Raven Quest (2 page)

Rory smiled as Olive went back to the brothel. How many times had she heard “Someday you shall understand …?” She did not want to understand. She wanted to get away from Port Royal. She would have a pretty cottage, a garden, and a chair to sit on while she admired it all.

She sighed. No time to dwell on the future now. The brass needed to be polished and the glasses stacked. Looking toward the door, she hoped Captain Lawler would not come back. She patted her hip where her blade waited. She did not need to have an interesting night.

When Nathan Lawler returned to Yellow Hal's place, its dusky shadows had been pushed aside by candles in lamps hanging from the rafters. Loud men filled the chairs. Two women plied their trade with an air of boredom.

Without speaking to anyone, he sat at the table farthest from the door. Rory was nowhere in sight.

A black-eyed wench swayed to his table, balancing a tray on her hip. She cooed, “What do you want, sir?”

He considered giving her the obvious answer. Her frock revealed the curve of her full breasts. The ribbons along the bodice were loose in a blatant invitation. Too bad business had to come first tonight. It had been too long since … He silenced his groan.

“Just a rum,” he said with a sigh.

“Just rum?” Her French accent caressed his ears.

“For now.”

She took a tankard from the tray. Putting it in front of him, she smiled.

He grasped the loosened strings in her bodice to bring her closer. “Where is Rory tonight?”

“What do you want Rory for?”

“Get Rory. Be quick, there is a coin in it for you.”

She held out her hand. When he dropped a coin on her palm, she said, “I will see where Rory is.”

Nathan took a long drink and smiled. No half-grown lad was going to keep him from getting the information he needed.

“You wanted me, sir?”

Startled, Nathan turned. Rory's blue eyes widened, and the lad reached for his hip.

Nathan grasped the boy's wrist and squeezed. Rory cursed, and the knife dropped to the table. He pushed the boy into a chair beside him. “You and I have some talking to do, Rory, my friend.”

The lad's face showed no fear as he ordered, “Let me go!”

“I need answers.”

“I have answered every question you have asked,” Rory replied in a strained voice.

“I want to talk to Yellow Hal.”

“So would half the King's Navy, Captain Lawler.”

“When do you expect him back?”

“Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next year. Maybe never.”

“I need information. I am willing to pay for it.” He released the boy and tossed a coin on the table. It glinted gold as it rolled to a stop in front of Rory.

“Let me give
you
some advice, Captain Lawler,” said Rory, sliding the coin across the table to him. “Stop flashing your money about. For a piece of it, these louts would cut your head from your shoulders.”

Nathan picked up his tankard. “Thanks for the warning.” He took a deep drink as the lad snatched his knife from the table. Leaving the coin between them, he noted how the lad's gaze slipped to it again and again. “You still owe me something for the gold I gave you.”

“Are you always so gullible?”

He ignored the insult and the lad's grin. “I need to talk to someone who knows about the ships of Port Royal for the past twenty-five years.”

“The Blindman would know.”

He took another sip. “Who is the Blindman?”

“He lives on the beach beyond Port Royal.” With a grin, Rory folded her arms on the table. “Legend has it that he was a captain until he was blinded in some battle. Everything that happens reaches his ears.”

“And?” prompted Nathan. The lad was telling him enough to whet his curiosity.

“And he is my friend.”

“How much?”

“I shall see if the Blindman will talk to you. If he will, then we can negotiate, Captain.”

Nathan laughed. “You are too bright to be wasted here. How would you like to join us aboard the
Vengeance?
”

The youngster rose. “When I leave Port Royal, it shall be in the finest style.” His grin widened. “With the help of the gold this is going to cost you. Come back in two or three days, and I might have an answer for you.”

Nathan seized the youngster's arm again and stood. “I shall be back the day after tomorrow. Have an answer then.”

Rage darkened the youngster's eyes. “I will not make any promises.”

“I can. If you do not convince your Blindman to see me, you will be sorry.” He picked up the gold coin and pocketed it. “I shall see you in two days.”

