ben. I turned away and strode down the dock, my boot heels ringing like a hammer on the boards. Ben followed in my wake, trying to talk to me, trying to touch me and calm me down.

“Ben, round up all the other captains and tell them to meet me in the warehouse. Then find us a ship. We're leaving.” Ben stared at me, not moving from my side, and I shouted, “Now! Do it now!” and stomped off in the direction of my cabin to gather together whatever I could find that would help free Sebastian.

Half an hour later, Rackham, Featherstone, Ben, and the three other captains and their quartermasters were gathered in the warehouse. I had carefully packed my most expensive clothing into a haversack, which was slung over my shoulder, and added all the money Sebastian and I had collected together, as well as a Bible and my pistols. My saber hung at my waist and when Ben saw it, his eyes grew wide and he started shaking his head back and forth. No doubt he could guess what the next words out of my mouth were going to be.

“Captain Rackham has just informed me that Governor Rogers has captured the
Sirène
and taken her crew prisoner,” I said, standing at the head of the table and staring down its length. “Between the four of you, plus myself, Ben, and the loggers, we have five ships with full crews. Captain Rackham, how many ships currently guard New Providence?”

“Three, Mistress Jones,” he responded. “But they all carry at least twenty guns apiece and are manned by—”

“And are Captain Vane and his crew back from the Carolinas? Are there others anchored at Hog Island again?” I interrupted.

“Yes, Mistress, but—”

“Then we have at least ten ships with full crews. We can storm the beach, rush the fort and—”

“Mistress Jones!” Rackham's voice was strident as he broke through my words. “There are at least two full regiments of His Majesty's Marines guarding the fort, the bay, and the village. They are armed with muskets. The cannon on the fort's walls have been replaced. There is also a regiment of grenadiers in the fort. And of course, there are the pirate hunters to contend with. They surely expect an assault and will doubtlessly be waiting for us. To go after Captain MacIsaac is impossible and foolhardy.” His face and his voice softened. “Perhaps a bribe?”

I stared hard at Rackham, imagining my hands around his throat or drawing my pistol  and shooting him between the eyes. I hated him for simply speaking what I knew in my head to be the truth. “I never thought you to be a coward, Jack,” I said through clenched teeth.

He stood, drawing himself to his full height, and squared his shoulders. “It is not cowardice to know not to engage in a losing battle, Loreley. You would have us risk all the ships in this haven, not to mention all the men, just to rescue one. Sebastian wouldn't want that. He wouldn't allow it.”

I growled and some small part of me was alarmed at the sound. The alarm was mirrored on the faces of the men around the table and I was glad of it. I pointed at Olivier Levasseur, nicknamed
La Buse
—the Hawk—due to his ship's incredible speed. “I want your
Victory
. You can have the
Jezebel
in her stead.”

The Frenchman's brows rose and he nodded curtly. “
Oui
, Mademoiselle Jones. This is acceptable. My crew is at your command as well. Take as many men as you need.”

“Thank you, sir.” I turned to Ben. “You don't have to come,” I told him. “You can stay here where it's safe and I won't think any less of you.”

He snorted and rose from his seat, hefting his own haversack onto the table in front of him. “As if I let you be out there alone,” he said with a half-smile. “Sebastian, he be putting me here to protect you. Manman Ezili, she tell me to protect you. What kind of man I be if I be ignoring them? I go where you go, Loreley.”

Tears filled my eyes and I dashed them away. I turned and left the warehouse without a backward glance or a parting comment. I doubted I would ever see the caye again. I went to my cabin and packed a footlocker with all our books, as well as the rest of my clothing, and whatever things Sebastian had left behind. Ben arrived at the cabin and together, we carried the footlocker onto the
Victory
, a sloop manned by some thirty men. All of them were present and readying the ship and I felt a vice encircle my heart. These men believed in me, believed that I stood a chance of rescuing Sebastian, and I was touched by their faith and by their willingness to assist me. La Buse helped us aboard, and then saw Ben and I installed in his cabin. We were under way just an hour later.