Chapter 22
When Elizabeth caught her first glimpse of the Bay of Pirates, she couldn’t believe how beautiful the island appeared—a lush green forest floating in a turquoise blue sea.
Jean had told her a little about the island. Instead of sand, millions of tiny shells coated the beach that stretched for ten miles around the island. The first rays of the sun made the tiny shells sparkle.
Surrounded by coral reefs, the coast was flat with an elevated interior and steep cliffs covered by tropical green foliage.
Elizabeth could hear the birds chattering in the trees, a sound she hadn’t heard in several weeks.
A warm, gentle breeze blew her hair and caressed her face.
As she gazed at the island, she thought it could only be described as paradise, but the circumstances that had brought them here made it just another barrier between her and her son.
She wondered how many more hurdles she’d have to face.
They sailed around the back side of the island, just as Jean had planned, then dropped anchor.
Elizabeth watched as a crew prepared a small boat for a raiding party to go ashore.
They were busy so no one noticed when she turned away.
She needed to hurry. She’d seen all she needed to see. It was time for action.
By the time Jonathan, Dominic, and three other men were ready to cast off from the Ciel Bleu, it was mid-morning. They would row to shore, then scale the cliffs. When night came, they would sneak aboard Lee’s ship.
What Jonathan didn’t realize was that one of the men in his party was really a woman. Elizabeth had done a good job of disguising herself, thanks to Dominic’s help. Dressed in black breeches, a big white shirt, and a red sash around her waist, she could pass for one of Jean’s men.
Since Elizabeth was tall, her height didn’t give her away.
She had tucked her long hair up under a cap and pulled the brim down so it hid most of her face.
Carefully, she remained to the rear of the crew and away from Jonathan.
The last thing she wanted was for him to send her back.
She was going to get her son one way or the other.
She couldn’t just sit on a ship and worry.
Derek’s ship had arrived shortly after Jean’s and had already laid anchor.
Derek would remain where he was, and when Jean felt that Jonathan had had enough time to reach Lee’s ship, Jean would sail around and confront Lee.
Jean had said they would probably wait until the next morning before coming around the island.
Elizabeth observed the two ships as she sat in the longboat headed toward shore. Jean’s plan would work! It had to.
The longboat bumped the shore, and Elizabeth scrambled out of the tiny vessel along with the men, helping as they pulled the boat further up onto the beach. She could hear the pop and crunch of the tiny shells as they walked toward the interior of the island.
Dominic pointed to an overgrown path, which went straight up the cliff and would make their climb a little easier. He led the way, since he knew the island better than anyone except Jean. Jonathan and the other men followed. Elizabeth brought up the rear, the further away from Jonathan the better.
At first the climb was easy, but as they approached the top, they had to go around huge rocks and scramble over narrow ledges.
After several hours of climbing, Elizabeth paused and wondered how much further they had to go.
She rubbed her fingers—sore from grasping the rocks and trees—on her breeches.
She only had one more ledge to climb over, and she’d be at the top.
With her next step, the rocks below her feet gave away. She squealed and flailed her arms, desperately grabbing at anything to keep from falling. She grabbed a tree root that stopped her from going over the edge. She dangled precariously from the root.
“What the hell?” Jonathan turned at the sound.
Something wasn’t right. One of his men had slipped. How had this happened? He had to go back down for him.
There was no time for questions. He had to do something fast. Jonathan looped a rope around himself and anchored it to a tree.
When he was secure, he leaned down to grab the lad’s arm.
“Grasp my hand with your free hand,” he shouted.
The boy grabbed his hand. At least the lad wasn’t heavy.
When Jonathan had a firm hold on the lad’s arm, he hauled him up until he was secure in his arms.
“Obliged,” Elizabeth mumbled, trying to disguise her voice.
“Wait a minute.” The lad was much too soft, and he seemed to have curves where he shouldn’t.
Jonathan jerked off the boy’s cap. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice,” he ground out.
“What in the bloody hell are you doing here? We are going to have our hands full enough without you slowing us down.” He handed her cap back to her. “Don’t you ever obey?”
Elizabeth’s nerves were stretched to the limit. “I don’t take orders well. You should know that by now,” she retorted. “I will not wait alone while my son’s life is in the balance.”
