“Aye,” Cormac rasped. “A pretty subject who happens to be my wife. ” With a nonchalant shrug, Jack turned and strolled toward the rear of the ship, his clear assumption being that they'd follow. “I'm told you want a younger lad, but there's not much promise in that group. You might find more satisfaction with—”
“We want a younger lad. ” Cormac didn't follow. Instead, he stood firmly, legs apart and arms crossed at his chest. He was a man who'd brook no disagreement, and the vision of him made Marjorie swell with admiration.
Jack stopped. Looking between Cormac and Marjorie, he shook his head ruefully. “'Tis your coin. ” He nodded to the front of the ship, at a structure standing one deck high, nesded in the bow. “We keep the young lads there. ”
“In the crew's quarters?” Cormac looked suspicious, and it put Marjorie on alert. “Why not the hold?” Jack sighed dramatically. “There was two or three of the men what was beginning to pay the lads too much mind.
We had to stow them in the foc'sle instead. ”
Marjorie shivered. If Davie had been touched or harmed in any way, she'd come back and personally send each and every one of the men to find their fates on a foreign plantation.
Jack's eyes flicked to Marjorie, and for a second, some vile thing glimmered there. “Come on, then,” he said, strolling to the forecastle.
“No. ” Cormac stood firm. “We'll not go below. ”
Jack sneered. “Just you then, if the lady wife is too afeared. ”
“The lady wife doesn't leave my sight. ” He stepped beside her. “You'll bring the boys above deck if you want to see your coin. ”
It struck Marjorie that these foul men could simply take their coin, and there'd be none to stop them. Cormac was right; there was no way she was going down into the crew's quarters. Who knew what awaited them there. She sidled even closer to him.
“The boys are tied,” Jack protested. “You canna expect me to drag the whole line of squirming, wee pests on deck, like a drove of cattle to market. ”
“That's precisely what I expect. ” Cormac rubbed the side of his coat, and seeing the bulge, Marjorie realized he had a pistol holstered there.
The man's eyes went flat, and then, with a single resentful nod, he headed to the front of the ship and disappeared into the hatch.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“No worries, Ree. ” He affected a smile that she suspected was purely for her benefit. “Neither of us will be going belowdecks. I can assure you, I've had my fill of tight spaces for one lifetime. ” The comment threw her for a moment, until she realized the episode with Aidan surely would have traumatized him in more ways than one. “Is it because of the chimney? Do you not like to be enclosed?” He only looked at her, but his gaze was distant, some faraway memory replaying in his mind. Finally, he said,
“You could say I'm not overly fond of confinement, no. ”
Cormac tossed the reply off to her with the same nonchalance he'd been feigning all morning. Though he'd been pretending calm, he'd been on alert since the moment he'd shouted a summons to the hands on deck.
He hadn't wanted to alarm her. Though true, he hadn't exactly been comfortable in tight spaces since getting stuck as a boy, the real reason he didn't want to go belowdecks was far more pressing. The deckhands needed but one sharp hit to the back of Cormac's skull, and they could be off with Ree, away to do the devil knew what with her.
And when they were done, he imagined she'd fetch a pretty price in the middle of the Indies.
Just the thought of it had his hand touching the weapon at his side, an old wheel-lock pistol that'd belonged to a grandfather he'd never known. God spare him, it was good to be wearing a pistol again.
Then a hopeful thought flickered bright in the recesses of his mind. Might they truly be close to retrieving Davie? Subterfuge, idle threats, and a whole lot of confident posturing had gotten them this far. Could his godforsaken gifts for killing and spying actually be used for good?
Perhaps he was redeemable after all. The notion brought him closer to Ree's side. She looked up at him, and though she had a quizzical look on her face, she remained silent. He put his hand at her slender waist, giving her a gentle squeeze. She had her own sense for subterfuge, God love her, though the poor thing must be a bundle of nerves inside, despite her bravado.
Redemption. The thought made his heart clench. If such a thing were possible, he had Ree to thank for his soul.
There was a ruckus, and he felt her stiffen at his side. “Steady, Ree. ”
“Settle yerselves!” The grizzled man with the missing teeth emerged from the forecastle, shouting orders down the ladder. “One by one, or you're all in for a flogging. ”
She took in a sharp breath, and Cormac whispered, “Be calm. ”
A half dozen boys gradually spilled one at a time onto the deck, all filthy and squinting as though they hadn't seen the sun in days. The biggest of the lot couldn't have been older than ten.
Cormac scanned the group, and Davie stood out at once. A little ginger-haired boy, just as she'd described. He hoped the lad had sense and didn't give them away.
Ree gasped, and he was quick to steady her with a firm hand at her elbow. It would do them no good if she were the one who spoiled their disguise.