To Slight the Jacket Blue. Bronwyn Sciance
child, come down here, won't you?"
Jane took her father's hand and joined the cluster as he made the introductions. "This is James Wilson, captain of the Sarah Rose." Jane nodded; the ship, named for her long-dead mother, was the pride of her father's fleet, and the captain of such a ship must surely be a well-respected and excellent sailor to have earned that right. "And this fellow is, as I understand, a man they found swimming for shore in the Caribbean." To the captain, Clarence said, "This is my daughter Jane. Her sweetheart is in the Caribbean as well, hunting pirates."
"Commander Edward Sharpe of the HMS Danae?" asked the sailor.
Jane smiled. "Yes, you know him?"
"And few better, for I served as his lieutenant."
The smile dropped from Jane's face. "Why do you not remain with him? What has happened?"
The young lieutenant spoke haltingly. "We had turned for home with a number of prizes to our name when the lookout spotted another pirate on the horizon. We sailed closer before we realized it was Captain Bluejacket, but by then it was too late to turn back. Commander Sharpe fought as valiantly as anyone, but it was down to the last ten of us and the commander ordered us to surrender to save our lives. Captain Bluejacket offered us a choice: join his crew, or be thrown overboard."
Jane gasped. Clarence paled. "Did Edward drown?"
The lieutenant shook his head. "Only myself and one other lad chose to go overboard rather than join. He drowned within a few moments. But Bluejacket never gave Commander Sharpe a choice. Said he was to be demoted to cabin boy and kept aboard to work. He was taken to the captain's cabin, and I never saw him after that." He looked up at Jane, his eyes filling with tears. "I am sorry, Miss Wickham, truly. If I could have lain down my life for the commander's freedom, I would have. He was a good leader, and a fair one."
Jane stared at the sailor. Her father put a hand behind her to catch her if she should faint, but she clung grimly on to her awareness. In a calm, even voice, she asked the lieutenant, "And does he live now?"
"Upon my life, lady, I know not. All I can tell is that he lived when I was cast from the ship, and I heard that the rogue Bluejacket vowed he was to be kept alive."
"A pirate's word..." Clarence mumbled.
Captain Wilson spoke for the first time. "Is his bond, sir. It's an odd thing, but they have a rather rigid code of rules and honor. If this Captain Bluejacket said he was to be kept alive, he will remain so until he break some unforgivable rule. Commander Sharpe lives, sir, though for how long I can hardly say."
"Then where life exists, there hope lives also." Clarence looked at his daughter, then at the captain and the naval officer. "We will rescue Edward. This I vow." He clenched his fist, then turned to his secretary. "Post a notice. We are recruiting sailors, only the best, for a mission of mercy. Edward Sharpe must be rescued and his captor brought to justice."
Chapter Nine
"So you think this a good list of men, Captain?" Clarence asked, bending his head over the sheets of foolscap on which were penned the names of a number of good men and true who had been recommended to the rescue mission.
"I do, sir," answered the man Clarence had chosen to lead the mission. "About half of them have served in the military or some other fighting force. The rest have been recommended by the men of the City Watch. And all are excellent and able seamen."
Clarence ran his finger down the list of names, then nodded and gave it back. "And you will head them up, Captain Thomas.”
Captain Thomas rose from his seat. Clarence and Jane, who was seated a little behind him, stood also. "That I will, sir, and I hope to find him safe and sound, and restore him to you forthwith." With that, he turned and left the house.
Clarence sighed, then turned to Jane. "There, my dear. Don't you fret. Captain Thomas will find him if anyone can."
Jane set her lips in a thin line. "That may be, Father, but I intend to make absolutely sure." She looked her father in the eye. "I will be sailing with Captain Thomas when he goes."
"Absolutely you will not," Clarence said severely. "A sailing vessel is no place for a young lady."
"Nevertheless, I shall go. I intend to bring Edward back safely and never let him out of my sight again."
Clarence smiled affectionately. "My darling, it is a man's duty to work, and a woman's to wait. What would Edward say if he returned to find you gone? Surely you could not expect him to take the woman's part and wait?"
"Never, Father!" Jane answered quickly, a hand over her heart. "I would never ask Edward to degrade himself in such a manner. But surely a reasonable man would be thankful to see his wife again?"
"You aren't his wife yet," Clarence reminded her, "not even his betrothed, only his sweetheart. And you are still my daughter, and I forbid you to go!"
Jane stayed silent for a moment, staring down at the surface of the table. Finally she said, "Father, you know I do my best to obey you in all that you ask of me. If you asked me to do anything, give up anything, I would do so in a heartbeat. But what you ask of me now, I cannot agree to."
"Who said I'm asking anything, my girl?" Clarence practically shouted. "I am ordering you to remain here! What's so hard about that?"
"You are asking me to remain in suspense for who knows how long, to wait patiently while men who have never known my Edward roam the seas in order to locate my heart and return it to me–with no guarantee that they shall ever successfully do so," Jane replied steadily. "I would rather be dead than live in such suspense."
"But you know that women aboard ships are bad luck, Jane. Your presence would not do the men any help–far from it, you may cause the ruin of all they hope to achieve." Clarence had taken on a pleading tone. "Would you have that on your conscience?"
"Father, you are a learned man, you cannot believe such nonsense."
Clarence leveled a finger at his daughter, deciding to take a harsher line with her. "If you go after him, Jane, I wash my hands of him. I will cleave to my promise to return him safely to England, but allow him to marry you–never! What say you to that?"
"Only this: that any woman who would allow that to influence her rescue of the man she loves is not worthy of that love." Jane's eyes blazed. With that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the room, leaving Clarence alone with his stubbornness.
Chapter Ten
It was difficult to imagine anyone who looked more like the perfect man to hunt pirates than Captain Robert Thomas of the Humility. He was a tall man at six feet, broad-shouldered and muscular; indeed, only one man in his command could be said to be larger than he. He possessed a square chin and a strong jaw, hidden under a thick beard. Both beard and hair were yellow as butter, slightly wavy, and surrounding clear brown eyes–an advantage for a sailor, as he had excellent night vision.
Forty years old, he had been aboard one ship or another since he was twelve years old. He was an experienced seaman, had served on pirate-hunters in his youth, and most importantly he was calm and reliable. The Humility was his own ship, purchased with his portion of the last prize he had brought in while serving as lieutenant to a privateer, and for ten years he had been a respectable merchantman. It puzzled him how Clarence Wickham had learned he had once hunted pirates, but he supposed it was no real secret.
"Captain?"
Captain Thomas turned to regard his boatswain, who happened to be his best friend. The two had been boys together on the docks of Bristol and had gone to sea at the same time. He smiled. "Come on, Michael, you know nobody else is around. How goes it?"
Michael Johnson smiled. "It goes well, Rob. I read out the details of the mission, and not a man of them opted out."
"The men are all aboard, then?" Captain Thomas inquired.
"Not quite all, Captain."
Captain