Justified Treason (Endless Horizon Pirate Stories, Book 1) (31 page)

No matter what waft of peril this uncertain fate bestows upon us, I will muster the nerve to continue in fight. I can see Faron swinging that oar at the armed men that surrounded him, and I can hear Sterling telling me to fight with my mind. The Wind of Glory now rolls near the dock at the harbor and I will sit up straight and proud. There is no shame in what I have done and I am ready to face the uncertain future. There is no fear in love and perfect love casteth out all fear. This fight is not over.

                                                                                   
Charlie Bentley

                                                                              
The Sea Artist’s Amour

X

Awaking to the feel of a rugged shove at my shoulders, I was startled by the sound of an unfamiliar voice. “How dare you treat a woman of her regard in such a way.”

I tried to open my eyes but the sun was so bright. Where was I? Why did my body ache in such an awful way?

“Wake up, my darling.” I did know the voice. Forcing my seemingly sand-filled eyes to open, I took in the sight of the man untying me. I gasped my hoarse inquiry. “Governor Morgan?”

“Yes, dear, it’s me. Let me get you out of this awful rope.” He laid his hand on my sunburned cheek and the touch caused me to flinch. “Good heavens,
Charlotte, what on earth has happened to you?”

I hadn’t heard the name
Charlotte in so long I had almost forgotten who she was. “So much has happened. It was all so awful.”

Helping me to stand up he comforted, “Well, it is now over and you are home. Your father is on his way.”

“My father?” Oh, my heart lit up with a twisted mix of relief and shame.

It was terribly painful for me to stand up, and while grabbing on to the governor’s arm to keep steady, I saw Doctor Reedy and Paul Redding whispering to each other. Willard Smith was also talking with them, and he began walking in our direction. The governor greeted him as Captain Smith, and with Oliver Langston nowhere in sight, I wondered what in the world was going on.

Willard cleared his throat.
“I beg your pardon, Governor, but this woman is guilty of treason and…”

The governor lowered his head and held his hand out signaling
him to stop. “I will let her father deal with her. Her fiancé is a respected attorney. I am sure we will be able to work this out.”

That hell-hearted Paul
Redding jabbed, “Fiancé? This nasty woman let that filthy navigator have at her through the bars.”

I
was too exhausted to argue with him, so I tucked my battered face into Governor Morgan’s shoulder and whispered the part of a terrified victim. “I did nothing of the sort. What a terribly embarrassing lie. Paul is the one that beat on me, and I don’t know why he hates me so.” I decided not to report the attempted rape, figuring it better if my father never found out the depth of danger I’d led myself into.

Governor Morgan
looked at Paul’s battered face with disgust. “This is the last word on the matter for the time being.” Then he continued to explain his plans to Willard. “Deliver me her belongings. I will return the girl to her father and meet with you men after I have her situated. There is plenty we will need to discuss before the dinner party I’ll be honoring you with at sunset.”

Terribly confused as to how Willard regained his power, I simply thanked the governor for letting me go home.

As we made our way down the gangway, I held my head up high. I knew I made for quite the spectacle, and if anyone passing by knew who I was they would whisper and gossip about my dreadful appearance for years to come.

With my sea legs still wobbling beneath me, I saw my
father and Lawrence running through the crowd. I had not known how much I missed my father until I saw the fearful love on his aged face. He wrapped his loving arms around me and held me so tight; I think he was crying. The guards cleared the area around us so that we could head home, but I just stayed there in my father’s arms, suddenly crying like a baby.

While choking on the flood of tears welling in my throat, I
tumbled through a whirlpool of all the emotions I experienced on my journey. A tidal wave of memories washed across my senses and left me trembling in the wake. All the terror I endured strummed my nerves, all the love I experienced fluttered in my heart. Passion and pain, guilt and pride, excitement and fear. Shuddering on the shore of contradicting feelings, I let my sobbing express my anguish like the secret message in my song. Though I had returned home feeling savvy and tough, crying in my father’s arms reminded me that no matter what, I would always be his little girl.

The carriage ride home was quiet.
Father insisted I relax and told me we would worry about the details concerning my runaway later. While holding me under his arm, he thanked the Lord I was home, and Lawrence looked to be praying as well. I attempted to smile sweetly at the man who wished to marry me, but his dark eyes were so full of pain, I could hardly stand the heartbreak. Turning to face the horizon, I hoped to escape another round of tears, and the view of the endless horizon seemed to soothe my soul just fine.

While admiring the horizon, my gaze snapped back to the
Wind of Glory,
where I saw the guards unloading the prisoners. The daunting visual snapped me out of my moment of peace, and without thinking twice, I unloaded my spyglass to scout out the scene.

The moment my lens focused, I saw Pete’s
Plunder band breaking free down the dock. Knowing they had been taken by force, I considered the emotions they must be facing. I was awestruck by the adventure, and I chose to endure it, but those blimey blokes were dragged through the chaos outside of their will, and I laughed as I imagined the wild stories they would forever be able to tell.

My
humor quickly subsided when I looked back at the prisoners lined up on the deck. Captain Flynn, Marin the Marooner, Pete, Shark, and Doctor Harvey appeared to be roped together with their hands cuffed. I was devastated by the sight. There was someone else in line behind them… It was Oliver Langston! Lunging out of my seat, I hollered, “Those filthy rotten bilge rats.”

“Good heavens, child,
” my father gasped.

Paying
no mind to his concern, I kept a steady eye on the prisoners. Oliver held his head in shame and walked with a sullen posture while the others cursed and snarled at the crew that imprisoned them. What in God’s name had happened while I was asleep? How would Sterling be treated under Willard’s reign? I had so many questions racing through my mind, and while wondering if I would ever get the answers to them, I saw Captain Flynn spit in Paul Redding’s face. Flattered by Faron’s unruly gesture, I growled, “Aye. Get that dirty dog.”

