Justin couldn’t believe what Kip had done. He had wandered away from Jackson, who had returned to the pub, frantic when he couldn’t find the lad, and had engaged in an actual pirate’s duel. The pirate could have killed him.
It was time to teach the boy a lesson. Obviously, Kip’s father had never gotten around to teaching the lad obedience and good decisions. Well, Justin would make sure that the lad never chose wrong again. As much as it would pain him to do this, it would have to be done, and the sooner the better.
Justin walked into his cabin of the practically deserted ship and slammed the door. He dropped Kip unceremoniously into one of the chairs at the table and stalked to his bedroom, which was the second room of the spacious cabin. He returned moments later with a large paddle in hand.
Kalinna’s eyes widened in shock as she realized what he was going to do. He was going to spank her! She had never been spanked before, and she was not going to start now with this man. No way was she going to endure that type of embarrassment.
Without thinking, she stood up and pulled her sword out.
“En guard,” she suddenly cried. Justin gave her a surprised looked at her sudden announcement, but immediately obeyed the challenge.
He drew his sword and took up a ready stance. Kalinna was shaking with fear because she knew this man was deadly; deadlier than any of her other swordplay opponents. But a duel was better than having her butt spanked and risking him finding out that she was a girl.
She normally let her opponent attack first, but her nerves were frayed and her mind exhausted, so she took the first swipe. Justin easily deflected it and Kalinna immediately knew she had made a mistake. This was no oversized pirate who she could easily defeat; no, this man was possibly the only person who could easily beat her instead.
But she put that thought aside. No sense in panicking now. She had to keep a cool head or else she’d be getting a paddle on the backside. And she didn’t want that.
Justin saw the fear and hesitancy in Kip’s eyes. The lad knew he had made a wrong decision, but it was too late. Instead of a paddle on the behind, maybe being beat at his own game would teach Kip a lesson. And this meant he wouldn’t feel guilty afterwards; the lad had initiated the fight after all.
Kalinna hesitantly took another swing at the captain. He easily batted away her sword as if she had no skill whatsoever. Suddenly, she knew that she shouldn’t be afraid. She was skilled enough to fight this man; if he was trying to punish her by beating her at the one thing she was good at, well he had another thing coming to him.
With more confidence, she struck out again, and this time, saw Justin have to put more effort behind blocking. And finally, he struck back. Before, he had just let her swing, only blocking, but not fighting back. Now the duel was real.
The two of them went at it for what seemed like hours. Kalinna struck, dipped, and spun, trying to gain the upper hand but not succeeding in the least. Justin attacked just as ferociously, using all his skill for he was determined not to be beaten by his cabin boy. But he wasn’t able to gain anything over his opponent either.
Finally, they both stood there, swords hanging at their sides, breathing hard out of exhaustion. Neither had won, but neither had lost either. Justin couldn’t believe it; he’d never had a duel where neither party came out the victor.
“Are you finished making foolish decisions?” he finally asked as he sheathed his sword; Kalinna did the same, “I don’t want to have to drag your dead body back to the ship any time soon.”
“I had no choice in the matter,” Kalinna explained as she sank gratefully into a chair, her body exhausted and her jaw throbbing from the punch she had received earlier courtesy of Marcus Black.
“What do you mean by that?” Justin demanded as he sank into his favored leather chair behind the desk.
“They shoved me into the ring and would not let me out,” Kalinna continued as she wiped the sweat from her face and winced when her hand came in contact with her sore jaw, “I wasn’t going to stand there and not defend myself.”
“Well I’m glad you didn’t get killed in the process,” Justin almost snapped, then sighed, “Why don’t you head to bed? I’ve got a lot of things to take care of. From now, I don’t want you fighting unless you absolutely have to, is that understood?”
“Aye captain,” Kalinna said and quickly vacated the room lest he change his mind about the paddling.
Justin sat there in thought long after the lad had gone. He kept thinking about some of the things Anthony had said before he had left in search of Kip. Something about how the lad distinctly reminded him of somebody he knew from home. Unfortunately, after Justin had pressed for a name, Anthony couldn’t recall anything but a blank.
The pirate captain didn’t know what to do about the lad anymore. Kip Davenport was hiding something from him and he’d be damned if a fourteen-year old boy was going to put his mission into jeopardy. No, he was going to find out exactly what secrets lay behind those expressive green eyes.