Jonathan untied the rope from around the tree and started to coil it back up. “You bloody well will! Now turn around and climb back down!”
“I will not,” she said, defiantly, shoving the cap back on. “I’m going with you whether you like it or not.” She grabbed his arm. “You can’t spare a man to accompany me, and I promise I will not go back on my own. So you have no choice but to let me come.”
Jonathan swung around, clearly angry. “Give me one good reason why I should.”
“Because my son is involved, and he doesn’t know any of you. What if you go to rescue him, and he runs the other way because he’s just as frightened of you as he is of Lee.”
Jonathan remained quiet.
“I thought she made a good point,” Dominic pointed out from behind Jonathan. “That is why I helped her.”
Jonathan glared at Dominic, then turned back to Elizabeth. “Come on. We’re wasting time.”
Elizabeth wanted to smile, but she didn’t allow herself the luxury as she followed the men up the incline. The hill was flat on top and blessed with a freshwater lake. They stopped and rested and drank from the cool, clear water.
But any delay, no matter how short, was too long for Elizabeth.
She couldn’t sit still. She got up from the pool and went to the far side of the clearing to look over the edge.
Thank goodness they were not going in this direction, she thought.
The cliff was sheer and about halfway down a beautiful waterfall spurted into a pool below.
Several gorgeous birds flew around the trees, adding to the beauty.
“Let’s go,” Dominic called, bringing her back to the mission at hand.
They started down the other side as the sun was lowering in the sky. Soon it would be dark and they couldn’t climb down the mountain without light.
Going down was a little easier than going up, but they had to climb through undergrowth that tore at their skin. By the time they reached the bottom, not only was it dusk, but they all looked as if they had fought with a very large cat.
“We’ll rest until midnight,” Jonathan said, looking around for Elizabeth. He went to her. “Promise me that you’ll listen once we are onboard Lee’s ship, and that you will obey me. This isn’t a game. Our lives could depend on acting very quickly.”
“Sometimes you treat me like a child, Jonathan. I already know everything you just told me. I want to get Dawson off that ship, and make sure he doesn’t run into the line of fire.” She shivered at the thought.
“I don’t treat you like a child, although sometimes you act like one. I’m trying to protect you, as you’re trying to protect your child,” he said as he rose.
Elizabeth looked up at him as he offered his hand to pull her to her feet. “Thank you,” she said and kissed him on the cheek.
Jonathan smiled. “I hope you will do better than that when this whole thing is over.”
For once in her life, Elizabeth couldn’t think of anything to say. At the moment, she couldn’t imagine a normal life.
It was just after midnight when Jonathan issued the command to go. They swam to Lee’s ship, which was docked in the bay. The water was warm but the salt stung their cuts and scratches.
If everything worked out, Jean should be sailing around the island and be in the harbor by daybreak.
Dominic climbed up the anchor rope and made his way to the rope ladder, which he tossed overboard. Elizabeth heard a muffled scuffling sound and she held her breath until Dominic leaned over the side and motioned for them to come aboard.
Obviously, Lee wasn’t expecting trouble. Only one guard had been posted and Dominic had taken care of him in short order.
The crew spread out and quietly began to search.
Elizabeth didn’t bother to open the first door, knowing it would be the captain’s cabin. She hoped that Jonathan wouldn’t, either, because the sight of Lee would probably send him into a rage. She wanted to get Dawson and Tiffany off the ship with as little trouble as possible.
She eased the second door open and very carefully looked inside. There, lying on the bunk, were Tiffany and Dawson. Dawson was curled up next to Tiffany. Elizabeth’s heart swelled with love and gratitude as she moved further into the room.
Tiffany gasped when Elizabeth touched her arm, and Elizabeth placed a finger to her lips. Too late, Dawson opened his eyes and said, “Mummy!” He rubbed his eyes, and when he realized it wasn’t a dream he scrambled from under the covers and threw his arms around her neck.
“Shh,” Elizabeth warned, hugging her child so tight he squealed. “We must be very quiet so we can get you off this ship,” she whispered into his tousled hair.
Tiffany sat up. “Thank God you’re here,” she whispered. “I was beginning to feel we’d never get off the boat ... or home again.”
Elizabeth propped Dawson on her hip and looked at Tiffany, trying to take in her appearance. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”