The Ruthless Redhead's Revenge (4 page)

“Thank you, but why?”

“
Whether it is poor quality
or good, steel will still kill. So I generate some goodwill by being
nice to my captor. Even telling you that I did so, you'll still feel
at least a touch of gratitude for it. Don't you
think?”

“I think you're a witch, woman.
I've heard that redheads have powers.”

“Only those of us who use our
brains. Now shouldn't you be escorting me to the deck as your captain
commanded?”

“Damn it woman, your very
presence distracts me.”

“Why thank you sir. What a
delightful compliment.”

“That wasn't what I meant, and
you know it.”

Roberta just smiled at him as he led
her out of the room.

Roberta stood on the deck in the center
of a circle of leering pirates. Annabelle was now in a heap on the
deck but at least she had stopped her incessant crying. Roberta
looked around herself. If she wanted to, she could probably make it
to the railing of the ship and jump off. Death held no attraction for
her though. She had the beginnings of a plan that could possibly get
her through this ordeal in a shamed, but living, fashion.

If she could manage to get the pirates,
or more to her preference a single pirate, to rape her, then Master
Gutren would no longer want her for a wife. It would have to be an
officer though. She was sure that if the crew got their hands on her
she'd be taken by all of them before they were done. That left her
options as the captain, the man she had encountered after Jonesy and
Smythe, and two others that were shown deference by the crew but that
she had no clue as to their respective positions on the ship.
Meanwhile, the captain was talking to her.

“So wench, what happened to my
men outside your cabin. I'm sure that you have an idea what went on.”

Roberta put a quaver in her voice as
though she were even more scared than she actually was:

“There was a fight out there and
our door burst open. A man from this ship was fighting with one of
your men. Your man had his throat cut and the blood sprayed
everywhere. I pushed the door closed and leaned against it since I
didn't want any part of what was going on.

I heard another man call out and then
there was more fighting. I stopped leaning against the door when the
tip of a sword came through it and almost spitted me. The door swung
open again after that and I saw your other man killed as he was
trying to get into our cabin.

The man from this ship took off down
the hall after that. I don't know where he went after he left the
hall. I tried to bring my companion out of shock since she became
hysterical when she was sprayed with blood. The next thing I knew I
heard more voices in the hallway and then the door burst open again
and all of you were standing there.”

The captain turned to several of his
crew:

“Go check the holds and the
bilge. Maybe we can find this man still, or maybe he got off the
ship. If he did get off the ship then the sharks have probably
already eaten him. If you do find him, run him through and feed his
body to the sharks.”

The pirates so ordered split up, two
dropping into the hold through the hatch, the other two heading down
towards the cabins. The captain ordered the rest to start
transferring cargo over to their own ship in preparation for
scuttling this one.

The captain led Roberta across a plank
between the ships. Annabelle was carried over by several crew
members. Roberta could see that they were taking liberties in the
placement of their hands but wasn't in a position to say anything
about it.

When they arrived on the pirate ship,
the captain led Roberta to his cabin while the crew members took
Annabelle below decks to the crew quarters. When the captain led her
into the cabin, Roberta was sure that her plan was shaping up as she
had hoped.

“Alright wench, what's your name.
You look like you're from a well-to-do family.”

“My name is Roberta, but you're
wrong about my family. My father's broke, he tried to marry me off
for a bride price to save the family fortunes. Not that the amount he
negotiated for would hold him and my older brothers for more than a
year or two.”

“None of that lady, I don't need
your history. Just tell me your family's name so we can send a ransom
demand. If you do that we'll hold you unharmed until we get the money
and then you can be on your way.”

Roberta saw her plans crumbling before
her eyes.
How hard can it be to seduce a man anyhow?
she
thought. She thrust her chest out, she wasn't overly endowed but
her chest was noticeable.

“I told you, my family can't send
a ransom. Isn't there something else you'd rather do with me?”

“Wench, give me the information.
That's all I want out of you.”

“For the love of God! I can't do
this to save my life. Would you just rape me already?” Roberta
blurted out in desperation when she couldn't think of anything else
that might entice the captain.

“Sorry wench, you're not my type.
Now give me your family name or things will go hard for you.”

“Not your type?” Roberta's
voice grew shrill, “I thought you pirates raped anything with
breasts?”

“Maybe some of the others do and
I'll occasionally take myself a nice effeminate boy, but you?”

The captain's look of scorn withered
Roberta.

“My family name is Cantas.”

“Wait, you mean that bastard
that's been stiffing all his creditors?”

“I told you my family was broke.
Somehow I'm not surprised that even pirates have heard of my father's
disgrace.”

“What kind of bride price was he
getting for you?”

“Five thousand, in gold escudos.”

“Aha, maybe we can still work
things out. Who was he selling you to?”

“Master Gutren”

Roberta spat the name as though it
pained her mouth to shape the name. She was getting angry again now
though instead of feeling intimidated by the captain. He seemed to
have classified her as a non-threat, which angered her even more.

“Good, we'll just complete the
delivery then and collect the gold for ourselves.”

“Well, if that's the case, you
might want to rescue the escort that he sent with me. He might be a
bit put out were she dead or raped into catatonia.”

“Damn it to hell! The men will be
angry with me but you're right. Hopefully they haven't gotten too far
along yet. Stephan, go down and tell the men they don't get a wench
for a plaything but that we'll be getting plenty of gold instead.
Probably only a few days until we can get it and then we'll take some
leave and they can have as many wenches as they can buy.”

A boy, who had crouched unnoticed in
the corner of the cabin, rose to his feet at the captain's command
and rushed out of the room. The captain's eyes lingered on his back
side as he left and Roberta knew that he had only spoken the truth
earlier on. He'd have no interest in her.

