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  Elizabeth stepped forward and said with excitement, “Oh, Captain, it is breathtaking! I could never tire of waking up to this every morning.”

  “I know the feeling. This is why I spend the majority of my time on the sea. There is nothing more beautiful on this earth than the ‘scapes that nature affords us. Well, I can think of one thing more beautiful, but that conversation is for another time.”

  “Oh, do tell, Captain,” she said curiously.

  “Oh no. As I said, that is definitely for another time. Besides, I think we should enjoy the beauty before us.” I gestured toward the sun that was just peeking up over the horizon.

  “Seeing that sunrise, the beautiful colors in the sky, I can understand why,” she replied. I began to walk away and she called after me, “Captain.” I turned to acknowledge her and she added, “Are you walking about?”

  “I am. I walk the deck every morning. I try to get out early enough before the crew starts to attend to their various duties. They have specific tasks every morning to prepare the ship for another day of sailing, and I think that it is best that I stay out of their way.” I chuckled and for a moment, I thought I might have seen a smile cross her lips.

  “I was wondering that…if perhaps you might allow me to join you?” she asked.

  “Of course you may, Your Grace. I shall enjoy the company,” I replied. I turned to start walking down the one side of the ship and she quickly hurried to walk beside me. This was a most odd feeling—Elizabeth Bennet had never chosen to be in my company before. I thought about all the times that she and I had come to blows over one issue or another and all the times she had scowled at me, and I found the present situation a very acceptable change. Of course, her not knowing my true identity did help a bit.

  I offered her my arm and to my surprise, she took it willingly.

  “Take my lead, Your Grace. I know this ship like the back of my own hand and I have a careful path plotted out so we can enjoy the walk without being obstructed by the many obstacles on the deck.”

  As we carefully walked down one side of the ship and up the other, we talked about various pleasantries such as the weather. Once the conversation grew silent for a bit, Elizabeth said, “Captain, I realize that I am not a guest on a pleasure voyage across the Atlantic, but I was wondering if I may request a few things.”

  I replied curiously, “And what may those be?”

  “Well, Thomas will be awake soon. He is a young boy and has various needs, such as a morning meal. I am sure that breakfast on the ship is not a common practice—or lunch, I would assume.” She hesitated and then proceeded, “Would it be too much to ask that Thomas and I get some form of breakfast in the mornings? He is a growing boy and I would prefer that he not have to have one meal a day for the duration of our voyage.”

  I chuckled. She looked at me with ire, presumably because she thought I was laughing at her. I quickly said, “Forgive me, madam, I do not laugh at you. I laugh because I have been captain of this ship for eleven years and I still have breakfast every morning. I never told you, but before I became a captain I lived as a gentleman in England. There were many amenities that I was accustomed to and so I made sure that I received them on this ship as well. However, my crew prefers to work and have just one meal a day.”

  “And so is it fair to assume that you will share your breakfast with Thomas and me?” she said teasingly.

  I found it refreshing to see her loosen up a bit. She was starting to relax around me. I hoped she would eventually come to realize that I was not a bad man. I smiled and said, “I shall be honoured to have your company, Your Grace.” I waited to see if she was going to say anything. When she didn’t, I continued, “And your other requests?”

  “Oh, actually there is just one,” she replied, but said nothing more.

  “And that is?” I asked.

  “Well, you see, Thomas is quite impressionable. Please, Captain, I do not wish to offend you, but he tends to idolize pirates. My father has told him many stories of Charles Vane, Jack Rackham, Edward Teach, and the like. Jack ‘Calico’ Rackham is a hero of his.”

  “And you think there is a problem with that?” I asked, amused. I could tell what she was trying to say, but I loved watching her squirm. It was quite entertaining.

  “Captain, really. They were not nice men,” she said prejudicially.

  “Tell me, Your Grace, what do you know about those men?”

