Chapter 3

They made their way to the hold. She showed them her meager home. She had had to move it six times to avoid detection.

Harve glared at her. She knew she had made an enemy. When the captain asked what she wanted out of this employment and how long it was to last she had an answers. "A bed, a real one." she glanced at the filthy blanket she had been using. "In two years enough money to make a life in the new world." She never wanted to go back to England. Her father and Sir Reginald were there.

"Agreed." he said and turned, lantern in hand. Elle stared at him as he walked away. That's it?

Her cabin was beside his and big enough for a bed and dresser. She was grateful for the small private space. The next weeks were harder than any she had ever known. Her duties did not end at running messages and gathering information. She worked the ship with the crew. She worked harder than any of them; fear of being flogged kept her moving. Punishment by the CAT O' NINE TALE meant being striped to the waist. Her true sex would then be discovered. She would, most likely, be forced to leave the ship at the next port or worse in the middle of the sea.

Therefore, she worked hard to keep her secret. Off the coast of England, she sat in a boat bound for shore.

She intended to deliver the messages, gather some information, and board the ship as fast as possible. The first two messages were quick. The third took more time because she had to wait a reply. It was when she was at the docks that she heard a fight.

Harve and another man were in an altercation that involved fist, blood, and blades. Two men watched. One man stood with his back to her. His clothes suggested he was minor nobility. Another man stood in profile.

Harve killed the one that he was fighting and with a flick of his wrist, the well-dressed man sent the other to take his place. It was plain to see that Harve couldn't take much more abuse. The well-dressed man was not much bigger then Elle so she drew her cutlass and from behind him put it to his throat.

"Order them to stop or I slit your throat now." she applied a bit of pressure to the flesh just over his vein. When he opened his mouth to obey, she almost dropped the knife.

His command brought them to a halt. "Stop now." The men stared over at them.

"Take you and your man and leave without looking back," she ordered. She prayed he didn't recognize her voice. She lowered the cutlass but kept it ready for use.

With another hand signal, the brute was gone. "I want my money Harve. If i don't get it you'll die screaming." He jerked in her grasp, Elle released him, and he walked away without looking at them.

Harve shrugged her off as she tried to help him. On the small boat back to the ship, Elle asked. "Do you have a death wish? Sir Reginald Travis is worse than any pirate."

He dipped a cloth in the water and wiped at a cut above his left eye. "Wha ould ye know- boy?" there was a strange tone to his voice.

"I know he made a deal with a sutler that owed him. He wanted the man's daughter in lieu of gold. The daughter found out that her death was insured for three times the debt. That she was to die the last night of her honeymoon." she broke off before saying more.

Arms on his knees he asked "Wha' 'appen to the dau'er?"

Elle looked at the ship. A ladder was thrown down and the boatman caught it. On deck, Harve asked again. Elle told him almost sadly, "She threw herself off a cliff and was lost at sea."