A Pirate Princess Page 7

  “Goodnight, Captain Belcourt. Thank you for the idea,” Cori responded happily.

  Burke smiled, “You are welcome. Hey, can I ask you one more question?”

  “Sure, I guess. What is it?”

  “What should I call you? Cori, or Corisanda?”

  She paused for a moment, not sure what to say, “I like the name Corisanda because my mother picked it out. It means flower of my heart in her native tongue. Now the only person who calls me Corisanda is Sharlene. Just call me Cori, I guess.”

  “Okay Cori, see you in the morning.”

  “See you then, Captain Belcourt.”

  “You can call me Burke.”

  “Okay, Burke.” She closed her eyes but was awake for many hours thinking of her grand escape. Sometimes the handsome man sleeping across the room entered her mind as well.

  FIVE

  Burke awoke to the sound of someone bustling around the room. “Cori, what are you doing?” he asked as he pushed his eyes open. “Is it already morning?”

  “Almost, you will be expected for work soon but I am required to get an early start. Sorry I woke you,” she quietly apologized.

  “No, it’s fine,” he replied.

  A light knock rapped on the door and the Hispanic maid rushed in. She glared at Burke, still sitting in his uncomfortable chair. “I was just checking on you,” she whispered to Cori. The woman turned to leave and closed the door behind her.

  “Does she dislike me as well?” Burke asked, wondering how he could have offended the cranky maid.

  Cori grinned broadly at Novia’s concern, “No, she does not dislike you. She is my Aunt and does not like the idea of any man sleeping in my room. It is not appropriate at all, but we are pirates so why should she expect otherwise? Anyway, she is fine, as long as you do not try to jeopardize me somehow… which you will not do, or I shall kill you myself. Okay?”

  “As I have told everyone else on this ship, I will not harm you,” Burke laughed. It seemed that everyone loved the spirited vixen and he was beginning to understand why.

  “Any sign of them, Acel?” Quain asked worriedly.

  Acel shook his head left to right, “None! They are at least a full day ahead of us, maybe more.”

  “We are sailing at full speed,” Karoly yelled to the two men at the helm of The Heart of Calais.

  “Our ship is faster, we are bound to catch up eventually,” Acel encouraged.

  Burke’s crew sailed to Hispaniola as their captain instructed. Once they reached land the sky was very dark and they could not see The Beloved Loss from the island. They waited, and waited, and waited but The Beloved Loss did not bring their captain to shore. When morning finally came and they could see in the distance that the pirate ship was gone they began loading their ship quickly to search out their captain.

  Unfortunately, the captain and crew of The Beloved Loss had a lot of power over the people of Hispaniola. Out of loyalty for Marin, the natives waged war with the crew of The Heart of Calais and captured Leala and Miette for bribery. Nothing could stop Karoly. Their flimsy huts proved to be no match when Karoly ran right through one.

  He demanded his wife and daughter be released immediately. Since no one was able to stop him, he obtained his family back with ease. He regretted his word choice as soon as Leala and Miette were released; because Leala beat her poor savior all the way back to the ship. The crew finally boarded The Heart of Calais and raced after Burke, but they were way behind.

  Luckily for the crew, an elder from Hispaniola was walking along the shore when they left. “Where is The Beloved Loss going?” Quain yelled as Garner aimed a gun directly at the native to ensure an honest answer.

  “Africa! I would not chase them if I were you. You are not getting your captain back.” The man yelled in a broken language barely understandable to the crew. Quain had to tackle Garner to keep the trigger-happy Gunner from shooting the old man anyway.

  Now, after one full night of traveling they were becoming discouraged. “I know the man said Africa, surely that is where they are going and we are on the right route!” Quain reasoned.

  Acel agreed through clenched teeth, “Yes, we must be. If they stop their boat at night we can catch up in a day or two. I hope they are afraid, very afraid. When we do find them, which we will, they shall regret messing with my cousin!”

