The Affectionate Adversary Read Free Page B

speak of grief. The entry port on the starboard gangway was opened to windward.
    The crew, under immediate command of the boatswain, gathered to witness the rite. Sarah stood to the side with her fellow passengers as the petty officer cried out, “Ship’s company … off hats!”
    Determined that the dead must all lie at the bottom of the sea before the blistering equatorial sun rose the following morning, the captain stepped forward and spoke quickly. “‘Dear God, we commit these bodies to the deep,’” he read from his book of prayers, “‘to be turned into corruption, looking for the resurrection of the body, when the sea shall give up her dead, and the life of the world to come, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who at His coming shall change our vile body, that it may be like His glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby He is able to subdue all things to himself. Amen.’”
    He then motioned the ladies to gather up the shrouds and follow him. By now, Sarah retained no distinction as a baroness. Grateful to be regarded as an equal by the other passengers, she took an armful of canvas and joined the women at their labors.
    Recruited to record information that might assist in contacting the families of the deceased, the boatswain accompanied the captain as he began his walk down the row.
    “No identification papers,” the captain stated. “Red hair. Scar on left cheek. No jewelry or personal effects. Death by injury to the head. Lord, have mercy upon the soul of this poor man; amen. Ladies, the corpse may be shrouded. Gentlemen, assign the earthly remains to the benevolent arms of the sea.”
    Her gown wet with seawater and blood, Sarah bit her lower lip in a futile effort to hold back tears as two women knelt to hastily stitch the canvas into place. In all her travels, she had never witnessed a sight so gruesome, so sad, so utterly grim as this.
    The pirates’ actions astounded her. Such inhumanity! Such wickedness! Such barbarity! And why? All for the ill-gotten gain of riches.
    The Lord’s message to her was again made clear, Sarah realized as she followed the captain down the row. She must do all in her power to rid herself of the evil of material wealth. Not only must she become as poor, humble, and reliant upon God as the birds of the sky and the flowers of the field, but she must teach others to do the same. Christ had stressed this truth again and again, yet few were those who heeded His teachings.
    “Black hair. Beard. No teeth.” The captain spoke in a low rumble. “Tattoo of an anchor on the right forearm. No personal effects. Death by … I am uncertain of the cause. Lord, have mercy upon the soul of this poor man; amen. Ladies, the corpse may be shrouded. Gentlemen, assign his earthly remains to the benevolent arms of the sea.”
    As the sailors tipped a table set up at the entry port on the starboard gangway, each body slid into the sea. One. Two. Three. Four.
    “Brown hair,” the captain said. “No scars. No tattoos.”
    “There’s a neck chain, sir. With a key.” The boatswain handed him the small gold trinket.
    The captain motioned that this be recorded. “No other personal effects,” he continued. “Death by … hmm … he has several wounds.”
    “This one were pulled from the water, sir. Drownin’, I would guess.”
    “Drowning then.” The captain nodded. “Lord, have mercy upon the soul of this poor man; amen. Ladies, the corpse may be shrouded. Gentlemen, assign his earthly remains to the benevolent arms of the sea.”
    Touched by the gentle expression on the dead man’s face, Sarah started to kneel. But another woman fell to her knees to begin the shrouding. Offering up a prayer that God might comfort and bless the family of the dead man, Sarah stepped to the next body.
    “Brown hair,” the captain said, then amended, “curly brown hair. Scar on the left shoulder. Tattoo of a mermaid on the chest. Death by—”
    A cry pierced the evening pall. “He is