Page 99 of Inconvenient Honor
Hamidou signaled Scarface, a mere twitch of eyebrow, and the man backed off an inch.
“They will. They will see that your life is in my hands,” Hamidou replied. He looked behind Richard. “Where is the woman?”
“Not in her hut,” a voice replied. “Meddur went to the cove to look for her.”
Richard didn’t need a translator to identify the spew of words from Hamidou as curses. “We have no time for foolishness,” Hamidou barked. “Bring the English.” He swept out of the house in a billow of red robe and menace.
Richard, half pushed and half dragged, stumbled over the doorway. They rounded the house and had almost reached the path to the cliff before the man Meddur caught up, panting and shouting. He pulled Lily along beside him; her ungainly gait the obvious cause of his delay.
Richard’s captor loosened his grip, and Richard took advantage to pull Lily into his arms. The click of a trigger pulled back echoed over the commotion around them. He turned his back to it, shielding Lily.When did they bring out firearms? They must have stored them in the uncle’s house.
“No time for this,” Hamidou growled. “Climb now.” He waved his sword and led the way upward.
Richard held his arm around Lily’s waist and helped her climb. “I am sorry, more sorry than I can tell you,” he murmured against her ear.
Lily, white lipped and drawn, merely shook her head. They reached the top, and a cluster of seven men, the core of Hamidou’s crew, surrounded them. Hamidou barked orders. Strong arms pulledthem apart and faced them toward open sea. The pain in Richard’s twisted arm paled beside the sight of Lily, great with child, in the clutches of a ruffian twice her size.
All seven held the newly uncovered firearms that Richard had not seen before. One corsair, and then another, pointed their Portuguese snaplock muskets at Richard.
Scarface snatched off Lily’s headdress and lifted an ancient but deadly looking flintlock pistol to her head. Her red hair tumbled to her shoulders and swirled in the wind. Their captors pushed them forward to the edge of cliff.
Richard forced his attention to the spectacle below. A fully rigged ship of the line had pinned the pirates’ frigate in the cove. It lay broadside, the island within range of its 32-pound guns. Marines lined the deck—armed, red coated, and ready for action. The Union flag snapped in the wind.
Can they see us?He looked down at the rags he had been given with which to cover himself.No one looks less like a marquess than I do. If they see us, will they recognize us?Lily’s hair, flying in the wind brushed his cheek; his own was almost as long. Richard smiled grimly. Surely no Berber has hair that color—or the color of mine for that matter. The captain must make out that much in his spyglass.
Hamidou, who had hopped up onto the highest rock to Richard’s right must have the same thought when he forced them forward. He stood with his feet planted wide apart, one hand on his hip, and waved his sword in circles above his head.
Time froze. The ship of war neither attacked nor backed down. The men holding them stood firm. Richard could smell the fetid breath of the man pinning his arm and hear the rasp of it in and out.
After an eternity, or perhaps a few seconds, he saw movement on the ship’s quarterdeck. A ship’s officer in blue appeared among the red-coated marines, and two men in civilian clothes followed him. The officer raised a long pole and unfurled a massive banner, a white flag of truce to propose a parlay. Neither he nor the civilians made any further move.
“They wish to talk?” Hamidou asked.
“It appears that way,” Richard said. “You best reply in kind.”
Hamidou looked as if he meant to refuse, but he called to a boy who had followed them up the hill. The boy ran and returned quick time, carrying a sheet. Two pirates pushed Lily aside so that she moved closer to Richard. He grabbed her hand and hung on. The two pirates unfolded the sheet between them and held both ends.
Lily turned so that her left shoulder lay against Richard’s right. Scarface, distracted, dropped his gun. All eyes watched the ship of the line.
The civilians onboard waved their arms as if agitated, and sailors moved to lower a small boat. The officer in blue came over the side and began to climb down to the bobbing boat. They were coming to talk.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lily felt the tension in every cell of Richard’s body. They both strained to watch two men make their precarious way down a rope ladder to the yawl heaving in the waves beneath them where four sailors manned oars. Neither man looked accustomed to the task.
The first man descended awkwardly but arrived safely. The second moved painfully slowly and fell at the last, falling with good fortune into the landing craft.
“Andrew,” Richard breathed, “you damned fool.”
“Andrew Mallet?” Lily demanded, startled.
“I suspect so. The man who just fell favored one leg, as my brother-in-law does. He’ll feel that for a long time.”
Lily squinted toward the landing craft that pushed away from the ship and began its journey to the island. She couldn’t make out faces. They were soldiers, all of them, Richard’s friends. But they are also family men, who should be safe at home with their wives and children.
“How can that be? It has only been fifty-two days since you sent that message.”
“I’m damned if I know,” he growled. She felt his breath coming rapidly in his chest.