A guard yanked Faron back in line at the same time my father
snatched the spyglass out of my hand. “Calm yourself, Charlotte. You will not be acting like a man of the sea now that you are home.”

L
owering my head, I pouted to myself. The rigid rules of being a blimey proper lady were already taking force.

As the carriage moved along,
I looked out the window to take in the beauty of my home island. The landscape was so green and luscious, flourishing with flowers and fruit. While enjoying the pleasant sound of the horses’ hooves trotting along the path, the peace of the moment almost rocked me to sleep.

Drawing
past Eden’s Edge, the dreamy haze of my tired mind was washed out by a flood of guilt. A glimpse of the mansion peeked through the flourishing trees and I clearly remembered the beautiful life Lawrence had generously offered me. I felt quite shitten for abandoning him as I had, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit foolish for returning home in the condition I was in. I felt the need to curl up in a corner and hide.

The carriage moved along the road and soon
we were passing Paul and Maureen Patterson’s home. I saw my friend Maureen on the porch playing with her children, and the pleasant sight warmed my heart.

The beauty of the
moment was brashly interrupted when I remembered the way Dedrick Morley had brutalized her. Now knowing how awful it was to be attacked by a man, I could further relate to her anguish, and the warmth that had filled my heart quickly frosted over in an icy glaze of fear. The chilling rush of terror deepened as I recalled the way Dedrick Morley died after I shot him.

He
was a terrible man, and one might think that he deserved to die, yet I could hardly believe I was the one who ended his life. With my mind wafting over the daunting visuals of the two men I killed, my stomach churned to the point of sickness. Knowing I would be facing the torment for all my life to come, I resisted the urge to vomit. I couldn’t be throwing up my remorse all the time. I had to learn to accept the actions I’d taken and cope.

Putting my small dirty hands together for a prayer, I noticed all the bruises and cuts they were now adorned with. While hoping the scars would last, I prayed that God would forgive me for what I had done.

As the carriage neared the property of The Royal Poinciana, I was greeted by the beautiful blooming orange flowers on the Poinciana trees. I was truly blessed to call such a beautiful place home. Yet, the wrought iron bars of the entrance reminded me of the wretched jail cell Sterling was locked away in, and when the swirling gates opened, I felt as if I was being locked away myself. Now that my spirit had tasted the wild freedom of the wind, and my soul had inhaled the freedom of the sea, the thought of being contained in heavy dresses and limited by proper etiquette seemed like an unbearable punishment. I was no longer a proper lady; I was a sailor, a quartermaster, and above all else, I was a pirate.

It crossed my mind
to fit and thrash my way off the property and run back to the harbor to commandeer the
Wind of Glory
, but there was no use in tormenting myself with such ridiculous fantasies. Just like the man I loved, I was a prisoner, and I settled into a slump of sorrow to resist my piratical urges.

Lawrence
reached to help me out of the carriage, and while he led me to the house, I thought about how odd it was to be so courteously assisted. Walking through the large double doors, I leaped over to hug Benson, the doorman. Though he seemed pleased by my outburst of love, he attempted to remain in his proper poise by merely hugging me back lightly. Father shook his head with irritation and led me in to the parlor.

Hester was on the lounge reading a book, and
when she looked up to see me, a brazen degree of shock lit her placid face. She was pretty as ever, yet I couldn’t help but notice the dark rings under her eyes. Dashing over to hug me, she squeezed me with a might I never would have expected while blubbering through her tumbling tears. “Oh, thank God you are home. I haven’t slept a wink since you left. I cannot believe you troubled us so, but you are home and that’s what matters.”

Finally backing away from me she ran her hands through my shortened hair and huffed, “What in the world have you done to your beautiful hair?” Without waiting for my response she put her soft hand on my battered face. “Now is this the life that you dreamt of, my dear?”

I
thought of the raging brawl I endured with Paul Redding, and though I agreed the scene was terrifying, I had already promised myself I wouldn’t mope over it. In fact, I suddenly found a great deal of humor in the way the prisoners cheered as I pistol whipped Paul across the face. Containing my delirious bout of humor, I merely responded to Hester with a sorrowful nod.

Hester called for Mary to give me a much needed bath, and when
she entered the room, I ran over to hug my very best friend. I had thought of her so much along my journey it felt as if she’d been there with me, and I couldn’t wait to tell her about all the things I experienced while I was away.

Following Mary up the stairs, I left
Lawrence sitting with his face in his hands and Hester crying in my father’s arms. While father ran his hands through his wife’s long red hair I heard him exhale, “Whatever shall we do with this child?”

I insisted upon helping Mary fill the bath.
“You are my truest friend in the world, Mary. I cannot allow you to fuss over my care like a servant.”

M
ary chuckled and shook her head. “I have been caring for those who I love all my life, Charlotte. I don’t know what else I would do with myself if you didn’t want my help. At least let me wash your hair. I find the chore rather relaxing.” 

Sinking into the warm water, it felt as if I had landed in the pillowy clouds inside of heaven’s own pearly gates.
As Mary washed my hair, I told her all the gruesome and passionate details of my seafaring adventure. While gawking over the action and the romance of the tale she sighed, “Oh, Charlotte, it is as if I am reading a novel.”

I was sure
to accentuate the details concerning Captain Faron Flynn, and once I let her know I told him about
her love for him, Mary playfully slapped my arm. “Oh, you sassy wench, you. How dare you spill my secret.” Her gray-blue eyes gleamed a brighter shade of blue when she pressed, “Well, what did he say?”