  “Is it not obvious? They were pirates. They plundered ships, hurt people, and stole things that did not belong to them.” She paused briefly and then added, “They were like you!”

  I had to laugh. Her indignant accusations were adorable. “So, this is your opinion of me?” I laughed again.

  “You know what I mean. It is true that you have shown us kindness a time or two, but you still are a pirate.”

  “Touché, madam,” I acquiesced. “So, I gather you are asking me not to encourage this?”

  “Well, yes. You will always stay on your ship, but I will eventually return home with my son. If you start romanticizing pirates and life at sea…well, he just may start believing that it is a good life. The last thing I want to hear out of his mouth is that he wants to be a pirate.”

  “You know, Your Grace, you might find that we are not so bad. Perhaps the stories you have been told are just that, stories. Maybe there is not any truth to them. Did you ever think about that?”

  She looked at me warily and replied, “I doubt that, Captain. I doubt that very much.” We continued to walk a little more in silence until she said, “Thomas shall be up soon. I should get back to our room. When and where should we be for breakfast?”

  “My dining room at half past six?” I suggested.

  “Perfect. Thank you, Captain.”

  “Thank you, Your Grace. It was a pleasure walking with you this morning,” I responded.

  Chapter 10

  Elizabeth

  As I walked back to my cabin, I realized I was having trouble justifying my anger toward the captain. I was still angry with him for taking Thomas and me hostage, and for sending my father and the ladies to God knows where, but besides that, he was being kind and amiable. My conversations with him had been polite and pleasurable and I was finding it hard to believe that he was a pirate.

  He did say that he had grown up as a gentleman. What could have possessed a man of good connections to want to be a pirate? Had he lost his fortune? Perhaps he was a second son and did not inherit? The more I thought about his past, I became sure I knew the answer. Well, at least the romantic side of me was sure—he had become a pirate because the woman he loved had scorned him. Yes, that was it. It was a classic romance novel in the making. My practical side was not so sure, but whatever the reason, I thought I would like to get to know him better. He intrigued me and there was an odd familiarity to his countenance.

  I returned to our cabin and found Thomas still asleep. I walked over to him and nudged him a bit. “It is time to wake up, my son.” He stirred a little but then rolled over and went back to sleep. “Thomas.” I nudged him again. “You must wake up. We are having breakfast with the captain.”

  “The captain?” he asked sleepily.

  I smiled. “Yes, dear heart, the captain. Hurry now, you must awake.”

  “I am awake. Breakfast with the captain! Really, Mama?” he asked, sounding more excited that I had wanted him to be.

  “Yes. Now get dressed,” I ordered.

  As Thomas was getting dressed, he asked, “Mama, do you think Captain Sterling knew Jack Rackham?”

  “No, Thomas, I do not. Jack Rackham departed this earth long before Captain Sterling began sailing the seas,” I replied.

  “How do you know that?” he asked quizzically.

  “Because Captain Sterling told me,” I said.

  “When did he tell you that? Did the captain tell you stories about him, Mama? Did you talk about Calico Jack?”

  Irritated, I replied, “Enough, Thomas. Hush up and finish getting dr
essed.”

  Disappointed, he replied, “Yes, Mama.”

  When Thomas had finished dressing, we left our cabin and proceeded to the captain’s dining area. “Mama, when did they stop locking our door?” Thomas asked.

  “Last night, sweetheart. We cannot run away while we are no longer anchored by the Amity, so apparently the captain felt it was not necessary anymore,” I replied.

  We got to the captain’s dining room and I knocked on the door.

  “Enter,” he replied.

  Thomas and I walked into the dining area to find the captain sitting at the table surrounded by an array of food. Unfortunately, it was not the breakfast food to which we were accustomed. It appeared that the meal would be the remainder of last night’s dinner.

  Captain Sterling said, “Forgive me, Your Grace. I realize this was not what you were expecting for breakfast this morning, but it is all that we have. I assure you, you will acquire a taste for the food that we eat at sea. I did, although it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.”