Kalinna lay on her bed not ten minutes later, her mother’s diary lying open before her. It was at times like these, when she was all alone, that she missed her mother the most. They had been close up until her death eight years ago, and Kalinna still felt a hole in her heart that she was afraid would never be filled by any other person.
But the words on these yellowed pages provided her comfort and a sense of peace. It was if her mother’s soothing voice spoke to her, telling her that everything was going to be all right. That was definitely what she needed right now after that inconclusive duel with the captain of the ship.
She didn’t quite know what to make of Justin Timberlake, or the secrets he withheld from her, but one thing was for certain. Nobody else could ignite her fury quite like he could. He was the catalyst that made her blood boil out of control.
They’d only been out to sea barely three weeks and she had already had at least one argument with him per day. He was the only person who seemed to be able to keep up with her sarcastic quips and biting comments and return the favor. It was thrilling but at the same time frustrating.
Ah, but that was the last thing she wanted to think about now. Her body ached in places she thought it was impossible to ache in and her stomach was cramped up. Her jaw felt like it was swollen to the size of a balloon and she was exhausted to the core. It was best to put away the diary before she fell asleep.
She crawled off the bed, intent on putting the diary back in its rightful place when, suddenly, her stomach was hit with a fresh wave of cramps. She doubled over in pain and bit her lip to keep from crying out. Her heart filled with dread as she realized exactly what it was.
Her woman’s time. Lord, this couldn’t be happening, not now. She wasn’t prepared to deal with this and had no idea how to go about procuring padding that she could use for the next week. Quietly, she crept towards the galley, hoping there was something there that she could swipe at least for the night.
She made it there without mishap, thankful that everybody seemed to be ashore at the present moment. After lighting a lamp, she turned to begin her search. And almost screamed when a hulking figure came through the door.
“Here now, what ya lookin’ for at this time ‘o tha night?” the kind voice of Trenton Sheridan, the cook questioned as he walked fully into his domain.
“I…” Kalinna fumbled, not knowing how she was supposed to explain her predicament to this man who thought her to be a boy. But he seemed to pick up on the fact that she was hiding something.
“Do ye want ta tell me tha truth?” Trenton asked as he sat down at the table and motioned for Kalinna to join him. She readily obeyed, knowing there was no way she could talk herself out of this now.
“Do you promise not to tell the captain, or Jackson, or anybody else for that matter?” Kalinna demanded, searching the man’s face.
“Cross me ‘eart that I won’t breathe nothin’ to nobody,” Trenton said, placing a chubby hand over his chest. Kalinna sighed, knowing she could trust this man with her secret.
Without another word, she quickly pulled her hat off and shook her hair out. The glorious dark waves bounced and shown in the dim light before coming to rest around her face and down her back like a halo. Trenton stared at her in shock.
“Lord ‘o mighty, yer a girl,” the cook finally breathed when he had recovered enough for comprehensible speech.
“Kalinna Davenport at your service,” she softly said as she held her hand out.
“Pleasure to meet you m’lady,” Trenton said as he bent over and kissed her hand; Kalinna blushed, “Now what ye be doin’ on a ship like this ‘un?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Kalinna mumbled, hanging her head out of embarrassment.
But Trenton knew he had to get an answer out of the beautiful lass. After all, they were investigating her father Richard for crimes against the crown. He wasn’t going to take any chances that she was somehow connected with the scheme.
“Tell me anyway,” he commanded, sending her a reassuring smile when she looked up and fear shown from her eyes.
“You’re not going to take me back to London, are you?” she cried, “I can’t go back, I just can’t. I made a promise to myself weeks ago that I would never return.”
“Hold yer horses, I ain’t takin’ ye nowhere until I ‘ear what ye gots to say for yerself,” Trenton reassured the distressed lady.
“Okay,” Kalinna said as she breathed a sigh of relief; she promptly began to explain the reason for her escape, “My father, Richard, was trying to force me to marry a man I didn’t want to marry. He’s been manipulating me and throwing me at men ever since my mother died eight years ago.”
“That makes ye…” Trenton trailed off, wanting to know her age.
“Twenty-two last month,” Kalinna supplied, then grimaced, “I refused every single suitor he brought for me again and again; he just wanted to gain access to more money, not see me happily married. But it never got through his thick skull that I was unhappy. So I did the only thing I could think of. I ran away.”
“Seems pretty drastic ta me,” Trenton commented as he scratched his red beard in thought, “Why was yer father after money?”
