“Right now, all I care about is that you get better and that we find Easton as quickly as possible. I have no plans beyond that.” He didn’t tell her that once his men were safe, he intended to have his revenge on the governor and his wife.
A knock at the door prevented further comment. Teach held his finger up to his lips and stood. Anne glared at him, but remained quiet. Opening the door a crack, Teach glanced out to see one of the soldiers standing there, his expression grim. “What is it?”
“Excuse me, captain, but there’s a problem on deck.”
“Surely John or Kitts can deal with—”
“They’re the problem, sir.”
With a curse, Teach shook his head. “I’ll be right there,” he said, shutting the door. He returned to Anne’s side. She didn’t move, she simply looked at him. “Anne, I’m so sorry . . .”
“Go,” she said at last. “You know where I’ll be.”
With each step his irritation with Kitts rose. By the time he reached the upper deck, he was in a foul mood. There were things Teach wanted to discuss with Anne, especially now that she was regaining her strength. Teach could hear the powerful blows before he saw John and Kitts hammering each other with their fists. The scene tempted Teach to join in the fray to release some of his pent-up frustration.
John was an exceptional fighter and he clearly had the upper hand against Kitts. Teach thought about letting it play out, but he didn’t wish to have Kitts’s blood on his hands, no matter how much he irritated Teach.
The last time Teach had tried to stop John from fighting had been at his home in Bristol. John had discovered his betrothed, Mary, a maid in the Drummond household, in a compromising circumstance with the horse groom. For his efforts, Teach had received a fist to his stomach. Not wishing to relive that experience, Teach decided to haul Kitts to his feet instead of John. Kitts strained against his grasp like a charging bull, his face red as he kept swinging. Teach had to hand it to him, the man refused to give up.
John wiped a hand across his bloody lip, panting as he glared at Kitts. A mocking smile played at the corners of his mouth. Teach had a sneaking suspicion John had picked the fight with the soldier.
“Unless you wish to spend tomorrow scrubbing decks, I suggest you both stand down.”
“He started it,” Kitts yelled, jerking out of Teach’s grasp.
“I don’t care who started it. It ends now. And there will be no more fighting amongst the crew, is that understood?”
Kitts stared at him sullenly. Even John appeared a bit surprised that Teach included him in his reprimand, but Teach didn’t care. He had enough concerns without worrying about his crew tearing one another apart one by one.
“We need to save our energy for when we face Easton. And face him we will. Tomorrow we sail for the cove where Webb says he was last seen.” Teach eyed his men, striding up and down their ranks. “If he isn’t there, we’ll move on to the next one, and the next, until we find the bounder and take him back to Webb. Once we’re back in Nassau, you can do what you like. But as long as you’re on my ship, you’ll do as I say. Is that understood?”
A few of the men grumbled their acquiescence. Teach realized that perhaps Kitts had been right. He should have addressed his men earlier, but he’d been so concerned with Anne that he hadn’t given his crew much thought. He would never regret the time he’d spent with her, but he recognized it had cost him in regard to his men. If he wanted them to work as one against Easton, he needed to devote some time to them.
“What we’ve set out to do won’t be easy. We’ve all heard accounts of Easton’s cruelty and cunning. He likes to torture his victims. Once we find him, we’ll have to strike fast. We can’t let him get the upper hand. And when we emerge victorious, there will be a reward.”
Teach ignored the twinge of guilt he felt, knowing that the governor had no intention of paying these men. Looking at their dirty and scarred faces, he knew they hadn’t come from a privileged background like he had. Many of these men had grown up on the streets of Bristol, fighting for their very survival. Teach knew a portion of them well and trusted them with his life, but it was time to get to know the others.
“Whatever spoils we discover, we will give the governor one half of the net gains. The rest will be split equally. From the bosun to the cooper, all the way up to me. Each man will get his fair share. But we have to work together. And we have to find Easton.”
Kitts’s outrage was instantaneous. “You can’t promise that! Whatever plunder Easton has goes directly to Webb.”
“You can give your portion to the governor, then. I plan to pay these men for their time.”
“The governor won’t allow it!”
“Who’s going to tell him?” Teach asked, motioning to the outraged crew surrounding them. “It might be uncomfortable for you in Nassau if these men know you prevented them from collecting their coin.”
With a surly look, Kitts’s shoulders slumped. “The governor will hear about this.”
“If you manage to live that long,” Teach said.
CHAPTER 25
Anne
The skin on Anne’s back throbbed with every heartbeat, but the pain wasn’t as intense as it had been. Teach had broken her out of the fort four days ago, but she was grateful she’d slept for most of that time. He’d checked to make sure her stitches were still intact. Some places on her back were so painful, she’d shuddered where he’d touched her.
She looked out the windows of the Triumph as the ship rose and fell in rhythmic motion, glad that her position on the table afforded her a decent view. She lay on her stomach with her chin resting on her hands. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine she was flying.
As much as she disliked being on a ship again, she had to admit it was rather beautiful. The sapphire sea was topped with white-tipped waves, colliding and breaking into wisps of spray. The sky was dotted with feathery clouds, the afternoon sun low on the horizon. It was times like these when she could understand why Teach had fallen in love with the sea.
A soft knock at the door interrupted Anne’s reverie and she turned to see John poke his head in, a sheepish expression on his face. He sported a black eye and a swollen lip. She motioned for him to enter. Teach had made it very clear that she needed to remain quiet. If any of the crew discovered her presence on the ship, it would prove disastrous.
That was probably why Teach had only come to check on her once during the night, when half of the men were asleep. The other half were on deck, keeping watch for any sign of Easton. They’d anchored in the cay where the pirate was last spotted, but of course there had been no sign of him or his ship.