Rory clenched her fists. When Captain Lawler reached the door, he held up two fingers and smiled.

She rushed back to the bar. Curse Caroline! Rory had described Captain Lawler to both Olive and Caroline, asking them to warn her if he came in. A shudder ached across her shoulders. What was she going to do now? Captain Lawler, like all the other pirates who came in here, would not hesitate to hurt anyone who stood in his way. The one doing that now was Rory Mullins.

Olive slid her empty tray across the counter. “Was that your Captain Lawler I saw you talking with?”

“Not
my
Captain Lawler. Let the devil and the deep blue sea have him.”

She put her hand on Rory's arm. “Are you all right?”

Rory forced a smile. “I will be.”

“What did he say to you?”

“'Tis nothing I cannot handle.”

“You look exhausted. Why don't you go to bed? Caroline and I can close up tonight.”

“Not Caroline! She will steal every coin in the box.”

“I will watch her.” Olive smiled sadly. “Rest. You have closed this place every night for the past two weeks.”

Rory nodded and climbed the stairs. Aunt Ruth had refused to let the prostitutes come up here. Rory did not share that hypocrisy, but she was glad tonight to have a place where she could be alone.

She closed her door and tossed her hat on the iron bed. Easing off the bandanna, she shook out her blond hair and let it fall to her waist. She unbuttoned her long shirt and drew it off to reveal the quilted cotton bound across her breasts. She pulled it off, shaking out her chemise. With a smile, she scratched her ribs.

Sitting at the rickety table next to the bed, she lifted a gold chain over her head. She ignored the broken locket and reached for the goatskin bag tied on it. Loosening the strings, she up-ended it. A dozen coins toppled out. This would help her buy her dreams. Into the bag, she dropped those coins along with the one Captain Lawler had given her earlier. That had been the easiest money she had ever earned.

She yelped when the sharp edge of the locket scratched her finger. This broken locket was the only thing she had inherited from her mother. Scavengers had stolen everything else.

“Never lose this,” Cicily, who had been the midwife at Rory's birth, had said when she gave the locket to Rory just before she died. “Your mother wanted you to have this.”

Rory dropped the locket between her breasts. Her mother might have lived if she had not been ashamed to give birth to a pirate's whelp. Such a good woman should not have been a pirate's mistress. Rory had heard that over and over.

“She did not have a choice,” Rory argued aloud with her own taunting memories. “He owned her indenture.”

Her fingers trembled when Captain Lawler burst into her mind. Another pirate! Just like all the others.
No, he was not.
She tried to silence the thought. Just because his face remained in her mind was no reason to be stupid.

What was he looking for? He wanted information about some ship that had sailed 25 years ago. Let him look! The sea kept her secrets better than Rory Mullins.

But tomorrow, she would ask the Blindman to talk with Captain Lawler. One thing she had learned today—Nathan Lawler was not a man to double-cross.

Two

Rory balanced on a table as she strained to change the candles in the overhead lanterns. She had to get it done before any customers came in. If she stood silhouetted against the light, someone might see she was not a boy.

“Having fun?”

She gasped and looked down at Captain Lawler. “What are you doing here?”

He held up two fingers. “I said I would be back in two days.” Putting one foot on the bench, he rested his elbow on his knee. “Here I am, Rory.”

Her heart pounded against her chest. She had never seen eyes so dark and mysterious. Nothing would stop him from getting what he wanted. She must not forget that.

He held his hands up. “Let me help you down, lad.”

She scrambled down to the floor. She could not let him touch her. “I prefer doing things myself. I know the danger of letting anyone too close in this town.”

“And what might that be?”

With a laugh, she snatched the knife from his belt. She rocked the blade in front of him. “You give your enemies a chance to put an end to you.” Flipping the blade so it stuck in the table, she asked, “Do you want something to drink?”

He nodded and plucked his knife from the table. “I'll remember this, Rory.”

“It probably will be the most important lesson you can learn here.” Going behind the counter, she poured a tankard of beer. She placed the mug on the table, then sat across from him. With the ease of habit, she put her elbows on the table to block her body from view.