  The day was like any other for Cori. She helped the little girls scrub the floors, assisted Novia with changing the bed sheets and aided Guillermo with meal preparation for the pirate crew. Sharlene arose at her usual time, late in the morning. The woman seemed to wake in a bad mood. “CORISANDA!” She screamed as she entered the below deck quarters.

  “I am here,” Cori answered as she finished changing the sheets on Zeeman’s bed.

  “Let me tell you something, you stupid little coquette! You are going to marry Falco, and you better be worth something when you do. I do not like you sleeping in a room overnight with that man. Your father says you must and so that is where you shall stay but I want you to know that I do not trust you for one moment. I hope you know what must happen to you if you are defiled when Falco marries you! He shall have you fed to the sharks immediately. And do not fool yourself into believing that anyone around here loves you enough to save your life. I do not and neither does your father. You are nothing but worthless trash anyway. Do you understand all of this?”

  “Yes, I understand. I will not do anything wrong,” Cori answered as she tried to keep her voice steady.

  “Good, now what are you standing here for? Get to work!” Sharlene barked as she stormed out of the room.

  Once her step-mother was gone, Cori lowered herself to Zeeman’s bed and wiped her eyes. Novia heard most of the words from next door in Yvet’s room. “Corisanda, are you alright?” She asked.

  Cori took a breath and stood up, “Yes, Aunt Novia. I am fine. I just hope to get to Africa soon.”

  Novia scrunched her eyebrows questioningly, “Africa? You hate Africa. Why are you looking forward to arriving?”

  “Oh, never mind. It is nothing, let’s get back to work,” Cori dismissed. Although she loved Novia dearly she did not want anyone to know what her plan was. She hoped that Novia and Guillermo would be able to escape as well so that they could return to Cuba where they yearned to be. However, she knew that at this point she could not make any mistakes or take any risks on her plan going wrong. Cori promised to bring up the subject to her Aunt as soon as they were closer to their destination.

  She let her mind go back to Sharlene’s harsh words. It was hard enough to stay out of trouble before Burke came along, now it is impossible. What am I going to do when Falco kills him and I am to blame? Cori had already been given a message that Falco needed to speak to her before lunch was served.

  She was not sure what he would say but she knew it would be a lecture about Captain Belcourt and more threats as well. Burke does not realize what trouble he is getting me into with Sharlene and Falco! I shall probably wind up dead because of this, or worse! They might space my wedding date up so that I will share a room with Falco instead of Burke! He probably does not even care that I am getting in trouble because of him. He is just a pirate, nonetheless! Vowing to herself to no longer allow Burke to get her in trouble, Cori sat back to work with a vengeance trying to plan what she would say to Falco.

  As planned, Burke worked with Yvet again. The Beloved Loss had enough cannons and equipment to be confident when waging war against enemies. Burke wondered where his own ship was at that moment and what would happen when they found him. Or, if they did not find him, what he would do to escape. It was impossible to stop thinking about Cori and how beautiful she was. He found himself searching the ship with his eyes for the pirate princess.

  Although he was beginning to pity her and enjoy her company, he still felt resentment that she had low enough standards to work for the pirates. She was the reason he was in this predicament in the first place. Had she not been seen, he would have kept control of himse
lf and took down The Beloved Loss right on the spot.

  Wondering how many men had been killed because of Cori’s trap made him flinch. He glanced up again, seeing Cori for the first time since that morning. She walked across the ship toward Falco. Her chin was held high and she walked proudly, confidently, and with an air of grace. They met eyes for a brief moment and she shot him a horrible glare.

  What did I do to her? He wondered as he frowned back. I should be angry at her for getting me into this mess. She is a deceitful pirate, why have I been so enamored with her? Not anymore! I shall not worry about her; she surely did not worry about me when I boarded this ship, no doubt about that!

