He had preyed on merchant ships, and the ships of friendly countries, also the Mistress Susanna, which was an English ship. He could not shame his father by returning to a trial and a hanging.
At the start he had been carried along by his sense of fair play and justice. The men had been ill treated and Captain Smythe had deserved what happened, perhaps more. Had he left the men to their own devices and gone to France to his cousins, Justin might have been able to return home, but it was too late. In Maribel’s eyes he had seen the disgust and contempt that his mother would feel if she learned what her son had become.
Justin had not sent word to let his parents know he was still alive. Better that they should think him dead than know what trade he followed…
Maribel sighed as she brushed her hair. The weather had been so hot these past days, and the ship had been becalmed for a short time, making a long journey seem endless. She was desperate to go ashore again, though nervous of what awaited her at their journey’s end. The atmosphere on board ship had become increasingly excited and tense as the ship drew nearer to its destination. The men could hardly wait for the promised time on shore and the division of spoils.
She had heard that some of the islands in the Caribbean had been for some time the haunt of pirates, and the seas about them were said to be a lawless place, but she had heard nothing of this island in the Aegean. She knew however that Corsairs haunted the Mediterranean seas, many of them from the Ottoman Empire. Her father had dismissed all pirates as thieves and rogues and spoken of a need for the seas to be swept clean by a sufficient force of ships ranged against them.
‘While that nest of rats is allowed to survive we shall none of us be safe from these rogues,’ she had heard him say more than once.
However, she knew that it was easier to talk of gathering a force to move against the brethren of the seas than to actually do it. Rich merchants cursed the pirates that preyed on them, but to fit out ships for battle was costly and wasted time that might be put to better effect. In truth, it was unlikely that it would happen unless several countries banded together.
Getting to her feet, Maribel gazed out of the window. She could see a dark haze on the horizon and knew that it must be the island they had sailed so far to find. Her heart pounded and she could scarcely breathe. She had been lulled into a sense of peace on the long journey for she had been treated with respect, both the pirate captain and his men seeming to keep a distance between them and her.
It was not so for Anna, who spent most of her time talking with Higgins or Tom on deck. She still did her work, but there was a new attitude in her manner. Now she was less deferential and treated Maribel more as a friend than a mistress.
Maribel was not certain how she felt about the new order. Anna had moved on while she was in limbo, neither a part of the close community that made up the crew or a prisoner. The men looked at her uncertainly, but few of them spoke to her.
‘At first they thought you were Sylvester’s woman,’ Anna had told her once. ‘Now they are not sure what you are to him. They keep you at a distance because he has said that any man who lays a finger on you will be hung.’
‘That was harsh.’ Maribel frowned. ‘Surely such words were not necessary?’
‘Some of them would respect you as a lady, others would rape you given the chance.’ Anna was brutally frank. ‘Some of the men are honest enough, but Higgins said that many are scum and not to be trusted. It will be worse when we get to the island and mix with the other crews.’
‘I see…’ Maribel shivered. Yet Anna had told her nothing she had not sensed from the beginning. She was safe only because she was under Captain Sylvester’s protection. ‘Perhaps it would be best if I did not go ashore.’
‘We shall all go ashore,’ Anna told her. ‘The ship must be cleaned and refitted. You could not stay on board while that was happening.’
‘I see.’ Maribel bowed to her superior knowledge. Higgins must have told her what would happen when they reached the island. Anna was one of them. Maribel was still an outsider. ‘Then I must wait until Captain Sylvester tells me what I must do.’
Chapter Four
‘We shall drop anchor in the bay this evening,’ Justin commented as he came to stand by Maribel that afternoon. She nodded, but did not turn her head to look at him.
Her gaze was intent on the island, a feeling of doubt mixed with anticipation in her heart. It had been just a dark smudge for some time, but now she could see the crowded waterfront with its untidy huddle of buildings. Few of them were substantial, most built of wood, and to her eyes of poor quality. Further back there were houses and taverns of a better standard, larger and more what she might have expected in a port anywhere, but it was clear that the community was small.
‘It is not what I expected.’
‘The accommodation here is not what you are used to, Maribel. I have a friend whose house is further inland. I shall take you there. Peg will look after you while we stay here.’
‘Who is he? I do not know the name? Is Peg an English name?’
‘It is a nickname, a woman’s name. I dare say she was once called Margaret.’ Justin frowned. ‘Peg was sentenced to hang for murder. She killed a man who tried to rape her. Someone rescued her from the noose; then she found a lover and went to sea with him, dressed as a man. She served before the mast for some months and was involved in a mutiny. Eventually, the crew landed here. She and her man ran the largest tavern on the waterfront. He died of a fever last winter, but she carries on. Everyone respects Peg and they know she would as soon stick a knife in a man as allow him to take liberties. If she takes you under her wing, you will be safe.’
‘Thank you.’ Maribel hesitated, then, ‘Where will you stay?’
‘I shall lodge at one of the taverns. I am building a house. I commissioned it when we were last here with what gold I had, not stolen but my own, which I had hidden about me when I was shanghaied aboard my first ship. It is expensive to bring in stone, though we have an abundance of timber, which is why so many buildings are made of it. Once the house is finished, I shall stay there when we visit the island.’
‘You were shanghaied—does that mean you were taken on board against your will?’
‘Yes. Why do you ask?’
‘I know so little of you, where you come from—and how you became a pirate. I do not think that you were always the man you are now?’
‘No, I was not always a pirate,’ Justin agreed. ‘It was never my intention to become one, but sometimes we have little choice in life. Had I not become a pirate, I and others might have died.’
‘You are a powerful man. Others obey you. Could you now not go where you wish?’
‘Perhaps this is what I wish for.’
Maribel turned to look at him, her eyes wide and intent. ‘Is this what you intend for the rest of your life? To roam the seas in search of prey and then come back to this place?’
Justin’s expression hardened. ‘I know that it must seem a wretched place after your homeland. The cities in Spain are beautiful and your home was no doubt solid and well built, the house of a wealthy man, but you were not happy there. Even a palace may be a prison if it is not a place of freedom. This island has been
