Chapter 12 The Port of Marigot #2
Still, Caleb sat, broad shouldered, relaxed, his manner unruffled even in the rowdy crowd of Le Chien de Mer. The hum of drunken songs and clattering tankards lessened as the air seemed to shift.
Three men shoved through the crowd and loomed over their table, their grins twisted in the candlelight, their clothing stained and tattered and smelling of tar and grease.
One of them jabbed a finger toward Caleb. “Yer Caleb Hyde, aren’t ye?” he slurred out.
Caleb didn’t flinch, didn’t even look up. “Who’s asking?”
“Geoffrey Snipes, that’s who.” The man ran a sleeve beneath his oversized nose. “An’ me an’ me mates ’ere demand ye leave this island at once or face the consequences.”
The two men standing behind Geoffrey snorted their consent, but their gazes were on Desi.
With deliberate calmness, every motion unhurried, Caleb slowly rose. “Gentleman, I’ve no quarrel with you tonight. Best return to your drinks.”
Caleb’s tone was calm, rational, almost pleading the men to back off. Strangely, she sensed it was not out of fear for himself…but for them.
Geoffrey’s bloodshot eyes snapped to Desi.
“What’s a fine lady like yerself doin’ wit’ this scoundrel, Miss?
Yer wasting yer time with this murderer.
Come wit’ us an’ we’ll show ye a far better time than ye’ll have wit’ the likes o’ ’im.
” He thumbed toward Caleb, offering Desi a leering grin that consisted of a row of yellowing teeth and a missing one on the bottom.
Murderer? Desi’s throat went dry.
Caleb didn’t flinch, didn’t move. “Leave the lady out of this. Now back to your drinks, gentlemen, before someone gets hurt.”
One of the men behind Geoffrey spoke up, “That someone be ye, Hyde.”
“That’s Captain Hyde, if you please,” Caleb answered as calmly as if he were at church.
Hoots, hollers, and jeers erupted as patrons, eager for entertainment, gathered around.
Was she about to witness a pirate brawl in a tavern in 1718? Absurd! She closed her eyes for a moment, begging her sanity to return.
That’s when one of the brutes grabbed her arm and hauled her to her feet. “The wench comes wi’ us!” His putrid breath stung her nose. His grip sent pain radiating through her arm. Fear jolted through her chest. She struggled, tugging with all her might, but his clamp was iron.
Caleb’s eyes became storm clouds as he drew his blade free with a mighty hiss.
The three men did the same.
What Desi witnessed next, she could only describe as a blur of steel and fury.
Caleb slashed this way and that, like a man born with a blade in his hand.
Each movement fluid, precise, each strike marked.
Geoffrey, blade raised high, swept it down upon Caleb, but he quickly sidestepped and brought his own sword up to meet the beast’s.
The clank of metal rang through the room, joining the shouts and curses of its patrons.
Caleb shoved the man backward as the second villain charged him, but instead of meeting his blade, Caleb ducked, then slammed the man’s sword from his hand with the hilt of his own.
The brute’s blade clanged to the dirty floor.
Desperate, he dashed to retrieve it, but Caleb barreled into him, sending him tumbling back into a table, toppling mugs and flinging ale.
The man holding Desi cursed. Most of the words she’d never heard before, but she could guess their meaning by the way he tightened his grip on her arm and spit to the side.
Pain shot across her shoulders, and she let out a yelp that was lost in the clamor.
But it was the terror squeezing her heart that hurt the most when she realized that should Caleb be defeated, she’d be at the mercy of these creeps.
Geoffrey let out a growl that would wake the dead.
Charging, he thrust his blade once again at Caleb.
Metal on metal screeched through the tavern as the men parried.
Caleb drove his assailant backward with each slash.
Finally, in a quick move, Caleb ducked and grazed the man’s pants.
Blood oozed from the wound as he kicked the man to the floor.
The second man had recovered and once again, faced Caleb, knife in hand.
Desi’s captor started hauling her back through the mob. Desperate, she seized a passing mug. Come on, Desi, you can do this! She’d never hit anyone before, hated violence of any kind, but it was either that or be taken captive by this jerk.
Swinging her arm back with all her strength, she crashed it on his head. He howled, releasing her just as the tip of Caleb’s sword kissed his throat.
Silence fell like an odd specter on the room…before the mob roared their approval.
The last villain dropped to the floor, beside the other two, sprawled and beaten at Caleb’s feet.
Desi’s hand shook, the mug still clenched in her fist.
Grinning, Caleb slowly unwound her fingers and retrieved it, setting it on a table. “Thanks for the help.”
Blood pounded through her veins. She could hardly think. Yet, as she took in the three brutes on the tavern floor, astonishment overtook those feelings. Caleb was more than a pirate, more than a missionary, more than a captain. He seemed…unstoppable.
And for the first time, she wondered if she wasn’t safer by his side than anywhere in the world.