Part 1 (2/2)
”Take your positions! Load that cannon! The bas-tards'llwish they'd stayed home planting crops after this fight, I fancy!”
The captain caught sight of Cathy and Martha standing as though frozen to the deck, and swore roundly. He stamped across to them and looked them over for a moment in silence. When at last he spoke, he made an obvious effort to be courteous.
”Lady Catherine, Miss Jameson, you must go below at once!” His control deserted himabrutly . ”d.a.m.n it, there's going to be fighting up here! With real guns and ammunition! Don't you women have any sense? Get below, and lock yourselves in your cabin!”
He turned on his heel and marched away, not trusting himself to say more. Martha tugged frantically at Cathy's hand as another cannon roared from the pirate s.h.i.+p.
”Miss Cathy, we've got to get below! You heard Captain Hogg! And they've started shooting! Please, Miss Cathy!”
Martha sounded terrified, and Cathy didn't blame her. She was frightened half to death herself, and she allowed Martha to drag her toward the open hatch. Just as they reached the opening the cannon from both s.h.i.+ps boomed simultaneously. Cathy swallowed a sob. This would be a wonderful tale to tell in a London drawing room, modestly downplayingher own heroic bravery; but what if the pirates should actually succeed in capturing the s.h.i.+p? Would they all be murdered, or worse?
Of late, the s.a.d.i.s.tic cruelty of pirates towards pa.s.sengers and crew members of captured s.h.i.+ps had been a favorite topic of conversation among the ladies of Portuguese society. They whispered of women being stripped naked, searched for loot, and then raped by entire pirate crews. If the women were young, and pretty, the pirates might let them live until they reached some port and let them go. Or they might throw them over the side to drown after having had their way with them. Listening to these tales, Cathy had felt a pleasant s.h.i.+ver of excitement go down her spine. But now . . . now it might happen to her! Suddenly the prospect did not seem exciting-it was terrifying.
”Dear G.o.d,” she prayed. ”Please help me. I'll be so good, if only you'll help me.”
”But of course they won't win,” she comforted herself, thankful for the first time that her father had insisted on putting her aboard a military s.h.i.+p like the ”Anna Greer.” It would certainly be impossible for a motley crew of pirates to capture such a heavily armed vessel!
Martha, nervously clucking, herded Cathy inside the small cabin that they shared. Cathy crossed to one of the narrow bunks and sank down upon it while Martha bustled about, first bolting the door, then piling all the movable furniture in the room up against it. Cathy laughed out loud. The furniture looked so funny, piled up against the door that way! Martha looked at her sharply.
'You'll not begettin ' hysterical on me, will you, Miss Cathy? There's no need to be frightened. Like as not,them devils will never even set foot on this s.h.i.+p.”
But even as Martha spoke, the harsh shriek of wood sc.r.a.ping on wood told a different tale. The pirates were trying to board the s.h.i.+p! Hoa.r.s.e cries and the clang of steel against steel rang out loud as the pirates threw grappling hooks to hold their prey,then rushed the crew of the”AnnaGreer” in a body.Theroar of the cannon shook both s.h.i.+ps and Cathy felt the ”Anna Greer” heel sharply to port as a cannon ball found its mark in her side.Thencamea sound like rain against a tin roof as bits of metal from a cannon ball raked the deck of the ”Anna Greer” like hail. Screams of men in mortal agony made Cathy turn white, and Martha quickly clapped her hands over the girl's ears.
”Don't you listen now, mylovely. Don't you listen,” she crooned, rocking the terrified girl back and forth in her arms.
The sounds of the battle raging above them grew more terrible. Cathy broke into tears and clutched at Martha frantically, pressing her head into the woman's ample bosom and sobbing as though she were seven instead of seventeen. Martha held her tightly, and Cathy took absurd comfort in the childish conviction that if Martha were there nothing bad could happen to her.
The fighting continued for what seemed like hours. In the close confines of the cabin Cathy and Martha lost all track of time. Hoa.r.s.e screams and the rattle of gunfire made them hide their heads under their pillows. But finally, and abruptly, there was silence.
After a long, agonized moment in which both women strained to hear any sounds that would tell them the outcome of the battle, Cathy sprang to her feet, clenching and unclenching her fists. She had to know. She couldn't bear not knowing. She began to walk towards the door like a sleepwalker. Martha scrambled after her, catching her around the waist and attempting to pull her back to the safety of the bunk.
”Let me go!” Cathy cried. ”I have to get out of here! I can't stand it! Please let me go!”
She tried to wrench herself free but Martha hung on grimly.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway outside the cabin. They bothfroze, eyes and ears trained on the door. The same question burned in both their minds. Who hadwon, the crew of the ”Anna Greer,” or the pirates?
The bolt rattled as someone on the outside tried to get in.
”Hey, Quincy, it's locked! Over here!” The voice was hoa.r.s.e with excitement.
Cathy swallowed convulsively, her knees suddenly weak. She sank back down upon the bunk, clinging to Martha for support. That voice, with its strange,tw.a.n.gy accent, certainly did not belong to a member of the ”Anna Greer's” crew. The pirates had taken over the s.h.i.+p!