“So wench, where exactly were you
to meet Master Gutren?”

“You'll have to ask my escort, if
she isn't too far gone. I wasn't given that information.”
Roberta's disgust with the entire situation was evident in her voice.

“You need to learn to show some
respect to your betters wench.”

“I'll be sure to put in some
practice once I find some.”

“That's done it wench! This trip
will not be pleasant for you.”

The captain advanced on her and drew
his arm back to backhand her across the face.

“I'm sure Master Gutren won't
mind a few bruises if your maidenhead is still intact.” spat
the captain.

The captain swung a hard backhand at
her. Roberta took it on her cheek but gave with the blow to reduce
the impact. She allowed it to spin her to the left which was the side
her dagger was still on. The pirates had not bothered to search her
for weapons, the captain probably assuming that someone else had. In
any case, the dagger was still buried in the folds of her voluminous
skirts until she grasped it pulled it free of the sheathe. She spun
back to face front, taking a stagger step to close the distance
between her and the captain. She could see in his eyes that he knew
what was happening in his last second on earth. He managed to stagger
back a short distance, but her step forward kept her in range. The
dagger sliced across his throat as easily as it had those of his
crew, silencing the yell he had begun to make. It emerged as a
quickly cut off grunt and could have easily been mistaken for many
other noises a man might make.

She stepped backwards as the captain
reached out to grab her. He overbalanced and fell, the red blood
pouring out of his throat and over the floor. He stirred once, but
didn't even manage to roll over.

Roberta staggered over to the bed and
sat on it. She hadn't expected to have to kill another man. This one
hadn't even been threatening her life, simply her freedom. That and
the abuse was enough for him to have been killed, but she still felt
slightly queasy about it. The door to the room opened and the cabin
boy slipped back in. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the body
on the floor. Then his gaze shifted to Roberta and the yell building
in his throat was silenced at the sight of the bloody dagger in her
hand and the index finger of her other hand over her lips in the
universal sign for silence.

“Boy, go and get whoever is
second in command to the captain and bring him here. Not a word about
what you saw though, understand?”

The boy nodded and slipped back out
through the door. Roberta simply sat on the bed, dejected. She was
sure that she would be killed out of hand now. She gathered her wits
about her and tried to decide on a course of action. It was difficult
with the second guessing she had running through her mind.

Maybe I should have just let him turn me over to Master Gutren
but I might not have been able to get away from there. But Annabelle
would've been spared. Maybe the new captain will want to follow that
course of action, assuming he isn't a boy lover again anyhow. Wait...
That's it.

She worked through a rough plan that
she could present to the new captain and in the midst of thinking it
through, the door opened again. The boy slipped into the room:

“Sir, the quartermaster as you
requested.”

It took Roberta a moment to realize
that he had been talking to her due to the 'sir' but the boy was
looking at her when he spoke so he must have been referring to her.

The door opened slightly wider to admit
a man, his back was to her as he spoke to someone in the corridor but
as he turned, she recognized the man. It was him, the man whose
cutlass she had returned.

“So, you've been trying to
deplete our manpower again it seems.” he said to her, glancing
up from the corpse of the captain.

“You. Why'd it have to be you?”

“You would've preferred Black
Bart or One-Legged Jack?”

“At least I wouldn't have had a
prior history with them.”

“What is so bad about our prior
history? We have a record of negotiation and holding to our
agreements.”

“Yes, we do. Next time I'll show
more care in my phrasing though.”

“I think you did quite well for
the situation. Both then and now.”

Another glance at the captain's corpse
showed precisely what he referenced.

“What, you didn't like your
captain?”

“I respected his skills. As a
man, I disliked him intensely. But when a man is an excellent
navigator and has a sense for the easy kills, it's hard to let a
little dislike get in the way of him doing an excellent job.”

The man moved over to the portholes and
threw them open. It was rather rank in the room, the corpse
contributing to the stench that had already existed.

“Now, why did you send the boy
for me? I'm guessing that you have something else you'd like to
negotiate.”

“I do indeed, give me a moment
though that I may better arrange my thoughts and construct some
precision in my phrasing.”

The man paced the cabin, back and forth
repeatedly, until she spoke again.

“It is my understanding that the
captaincy on a pirate ship is not a guaranteed succession, correct?”

“You are correct.”

“Do you actually desire to be the
captain?”

“I do, although with some
reservations. Suffice it to say that I am interested.”

“Good, it is also my
understanding that if you can provide a major amount of loot quickly,
then the crew is far more likely to leave you as captain, yes?”

“Once again, you are correct.”

“Then I have a proposition for
you. If I can tell you how to easily obtain five thousand in gold
escudos within the week, would that be sufficient for the crew?”

“That would probably keep them
loyal for at least half a year barring any other major plunder.”

“Then here is my plan. I'll tell
you first that I will place two conditions on it, which I will reveal
after I tell you the plan. I was to be sold into 'honorable
matrimony' for the sum of five thousand gold escudos. The man who was
paying my bride price is Master Gutren. I am sure that if you were to
deliver me to him then he would pay you the gold instead of my
father. My escort, Annabelle, knows the location and if the prior
captain managed to stop her rape before it got too far then she
should be able to reveal it to us. Do you like the outline of the
plan?”

“It sounds doable. Now what are
your conditions?”

“The first condition is that
Master Gutren is not to survive after paying the bride price. I want
him dead within twenty-four hours of when you receive the gold.”

“Easy enough to arrange that.”

“The second is that you must rape
me today. I don't want to spend another day eligible to be sold into
'honorable matrimony'”