Southern Beauty

chapter 18

s they approached a young deckhand Malcolm took her by the hand, “She’s my fiancée, soon to be Mrs. Graystone.”

Johanna’s face warmed, embarrassed by the lie.

Malcolm leaned into her and whispered, “I am sorry, I probably should have discussed it with you first.”

“You just caught me off guard that was all,” Johanna tried to brush it off.

“Well Miss Johanna,” Malcolm bowed, “I would be honored to have your hand. Then we wouldn’t be living a lie and I could give you a home, a family, my love.”

Johanna found herself speechless for a moment. How could she have two offers of marriage within an hour of each other? It was mind boggling to her.

“I did not know you felt this way,” she said.

“You didn’t?” asked Malcolm. “Surprising as it may seem but I have loved you even before we met. Your uncle has talked about you with such joy. I knew I had to meet the woman ‘who lights up a room and warms every heart’. And when I saw your family portrait and there you were as beautiful as ever, I believed that there was no other woman for me.” He kissed her hand gently.

It was hard for her to take this all in. It wasn’t everyday she was proposed to, well, actually today it was. She smirked at the thought of it.

“You haven’t answered me. Will you give me the utmost pleasure in accepting my proposal of marriage?” asked Malcolm.

“This has happened so quickly. I feel my head spinning. Will you give me a few days to consider your offer?” she asked with a slight smile.

He smiled back at her, his dimples showing. He was very adorable and she thought at least he didn’t try to kiss her. If one more man kissed her without asking she would have to agree with David, she was a Southern whore.

“Of course, but not another moment longer,” Malcolm smiled.

“Agreed,” she smiled back.

“Let’s go prepare ourselves for dinner with the captain,” said Malcolm. They walked arm and arm toward their quarters.

A short time later Johanna heard a knock at her cabin door. “Are you ready Mr. Graystone?” she asked.

“I am sorry I won’t be joining you,” Malcolm said frowning. She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “I’ve received an urgent telegram. I must leave immediately,” said Malcolm.

“Are you not traveling with me?” asked Johanna.

“I will be back before your departure,” Malcolm assured her. “My contact doesn’t like to be kept waiting. I will catch up with you before you set sail.” He looked at the disappointment in her face. “I promise I won’t leave you for very long,” Malcolm explained mysteriously.

“You’ve said that before. I do not feel comfortable being alone. Is it safe here?” Johanna looked around the dirty ship with disgust. To her it seemed more like a fishing vessel than a merchant ship.

He caressed her cheek and smiled, “I am sorry. I’ll make it up to you. How about I will let you beat me at a game of chess.”

“All right, but I can beat you on my own,” she smiled back. Johanna was taken in by his handsome smile. It could easily make any girl melt. She hesitated but said anyway, “Don’t smile like that for anyone else lest I fear you won’t return.”

“You are the only one for me.” His smile widened and he leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek.

“Just go. I will see you soon. I will be waiting for you in my cabin.” She pushed him away before she was kissed again. He raised his eyebrows at her words. “You know what I mean.”

He grinned, “Just stay in your cabin, no one will bother you. The captain has strict orders to keep my precious cargo safe,” said Malcolm.

“Your precious cargo?” questioned Johanna.

He smiled again and disappeared into the fog.

“Well that was mysterious,” Johanna said to herself as she walked towards her cabin and locked the door behind her.

The ship’s captain shouted orders to pull up the gang plank for the night. His crew eagerly answered his call. Johanna never dreamed she would be a guest on a merchant steamer. This was a new experience for her. She thought about how it had been a lot of new experiences recently for her. She felt the jerk of the ship pulling away from the dock and her heart skipped a beat. Johanna thought how odd that the boat would pull away from the dock over night. She stood to inquire when she knocked over her handbag and the rocks Marie had given her had spilled out onto the floor. She picked them up one by one and studied them. Their texture was similar to Marie's words.

Johanna caressed them and whispered, "One smooth and one rough." she held them in her hands. It seemed one was smooth and the other two were rough. She then felt the small crack the one had in the middle of it. With her thumb she separated it. To her surprise inside were sparkling gems, "and one a treasure to behold. Okay. What does this mean?" she asked herself.

Johanna stepped out of her room into a glorious display of colors over the horizon. Her eyes fixed on the crimson sunset. She marveled at its beauty.

“A beautiful sight, isn’t? It doesn’t matter how long I have been out here, I still am awed by God’s splendor.”

Johanna surprised by the captain’s appearance, smiled. She noticed his uniform was impeccable and he wore it well. His tanned skin was apparently aged by the salted sea air and sun. She figured he looked older than his years.

“It is lovely,” she agreed.

“I take it you are going in uncharted territory?” he asked.

