thing to steal from Richard Drummond, a cold, heartless master, but it was something else to steal from the man who had
opened up his home to her.
She also hoped to hear more about the charges against Teach.
“You should go. There’s no reason for both of us to suffer.
You are free to leave as you choose,” Teach said.
Anne walked toward the desk, her skirts rustling. She knew
she should leave, but his voice alarmed her. She’d never heard him so despondent. “In a few days you shall be free to leave as well.”
A wry smile touched his lips. “If only I had as much faith in
my father as you do, Anne.” His voice was soft and tender, the
sound of her name a caress.
“He obviously has faith in you. Otherwise he would never
have agreed to let you spend the year at sea.”
“He agreed to let me go only because I threatened to join
the navy.”
“You didn’t,” she gasped.
2 3 0
“Oh, but I did. Not that I would have followed through with it, but my father didn’t know that. I’d sooner stay on land than be part of the Royal Navy.”
Anne had heard rumors about life aboard naval vessels. “Is
it as bad as they say?”
Teach nodded, his mouth turned down. “They’ll take anyone, willing or not, and will use royal press gangs if necessary.
On a naval ship, they rarely stock enough food and water. The
only thing possibly worse is life aboard a merchant ship.”
“Not my father’s ships,” Anne said. “I saw the way he kept
them.”
“No, not your father’s ships. Andrew Barrett was the excep—
tion.”
She noticed he didn’t say anything in defense of Drummond’s
fleet. “I’m sure your father’s aren’t terrible either.”
“How many of my father’s ships have you seen?” Teach
asked, his eyes narrowed.
Anne flushed. “None. But how bad could they truly be?”
“It depends on the captain. Anyone foolish enough to speak
out on a merchant ship will most likely be punished. The same
on any naval vessel. But if the crew of a pirate ship doesn’t like their captain, they won’t hesitate to select a new one.”
“I felt pity for those men I saw yesterday, for the waste and
ruin of their lives. It almost sounds as if you respect them.”
He leaned back, crossing his long legs in front of him. “I
don’t respect them, but neither can I judge them too harshly.
2 3 1
If I were put in the same situation, I’m not so sure I would act differently.”
“You would not become a pirate,” Anne said, shaking her
head. “They act without authority. They’re scoundrels and
crooks—”
“And is your brother so very different?” Teach asked. “I’ve
seen some rather questionable characters who claim to be educated and well-bred act far more maliciously than any pirate.
Nobles claim that the poor and uneducated cannot govern
themselves, yet I’ve witnessed destitute men do just that, obeying their own laws like a priest obeys the word of God.”
Any further argument Anne might have made was forgotten.
A high-pitched scream sounded from the courtyard outside, and
Anne rushed to the window, noticing a dust cloud churning near
the barn.
It took her a moment to realize that it wasn’t due to the
wind. Two figures wrestled on the ground, while Mary and
Margery stood nearby, both of them shrieking at the men to
stop.
Teach was already out of the library when Anne picked up
her skirts and rushed after him. He strode through the house
and out the back door, toward the commotion, his expression
grim. Anne recognized only one of the participants, Tom, the
young groom, his shirt torn and his breeches covered in dirt.
The other individual was a stranger, but he was strongly
built. Teach grabbed his arm in an effort to pull him off
2 3 2
the prone figure of the groom, but his efforts were rewarded with a fist to the gut. Teach doubled over, and Anne rushed to his side.
Mary sobbed, clutching her apron. “Stop it! Stop it, I tell
you!” she cried.
It didn’t take a stretch of the imagination for Anne to realize that the other person must have been John, Mary’s beau. If
someone didn’t act fast, who knew if the fools would stop.
Anne raced to the barn and grabbed a pail full of water.
Charging out into the fray once more, she flung the contents
onto the combatants. The force of her swing sent her flying,
and she landed on her backside, next to Teach.
Everyone else froze, as if they, too, had been doused. Too
shocked to move, Anne simply sat there. Teach heaved her to
her feet and wrested the bucket from her hands. He turned on
the two men—boys, Anne quickly told herself, for they couldn’t
have been more than three years her senior—and dragged them
apart. Water was dripping down their shirtfronts.
“What happened, John?” Teach demanded, looking between
the two.
John pointed a thick finger at the groom. “I caught him taking liberties with my Mary,” he snarled, a pained look on his face.
Anne’s heart ached for him.