“Tell me you had coins in your pocket when we were tossed in the brig,” Corky said hopefully. “A strong drink would be more’n welcome right now.”
“My pockets are as empty as yours.”
Corky groaned. “Wet, cold, no money, no belongings that we could trade, and a powerful local family will soon be trying to recapture us. This ain’t looking too good, Cap’n.”
No, it wasn’t—yet. But if he could just get to The Pearl as soon as possible, their immediate problem would be solved because he knew something about the ship that no one else was aware of, not even Corky. At least, he hoped no one else knew it yet. But if they weren’t even in the right state . . .
Nathan dredged up an encouraging tone for his friend. “We’ll be fine as soon as we get to New London.”
“Aye, the Yank’s friend will help us.”
Nathan shook his head. “We lost that opportunity when we got thrown in Malory’s brig. We can’t take the chance now that John Hubbard will simply believe us if we arrive without decent clothes and no letter of introduction from Boyd Anderson, which Anderson didn’t bother to write since he planned to come with us. Hubbard would likely send a message to the Andersons to confirm our story first.”
“As I said, this ain’t looking good,” Corky mumbled.
“Stop worrying. I have an alternative plan, but we need directions first, and I’m not waiting till morning to get them. Come on.”
They entered the tavern. Aside from the skinny barkeep and one barmaid well past her prime, there were maybe a dozen customers, half of them lined up at the bar. While the sudden warmth in the room was welcome, Nathan wasn’t there to waste time.
“Evening, mates,” he said loud enough to draw every eye in the room to him and Corky.
All conversation and rowdiness stopped abruptly until one muscular young fellow at the bar demanded, “Who the hell are you?”
“Come to wash the floor, did you?” someone else snickered.
That started the laughter. Well, Nathan had to concede they did look ridiculous with their hair and clothes so soaking wet that puddles were forming at their feet, and not even a jacket to ward off the cold night air.
“If you can point us in the direction of New London, we’ll be on our way,” Nathan said.
But that caused even more laughter and a couple replies. “You’re in the middle of it.”
This was New London? But that couldn’t just be a lucky coincidence. Someone on the Malory ship must have intentionally opened the brig door as the ship approached the town he intended to visit.
But before Nathan had a chance to ask about the shady shipyard and its owner, whose name Commander Burdis had given him, the big fellow came over to him and shoved Nathan’s shoulder, hard enough that a slighter man would have fallen. Nathan stood his ground, but the man’s aggressive stance didn’t alter.
Nathan was shoved again as the man said, “We don’t welcome strangers in our town, least of all suspicious Brits who show up all wet in the middle of the night.”
Someone else with a grudge against England or just a local troublemaker? Nathan wished he’d thought to tone down his accent, if he even could. But tonight was a perfect opportunity to reach his first goal, so he wasn’t about to leave without directions to the shipyard.
He quickly decided to try to nip this man’s aggression in the bud and hoped the crowd wouldn’t rally to help their friend. “We’re not here to cause trouble,” Nathan said as he planted a fist in the man’s belly, following up with a blow to his chin that knocked him to the floor. “Really we aren’t.”
Unfortunately, the fellow quickly jumped to his feet. He was big, even had a few inches on Nathan, and he exuded confidence, was even grinning now. But Nathan couldn’t afford to lose when this tavern was a prime place to get some help, maybe even the men for the crew he would need for the trip home. That wasn’t going to happen if he lost or backed down from this fight.
Nathan hoped for a charge he could easily avoid or take advantage of, but his antagonist wasn’t unskilled and tried a few punches just to test Nathan’s reflexes. Nathan did the same. For a few minutes neither of them was getting anywhere.
Already tired from the long swim, Nathan knew he wouldn’t have the stamina to outlast the man if they continued to cautiously test each other’s mettle. So the moment the man broke through his guard with a solid punch to Nathan’s chest, Nathan came up with a backhanded left fist to the side of the man’s head and leapt up to slam a quick right-handed blow to the man’s jaw. With Nathan putting his full weight behind it, the fellow dropped to the floor again.
