Chapter Fifteen #2
He took my hand and tugged me towards our chambers. I gazed helplessly at Domingo who followed us down the steps.
Dinesh pushed his door open and dragged me into our rooms, then turned to Domingo, who had followed.
“No. I’d like to be alone with my husband.”
Domingo froze. Then his eyes narrowed, and he straightened to his full height.
“Dinesh, I need to talk some sense into you.”
They stared at each other for a long moment, whilst I kept silent. The captain retained my hand in a vice-like grip.
“I don’t think any of the men did that,” Domingo stated.
Dinesh was silent. He let go of me and raised his hands into the air. “Then give me another explanation. It must have been one of the crew. How else could she have been taken and placed into that box? Tell me that!”
Domingo’s sober gaze went back and forth between mine and Dinesh’s.
“You’re asking the wrong question,” Domingo said, perching on the edge of Dinesh’s war table, careful not to upset the map or the boats.
“What’s the right question?” I asked, although I thought I knew where this was headed.
“Not really a question. Only a strong feeling I have. And Simon thinks so too. We spoke of the possibility after we found her.”
“You think the villain is supernatural,” Dinesh said with a glance at me.
“I fear that’s what we’re dealing with, yes,” Domingo stated.
He spoke of such things with remarkable calm.
“You said yourself, there was no way for Pearl to get out of your room. The door was closed and latched. Squid, whom we all trust implicitly, has said that he only left for a privy break for ten minutes.”
“That’s long enough for someone to open the door unseen,” Dinesh said.
Domingo nodded. “I suppose. But do you really think one of the crew did this? Who would have done something so senseless? The men may have human blood on their hands, but they’d never harm an innocent creature. Especially not one that we’ve all gotten to know and love.”
“The men get bored. They crave amusement. Don’t you think it’s possible that one of them, Hanes perhaps, decided to play a cruel prank?”
Hanes was a bit of a jokester and had put other crew members in some humiliating predicaments. But he’d never done anything like this before. And as far as I knew, he was fond of the dog.
There was a knock at the door. We looked at each other.
“Yes?”
Someone cleared their throat. “I need to speak with you, Captain, if I may.”
Hanes. Perhaps it had been a prank.
The captain strode past Domingo and opened the door.
“Come in.”
Hanes, hat in hand, entered the room. I was still holding the dog, and she wagged her tail against my hip.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Captain, White, Domingo. But I needed to clear my name. The crew think I did the deed, but I swear to you. I would never go that far with a prank. I swear I didn’t do it.”
He seemed genuine, and the dog didn’t appear distressed at his appearance.
“Put Pearl down, Rooster.”
I lowered the dog to the floor.
“Call her over, Hanes,” Dinesh ordered.
Hanes, without any hesitation, crouched and extended his hand.
“Come on, girl. Pearl darling…”
Pearl gave a delighted yap and barrelled into Hanes’s welcoming arms.
The captain and I looked at each other with relief, as Hanes stood with the dog clutched in his arms as she tried to lick his face off.
“All right, girl, good girl. Such a bonny wee doggy.” He grinned with relief and gazed at us as Pearl whined and wriggled against him.
Dinesh nodded. “All right, you’ve been vindicated. Put the dog down and resume your duties.”
Hanes nodded. “Thank you, Captain.”
He put Pearl on the floor, and she padded to her blanket, turned around several times, and plunked down with a weary sigh.
Hanes took his leave.
“Well, it wasn’t him,” Dinesh admitted. “And now I feel terrible for blaming anyone.”
Domingo spoke at that moment.
“When I came aboard, I didn’t know what to expect from the crew of the Arrow.
They are a rough group of men, for certain, and not refined in any manner of speaking.
But I cannot think of a one who hasn’t treated me with kindness and respect since I’ve been here, even considering what I used to do for a living. ”
Dinesh ran a hand through his hair. “But if the murderer is…supernatural…why is this evil thing assailing us? What is happening?”
I sat down on the edge of the bed, my thoughts whirring.
I hugged myself and tried to stay calm. But I didn’t know how to protect us from something like this.
What if what had happened to Pearl was only the beginning?
Would we wake to find a crewman hung from the yardarm tomorrow? Or, God forbid, the captain?
“I can’t answer that. But I can tell you that you are going to need the help of every man aboard this ship going forward. And at the moment, they think you’re out for blood vengeance,” Domingo said.
I nodded. “Yes. Dinesh, you need to apologize. Tell them that you know none of them would do this.”
“Apologize to the men?” Dinesh said as if he couldn’t fathom such a thing.
“Aye. Before they decide to mutiny on account of you don’t hold a formal position of power to begin with,” I muttered.
“Do you think that’s a possibility?” Dinesh asked.
“On a ship like this?” Domingo said. “Always.”
***
The men had gathered once more.
“Thank you for assembling again. I must apologize for my earlier behaviour. I was…much affected by the discovery of our dear Pearl in such dire straits. I lashed out, because I could only suppose that someone on this ship was responsible.”
