The Pirate's Willing Captive Read Free

officer Hendry would be prepared to sail with them as pirates, but he would be given his chance. If he could achieve it, the mutiny would take place with no loss of life, but he accepted that there might be casualties. Facing reality, he understood that he could not ply his trade without some bloodshed, but he would offer a safe passage to the crews of the ships they took. If they refused…Justin’s expression hardened. They would do what was necessary and no more.
    He had not asked to be brought on board this ship.Injustice and prejudice had forced him to flee from England, and a press gang had robbed him of his liberty. In time he would part company from the ship and its crew and make his way to France, as he’d planned, but for the moment he was committed to leading the men to the fortunes they all hoped to make.
    * * *
    ‘I have had word that Lord Roberts is to send his cousin to escort you to England, daughter,’ Don Miguel Sabatini said. ‘You have had time enough to grieve. Captain Hynes will be here within days. You are to have your possessions packed and be ready to leave.’
    ‘But am I to have no choice? Supposing I do not like him?’ Maribel’s head went up, her expression defiant.
    ‘You will obey your husband, as you obey me. I have made my decision, Maribel.’
    ‘What of my lands here in Spain?’ Maribel had hoped that he had forgotten his plans for her marriage these past six months, but it seemed he had not.
    ‘You may trust me to administer them for you. Once you are married, they will belong to your husband. He may wish to sell them and I shall await his instructions.’
    ‘They belong to me. Pablo left them to my care. I do not wish to sell them.’
    ‘Pablo has no son to inherit. Your new husband will instruct you in his wishes. Perhaps if you please him he will allow you to keep them and send his agents to inspect them.’
    Maribel stared at him, mutiny flaring. She was angry that he refused to listen to her plea, but uncertain whatshe could do. Had Pablo’s father lived, she might have applied to him for help, but her young husband had had no family. She was quite alone and had no influence with anyone; instead, she was at the mercy of her father’s will.
    As she left him and went out, wandering to the crest of the hill to look out over the sea, her thoughts were heavy. Even if she denied her father he might send her to England. There was little she could do; her fortune was in her father’s hands. The lawyers had told her it was for the best and she had foolishly signed—but Juanita had been living then and her father had not been so stern…so unforgiving.
    Hearing a muffled sound out to sea, Maribel shaded her eyes. The ships were too far out for her to see them properly, but she believed that one was firing on the other. What was going on? She had heard her father complain of the pirates that often attacked merchant ships in Spanish waters. Could it be a pirate vessel—and whose ship was being attacked?
    * * *
    ‘We found a rich haul in the holds.’ Higgins grinned at Justin as he swung aboard the Defiance. ‘The captain would not tell us from whence he came, but we found chests of unrefined silver…’
    ‘From the New World, you think?’
    ‘It would seem so, Cap’n.’
    Justin nodded. Since he had taken command of the ship, putting its master and most of the officers ashore, they had been fortunate and had already taken threerich merchant ships, all of whom had surrendered when the first shot was fired across their bows.
    ‘They surrendered the ship without a fight. Johnson told me that the crew have no love for the owner of this vessel. They were ordered to kill the slaves who mined the silver for them before they took it aboard and it hath sickened some of them.’
    ‘That is beyond forgiveness!’ Justin was angry. ‘By God, the man responsible deserves to be taught a lesson!’
    ‘Don Miguel Sabatini is the owner of the Juanita. He has men whose job it is to run