  “No apology necessary. We are most grateful that you have invited us to join you. Is that not so, Thomas?”

  “Yes, ma’am!” Thomas replied as he walked over to the table and seated himself next to Captain Sterling. I could already see Thomas’ attachment to the captain growing. Since his father’s passing, I had found him latching on to the men in his life to fill the void that his father left behind, and Captain Sterling was just about the right age. If I had to make a guess, I would not be surprised if he and Bash were the same age.

  As I walked over to my seat across from Captain Sterling, he looked over at Thomas and said, “So, Your Grace, did you sleep well?”

  “Did you hear that, Mama? He called me Your Grace!” He turned back toward Captain Sterling and replied, “Yes sir, I did, thank you.”

  I interrupted their conversation and addressed Captain Sterling directly, saying, “I have no idea how long we are going to be sailing together, but I think we can forgo the use of titles. Please call us Elizabeth and Thomas. Under the circumstances, titles can be a bit cumbersome, do you not think?”

  He smiled. “I wholeheartedly agree, Your…I mean, Elizabeth.” I could have sworn I saw him stumble a bit on his words and I think he actually blushed when he said my name. Then he added, “You can call me Max.”

  Thomas interjected, “May I call you Max too?”

  Mortified, I replied, “Thomas, you know better. No, you may not call him Max. You will show the captain respect.”

  “But Mama…” Thomas started, but he stopped as soon as he noticed my frown of disapproval.

  “If I may, Elizabeth? I would actually prefer it if young Thomas calls me Max. I do not require anyone but my crew to address me as captain.”

  “But it is not proper,” I protested.

  “I insist. And if you do not comply, then I shall throw you both in the brig!” he said, laughing. I knew he was teasing and found it quite pleasant to hear him laugh. But then I looked over at Thomas and saw that he looked terrified.

  Unable to contain my mirth, I started to laugh too. Finally, by our laughter, Thomas realized that Captain Sterling had been teasing and began laughing too.

  The “beast” was slowly disappearing right before my very eyes and the man that was emerging was growing on me more and more.

  Chapter 11

  Captain Sterling

  As the weeks passed, I found myself looking forward to each new day.

  Every morning when I would arrive on deck for my morning walk, Elizabeth was on deck waiting for me. She and her son broke their fast with me every morning after our walk and she dined with me every evening. Thomas quickly made it clear that he preferred to dine with the crew, and although Elizabeth was not too keen on the idea initially, after much persuading she finally agreed. We had fallen into such a routine that it almost felt as if we were a family. I knew that Thomas was not my son, but I was growing fonder of him every day. Still, I knew that unless I made some change to our current situation, it would not be long before I would be saying goodbye to both of them. That was something I was not prepared to do.

  There were a couple of instances where things were not quite so pleasant between us. She continued to ask about her father and I continued to deny her the truth. I wanted her to worry about him and I wanted her compliant, so I refused to give her any additional information about him. She also made it clear on several occasions that I did not own her, as one of my sailors had told her on her first day on the ship. On these occasions, I reminded her that I did in fact own her and that she would do well to continue to do as she was told. She called me a beast on several occasions and stormed off, but her ire never lingered very long.

  Elizabeth remained unaware of my real identity and as each day passed and we proceeded to get closer, I made more excuses to myself for not telling her. I knew that she would not be happy with me when she found out the truth, and by telling her I risked losing her forever. As much as I hated deceit, I believed it was best that I remained silent about my identity.

  One evening when I was unable to sleep, I decided to go up on deck. I had been debating with myself over the predicament in which I found myself and I needed to clear my head.

  Arriving on deck, I was surprised to find Elizabeth leaning over the rail on the port side bow. I was worried for her safety and walked over to her. “You must be careful, Elizabeth. We cannot afford to have you fall overboard.”

  “Oh Max, I assure you that I will not fall overboard. I was hoping to see some dolphins in the darkness, but I am not having much luck. I suppose it is too dark.”