“Really we aren’t here to cause trouble,” Nathan repeated, and, willing to roll the dice, offered the man he’d decked a hand up this time.
The man stared at Nathan’s hand and a moment later laughed and took it. Nathan introduced himself. His former antagonist told him his name was Charlie and ordered Nathan a whiskey, which Nathan passed on to Corky. He then asked the group at large if anyone there was familiar with Henry Bostwick and his shipyard. He got more responses than he expected.
“I worked for him a few years back, but the work wasn’t constant and he shorted my wages to boot, so I didn’t hire on again,” Charlie said.
Someone else said, “Shorted my wages, too, and no excuse for it neither, when he auctions off ships three to four times a year. Course, buying them old and just bringing them here and prettying ’em up, he’s only making half what he could.”
“Don’t make excuses for him, Paulie. My brother swears Bostwick is up to no good. There’s been other ships he sells privately, and who knows the difference when that yard is all closed up like it is.”
“Is this how Bostwick explains not actually building ships from scratch?” Nathan asked.
“He builds new ones, too, he just pulls the crew off ’em to work on the old ones when they show up, so it can take years for a new one to get finished. But that’s how he’s always done it, far as I know,” Paulie said with a shrug.
“Always wondered how he manages to find so many ships,” Charlie said. “The few I’ve seen come in over the years weren’t actually old, so he would have had to pay a high price for them. How’s he make a profit that way?”
“He makes a profit because he’s not buying them, he’s stealing them out of English ports,” Nathan replied.
Someone laughed. “Is he now?”
Nathan stiffened, wondering if that was going to be everyone’s sentiment, and asked the man, “You know something about that?”
“I know some of the ships brought in were indeed British. Had a peek at the logbooks before they were burned. But who cares?”
“I understand why you might not find his business practices objectionable, but I do, since I have reason to believe the ship he currently has in his yard belongs to me.”
The man just shrugged and turned back to his drink. Charlie asked Nathan, “Is that why you’re here?”
“Yes. To retrieve my ship and get the local authorities to put Henry Bostwick and his ring of thieves out of business.”
“Good luck with that,” someone snickered. “The word of a Brit against a local man of business?”
“There are a few things I know about my ship that Bostwick wouldn’t know and hopefully hasn’t discovered, but I need to find out if she’s here first. Can someone take me there—now?”
“Why would we do that?” Paulie asked. “There’s guard dogs let loose at night inside the outer fence, and any ship on the property is closed up in the big shed where they’re worked on. There’s no way you’re getting in there to see anything.”
There was a round of agreement with that assessment. But with the likelihood that The Pearl was still in New London, Nathan wasn’t going to wait until morning to find out. His ship had to still be here. She was over twenty years seasoned. It would take a while to sand her down to give her the look and smell of a new vessel. That had been his only hope, actually. The time it would take to polish her.
“I’ll pay handsomely to see my ship tonight,” Nathan offered.
“Let’s see some coins, Brit.”
Nathan ignored that. “And I’m going to need a crew for the return trip to England. I’ll wager some of you who aren’t in your beds at this hour could use the work.”
Some laughed over that remark, confirming it. But the same doubting Thomas called out, “Show us a ship before you go hiring a crew.”
Corky warned in an urgent whisper at Nathan’s side, “You’re promising what we don’t have!”
“Trust me” was all Nathan whispered back.
It was actually Charlie who downed the rest of his drink and volunteered, “I’ll take you.”
Nathan smiled and, grabbing Corky, followed the big man out of the tavern.
A while later, they approached Bostwick’s shipyard on the shore. The fenced-in yard to the side of the big shed had plenty of space to build ships in, but it was empty except for a few piles of lumber and the roaming dogs. Was the shed there so that work wouldn’t have to stop during the harsh winter months—or to hide whatever was going on inside it? But it wasn’t tall enough to accommodate masted ships unless the ground in the work area had been dug out.