  Burke turned back to the cannons, scrubbing angrily and working with aggression. He forced himself to not think about her for the rest of the morning but by evening it was impossible. Burke knew he would soon be locked in a room with her again and he hated himself for looking forward to it. It is her fault I am here! She is no better than Odelia, they both used conniving snares to catch me. What has gotten into me lately? I have let two different women outsmart me, but it will not happen again! I shall get out of this mess and no woman will burden me again.

  Dinner came and went and the two were locked in Cori’s room once again. They were silent and only glared at each other for conversation. Cori bustled around her room organizing chests and folding her raggedy gowns. Burke washed his face in her water basin and plopped down in his chair to glower at Cori. “What’s your problem?” He asked.

  “My problem? Oh, so now you care about my problems, ay?” She responded angrily.

  Burke cocked his head to one side, “Well I don’t know why I should care about your problems, since you don’t care about mine! It’s your fault I’m even here.”

  “Oh trust me, you’re paying me back with plenty trouble of my own!” She countered.

  “Trust you? Certainly not! I am not a fool.”

  “Oh, you want to talk about fools? I could call you worse names than that, Captain.” Cori railed, implying his pirate career.

  Burke shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, “It would not bother me, and at least I do not trick anyone into taking their last breath aboard this ship just so your daddy can make a few gold coins!”

  Cori spun on her heels and faced him with her hands on her hips, “No! You do all your dirty work yourself. I try to stay out of trouble on this boat, Captain Belcourt. You are making that difficult!”

  “Well, I do apologize that you brought me here!” He sarcastically retorted.

  “It’s not like I wanted to!”

  “No, but you did it anyway! You just bow down to your little fiancé and your daddy! When they tell you to jump, you jump. Is that not right?”

  Cori stomped one foot, “If my life depends on it, yes! What do you suggest that I do, Captain Belcourt?”

  “I do not know, but if I did not want to be on this ship I would not be here, if I did not want to marry Falco I would not marry him, and if I did not want to bribe innocent men onto this boat then I would not do that either! No matter what the consequences were!” Burke vented.

  “Oh yeah? Well, as far as I know you do not want to be on this ship either but you are. So I am not the only coward in this room.” Cori did not know how hard her statement hit Burke.

  When she said that he realized how right she was. He did not want to be on the ship but he was, and he did not want to marry Odelia but he was going to. He did not want to give up his career but that was something else he had agreed to do. Burke was not a person to give up so easily and he determined himself to not let it happen. No one would stop him from sailing, not even Odelia. If he had to marry her, so be it, but she would never see her husband because Burke refused to give up his career if he ever earned it back.

  He calmed his voice, “Why do you work for them? I understand that you have to be on this ship for now, but why do you trap others here as well?”

  Cori looked at Burke with sadness in her eyes; she did not want to help the pirates. “Do you not understand that I have no choice? It is what they tell me to do. I do what I am told because they could kill me just as easily as they could anyone else. I am nothing special on this boat.”

  “But you are the captain’s daughter and the Quartermaster’s fiancé, you should be treated well,” he reasoned.

  “If my father loved me, then perhaps I would be. But he does not; now leave me alone, please.” She whispered in agony.

  “No,” Burke refused, “Why do you say your father dislikes you? Surely you are his world! Does he have no other children with Sharlene?”

  “Sharlene has a scar across her stomach from a complicated delivery long before she met my father. She says she had a son who died at birth and that she can no longer have children. He would have been nine or ten years older than me. I am my father’s only child. I am not a son, like he hoped for,” Cori stated dejectedly.

  “Surely your father cannot dislike you only because you are a girl,” Burke argued.

  Cori looked Burke in the eyes, “He hates me because I killed my mother, okay?”

  Burke was silent. He tried to understand what she had just told him. “You did what? You killed your mother?” He finally asked. I have been rooming with a murderer! He screamed inside his head.

  “She died during childbirth. She was small and I was her first child. If she had been on land she probably would have been fine, but she was not. She did not have a midwife, only Novia, and no proper treatment or care,” Cori explained, putting an end to Burke’s shock.

