Pirates of the Caribbean:The Spanish Prisoner (Book 2 King's Messenger Series)

Running Before the Wind

Clutching the Spanish uniform, I glanced at Hector and Jack. Did they not understand that the very act of donning these clothes was punishable by hanging? But neither one seemed concerned.

Hector left off feeding his pet, and turned to Jack. "Did ye bring 'em?" he growled.

Jack produced a small leather pouch with a long strap, and tossed it onto the table. "In there," he said with a wave of his hand. Then he gestured towards Jack the monkey. "Once 'e knows what to do, give 'em to Brat. She'll carry 'em."

It seemed everyone had been consulted about Jack's scheme, with one exception - me. "Could someone tell me-"

Jack spun about to face me with a sly smile. "No worries, love," he said, rippling his fingers in the air. "I'll explain when we're on our way, savvy?"

My shoulders drooped and I stifled a sigh. As usual, Jack would tell me what I needed to know, moments before I needed to know it. Questioning him any sooner would be useless.

As soon as Jack left the room, I turned to Hector. He had opened the pouch and extracted a very thin, tapered iron spike of about four inches. It resembled the nail a farrier would use to shoe a horse, only much longer, and without the nail head.

I stared hard at the trifling object, and marvelled that the fate of two ships and scores of men all hung on this tiny bit of metal. It would work, I told myself. It had to work.

Jack the monkey was grasping at the little spike, and testing it with his teeth. Hector encouraged him, talking softly in the coaxing voice he always used to train the little creature. Both master and monkey steadfastly ignored my presence.

I had been looking for the opportune moment to slip away to my cabin and write a short letter to Jack revealing Jeremy's identity, and this seemed the ideal time. Trying to remain inconspicuous, I stole towards the door.

My fingers had just touched the handle, when Hector spoke.

"So the Medusa's to be graced by the presence of a courtier," he mused, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. He didn't face me, but he had stopped his games with Jack, and I saw him steal a sidelong glance in my direction. "Well, I suppose ye'll find his company pleasin'. Ye be more accustomed to courtiers than cutthroats."

I shook my head, but my heart began to beat a little faster. "Not so. And there is only one man whose company is pleasing to me."

"Yet not pleasin' enough to keep ye in me bed," he said, and resumed playing with his pet.

His remark startled me and injured my feelings. I moved forward and began to object, but he waved me off, as if he had been jesting. Then he asked, "What have ye told him of yerself?"

"That I am a King's Messenger," I replied. "One whose friends include pirates. He doesn't know that we're wed or that Jack is my brother."

I took a deep breath, intending to give Hector a full explanation of everything that I had kept back from him; but I remembered that I had little time in which to prepare for Jack's venture.

Shifting from one foot to the other, I glanced about the cabin. "I really must go - I don't want to be late for Jack. May we not take this up at a more convenient time?"

"Aye." He leaned back in his chair with a half-smile, his heavy-lidded eyes studying me. "Off with ye, then."

I hastened to my cabin, where I scribbled a brief letter for Jack. Then I dressed in the blue breeches, red waistcoat, and blue coat he had given me. I tied my hair back, stuffing the ends into the black silk bag supplied for that purpose, and knotted the silk ties about my neck.