“Captain, I found something,” Dobbs said, running toward me. He held up a handful of green herbs as Cookie and Dwyer rushed over.
“Aye, that’s the rosemary she was picking,” Cookie said.
“Where was this?” I demanded. I’d never heard my own voice sound so shaky.
“At the flat spot at the start of the forest path,” Dobbs said.
“Smart lass indeed,” Clementine said. “She dropped it as a marker.”
“Stay here in case she comes back,” I hollered toward Clementine, already racing to the edge of the forest with the men at my heels.
I knew that Willy would prevent anyone from leaving the main port, but nobody would be watching a tiny dock or shore on the other side of the town.
It was slow going, traipsing through the thick undergrowth. If a man were carrying a woman, he would not be getting very far very fast. If he were making Maggie walk, I knew that she wouldn’t be in a hurry.
After a while, we came to a fork in the path. Scanning the dirt and the nearby branches, there was no way to tell which way they may have gone.
“Dobbs, Dwyer, go left,” I ordered. “Cookie, with me.”
I knew that the older, slightly chubby man could not keep up, as I raced ahead, but he could relay shouts if need be.
I might have been younger than Cookie, but living on a ship, I was not accustomed to running. As my heart began to pound, it was as if my guilt and shame were thumping in my ears.
I had vowed to keep Maggie safe. Then I had left her alone. What sort of man allows his love to be kidnapped right under his own nose?
Perhaps I truly was a bad man. Undeserving of such a darling girl.
~ Cha pter 23 ~ Maggie ~
* Colors to Gray *
Although I was dizzy and helpless, I managed to spit the rag from my mouth. Mr. Helsby carried me roughly, gripping the back of my legs as my head bounced just above his backside.
As sick and brain addled as I was, I was also completely humiliated. I hated that he was touching me so inappropriately.
He was clearly not quite strong enough to be carrying me for such a distance, huffing and puffing along the way. As much as I needed to be free of his horribly close grip, I also hoped that he didn’t drop me on my head.
I stayed silent, trying to clear my lungs and my mind. Being upside down was doing strange things to my breathing. The panic was creeping in, as if a sticky cold fog was seeping through every part of me. It prickled down my neck and through my limbs.
Then I heard the faint sound of waves lapping at the shore.
Many thoughts crowded into my head at once. If he had me on a boat and I was tied up, I would be utterly helpless should I fall overboard.
If he got me onto a boat, there would also be no trail for the Captain to follow. There was no way to know whether he found a little pile of herbs I’d dropped as a trail marker.
The ropes biting into my wrists made the white hot stomach-churning panic rise up even more than being locked in the cellar. It hurt. It was a reminder that wherever he was taking me, I was going to be hurt even worse.
Mr. Helsby nearly stumbled, then straightened up, adjusting me on his shoulder as he shook me painfully.
“Only a nasty little harlot would kiss a pirate,” he muttered. “I’ll drag you home so your father can beat you properly and lock you in the cellar for a while. Then once I tell the entire town what you’ve done and you’ve been shamed, I can double the dowry required to make you appear like an honorable woman again.”
He stepped over a log, jostling me so hard I groaned in pain.
“No respectable man will ever want you, since your virtue is obviously in question. But I’ll make do if the price is adequate.”
The dark shadows began creeping around the corners of my sight, as I worried I might faint again.
“I wasn’t sure if the stories were true,” he mumbled, huffing even harder. “Taken away by dirty pirates. Perhaps you wanted to be their filthy whore. Did they take turns with you?”