Kelley’s first attack was even more fierce than Skye had thought it would be. It caught her off guard, but she quickly recovered and anticipated more of the same. For several minutes, she parried attack after attack with great skill which only fueled Kelley’s fury. Then, in one perilous instant, Skye failed to react fast enough, and Kelley’s blade sliced deep into her right arm. Stunned, she retreated, groaning in pain, desperate to recover. As Kelley lunged to pursue her, she took her sword in her other hand, but she was not as skillful with her left. She rallied, but sensing victory, Kelley came up close and hit her hard, knocking her to the ground. He kicked her sword away and loomed over her, grinning with loathing and triumph. Though dazed, Skye tried to rise but fell back again, her eyes riveted on those of the man who was about to take her life.
“You didn’t honestly think you could stop me, did you?” he sneered.
Kelley raised his sword to deliver a last killing blow and Skye’s eyes searched poignantly for Will. She caught one last glimpse of him, engaged in his own desperate fight, closed her eyes tight, and braced herself. But Kelley’s sword never came down. She opened her eyes again to find him standing utterly still. Someone held a pistol to his head, but she could not see who it was because Kelley blocked his face from view.
“Touch her again, Kelley, and I will pull this trigger.”
Everything inside of Skye stilled and all the commotion around her vanished for a moment. She knew that voice. No, it’s impossible!
“Step away from her and drop your sword,” the man demanded.
Kelley obeyed and stepped away from Skye, bringing the other man into view. Skye’s heart nearly stopped in her chest and tears sprang to her eyes.
“Father,” she murmured in disbelief.
Daniel McHenry took in the sight of his daughter, getting his first real look at the beautiful young woman she had become in his long absence.
“Skye,” he said her name gently, tears filling his own eyes.
Skye rose, feeling as if she were in a dream. She took a step forward and threw her arms around him, clinging to him almost afraid he would disappear again if she let go. It hardly seemed real. Tears streamed down from her eyes as Daniel held her gently all the while keeping a close watch on Kelley.
“How can this be?” Skye managed after a moment, looking up into his face. “You . . . you were hanged!”
“No,” Daniel told her quietly. “I wasn’t.”
Skye’s questioning was cut short by Kelley’s cruel voice.
“Daniel McHenry,” he said scornfully. “I shoulda known that you, of all people, would escape the noose.”
“He wasn’t the only one, Kelley.”
Skye turned toward the voice. “Caleb!” she cried with a smile.
“So finally I get to see the two of you together again.” Kelley’s anger boiled. “The two men who were always plottin’ behind my back.”
“We weren’t plotting, Kelley. We were planning what to do with the rest of our lives. We certainly weren’t about to spend them on the Finder,” Daniel shot back.
“Both of you left without my permission and you, Daniel, took a very valuable prisoner with you.”
“Grace’s father paid you, yet still you planned to kill her. I wasn’t going to just stand by and let you do that.”
“Because you fell in love with her?” Kelley spat.
“Yes, because I fell in love with her, but also because you had no reason to kill her.”
“So, Daniel, what now?” Kelley wanted to know. “I s’pose you’re gonna kill me.”
“No. I’m going to take you back to Kingston to stand trial,” Daniel informed him.
“You must know I’m not gonna come quietly. I’ve got a better idea. You get rid of your pistol, and I’ll get rid of mine. We’ll fight each other fairly, and if you win, I’ll go wherever you want me to go. If I win, I get yer treasure, no one tries to stop me, and I’ll even promise to leave yer daughter alone for good. Even that way, you’ll be gainin’ somethin’.”
“Will you have your men surrender also if I win?” Daniel asked.
“Yes,” Kelley answered. “I will have my men surrender.”
Daniel thought it over for a moment. “All right, Kelley. Throw your pistol away.”
Kelley pulled out his pistol and tossed it to the side. Daniel stared at him for a long, tense moment and then tossed his away as well.