“Have you spoken with the Blindman?” he asked as he blew foam off the beer.

“The Blindman will talk if you will meet our price.”

“
Our
price?”

“I told you the Blindman is my friend.”

“A good friend, indeed, to share with you when 'tis his knowledge alone that I seek. What is
your
price?”

Rory named an absurd figure. She watched, holding her breath, as he drank. He should have snarled back another figure, much lower, instead of smiling.

When he put his tankard on the table, he leaned forward. “You seem to think my pockets are lined with gold. I'm not a wealthy man.” His smile broadened. “Not yet. With your cooperation and the Blindman's information to take me where I must go, I may soon be.”

By the devil's breath, he had to be chasing after some sunken treasure. There was no other reason he would be interested in ships that had sailed out of Port Royal a quarter of a century ago. Anything that had been salvageable vanished before the fish picked the crew's bones clean. And after 25 years … It was impossible!

He continued, “I shall pay you what you ask, on one condition.”

“Condition?”

“We need a cabin boy. Come with us. You will be given a full share of our profits on this voyage.” He extended his hand. “Shake on it, Rory, and the gold you want now and more will be yours. Why stay here?”

She laughed and stood. “No thank you, Captain Lawler.” She pretended not to see his outstretched hand. The idea of touching his weatherworn skin unsettled her.

“Then you will not get the money.” He slammed the mug on the table. Beer splashed out.

“And you will not see the Blindman. My price is firm. When you decide you are willing to pay it, come back.”

He rounded the table in one smooth motion. “This is not over.”

“It is.” She pulled her knife.

“Put that away. I thought we were going to discuss this man to man.”

“You know my terms.”

He glowered at her, then a slow smile tilted his lips. She tried to ignore the pulse of something peculiar surging through her, as he folded his arms across his broad chest.

“I could show you that your little knife would not stop me, but I do not have time to play games with you.”

“Nor I with you. Will you pay me or no?”

“I agree to your terms minus the coin I already gave you.”

She returned her knife under her shirt, not daring to lower her eyes. “Be here tonight at eleven. Bring the gold with you. Once I have it, I shall take you to the Blindman.”

“Don't you trust me?”

She laughed. “Of course not. I don't trust anyone.”

He watched as she wiped up the beer, then said, “Answer me one thing honestly, Rory.”

“Why?” She wanted this conversation over and him gone. She feared he would overhear her heart beat more swiftly when his gaze held hers.

“You owe me that much for my gold. You hate it here, but you will not come with us. Why?”

Rory picked up the mug. “That is none of your business.”

He grasped her arm. “What are you trying to hide?”

She flung the beer at him. It struck his face. As he sputtered, she cried, “Don't touch me! Not ever again, or you shall never speak with the Blindman.”

With a curse, he rubbed his eyes. He strode toward the door, then snarled, “Be here tonight waiting for me, or I shall hunt you down and make you wish you had.”

Captain Lawler entered Yellow Hal's place exactly as the watch was calling the hour. “I am here. Let's get this over with.”

Rory was tempted to tell him that she had changed her mind, that the Blindman had changed his mind, anything to keep from going with him. Throwing her cloth on the counter, she whispered, “This way.”

“Rory?” Olive looked anxiously from Rory to Captain Lawler. “Where are you going?”

Captain Lawler said, “The boy will be back as soon as he directs me where I wish to go.”

“I shall be fine.” Rory patted Olive on the arm. “Keep an eye on things until I get back, please.”

“Please?” Captain Lawler chuckled mirthlessly. “A word I had no idea you knew, boy.”

Rory paid no attention to his insult as she struggled to ignore how he stood too close to her. Taking a shallow breath, she kept from brushing against him when he held the door open.

The twisting street was crowded. Rory reached for her knife as a man reeled into them. Captain Lawler's hand clamped on her wrist. When the man fell drunkenly into the mud, Captain Lawler motioned for her to continue along the street.