“He’s always after money,” Kalinna spat, her eyes glowing emerald fire as she thought of her greedy sire, “That’s all he ever thinks about. In all honesty, I think that’s all I ever was to him, a ploy to get rich and attach his name to a titled gentleman.”
“Sounds awful,” the cook said, as he patted her hand in a consoling fashion. She gave him a small, unhappy smile in return.
“It was. My life was a living hell after my mother died,” Kalinna admitted, tears rising in her eyes. Oh, she would not give into the buggers, not now, not ever. She was strong. She didn’t cry.
“Tell me about your mother,” Trenton suddenly stated, sensing how emotional she was becoming.
“She was wonderful,” Kalinna breathed as the tears dried without falling, “I can remember all the times her and I would stay up late at night, reading each other stories from some of the books she had kept from her own childhood. She was always so kind and gentle and understanding. She was never one to scold, but rather used soothing words to make everything better. She never deserved all the unhappiness that came attached to my father.”
“She sounds like she was an amazin’ lady,” Trenton mused, “You must ‘ave gotten yer looks from her.”
“That, and her spirit. There were so many times she stood up to my father. He yelled quite often when he thought I couldn’t hear, and I can remember her yelling right back,” Kalinna mused, a faraway smile on her face, “Now, though it’s me who has to deal with my him, and every time I say something he doesn’t like, he threatens to marry me to the oldest, ugliest man he can find no matter how much money the man has.”
“I can see now why ye ran away,” Trenton agreed, wondering how a father could treat his own flesh and blood so horribly.
“Really? So you won’t take me back to England?” she hopefully questioned. He shook his head in the negative and she quickly hugged him. “Oh thank you Trenton, thank you for being so understanding.”
“My pleasure m’lady,” he responded with a broad grin, “Now what were ye doin’ sneakin’ ‘round in the kitchen at this time ‘o tha night?” Her blush returned with embarrassing force.
“It’s my womanly time,” she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. Trenton felt his heart go out to the lass before him, who was dealt a nasty hand in life yet still managed to possess an uncommon amount of strength in one of the fairer sex.
“I think I can help wit that,” Trenton said as he stood up and walked over to the cupboard where he kept the clean linens. He quickly pulled out a few small pieces of cloth. “Will this work?”
“That’s perfect, thank you Trenton,” Kalinna said as she took what he offered, “What can I ever do to thank you?”
“Just keep yer wits ‘bout ye,” Trenton replied after giving her a fatherly hug, “Ye don’t need nobody takin’ advantage of ye cause ye be a lady.”
“What about the captain?” she hesitantly questioned.
“It’s up to ye what ye want to tell him an’ when,” Trenton responded, smiling as he let her go, “Yer secret is safe with me m’lady.”
With one last thanks, and after tucking her hair back underneath her cap, Kalinna vacated that galley and headed straight back to her cabin. She was amazed at how kind Trenton had been to her and knew that the jolly cook would keep her secret for as long as she asked him to. She couldn’t ask the kind gentleman for anything more.
Back in the kitchen, Trenton sat back down at the table, amazed by this new bit of information. Kip the lad with the great arm was actually a spitfire of a beautiful woman with more spirit than he had ever seen in one of the opposite sex. And she was the daughter of Richard Davenport.
This would only increase their chances of catching the traitor. Kalinna knew her father and would be of some use to them in the future. For now, though, he was going to keep quiet.
If the men knew there was a woman aboard, an uproar would occur. Many of them had been away from the fairer sex for over a year and with Kalinna’s beauty, she would have no chance for survival. There was also the fact that Justin would be furious.
The captain hated to be lied to, and that’s exactly what the pretty lass had done from the moment she had met the handsome young man. Of course, he’d be lenient because she was a woman, but he’d be angry nonetheless. He had promised Kalinna that he would not reveal her secret until she was ready to do it herself and he intended to keep that promise.
She was obviously running from the demons her father had created in her life so it wasn’t his right to go ratting her out to the captain. She deserved a chance to put everything to rights before she returned to England with the crew.
Besides, they could always use her arm in a tight squeeze. Despite the fact that she was a woman, she wielded the weapon as well as any grown man. There was no doubt in his mind that she would defend any man aboard this ship until her last breath. After all, she had become part of their close-knit family just as they had become the loving, albeit unusual, family that she seemed to have missed in her childhood.
With a sigh, Trenton blew out the lamp and made his way out of the galley. He only hoped that whatever the young lass was searching for, she would find it. And not end up getting hurt in the process.