“You could say that,” Johanna smiled. “I feel like I am on a new adventure, anything is possible.” The cool sea air seemed to give her a new sense of freedom and courage.

“I am glad to hear that. I am Captain Thomas O’Reilly. Everyone just calls me Reilly. You are Miss Lee?”

“Yes,” Johanna answered. “Could you tell me why we pulled away from the dock? We aren’t leaving yet are we?”

“Oh heavens no, it is for our safety. You never know when you could be boarded by pirates. It makes it harder for them to board the ship,” he said.

“Pirates, I thought it was safe here in the harbor.” She questioned thinking about her ordeal earlier in the week.

“It’s just a precaution. I have never been boarded by pirates and I hoped to never.” He tried to reassure her.

“Oh. I see, Mal…Mr. Graystone should be back within the hour. At least that is what he said,” trying to make herself feel better.

Captain Reilly put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry we won’t leave until your betrothed arrives.”

Johanna slightly embarrassed again by the lie just smiled.

“May I ask why you are here in New Orleans?” he asked.

“It’s quite a long story. One I don’t really like to talk about,” she replied.

“I see. Love is a crazy thing, don’t you think? You never can believe what you’re capable of until you’re faced with heartache,” said Reilly.

“Pardon me?” Johanna extremely confused by his words.

“You have a very famous uncle in the Union army. What will he do if Virginia decides to secede? Fight against his family? His friends?” he asked.

“Why does everyone believe that a conflict will arise?” she asked and then continued, “I am not sure. I haven’t really thought of it.

“Well, what would you do?” he asked.

“I guess wherever my family goes I will go,” she answered shrugging her shoulders slightly.

“Sometimes we have to make hard decisions. Only God knows what is best for us. Anyway, I have a telegram for you,” Captain Reilly handed it to her.

“For me?” asked Johanna surprised.

She took the envelope and watched Reilly walk away. Johanna noticed a deckhand near her who seemed to look familiar, but she couldn’t place him. Her fingers trembled as she opened it the parcel. She held her breath;

You’re in great danger.

All shall reveal itself in dew time.

Johanna looked around, slightly confused and slightly scared. Dew time? Whoever sent this could not spell. She looked back at the sunset it had changed to a menacing blood red. She went back into her cabin and locked the door behind her.

Johanna did not sleep well. She continued to have disturbing dreams filled with telegrams written in blood and an evil man chasing her into dark alleys all which ended before his hands were upon her, each time waking in sweat only to close her eyes again to began down another dark dead end alley. The last dream she realized her pursuer had no hands and a hooded cloak that shaded his face, she had awakened only by a disturbance outside her cabin. With sweat already on her brow and a heart that beat madly in her chest she quietly got out of her bed and tiptoed toward the door. She listened intently. All seemed quiet except a shuffling down the hall that seemed to be getting further from her. She held her breath a little longer and than relaxed.

“Must have been my imagination,” she headed for the bed and quickly decided against trying to enter into another bad dream. She didn’t need to be scared any more than she was. The sun had not awakened yet but she was ready for the day. She grabbed her locket and hid it again around her neck under her dress. She decided to explore the ship while everyone was asleep and when her hand grabbed the door handle she noticed it seemed wet.

She quickly lifted her hand a bit disturbed by it, “dew?” The note ran through her mind, ‘all will reveal itself in dew time.’ Johanna brushed it off and continued out her door. It was still dark, “maybe this is a bad idea,” she said to herself under her breath.

Johanna heard the shuffling again to her right and began to follow the noise down the ship’s deck. The noise careened around the bow and then halted. She was about to question her sanity, when she stumbled over something in the dark and grabbed the railing for support. It was wet again, but this time it felt sticky. She could barely see her feet or her hands in the thick darkness.

She tried to look at her hand and held it up in the fading moonlight. Johanna jumped from the fear of her realization that blood was on her hand and she fell over coming face to face with one of the young deckhand’s dead staring eyes. Johanna tried to scream, but nothing came out. She headed toward her cabin not knowing where to go. She opened it and found it was ransacked, her trunk was emptied and its contents spilled on the floor.

She was glad she was still wearing her mother’s locket. Johanna exited her cabin without thinking and headed to Captain Reilly’s room. A light shown below his door and it stood slightly ajar. Johanna pushed the door open and stepped in. She was horrified to see Captain Reilly gagged and bound in the corner of his room. The Captain was dead. Johanna whipped around to exit as quickly as possible not knowing if she should hide or try to escape the steamer.

