men; they then drew back to look at him in silence, not sure what to do next. Anna brought a knife and slit his breeches at the side so that they could see the wound to his thigh. She examined it and then looked at Maribel.
‘It has bled a lot, but is not too deep. He should mend without too much help from the surgeon,’ she said on a note of relief. She then slit open the sleeve of his shirt all the way to the shoulder. ‘This is a little deeper, but I think neither wound will kill him—providing he does not take a fever.’
‘It seems you were in time to save his life. Thank you,’ Maribel said to Higgins. Tears trickled down her cheeks, but she brushed them away. She turned to Anna, an appealing expression in her eyes. ‘Please tell me what to do. You know better than I how to help him.’
‘We must cleanse and bind the wounds,’ Anna told her. ‘I do not know what more we can do, but the surgeon will tell us when he comes. It may be that he will cauterise the wound to Sylvester’s shoulder.’
Maribel’s face turned white and she swayed, clutching at a bedpost to steady herself. She had never been present when it was done, but she knew that to apply a hot iron to open flesh must be fearful and would cause terrible pain.
‘I pray God that it will not be needed,’ she whispered. ‘I shall fetch water and clean linen.’
She was praying and crying at the same time, for she was afraid that whatever they did Justin might die.
The surgeon had closed Justin’s wounds without cauterising them, cleansing the skin with a mixture of his own that smelled like alcohol to Maribel and binding him tightly to stop further bleeding. When he had finished, he turned to Maribel.
‘Fortunately, they are both little more than flesh wounds. He should heal within a week or two if he rests, but you must watch for a fever. That blow to the head has rendered him unconscious. Such wounds can kill a man, but sometimes the victim recovers without serious harm. You must watch over him and wait. I will leave something to help him with the pain. If a fever develops, you must keep him cool, and if necessary send for me again.’
‘Thank you.’ Maribel’s throat was tight as she held back her tears. ‘Anna is very good. She will help me to nurse him and she knows how to prepare mixtures that help with a fever, if she has the herbs.’
‘Send to me if you need anything and I will bring whatever Anna requires. It is best that she does not go looking for her herbs alone—the mood here is still uncertain. ’ He wrinkled his brow in thought. ‘I do not blame you or Sylvester. I dare say the ships found us by chance, as was bound to happen one day. Had they been prepared for an attack, they would have done much more damage and probably sent a party ashore to look for you.’
‘I think much as you do,’ Maribel said. ‘My father would have sent men ashore to look for me if he had planned this attack; I believe they must have found the island by chance. However, they may return with more ships and more men; my father is a vengeful man.’
‘There is talk of setting up cannon on shore in case we are attacked from the sea again, though others talk of leaving the island, giving up the attempt to settle here. Most of the captains neglected to protect their ships; they felt safe here, but this attack will make them take measures to make sure next time we can at least fight back. However, some feel the island is no longer safe for us.’
He smiled as he took his leave. Maribel thanked him. She stayed by Justin’s side, watching as he lay unconscious. He was breathing still, but had given no sign of coming to himself, though he had moaned once or twice as the surgeon treated his wounds.
‘Please live,’ she whispered. Her tears came freely now for she could no longer hold them back. One or two fell on his face as she bent over him, pressing her cheek to his. ‘I love you, my own dear pirate. I would not tell you if you could hear me—but I love you as I have never loved anyone else.’
Bending over him, she bathed his forehead with a cloth wrung out in cool water, then slid it over his shoulders and arms. His body was so hot and he had been throwing his arms out of the bed.
‘I love you so,’ she said as the tears trickled down her cheeks. ‘I know so little of you, but you are brave and generous, and I was luckier than I knew when you took me captive. Please get better, my dearest. If you died I should not want to live.’
Justin did not stir. She looked for a flicker of his eyelids, but there was none. Please God he would wake soon…she could not think of a future without this man.
As the night wore on he began to moan and move restlessly in his bed, calling out a name she could not quite catch. She lay a hand on his forehead and thought he felt too warm. The surgeon had told her to keep him cool. Maribel hesitated and then fetched water in a bowl; it was cold from the well and she dipped a cloth into the cool water bathing his face and neck once more. He was still hot, so she stroked her cloth down his arms, then drew back the covers to his waist and bathed his chest. He seemed to settle then and she replaced the covers.
His breathing was easier now and she thought that he seemed more comfortable than before. She settled down on a blanket beside the bed and after a little fell asleep.
When a sound awoke her light was beginning to creep into the room. She started up, giving a little moan as she felt the stiffness in her back from lying on the floor. Getting to her feet, she looked at her patient and saw that he was now awake and staring at her.
‘That was foolish of you, Maribel,’ he said, looking stern. ‘You should have gone to your own bed—or had someone else watch me. Where is Anna?’
‘Anna has enough to do. She helped the surgeon when he tended you—and she stopped the bleeding when you were brought back. It did not hurt me to watch over you for a while.’ She reached out to touch his forehead, but he caught her wrist. ‘You were hot last night. I thought you might have a fever.’
‘I have a damnable soreness in my thigh and left shoulder.’ His gaze narrowed. ‘I remember fighting the rogues off, but then something hit me from the side.’ He scowled. ‘There were too many of them. It is impossible to guard against such a cowardly blow. What happened after that—how did I get here?’
‘Fortunately, Higgins and some of your men arrived to drive the wretches off. You were unconscious when they brought you home. Anna tended you first and then the surgeon came.’
His eyes were on her face. ‘You know what is being said of you?’
‘That the attack was because of me. Do you believe that? Do you think I would want that to happen?
‘I know you would not. That it was your father’s ships is not in question. However, it may have been chance that brought them here—unless Hendry revealed the secret of the island and how to enter its waters. One reason this island was chosen from so many others is that there is chain of rocks guarding it. Only those that have visited know how to navigate the channel. If your father’s ships got close enough to inflict so much damage, they must have known the secret—but if they came for you, why was there no attempt to rescue you?’
‘I do not know—perhaps I was not important.’
Justin frowned and was silent for a moment. He knew, but would not tell her that her father cared so little for her that he had been willing to give her up for the return of his map. Sabatini was evil and it made him wonder if the man was truly her father. ‘I think he came to show me what could happen to me if I do not return his map.’
‘You
