Page 149 of Storm over the Caribbean
None of the pirates noticed a muscle in Mr Ambrose’s cheek twitching ever so slightly at the mention of the name. With a lastnod at his men, my husband strode over to my side and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Captain Rockface? Really?”
I tried not to smirk. I really did. I failed utterly. “Well,someonehad to come up with a name for you. Or would you have preferred for the Royal Navy to hunt Captain Rikkard Ambrose? I’m sure Queen Victoria would havelovedto hear how her wedding guest took up piracy.”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Mr Ambrose’s little finger twitch. “That would have been…displeasing.”
“I sense a ‘but’ there.”
His icy eyes bored into me. “Rockface? CaptainRockface?”
“I’ve got spiffing naming sense, haven’t I?”
“Indeed.” He lowered his voice, eyes narrowing dangerously. “A naming sense Iverymuch hope you will further improve before the time comes to christen our child.”
“Oh, don’t you worry.” I patted his shoulder. “I’ve already got the perfect name in mind.”
“Why do I suddenly feel dread?”
“Because you are about to embark on a dangerous pirate raid?” I gave him another pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Why, thank you so much for your concern, Mr Linton. I am certain you shall be fine as well.” And, turning back to the pirates, who were busy boarding the ship, he called out: “Everyone! Our cook has agreed to prepare a fabulous feast for our return! And he’ll do it all on his own!”
This time, the cheer that went up from the crowd was three times as loud. Before I could get out so much as a word of protest, he was already fifteen feet away, climbing into the dinghy that would take him to the ship.
“Farewell!” Raising his hand, he gave me a little wave. “Enjoy the cooking, Freddy!”
And he was gone.
Son of a…!
He was going to pay for this. He definitely would. Even if I would have to pry the money from his cold, dead hands.
“Ha, Freddy!” A hand clapped down on my shoulder, and, glancing around, I spotted Jackal, who had stayed behind after taking part in three successive raids. “Seems like you’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice your amazing cooking skills! Great, isn’t it?”
“Oh yes. I can hardly contain my joy.”
“Aye, I know how you feel! I love my job, too!”
“Your job being blowing up ships and stealing other people’s hard-earned money.”
He beamed. “Exactly!”
“I see. Well…”
“Yes?”
I gave him an innocent smile. “Seeing as you will be eating the food, too, would you mind helping me search for ingredients? I don’t exactly know where to find fresh fruit and herbs on this island.”
“No problem!”
“Oh, and…”
“Yes?”
“If there are any herbs that taste horrible, or stuff that would make one vomit or something like that, do point it out, will you? I plan to prepare something special for our beloved captain, and I wouldn’t want to make him sick by mistake, would I?”
“Of course not! Come along, I’ll make sure to point out anything like that.”
“Good! Very good! Mwahahahaha!”