  “Oh, Cori, I am sorry.” He apologized. Burke understood the emotional wall between Cori and her father now. However, he could not comprehend why Marin blamed Cori for it. It was nothing that could be helped, and Cori was not at fault.

  “My father married Sharlene when I was five. She hates me worse than my father does. They do not give me any choice in the jobs they assign me to do. Luring ships in is one of them,” she clarified.

  “What if you just refused? What if you demanded respect for yourself, Cori? You cannot let them run your life for you. Tell them ‘No’! Put them in their place. You seem so strong, so unstoppable. Why do you not show that side of yourself to them?” Burke implored with irritation. He was furious that they treated her so callously.

  “They shall kill me!” She wailed.

  Burke shook his head in disbelief, “No they will not! Just take charge…”

  His sentence was cut short when loud feet were heard running down the long, below deck hallway. “What is going on?” He asked.

  “Oh no,” Cori whispered. Her door was thrown open and Marin stood in the portal, “A ship is coming this way, girl! Get out here.”

  “Who is it?” Burke asked, hoping that it would be his own ship.

  “I do not know yet, but it is coming towards us from the direction of Europe, so probably other pirates or buccaneers. Get out here Cori!”

  Burke knew if it was coming from that direction it would not be his own boat. Disheartened, he turned toward Cori who was still standing in place.

  “No.” She only spoke one word, but it provoked a big reaction from her father.

  Marin stared at her incredulously, “What did you say, girl? Get your outfit on and get to the deck.”

  Cori held her chin high, “I said no. I will not do it anymore. I have begged you to let me stop that horrible job. I am not coldhearted like you. I shall not do it.”

  By that time Sharlene was in the doorway and so was Falco. “This is his fault, Captain!” Falco yelled. “He has given Cori this attitude problem.”

  “No, he has not. You know I have always hated this job, do you not, Sharlene?” Cori argued.

  “Corisanda, you will mind your father. Get out here and do your job or face the consequences,” Sharlene demanded.

  Cori looked her in the eyes bravely, “No.”

  Within seconds, Sharlene and Falco grabbed Cori and drug her out of the room kicking and screaming. The door was slammed in Burke�
��s face before he could stop them and the bolt was slid out, locking him in the room. He screamed, “Let her go! Do not hurt her! Please, punish me but leave her alone! I put her up to it. It was me! Leave her alone. Cori! Cori, are you okay? Cori!”

  Nothing worked and he pounded the door until his fists bled. The sound of loud cannons filled the air and the ship rocked from side to side. It sounded like a war was raging right outside the door. The same thing continued for over an hour. Hundreds of shots were fired. Burke’s ears rang with the sound. The ship took several hard blows and Burke wondered how the old boat was still floating. He wondered what he would do if the ship began to sink. Being locked in the room made Burke claustrophobic.

  Finally, silence was heard. No one came for another hour. He wondered what was going on but no one came with information. When Burke had given up hope, the door flew open. Guillermo and Novia rushed in with Cori in Guillermo’s arms. He laid her down gently on her bed and tucked the covers around her. “Is she okay?” Burke asked in a panic.

  “She shall be fine; this is nothing new to her.” Guillermo answered sadly.

  Burke leaned over the bed and looked at her. She was wearing another skimpy nightgown like she had a couple nights before when Burke was her target. She was beautiful in the silky gown. It showed her long, tan legs and her feminine figure. Moving his eyes up her body he spotted big bruises already forming on her arms and across her chest. He gasped in shock. “What happened to her?” he asked incredulously.

  “If she does not do what she is told to do, Sharlene punishes her. She has refused to work for them hundreds of times and we all thought she finally wised up and decided to do what they told her. They will kill her one day, and she is just lucky it was not today.” Guillermo explained.

  Novia shook her head in distress, “They have ordered that she does not eat for the next few days. You shall not either. I’m sorry. They blame you for her defiance. If we can sneak you any food then we will, but they will be watching us closely to make sure we are not helping you. Take care of her, and call if you need help.”