DOGS. Legacy Saga II

34

When the noise of the battle moved to the brigantine, Alma dared to peek out of the Phantom's cabin. Alonso waved her over. He was sitting on the steps to the bridge, on the opposite side from the brigantine, to see what transpired from a sheltered spot. Alma sat one step below, noticing his despair.

Alonso hated to see the pirates attack his people. And most of all, he hated watching them win so easily.

Alma couldn't help a jolt at every shout and shot. When the fight was over, her eyes widened like grapefruits, seeing Marina climb to the brigantine gunwale to show the captured banner, her legs showing out the folds of her petticoat and the sword sheathed at her side. The yelling of the pirates made Alma cross herself.

"And I bossed her around!" she said, pulling a bitter chuckle out of Alonso's lips. "She looked so humble and well-educated!"

"She is, Alma. It's just that... that's not all she is, if you can get what I mean."

"Now I can."

"For the magazine, gents!" Marina ordered on top of her lungs. "Grab all their ammunition, for our day is far from over!"

"Aye, aye, pearl!" the pirates shouted.

The girl turned to the Phantom with bright eyes, ignoring Alonso and Alma, who stood up to greet her.

She jumped to the deck and twirled around, her eyes aloft and her arms stretched out, like a little girl in a fairy palace. Because that was her own magic palace. She stopped to rest her open hand on the mizzenmast, oblivious to the buzz around her. Her eyes welled.

Alonso and Alma looked away when she rested her forehead against the wood and lingered there, smiling with her eyes closed, as if the ship talked to her and she listened. They traded an awkward glance, feeling they were unwillingly watching too private a moment to have any kind of witness. Even Alma, who had seen Marina and Castillano snuggling all over the house for two whole weeks.

Marina sighed, her heart full of gratitude when she felt once more that warm invisible hug comforting her, the wind in her face and the salt in her nose. She kept smiling as she strolled to the other side to meet her two guests. She rounded Alma's shoulders with her arm and pressed Alonso's shoulder.

"Thank you, Alma. You saved us," she said in a warm tone. "Captain, I've kept my word." Her smile hardened. "You'll find your friend chained in the hold. Go for him. You can hang a hammock for him over the fore chasers, where he won't stand in the way." Her smile vanished. "Take care of him yourselves, for I won't allow my surgeon to tend to him as long as there is one of my men unattended." Alonso frowned, surprised. "I'm sorry, Captain. The wounded are on me, and that's why I have Bones. But the state your friend is in is on him alone. We'll meet later."

Alonso saw Alma's warning look and kept his mouth shut.

"Here, pearl! With my heart!"

Marina spun around and jumped to De Neill's arms, hugging him as they laughed together. She let him bent backwards, lifting her until her feet were in the air, but only for a moment. She didn't want to part with her ship ever again. Maxó waited to hug her too. Marina saw Briand a few steps away and waved him over.

"As soon as we're done bringing their ammunition, we're going back to Campeche," she said. The pirates didn't hide their surprise. "We're sinking the Trinidad. And then we're going home."

"The Trinidad?" Maxó repeated.

"The frigate that took us to Maracaibo."

"Glad to please you, pearl," said De Neill with a crooked smirk. "She's in Campeche?"

"Moored five-hundred yards away from the dock. Briand, get everything ready for another battle."

"Aye, aye, pearl. You and the Phantom can't wait to catch up, huh?"

"You have no idea."

Marina looked around one more time, allowing herself a moment to fully feel that gratifying sensation. Then she hurried down the hatch.

She stopped by the galley, where Pierre greeted her with a huge pot full of hot water, the handles wrapped in cloth so she wouldn't burn her hands. Marina kissed his chubby cheeks and hurried with the hot water toward Bones' corner. She settled the pot near the surgeon and stepped back, for one of his assistants to throw more sand on the floor, so it would absorb the blood and keep them from slipping. She grabbed one of the leather aprons to help the surgeon, but Bones smiled and shook his head.

"No grave injuries, pearl. Go see the others like you used to. That will bring them more relief than my medicine."

After warning Bones that Castillano shouldn't be checked until the last of the Phantom's men had a scratch to tend to, she went back to the kitchen. She got a bucket of warm water, a sponge and bandages, and approached the dozen wounded, washing and dressing the wounds that didn't need stitching.

All the pirates looked at her with an evident mix of happiness, respect and affection that made her eyes well every few minutes. They thanked her for her care, for being alive, for going back to them. And she thanked everyone of them exactly the same.

She sat down to cure Jean's leg. The master gunner always managed to avoid serious injuries, but he never got out of a fight unscathed. They were joking about his tortillas stand in Campeche's market when she saw Morris help Alonso bring Castillano below deck, pretty much dragging him, still in chains. Alma came on their heels. Alonso held his friend up while Morris hung a hammock over the chasers, and they lifted Castillano to lay him down.

There he was, unconscious or dying. She didn't know and she didn't care. The one who had boasted about loving her but wouldn't trust her, wouldn't believe her. And as soon as his crotch tugged, he lost that peer's respect he'd once shown. And for his sake, she'd risked not only her life, but Dolores', and the life of all those men who didn't need a single word to show her their affection, their respect, their trust.

"Go with him, pearl," said Jean. Her angry glower took him aback. "Oh, well, I see. Have you noticed what a beautiful morning it is?"

The girl could only chuckle while she finished bandaging him. She saw Morris coming and got up to meet him, raising a hand to help any comment whatsoever about Castillano.

"Have a spare sail hung to isolate him from the rest of the deck, so Alma will be more comfortable keeping his side." She saw her friend raise only one eyebrow and sighed. "And yes, to keep him out of my sight."

"We're heading back to Campeche?"

"Did De Neill tell you why?"

Morris nodded, observing her. "You intend to attack a frigate in range of the harbor defenses?"

"We'll prance around for a while. If that's not enough to drag her in our wake, yes, I'm attacking a frigate in range of the harbor defenses. Would you rather wait in the brigantine?"

Morris took his hands to his hips and leaned forward to her. "Come, don't play tough. It's me, the papagayo guy full of lice."

He winked and a heartbeat later he was choking in Marina's hug. He held her tight until she stepped back. Then he kissed her forehead and met her eyes with a warm smile.

"Welcome back, my pearl," he said. "Now I can sleep at ease."

"Did you leave Dolores on the brigantine?"

"Of course not."

"You rescue your girlfriend and plan to sleep at ease?"

"What, you're lending me your cabin?"

"Did you hit your head?"

"And how am I supposed to not sleep, then?"

"And how come that's up to me?"

"C'mon! At least tonight!"

"Tonight we're attacking the Trinidad."

"Selfish and a killjoy. I'm leaving you in Campeche."

The pirates chuckled as they walked by, stretching the fake argument just for the joy of joking together again.