Steel

Suddenly, so quickly she stumbled at the freedom of it, she left the forest and entered open country near the edge of Nassau. And standing before her were Henry, Abe, and Captain Cooper. Jill stared, gasping for breath, disbelieving. Behind her, two more of the crew tore out of the trees. They looked hot and sweaty and were brushing dirt and debris off themselves. Jill, holding back a sob of relief, wondered how long they’d been chasing after her.

Henry looked like he’d been running, trying to catch his breath. He had his sword drawn and grasped it like he was anxious for a fight.

“God, Jill!” he said. “You’re all right! You an’t hurt!”

She wasn’t sure that was entirely true, but she was here and alive. She nodded, sheepish at the panic. He went on, still desperate. “When I’d heard you were after Blane, I thought—you were gone, we’d find you hacked to pieces and that would be the end of it. Are you barmy, are you trying to get yourself killed?”

He was truly worried about her. All his joking had disappeared, and if he really had found her dead, he would have gone after Blane himself, and Blane would have thrown him over the cliff, too.

Jill stared at him. If they’d been alone, if they hadn’t both been holding swords, she would have flung herself at him and kissed him.

Instead, before Jill could do anything, Captain Cooper smiled and let out a sigh. She said, “Bloody hell, you’ve got his sword.”

PASSÉ

They moved quickly from the woods back to Nassau and to the wharf. Arranged like a military squadron, Cooper and Abe in the lead; Tennant and Matthews behind, pistols drawn, keeping watch; Henry stayed at Jill’s elbow, gazing outward like he expected demons to attack them. And maybe Blane really could send demons after them.

Cooper let her keep the broken sword. Jill slung her own, whole rapier back in its hanger on her belt, and held the broken one in sweaty hands.

“What happened back there?” Henry asked. “What the blazes were you doing?”

“I thought maybe Blane would know how to get me home,” she said, weakly, sad now that the thought had ever occurred to her.

“So what happened? Did you find him? Obviously you found him, or at least his sword. Did you talk to him? What did he—”

“I challenged him to a duel,” Jill said, wincing.

“Bloody hell, you did not,” Henry said. His lip curved, a hint of his usual smile. “Please tell me you killed him dead.”

“No. I ran. I guess that makes me a coward.”

“Never!” Henry said, laughing. “Real pirates always run from fights, and I knew you were a real pirate the moment we fished you out of the drink.”

“Captain, look ahead there,” Abe said, holding out an arm to stop the company. He nodded ahead but didn’t point. Jill saw a small group of men, four or five of them, pistols drawn, emerge from an alley ahead, looking back and forth, searching.

“Right, this way,” Cooper said, turning to cut through the yard of a squat clapboard building, a maze of rotten coils of rope and broken timbers. The way was dark; Jill couldn’t see the ground more than a few feet before her, and every step was treacherous. Single file, the group picked a path through the debris, past the building, and out of view of their pursuers.

They made their way to a rocky shore.

“They’ll be watching the pier,” Cooper said. “Abe and Tennant, bring us a rowboat and we’ll try to sneak out from under them. Matthews, go through the town, get everyone back on the ship. We’ve got to fly and we only have a little time before the tide turns against us. Anyone who’s left is left. Go!” The men ran.

The remaining three of them waited, backs together, looking out in all directions. Henry and Cooper had pistols drawn, and Jill suddenly felt defenseless with only two swords. A sword and a half, really.

Captain Cooper took the opportunity to berate her. “What did you think you were doing then, running off on me like that? Going to sell me out to my enemy then? Deserting the ship and going turncoat?”

“I don’t know what I was doing,” Jill said, sullen. “You didn’t seem to care all that much about what happened to me, so I had to take care of myself.”

“By running to Blane?” she said, scowling.

“If he brought me here, even by mistake, he ought to know how to send me home, right?”

“And what did the man do, then? Apologize and offer to send you home straight away?” Cooper said.

“No. He was going to throw me off a cliff.”

“There, you see?”

“But I got his sword,” Jill said.