”Everything's going to be all right, Miss Cathy,” Martha whispered fiercely. ”The good Lord will see to that. Just you be quiet now and hide yourself in that wardrobe.Martha'l keep 'emoff.”
Cathy protested tearfully, but Martha dragged her over to the tall oak wardrobe and thrust her firmly inside. Cathy stumbled, half-falling in the suffocating darkness. There was barely enough room for her to stand upright. Martha closed the wardrobe door without a sound and Cathy heard the click of the latch as it slid into place. She whimpered, like a small, frightened animal. Martha whispered to her rea.s.suringly through the thin panel.
”Everything'llbe all right, my lovely. You'll see. Just you be quiet in there and look to yourself.Martha'll take care of you.”
Cathy could hear Martha's footsteps receding as she moved away from the wardrobe. Left alone in that small s.p.a.ce, Cathy was terrified. She shook with fear, and had to press both hands tightly against her mouth to stifle her sobs. Her heart was beating so loudly that she was certain it would burst through her chest, at any moment. She could hear the pirates, outside in the hallway, as they began to hammer on the door.
”Open up in there!” the thickly accented voice ordered.
”Open up in there or we'll set fire to the door!”
A heavy crash shook the entire cabin, and Cathy's heart lurched sickeningly. The pirates were going to break down the door!
She sank abruptly to her knees. Her legs felt like they had suddenly turned to water. Her teeth chattered with fright.
”Please, G.o.d,” she prayed mindlessly. ”Please, oh, please!”
Another crash shook the cabin.Then another.And another. When a last splitting sound announced the surrender of the door, Cathy thought she was going to faint. Only the thought of being helpless in the hands of savages kept her conscious. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she had to stuff her skirt into her mouth to m.u.f.fle the sound of her ragged breathing.
”I must stay calm,” she told herself firmly. ”If I make a sound, they will surely find me.”
From the other side of the part.i.tion, Cathy heard grunts and the tramp of heavy feet as the pirates surged into the room. She heard Martha's voice, shrill now with fright, as she berated the invaders.
”Get ye gone, ye heathens!” Martha shrieked. 'The good Lord will smiteye with his sword for this day's work!”
Martha's words ended with a gurgle. There was the sound of a blow, and then a thud as though something heavy had fallen to the floor.
”Oh, dear G.o.d, no!” moaned Cathy, wanting to rush to Martha's defense but knowing that it would be worse than useless.
Although she strained to hear, there was no further sound from Martha. Cathy listened with helpless terror as the pirates tore the cabin apart. They left nothing undisturbed in their search for valuables, and Cathy knew it was just a matter of moments before they looked into the wardrobe. She hid herself as well as she could amidst the clothes that hung there, but she knew she would be immediately visible to anyone who chanced to open the door.
She heard footsteps approaching and braced herself. This was it.
The door to the wardrobe was jerked open. Light flooded in. The flushed, bewhiskered face of a man old enough to be her grandfather blinked at Cathybemus-edly . His teeth, exposed in a wide grin, had rotted to black stubs. Cathy shuddered, straining as far back into the recesses of the wardrobe as she could. She screamed as the pirate closed one grimy hand over her arm and dragged her from her hiding place.
The old man chuckled at her screams, and pulled her tightly against him, attempting to press his wet mouth to her lips. His breath was fetid and Cathy's stomach heaved with revulsion. She fought him fiercely, silently, too sick with fright to force enough air into her lungs for a scream. He sn.i.g.g.e.red, clearly enjoying her struggles, and held her out at arm's length while he lewdly ogled her from head to toe.
”Ain'tshe a beauty?” he marveled over his shoulder, and Cathy saw that there was another man who was bending over Martha's crumpled form. The second man straightened at his companion's words, and stared at Cathy with undisguised desire.
”By G.o.d, Quincy, she is that! We best hurry up and take a turn on her before theCap'n gets a gander at her! We likely won't get another chance!”
”My thoughts.e.xac'ly !”chortled Quincy, and he released his hold on Cathy's arm only to lock his hand over the neck of her gown and jerk downwards with all his might.
The thin silk gave with a loud rip, and Cathy's muslin chemise ripped with it. She stood exposed almost to the waist. She looked at the two leering men with dawning horror. It was true, then, about what happened to ladies taken prisoner by pirates! Her reflections were cut shortabrutly as Quincy reached out a hand to fondle her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. At his touch Cathy screamed like a demented creature, and tried frantically to pull away. The man giggled, on fire for the wench already, and his companion laughed out loud, adjuring him to be quick about it.
Quincy jerked her up against his chest, locking her hands behind her back as he pawed at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He tried again to kiss her, his slimy tongue leaving a wet trail across her face. She felt as though she would vomit.
”For G.o.d's sake, get on with it!” the other man urged hoa.r.s.ely, wetting his lips as he stared at Cathy's naked bosom.
Qyincybegan to force her down on the bunk, and Cathy fought him with a strength born of terror. She bit him, her teeth sinking deep into his hand, and when he jumped back she managed to free one hand and rake her nails viciously across his face. He swore, and balled his fist, ready to knock her unconscious and have done with the fight. Cathy screamed desperately one last time.
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