Captain Martin stood on the quarterdeck and spoke with grace and a genuine humility.
“That would be the logical thing to assume. However, other strange things have been happening to Mr White and myself over the past months, since we left Talamanca. And before we’d arrived there, to be fair.”
“What sorts of things, Captain?” Martinéz asked.
“Well, you see, Mr White has been having bizarre visitations in his dreams.”
“Wot, nightmares? They’re fairly regular, ain’t they?”
“These ones aren’t,” I said from where I stood next to the Lahiri, near the steps to the lower deck.
Hillier nodded, looking grave. “As you may recall from the gab that’s gone round, I found Mr White on the deck a few nights ago, in the rain, in nothing but his shirt, standing at the rail as if he meant to go over.”
“That true, then?” Darcy asked. “I thought someone might have exaggerated.”
“Domingo, and I, and Mr White, believe that a mysterious force is at work,” Dinesh said evenly. “Unfortunately, we don’t quite know how to handle the situation.”
“Is White still walkin’ in his sleep?” Martinéz inquired.
“No, but possibly that’s due to having a rope tied around his wrist and attached to mine.”
“Clever,” Hanes admitted.
“So, please keep your eyes open, and tell us if you see anything that doesn’t seem right, or seems like it could cause harm, or is quite unusual.
” He gazed about him. “The Arrow is a good ship, and she’s been my home for so long that it…
pains me greatly to imagine that she’s under the influence of a malevolent force. ”
All eyes turned to me, and I felt my heart drop.
“Mr White is not the source of this malevolence. However, he does seem to be the attraction.” Captain Martin stated.
“But if I hear of one person treating him badly because they feel he’s responsible, I shall remind them that none of us would be here this day if not for Mr Simon White and his abilities. ”
There was a hum of agreement and acknowledgement.
“Sail!”
The shouted word pierced the relative silence like a sword.
“Sail! Sail to starboard!” I recognized Boone’s raised voice.
We looked towards the bow, where the captain’s former bodyguard pointed into the distance. We followed his gesture to see an approaching vessel coming out of the mist.
Other men picked up the shout.
“Sail!”
“A ship! To starboard!”
“Someone get me my glass,” Dinesh ordered, stepping down from the platform. “And prepare yourselves for anything.”
***
She approached at an alarming pace. A hulk of a vessel with a flat black flag that flapped in the wind, and a hull covered with scratches and gashes, as if she’d fought and survived numerous battles.
She was a ship out of my worst nightmares.
Domingo had gone and now came back with the captain’s spyglass and handed the implement to him.
“Thank you, Domingo.”
He braced his elbows on the rail and peered through the scope, frowning with concern.
“That’s odd,” he said, moving the glass as if trying to find something.
My skin went cold and clammy.
“What is?” I asked.
“I don’t see anyone on deck,” he muttered. “But how can that be? She’s plainly on approach. Her sails are full. Someone had to have set them.”
“Are they under cover?” Domingo asked. “Perhaps they are trying to confuse us, like the Eloise.”
“Tricky to run a ship without anyone about,” Hillier said, holding his hand out and tapping the captain’s shoulder. “The Eloise was at a standstill. We approached her. May I?”
Captain Martin passed the glass to Hillier and turned to face the men.
“Prepare for attack,” he announced. “Ready the guns. All hands on deck. We defend ourselves against these villains. They shan’t have the Arrow. I swear it!”
My blood ran cold, and I hugged my arms about myself.
The captain looked at me. I looked at him.
I nodded, prepared to attempt an invocation if needed.
“Can’t see a man anywhere!” Hillier said, lowering the glass and squinting at the oncoming vessel that rode the choppy sea towards us.
“Steady on!” Captain Martin said. “Hillier, take over. We need to get ready…”
“She hasn’t fired on us.”
“No, but I fear it’s only moments. If we show her we mean to defend ourselves, perhaps she’ll turn away.”
“Of course, Captain,” Hillier said.
He handed the spyglass back to Captain Martin and strode to the centre of the deck, where men scurried about, following his orders.
“Domingo, go below and tell any men you find that they need to be at their stations. Now!”
“Yes, Captain.” Domingo took off at a run.
“Rooster,” Dinesh said, taking my arms and meeting my gaze.
“Aye,” I said, my limbs feeling numb.
“We may need you.”
“I’ll be ready,” I said.
He dropped his hands. I turned and walked down the steps from the quarterdeck to the main deck. I walked to the rail and placed my hands there, gazing at the approaching vessel, trying to be brave, ready to do whatever was needed.
The ship kept coming. Closer and closer. She didn’t fire or launch anything in defence of her approach.
“She’s going to hit us!”
“She’s coming in too fast!”
I stared out at the ship, facing the enormous bow as the giant loomed ever larger in front of me. I closed my eyes and began to summon the magic from within me. I opened my mouth to speak the words of the chant.
“Fire the cannon!” Hillier shouted.