“Father, don’t,” Skye pleaded. She could not lose him again, not now that he had miraculously returned to her.
“It’s all right,” Daniel assured her.
He looked at Caleb and motioned for him to take care of Skye. Caleb walked over to her.
“Come on, Skye,” he urged.
A reluctant Skye let him lead her away from her father, but she kept her eyes glued to him as he and Kelley clashed into a vicious battle. While she observed the deadly exchange, Caleb tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and tied it around Skye’s bleeding arm. Then, much as she wanted only to keep track of her father, Skye forced herself to take her eyes from him and pick up her sword. Her friends were still engaged in fighting Kelley's men, and she needed to help them. Caleb stayed close, just in case she needed help again, and whenever Skye had the opportunity, she looked to her father to see that he was all right. He was just as fine a swordsman as Kelley, if not better, but it only took one wrong move, as she had found out herself.
* * *
Will fought off Kelley’s men as best he could, but it was growing ever more difficult due to his lack of strength. As he sidestepped to dodge a pirate’s blow, he glanced again at the man he believed must be Skye’s father. He didn’t know how it was possible for Daniel McHenry to still be alive, but Will had witnessed the look on Skye’s face when she had seen the man, and he knew it could be no one else.
None too soon, Will’s fight ended. The pirate fell before him and his attention was again drawn to Kelley and the man he was dueling.
Daniel stepped back from Kelley to await his next attack. Kelley glared at him, hiding the realization that Daniel was far better than he had been expecting. Then, in a flash, he reached behind his back and pulled out a pistol he had hidden under his coat. It was exactly what he had planned, devious to the core. He pointed it at Daniel with a self-satisfied and victorious grin.
Seeing the treacherous move, Will knew he had to do something. For so many long years he had watched Skye long for her father. He could not let her lose him again. He hurtled himself toward Kelley. Save for the fact that Kelley was ever in the habit of gloating at the moment of his triumph, the gun would have been fired, but Will grabbed his arm and pushed it away just in time.
They struggled against each other as Kelley fought to regain control. Will tried to pry the pistol from the pirate’s grip and keep it pointed away from himself and anyone else, but Kelley was too strong. The man twisted the gun around and fired. A deafening bang exploded. Searing pain spread through Will’s chest, taking his breath away.
* * *
Skye jerked at the shot and spun around. In the terrible scene that played out before her eyes, Kelley knocked Will to his knees. Will held a hand to his chest, and Skye lifted her eyes to see the smoking pistol in Kelley’s hand.
“No!” she screamed. Fear and horror filled her heart as she rushed to Will and dropped to her knees beside him. Kelley backed away as Daniel rushed to Will’s side.
“Will!” Skye feared the worst.
Their eyes caught as Will looked at her, breathing heavily. They both looked down as he pulled his hand away from his chest. A bullet hole was torn through his waistcoat, but no blood. Skye stared at him in shock and confusion. He pulled back his shirt, revealing his necklace. The metal cross was badly bent, but it had stopped the bullet and saved his life, for he surely would have been killed otherwise.
“Thank You, God,” Skye cried, overcome with relief and amazement at the miracle. She leaned over and hugged Will tightly. For a second time she’d had to endure thinking she
had lost him.
Daniel was the first to get back to his feet. He glared at Kelley, who had nearly taken his life and the life of someone his daughter obviously cared a great deal about. Only a miracle from God had kept them both alive, and it made Daniel even more determined to take Kelley back to Kingston. He had hurt far too many people and would continue if he was not stopped for good.
Kelley, however, had different ideas. He backed away, intending to try to get back to the Finder with what was left of his crew.
“Goin’ somewhere, Kelley?”
Kelley spun around to find John holding a pistol mere inches from his face. He knew now escape was hopeless.
“You’ve got me, John,” he said with a grim smile. “You can finally take yer revenge on me for killin’ Nathan.”
