Page 85 of Scourge of the Shores
Danna’s fingers curled against the stone.
"Just beyond the threshold of what I fear," she whispered to the wind, then scoffed, the words bitter on her tongue.
The fresh sea breeze filled her lungs. The day started, but there wasn’t any rush, not anymore. She lazily dipped her toe in and out of the small, crested lapping waves. She glanced at the horizon, and a black line appeared. She squinted.
“What’s that?” she muttered. Her heart began to race. The black lines became black spots until they became outlines of black pirate sails billowing in the winds. Lots of them, coming too fast. Were they on a current or sent by the gods? How could they be coming so fast?
She spun around and stuffed her feet into her boots while shouting orders. “Get to the watches!” she yelled. “Hide the children. Get the goats inland. Load the guns!”
Lucas, with his arm around Isabelle, turned to see before he repeated her commands in a harried response. He pushed Isabelle toward the hiding places and came out of his hut with a long musket and his three flintlocks on his belt.
“Line the shore.” He directed the first watch. “Hold yer position,” he ordered the second watch, hunkered down waiting to ambush.
Danna sprinted to her hut and grabbed her weapons. Ma shuffled in the bed. “What is it? What’s going on?”
“Don’t know, Ma. Something’s headed straight for us.” But her mind focused on Rosa. He had wanted the island’s treasure. He had sunk Lucas’s ship. If Rosa was coming, then it meant Robert was dead. She pushed that thought away, unable to bear it.
She rushed out of the hut and down the beach with the last of the first wave. Lucas grabbed her shoulder before taking his spot with the ambushers just in case.
“I’ll cover ye,” Lucas said.
She nodded before taking a firm stride to the front line.
She stepped onto the rock barrier and motioned for the first watch to kneel behind it. “No more blood.” She looked to the sky for whatever god would listen. “No more blood,” she muttered.
The ships were coming fast until they anchored outside the bay. One looked familiar—a red hull with white sails. She’d only ever seen one ship like that. She refused to hold out hope, despite seeing the glittering gold “J” flapping in the wind.
A group of pirates came to them in a single rowboat.
Her lips twitched as her mind held them pinched and suppressed all assumptions. Why would Robert return with his fleet? If he did, were they all there to stay?
The scene was all too surreal.
She glanced at Lucas, hidden in the brush, before squinting again at the ships.
Robert’s face came into view as he hopped out of the rowboat. His Captain’s hat and sea coat were neatly pressed and cleaned. He strode up to her with his hand hooked on his lapel. His confident body posture betrayed the lines of anxiety on his face.
“Captain Chadwick.” He dipped his chin.
Danna blinked a few times to ensure Robert truly stood before her. Her tongue grew thick in her mouth. Her jaw hung slightly ajar. She ran her eyes over his face. It had matured. His beard was fully grown in yet nicely trimmed. The sharp, spiced scent hit her in the face, carried by the wind, and memories of the Northern Boulder rushed upon her. Was it real? Was this a dream?
“Captain Jaymes,” she forced out.
Robert’s dark blue eyes rimmed in brown locked with hers, searching for the answers to his unspoken questions. His mouth moved, but no words came out as he stared up at her on the rock barrier.
She should have been angry. She should have been furious. Three years? Surely the whole fleet wasn’t staying, which meant he wasn’t either. But her voice was thin, barely above a whisper.
“What . . . brings ye back to our humble isle?”
She tore away from his locked gaze and scanned the ships. There were at least thrice as many as there were the last time he had been there.
“You, Danna,” he whispered.
Her brow furrowed, her gaze snapping back to his. “After three years? Why? What for? I can’t leave. And ye don’t wanna stay? Why’s yer entire fleet doin’ here?” The questions fled from her mouth. She faintly felt the stares of the first watch, noticing the odd inflection in her voice, the unexpected exchange, and the unnatural frantic panic in her tone. Still, as loyal soldiers, they awaited her command to defend or be at ease.
Robert removed his hat and knelt before her.
Her breath hitched. Her knees locked in place. Three years. Three years of hoping, of aching, of forcing herself not to believe he would come back—and now there he was, kneeling before her. Her heart pounded so violently she was sure the entire island could hear it.