The sun refused to rise and the sea air was cold, dark and unforgiving. She stood still it felt to her like an eternity. She couldn’t make her mind up what to do, she couldn’t swim and David wasn’t around to save her if she tried. She felt like fainting, but Rene was also nowhere to be found. She had no hope in surviving the morning. Fear had taken a hold of her and she was melted to the floor.

“Make a decision,” she said to herself, “or you are going to die.” So she pushed out of her mind the thought of a killer being aboard and probably searching for her and she continued down the dark hallway. She thought if she made it to a dinghy maybe she could row herself back to shore, it wasn’t that far away. Just then two beefy hands grabbed her from behind. She struggled but she was no match for him. He picked her up as if she was a child and he dragged her to the bridge.

“I knew we would meet again Miss Lee,” Captain Myers smiled at her.

“You…you killed the captain,” was the only thing Johanna could blurt out.

“I commandeered the ship, I am its captain now,” Myers explained. “I now own everything aboard including you.”

Johanna couldn’t believe this was happening again. She was being kidnapped except this time her captors were vile murderers. This was not turning out to be her year. Johanna searched the room for a way out or a weapon, but it was all in vain. She realized now why she recognized the deckhand. He was one of Myers’ men. Johanna felt defeated. No one was going to save her now. They were going to kill her and maybe ravage her first.

“Sit,’ said Myers. Johanna obeyed. “Give me your locket.” Johanna reluctantly handed it to him.

“I should have known you would hide it on you. Maybe I should have let my men search your body.” He smirked while he opened it in triumph.

He unfolded the letter carefully. His eyebrows rose with his confusion. “It seems I was not the only one deceived,” said Captain Myers and then handed her the note.

Johanna read it carefully. It took her a few times to understand its meaning. When it did become clear, she knew exactly who it was from.

“Like a thief in the night;

It wasn’t just your heart in plight.”

Johanna dropped the paper out of her hands and as it fell so did a tear down her soft cheek.

“Ah, you trusted someone you should not have.” Myers motioned his men to leave.

“It was stolen from me,” Johanna whispered. She looked up at Myers sadly. She was surprised to see that he actually seemed to have felt sorry for her.

“Now you know why I became a pirate. I too was deceived by someone I loved,” said Myers. “Here this will make you feel better,” he handed her a mug.

She felt numb and yet felt an all too familiar sting that she had felt one time before. So she took the mug and drank it. The shock of the rum burnt her throat and she spit it out as quickly as she tried to chug it. As she continued to cough, Myers laughed.

“Here try this instead,” said Myers. It looked the same but in a different mug.

“No thanks.” Johanna gasped.

“Ah, it’s only apple cider,” he insisted. Johanna looked at him with disbelief. “I have to keep it hidden. There is no way I am drinking with my men. They would slit my throat in a heartbeat. I have to stay sober and alert at all times or I am dead.”

“Well, that’s an awful way to live, even if you deserve it,” said Johanna as she drank the apple cider washing out the rum taste in her mouth.

“You mean sober and alert? I agree,” he laughed.

“No, I mean always feeling like your life is in danger even with your closest friends,” recently she knew about the always feeling like your life was in danger part.

“Ah you get used to it after awhile,” Myers answered. He stared her down. “Listen, I know it’s hard to believe, but they weren’t supposed to kill the captain, someone put his gag on too tight.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” said Johanna. “What about the young deckhand? Why did you kill him too?”

“What young deckhand?” Myers asked confused. “Maybe he was a liability. I sometimes have no control over my men.” He brushed it off.

“So, what are you going to do with me?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet. We will be departing in a few hours. Maybe I will let you go before that,” he started to leave the room, “or maybe I will sell you to the highest bidder. I know I could be paid a lifetime of wages for a lady like you.”

Johanna heard the click of the lock on the door. She noticed the letter that fell to the floor. She knew it was from David. He knew all along that she loved him. She couldn’t believe how betrayed she felt. What did she think, they were going to run off together and live happily ever after? Maybe if she lives through this, she will marry Malcolm or maybe Rene? What did it matter, she was in danger again and this time no one was going to save her. She stared at the letter that lay on the floor. Getting angrier every minute, she began to plot revenge until the candle went out leaving her in the dark of night. She could hear Myers speaking on the deck to someone.

“Thanks brother, I will take it from here,” a voice laughed.

“Well, if you weren’t family I would fight you for her. She is definitely beautiful,’ said Myers. “You know we could get a pretty penny for her in the black market.”

“I know, but I believe it is time for her to get to know me a little bit better. There is no one around to save her this time,” the voice said.

“What about your comrades? Are you just going to desert them?” Captain Darren Myers asked his companion.

“Absolutely,” he said.

“Is it that easy for you to make this choice?” Myers asked.

“Well brother, you know how the old saying goes, ‘blood is thicker than water’,” both men laughed.