Everyone seemed to stop and watch. John had his finger on the trigger, and they all expected him to shoot. He looked as if he was about to, but his expression changed slightly, and he only stared at Kelley.
“Aren’t you gonna shoot me?” Kelley asked. “Or are you too much of a coward to exact yer revenge?”
“Well now, Kelley, maybe I’ve decided I ain’t interested in revenge,” John said mysteriously.
“Don’t tell me yer friends here have started gettin’ to ya,” Kelley jeered.
John just shrugged. “Perhaps they have.” He looked past Kelley to Daniel. “He’s all yours, Captain McHenry, just so long as you make sure he don’t escape the hangman like you did. There’s rope just inside the cave to tie ‘im up.”
Daniel nodded and went to the cave for the rope. By this time, Kelley’s entire crew had surrendered, seeing their captain defeated. Each pirate was tied up and the wounded were tended to as best as possible in the absence of medical supplies. Skye and the others were amazed and very thankful to find that none of Kate’s crew had been killed, only injured—yet another example that God had been watching over them. Kelley was the only one who had suffered any losses.
After doing what he could to help everyone, Daniel walked over to Kelley with questions.
“Do you have any men still on the Finder?” he asked.
Kelley glared at him hatefully and refused to answer. Daniel finally turned away and went to Caleb.
“We need to get the wounded to the ship. Go back to the Grace. Take her to the bay and see if there’s anyone aboard the Finder,” Daniel instructed. “We’ll wait on the beach.”
Caleb nodded just as Kate joined them. “Captain McHenry, when you came, did you see my ship, the Half Moon?”
“Yes,” Daniel answered. “I’m afraid we worried your crewmen when they first saw us, but once I explained who we were, they were very happy to welcome us.”
Kate smiled and turned to Riley. “Take some of the men who are not injured and go back to the ship. Follow Captain McHenry to the bay,” she ordered.
“Aye, Captain,” Riley replied, beckoning to his fellow seamen.
Caleb, Riley, and several of Kate’s crewmen left the group and headed back the way they had come the night before. When they were gone, Skye walked over to her father.
“You have the Grace back?”
Daniel smiled. “Yes, she’s ours again.”
Skye smiled happily and hugged him again. “I can’t believe you’re really here,” she murmured.
But she had no time yet to ask him the questions that spun through her mind. They had to get everyone to the beach. It was difficult to move the wounded since they were shorthanded, but eventually everyone reached the edge of the trees by the beach where the Finder was anchored. Fearing there might still be men aboard, they did not go out into the open.
While they waited for the Grace and the Half Moon, Skye made her way to Will. She had barely had a chance to speak with him yet. They smiled at each other and hugged again, their hands linking together when they parted.
“Oh, Will, I’m so glad you’re all right,” Skye said with much emotion in her voice. “I have been so worried about you.”
“I was worried about you too,” Will confessed. “I prayed so hard that God had rescued you from that island.”
“Your prayers were certainly answered. The morning after Kelley marooned us, I woke up to see Kate’s ship. They already had a boat on its way to the island,” Skye told him.
“It’s a miracle,” Will said.
“Yes, it is,” Skye agreed. She paused, eyes running over his dear face. “I also prayed that God would keep you safe and that He wouldn’t let Kelley hurt you.”
“Your prayers were answered as well,” Will said with a smile. “After the first day, Kelley became so focused on the treasure that he seemed to forget about me most of the time.”
“I’m so glad,” Skye said with great relief. “I was so afraid when I saw one of the pitfalls in the cave. Who stepped in it?”
“I did,” Will said, surprising her, “but I caught the edge and after Kelley and his men had their laugh they pulled me out.”
Skye shook her head at how close he had come to dying and squeezed his hands tight. “God took care of all of us.”
“Yes, He did.”
“I need to thank you, Will,” Skye said earnestly as she looked into his eyes again. “My father told me that you saved his life. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you for that.”