“Corky, stay on this side of the fence to distract the dogs if I can’t get the front door opened quickly enough,” Nathan said.
“No reason for the door to be locked if there are guards inside, and I know there’s at least one,” Charlie said. “I live near here. I’ve seen him come out to patrol the place at night.”
Nathan nodded and amended for Corky, “Follow if the door’s open, distract if it’s not. Charlie—”
“Let’s do this,” the big man said, and hopped the fence before Nathan could finish.
Nathan grinned and followed. Unfortunately, the door was locked. But it was old. He could break it down easily, but that would immediately alert the guards, and the dogs. And they didn’t know how many armed guards they would have to contend with.
“Kick it in?” Charlie asked.
“No, let’s try pushing first, quietly,” Nathan whispered. “It won’t take much for the hinges to give way, but the dogs are going to get our scent soon, so we need to do this fast.”
They both put their shoulders to the door and shoved, but it didn’t give way quickly enough. A dog started growling—too close. Nathan didn’t have to think about it; he raised his foot to kick the door in, but it suddenly opened before he could.
The guard that stood there looked so surprised to find them in front of him that he was slow in raising his rifle. Nathan grabbed it from him and smashed the butt of the rifle against the man’s head. Fortunately, he didn’t have to do it twice because Charlie was already shoving Nathan out of the way so he could close the door on the dog. It barked now on the other side of the door, but only for a moment. Corky must have figured out some way to distract it.
Around the shed on this upper level was a walkway, ending at an office on the other side. The windowed office looked down on the main area, which was indeed much lower. A light in the office revealed two more guards sitting at a table. A ship was below them in the center of the shed, but the large area was too dark for Nathan to tell anything other than that the ship was the same size as The Pearl. If it was in a trench, he could probably sail it out at high tide once the two enormous barnlike doors of the shed had been opened.
“Do we take out the other guards?” Charlie asked.
“That might lead to shots being fired, which I would as soon avoid. I just need to board the ship to confirm it’s mine, and I think we can do that without their noticing. Come on.”
Two sets of stairs led down to the work area, one by the office, one by the front door. Nathan led the way down and hurried up the long ramp to the ship.
“Hide here and keep an eye on that office,” he told Charlie as they reached the main deck. “Let me know if the guards come out of it.”
It took Nathan only a few moments to find what he was looking for: the concealed compartment he’d built in the deck below the wheel. He had to resist the urge to laugh aloud when he found all his money still in it. Bostwick hadn’t found it. Nathan’s initials carved in the hold probably hadn’t been noticed either, but the compartment was all the proof he needed that the ship was his.
Once the two were outside again and back over the fence, Corky came running toward them. “Well?”
“They were nice enough to remove The Pearl’s barnacles for us.”
Corky gave a hoot of laughter before he held up his bare foot. “I had to give up my boot to get that dog interested in something other than you.”
Nathan patted his shirt where he’d stuffed his smuggling profits. “We’ll get new clothes in the morning.”
Charlie spoke up, “I’d like to sign on for your crew, but I still don’t see how you’re gonna get your ship back. There’s no way the authorities will believe a Brit who’s accusing an American of stealing ships.”
“Who is Bostwick’s biggest competitor?” Nathan asked.
“That would be Cornelius Allan. Why?”
Nathan grinned. “Because he’ll believe me.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Thomas, Georgina’s third-oldest brother, was waiting on the docks for them, having just received word that The Maiden George had been sighted. Jack was waving at him from the deck, but she laughed when she saw how many carriages and wagons were pulling up behind him.
“I wonder if my uncle expects more Malorys than we have on board?”
“Isn’t he the most practical of the Andersons?” Judith replied. “Easier to dismiss carriages than to find more if they’re needed. And I can’t wait to set my feet on land again!”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy the trip—most of it, anyway.”
