Page 139 of Storm over the Caribbean
His eyes found mine, boring into me, their meaning clear. Instantly, I slammed my fist into the air. “No! Never!”
Without looking at him, I buried my elbow in Jack’s ribs.
“Oomph! What the—oh. Never! Never!”
“They’re right!” Another shout rose from a delightfully gullible soul. “We won’t be ordered around!”
“Aye! We won’t let ourselves be led around by the nose!”
“We’re pirates!”
“We’re free!
“Yes, you are!” Mr Ambrose shouted. “And do you plan to stay that way?”
“Yes!”
“You want to plunder and steal whatever you want?”
“Yes!”
“You want to stay free?”
“Yes!”
“You want to put down anyone who holds you back?”
“Yeeees!”
“You see, Captain?” Turning back to the pirate captain, who had remained still and silent throughout this little speech, Mr Ambrose stabbed his sabre towards him. “Seems like you aren’t wanted anymore.”
“Aye.” Twirling his bloody cutlass, the captain sent blood spatters all over the sand. “Too bad it ain’t their bloody decision to make!”
“Agreed.” Mr Ambrose took a step forward, not lowering his weapon for an instant. “This can only be decided one way.”
Holy shit! This is really happening!
Gulping, I stared at the two men as they stalked towards each other. When he tried to egg on the crowd, I had supported Mr Ambrose instinctively, but only now the realization of what that meant really settled in. A fight to the death. And not with any random thug, but with a man who had fought, bled, and led his men for decades. And, most importantly, a man who hadsurvived.
A man my husband would now have to fight.
Inwardly cursing, I lowered my fist, still raised in the air from cheering on the suicidal son of a bachelor.
Dammit, Lilly! Why can’t you ever keep your mouth shut?
I hadn’t found an answer to that question by the time the two men came to a stop approximately fifteen feet away from eachother. The tension in the air was so thick I could practically taste it. And it didn’t just come from the two opponents facing each other. Most of the men on the beach had drawn their weapons by now and seemed ready to fight at any moment. And, by the looks of things, they weren’t the only ones. While Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s little speech might have convinced the men on the island, the crew still on the captain’s ship most certainly did not seem interested in joining my husband. Quite the opposite, in fact.
“Traitors!” Growling, one of the pirates up on the ship jumped over the railing and started wading towards the shore, sabre in his hand.
“Don’t you bloody move!” the captain roared.
“But, Captain—”
“I said don’t bloody move!” With a jerk of his free hand, the captain commanded silence. Not bothering to look at the men behind him, he strode forward. “I am Captain Kenneth Briggs! I’ve sailed these bloody seas for more years than that beardless gigolo—” He stabbed his cutlass at Mr Rikkard Ambrose. “—has been alive. I donotneed anyone fighting my battles for me!”
The captain’s eyes zeroed in on Mr Ambrose. “That is, if there is going to be a battle, boy?”
In answer, Mr Rikkard Ambrose merely took up a fighting stance.
