The Duke's Daughter -Wattys2014 Collector's Dream Award Winner-

Chapter Sixty Eight

Vi used hand signals to separate his men into small groups to approach each tent with a small force of four. Once his men nodded in agreement, Vi used his fingers to count down from three. On zero they moved.

Every man quietly creeping behind the man before him, blades held between their teeth, pistols primed and at the ready. Vi and the three men he had kept with him made for the largest tent.

Vi looked over his shoulder as he came to the corner of a tent to see his men right behind him... And Ol' Chauncey tiptoeing through the middle of the camp haphazardly.

Vi shook his head and refocused on the task at hand. All men were in position next to their respective tents. Once again he raised three fingers in the air.

On zero, this camp would be his.

*****

Betsy wanted no part of any rescue attempt, however, she did want to know what the other women were up to. She sat on a flat boulder with the three of them, listening to their ideas, aghast at some of the suggestions that were bandied about.

One idea of theirs had been to float the candles presently lighting the pool off the point of the rocks hoping to distract the interlopers. If that wasn't enough, Arianna and Carmelita could slip in the water and walk out of the surf, acting as though they be sirens, thus further distracting the threat against them.

"Do not sirens sing or some such thing?" Betsy asked. "I have heard you sing, my lady, 'twould be a disaster, if I may be so bold." Betsy could not help herself, she giggled at the thought, as Arianna was utterly and completely tone deaf.

She sounds like a sick goat if you want the absolute truth. This thought made Betsy truly laugh, while Arianna glared daggers at her. Arianna had always wished for a beautiful singing voice, but alas, it was not to be.

"Can you sing?" Arianna asked Carmelita, sounding a bit miffed.

"I can hum a tune, but no, I do not sing well either." Carmelita admitted.

"Don't you sing, Betsy?" Arianna asked.

"I can whistle." Betsy offered, though she could sing pleasantly, she had no desire to go along with their plan.

"Your men would kill you, even if the pirates did not for even thinking of doing such a thing." The Duchess interjected. "No, it must be covert, a distraction of surprise, we need them to think there are twice as many of us as there are," the duchess pondered her idea, looking to Betsy for assistance, "with shots coming from different positions, while we stay hidden. We will need a male voice to call out they are surrounded while we shoot from various vantage points. Cook will do wonderfully." The duchess finished, smiling widely, thinking she had it all figured out.

"And this is where your skill would help, Betsy" The Duchess suggested, "Can you climb? If not, we can simply push you as far up a tree as we can. You should be able to get in a few well placed shots that may dissuade them."

"I think not, your grace, I would really rather not be involved, if again I may be so bold." Betsy surely hoped they would not make her do it.

She was, however, afraid they would.

*****

Vi counted down silently with his hand, on zero, the lead man from every group swept the flaps on the tents aside. The majority of them came up against empty tents.

Vi had chosen Derek's tent, which also, was empty. All of his men came up against a sea of pistols though, as Derek's crew, all at once, let the sides of the men's tent drop to the ground.

Vi turned towards the sound of sailcloth dropping, and saw the entire interior perimeter of the large tent lined with men, their pistols aimed at all of his men.

Vi looked around at the faces of his astonished men and he could not help himself. He started laughing uproariously, so much so, that tears soon ran down his cheeks.

Derek and his men would have liked to laugh also, but the pistols still pointed at them lent some gravity to the situation.

Chauncey, standing in the open between the tents, attempting to balance his toes on lighted patches of sand, could not figure out what was happening. He only knew Vi was laughing very loudly for a sneak attack.

"Vi!" Chauncey barked. "Violet Petals! Whatever ye be doin?!"

Derek looked at the man laughing. "Violet Petals?" He started chuckling, as did his men, soon all the men of Derek's crew were laughing along with their captain.

That sobered Violet up right quick. "'Tis not a joke, 'tis my name. Stop that. Stop that right now." He commanded, his brow now furrowed.

The men tried, they really did. Only, they would almost stop laughing and one would be left that couldn't quite control himself, and that got them all going once again.

Vi crossed his arms, tapped his toe and blew a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. It was always this way. It was also why he went by Vi, except for his mother, and sometimes his crew who quite used to his flowery name. His mother was a poetic soul, you see, and violets were her favorite flower. And being his surname really was Petals, he had lived with this reaction all of his life, though that did not mean he enjoyed it.
Derek brought his humor under control enough to ask, "Do we fight now, Violet Petals, or would you like to work out a compromise?"

Derek knew of Vi, and his ship, the Saucy Wench, being that they had both sailed the same waters for quite a few years. Having never run across the pirate, however, Derek knew Vi was part of Bailey's fleet, the Pelican's Crew, so he would have blown him out of the water if he had crossed paths with him. He had also heard the man stole goods, but rumors held that the pirate did not harm unnecessarily, and he never took captives, so Derek felt a truce may be possible. Perhaps, Violet Petals would just take some cargo, such as some of the rum barrels from the beach, and leave them all unaccosted.

"Oh, aye, a compromise would suit me just fine." Vi answered, as he tucked his guns in his waistband and signaled his men to stand down. "However, I would very much like to meet the man who did that to Marcus back there first."

"'Twas not a man." A soft, feminine voice answered.