Judith didn’t reply. She’d asked Jacqueline not to mention Nathan to her again. It was bad enough that everyone else was talking about him this morning, speculating about his escape. She didn’t report it, but one of the crew did when the family was sharing a quick breakfast before James maneuvered the ship to the docks. Of course more than a few eyes had turned to her at the news. She had been able to say honestly that she hadn’t done it and just kept to herself that she would have let him out of the brig if someone else hadn’t had the same idea and beat her to it.
With Silver snug in Judith’s arms, she and Jacqueline were the first down the ramp. Georgina’s three other brothers arrived at the docks before the rest of the family debarked. Georgina introduced Catherine and Andrássy to them, briefly mentioning Andrássy’s connection to the Malorys.
Andrássy was quick to assure the Andersons, “My sister and I will not impose on you. We will be continuing our journey immediately.”
Georgina protested, but surprisingly, so did Catherine. “Actually, I would like to accept their invitation to enjoy some of the festivities. Please agree, Andrássy. It’s been so long since I’ve been to a ball.”
For a moment, Andrássy glared angrily at his stepsister for putting him on the spot like that, but gentleman that he was, he politely said, “Very well. We can stay for a few days.”
A while later, Judith and Jacqueline were seated in a comfortable open carriage, riding with their parents to the Andersons’ redbrick mansion not far from town. Four of the Anderson brothers on horseback, two on each side, escorted them so they could continue speaking with Georgina on the way.
James, glancing to either side at the in-laws he least favored, remarked, “Why does it feel like I’m riding to the gallows, George?”
“Location, m’dear,” Georgina answered with a grin. “Will you ever forgive them for wanting to hang you here?”
“Course not,” James mumbled.
“Thought you’d need reinforcements, James?” Drew said on their left, looking at Anthony.
“My brother wouldn’t let his daughter come alone,” James replied.
“Well, we’re delighted to see her again. You, on the other hand . . .?
?? Drew laughed and rode ahead.
“Can I kill just a few of them while we’re here, George?” James asked his wife. “I’ll be gentle.”
Georgina tsked. “That sort of killing is never gentle. And you promised you’d behave.”
“No, I promised to suffer in silence.”
“Well, no one expects you to do that. But you knew they’d get in a few licks, being on the home front, as it were. Don’t begrudge them that when you and Tony are unrelenting when they visit us in London.”
When they pulled up to the Anderson mansion, Amy ran out to greet them. “Was it a smooth trip? Everyone in good health?”
James raised a brow. “You expected otherwise, puss?”
Amy blushed, confessing, “Well, I did think something might go wrong, but you know what a worrier I am.”
“Something did go wrong,” Anthony put in. “The ladies were all robbed of their jewelry, every last bauble.”
“That’s all?” Amy looked relieved, but quickly amended, “Well, it could have been worse.”
A few of them rolled their eyes at Amy.
James said, “I do need to return to town, and now’s a good time while the ladies get settled. I’d like to hire a few local carpenters to pry open parts of The Maiden George to see if the jewels are hidden somewhere on the ship. Several searches produced no results.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Anthony asked, giving James a pointed look. “We also need to inform the local authorities that we caught the thieves, but they escaped from the ship last night. They’ll be easy to find with their British accents and lack of money, as long as the search starts immediately.”
Judith felt her heart sink. Nathan was going to be a fugitive now?
• • •
“These new boots are damned comfortable,” Corky said, not for the first time. “I could get used to togs like this.”
“You do look more presentable than usual,” Nathan said with a grin.
He’d gotten them rooms at the local hotel last night. Hot baths, some decent food, and a few stops this morning for new clothes had them both looking like local businessmen as they waited in Cornelius Allan’s office for the shipbuilder to join them. He was a well-respected citizen, successful businessman, and Henry Bostwick’s main competitor, so Nathan was counting on Mr. Allan’s wanting to believe him when he presented his case against Bostwick.