Uncaged Read Free

blinked and then shrugged. “I don’t want to trouble you with my plight.”
                  “You’re no trouble at all. I long to converse with someone other than a salty sailor,” he said swallowing. Now her scent had inched into his brain, making it hard to think. It had been hard enough to fi nd the English words. He shook his head to clear his mind. “Tell me your ills and I’ll share mine. I warrant you I’m good company.”
                  That forced a smile from her lips and another sniff. Her shuddering had slowed. “My father is the captain of this ship. Lars Whittier.”
                  He watched as her face changed from sadness to bitter hatred. Tight lips stretched across her perfect, white teeth as she spit out her next words. “He’s a madman. An evil man with no care or concern for others.”
                  He wondered if her father beat her. This he had to know. “Does he hurt you, miss?”
                  She shook her head. Anger flashed in her blue eyes. “Not me. My mother. He’d grown tired of her. You don’t know?”
                  The man shook his head. He sensed her distrust  and had yet to devise an explanation for himself. “I just joined the expedition in Africa . I needed a ride back,” though he wasn’t sure where they were headed, he guessed it to be England by the woman’s accent. He knew he’d have to feign ignorance for the happenings on the ship as well as the expedition they were returning from. He knew nothing of what occurred in Africa other than his own capture.
                  She eyed him through narrowed lids.  “Then you don’t know. My father caused a terrible scene. Even the other men begged him not to do it. My mother was sold back into slavery, just before we boarded. They had quarreled. My father had threatened her before. He had said her tongue would get her into trouble one day. There was a slave auction on the wharf. He did it without thinking. I begged him. He pushed me away. I begged to be sold alongsi de her. His men held me back. I watched her board a cart as if she were an animal.”
                  The tears began again and she hid her face in her hands. Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her to him, already hating Lars Whittier. How could he do this to his own flesh and blood? Have his own daughter watch her mother sold back into slavery and taken away from her, perhaps forever? It only gave him more reason to despise man. They were selfish creatures, caring only for money or objects that money could purchase. Even women were objects to most of them. Animals cared more for their mates than these vile creatures. Her tears wet his strong shoulders as he pet her long hair, soothing her like a child.
                  His insides curled upon themselves, tightening into a knot as realization set in. He was far from home, soon to be in a foreign land, a land he vowed to never return to as a creature he never wanted to become again, but now he was trapped. He wanted to meet this Lars Whittier. He’d love to tear out his throat, but now he was a man. He could play men’s games, though he detested them. Now all he longed to do was protect this woman and help her. In the meantime he’d have to pretend to have boarded the ship with permission, though the captain had no idea he was aboard. He didn’t think it would be too hard to blend in, not with a jungle cat missing aboard a ship.

Chapter 2
     
                  Bruce woke up beneath a tattered sail, tucked beneath the shadow of a giant mast. The sun was just beginning to inch over the horizon when the deck filled with men, many of them half dressed and bootless. He knew Lars Whittier by the man’s age and his presence. He had cut a path straight through the men. At least the captain was fully dressed, though he’d forgotten to rake a comb through his wiry, gray