  “Yes, this is not the time to look for dolphins. I would suggest trying again in the morning. Perhaps we can look tomorrow on our walk?”

  “I would like that, thank you.” She paused, then added, “What brings you up on the deck this fine evening?”

  “Honestly, I was having trouble sleeping,” I replied.

  “What could possibly keep you up at night? You live such a carefree life at sea.”

  I shook my head. I always found it amazing how some people’s perceptions could become their realities. “You would be surprised,” I replied, but offered nothing more.

  Just then, Smead walked up to us. He said, “Capt’n, I fear we may be sailing into some bad weather. The winds have picked up and if ye see over yonder, we be seeing some black clouds heading our way.”

  I took notice of the wind, which I had not noticed before. I was ashamed of myself for not seeing this coming. I had been so preoccupied with my attentions to my guests that I had failed to perform my job. The clouds that Smead spoke of were fast approaching, which left us little time to prepare.

  “We are going to have to act fast, Smead.”

  “Aye aye, Capt’n,” he replied.

  I began barking orders. “All hands on deck! Furl the main sails!” Men were scurrying everywhere carrying out my orders. Amidst the chaos on the deck, I turned toward Elizabeth and said, “Go back to your cabin. Now. Try to secure anything in your cabin that will move and make sure Thomas stays in that hammock!”

  “But Max, I can help!” Elizabeth yelled as the wind drastically picked up. She tried to maintain her balance but when the ship took a sharp lean to the left, she fell into my arms. At that moment, time stood still. It did not matter that my ship was most likely going to sink from this storm, or that we were all going to die. No, nothing mattered but having her in my arms. Her gaze never left mine and I could have sworn that she was silently begging me to kiss her. Damn storm! I had things to tend to and I needed her to get to safety.

  “No! Go now!” I yelled as I pushed her away. “Once we get things handled up here I will be down to check on you and Thomas. Now go!”

  “But ….”

  I cut her off. “GO!”

  Like a petulant child, she turned and headed back down the stairs.

  After Elizabeth left, I proceeded to help my crew. Total darkness encased us as the cloud
s thickened. There was no moon or light as the clouds took over the sky. The wind continued to get stronger, making the water produce bigger and bigger waves. Sailors struggled to get the sails down and I immediately went over to help. I slipped on the deck but quickly arose to offer my assistance. The wind slammed the rain in our faces, making it more difficult to see what we were trying to do.

  I ordered four men to remain on deck to keep watch and manage the wheel. The ship continued to toss and turn as the gales increased. I was sure we were all going to die. We were days away from land and I was unsure of what to do in that moment. It was entirely too late to run. I had two choices before me: drop the anchor and sit still while the storm destroyed my ship, or ride the storm out. I knew riding the storm out was probably the worst idea, but I refused to just sit there like a sitting duck waiting for Mother Nature to destroy us. No, my decision was made. We were going to battle the storm.

  Once we had furled the sails, we battened down all the hatches except for the one that led to cabins below. Before that hatch was sealed, I retreated downstairs to check on Elizabeth and Thomas. I could not remain with them, as I needed to remain on deck with my crew, but I had to know that they were safe.

  I got to their room and knocked, but did not wait for an invitation before I opened the door. Elizabeth was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, holding Thomas as tightly as she could in her lap. Everything that was loose appeared to have been safely stowed away.

  “Are you alright?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she replied. “I think I have stowed everything that I could,” she said with a quiver in her voice. I could tell she was scared. Hell, I was scared too.

  “Thomas should be in his hammock. It will secure him and he will move with the ship,” I said.

  “I tried, Max, but he refused.”

  “I wanna stay with my Mama!” Thomas cried.

  She looked up at me, pleading for me to allow him to stay with her. It seemed like she needed him close just as much as he needed her.

  “Fine. I must return on deck. Stay on the floor. It is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.”