Will smiled. “After how much you’ve missed him all these years, I couldn’t let you lose him again.”
“What you did means more to me than I could ever begin to tell you, and I am so thankful that God protected you. I would never have been able to bear it if you had been killed.”
For a moment, they just stared at each other, both thinking about how much they cared for the other. Then someone spotted the Grace and the Half Moon. Skye turned as the two ships sailed into the bay. She grinned widely at the sight of the Grace, the beautiful, magnificent ship that had once been her home. Though it was only a ship, she felt as though she was seeing an old friend again, and could not wait to go aboard.
Chapter Twenty
Caleb and the rest of Daniel’s crew searched the Finder and found not one man still aboard. Once the ship was clear, he ordered the men to take the longboats to the shore.
On the beach, Skye and the others watched the boats lower from the Grace. Standing next to her father, Skye asked, “Do you have a new crew?”
“No, actually it’s many of the old members,” Daniel told her.
Skye grinned happily. “You found them all?”
Daniel smiled. “Most of them, yes. I got word to a few and they were able to gather the rest. They are all very anxious to see you.”
When the boats reached shore, Skye saw many familiar faces. Those who knew her greeted her with warmth and gladness, but their greetings were kept short as everyone helped to load the wounded into the boats.
“We’ll take your men to your ship, and I’ll have my doctor help you care for them,” Daniel told Kate.
Kate was very grateful. “Thank you, Captain McHenry.”
Once Kate’s wounded men were comfortable aboard the Half Moon, Kelley and his men were taken to the Grace and locked up. Skye and her friends took the last boat back to the ship. When Skye climbed aboard the Grace, the whole crew gathered round her. These men had always been like family to her, and Skye could not begin to tell them all how good it was to see them. They too could hardly express the height of their own joy. They were amazed at how the cute, spirited seven-year-old they had last seen so many years ago had become the lovely young woman standing before them now.
After Skye had greeted everyone and had given or received a special word, she worked her way to Matthew.
“Have you told him yet?” she asked anxiously.
“No,” Matthew answered. “I haven’t had a chance.”
“Let’s tell him now,” Skye said with a grin.
Matthew nodded and followed Skye to where Daniel stood amidst his crew, happily watching the meetings. He smiled as they approached and Skye said, “Father, I’d li
ke you to meet another very good friend of mine. He and Will always took care of me.”
Daniel smiled. “I’m very pleased to meet you. You have my greatest thanks for helping my daughter.” He paused, his brow creasing. “If you don’t mind my saying so, you seem familiar to me. Could we, by any chance, have met before?”
Matthew smiled. “Yes, we have, a very long time ago.”
Very intrigued now, Daniel asked curiously, “When was that?”
“When we were very young . . . before we were separated.”
A look of shock spread over Daniel’s face.
“Matthew?” he murmured in disbelief.
Matthew nodded and immediately Daniel reached to haul his brother into his arms.
“I thought you were dead,” Daniel said, still unable to believe it. “I searched all over for you for weeks!”
“I guess it wasn’t God’s plan for us meet again until now,” Matthew reasoned.
Daniel shook his head, stunned over what he had just learned.
“There is so much we have to talk about,” he said finally, his mind reeling with all he wanted to know about his brother’s life these many years.
“Yes, there is,” Matthew agreed.
But, like Skye, they knew that any stories or explanations would have to wait until those who needed care were looked after. Skye wanted so badly to sit down and talk with her father, but she put that aside to help with the wounded. First, however, upon the request of Will, she had her own arm bandaged. She then insisted that he too be checked to make sure he was all right, but he would not until everyone else was treated since he had no apparent injuries.
Finally, all wounds were cleaned and bandaged. They were all very thankful to find that none were life-threatening and everyone in Kate’s crew would recover. Will was the last one to be examined. When he was finished, he came to Skye, followed by the Grace’s old doctor, Aaron.