Demons & Pearls (The Razor's Adventures Book 1) (15 page)

The man was huge. He wasn’t quite as tall as Rasmus, but he was thicker and wider. The gaping wound in his chest was bleeding out all over him, and yet he kept on his feet and matched Rasmus blow for blow. I couldn’t look away, and through the gag, I screamed and shouted for Rasmus to kill him. I wanted another head.

Rasmus lowered his right shoulder and like a rutting bull, rammed the man hard in his wound, at last knocking him back and into the table by the bed, smashing it to pieces as he went down. I twisted my head to the left and watched as Rasmus quickly pulled a broken leg from the table and swung it hard, bashing the side of the man’s head until his lower jaw was broken and twisted away from his face.

Enraged wind blasted from Rasmus’s nose, and blood shot from his nostrils and ran from one corner of his mouth. He swiped it away from his face with the back of his hand and spat the bloody contents of his mouth on the floor as he bent over and picked up the fallen cutlass.

I believed the man was dead, until I saw his battered hand sliding up and over the edge of the bed, clawing at the sheet. Rasmus stood above him and then looked over at my pleading eyes. I was telling him to do it. I was guiding his hand with my mind to slit that filthy bastard’s throat, and I knew he could hear me. A second later, the deed was done.    

He stared around the room for a moment and surveyed the carnage he had rained down on them all.  Then, without a word, he picked up Rip’s tossed off dagger and sat next to me on the bed. One by one, he cut the ropes until I was finally free. I was afraid to move or even to breathe, until seemingly without a second thought, he brushed Felix’s glaring-eyed head off the side of the bed.

Rasmus was still breathing heavily, and he leaned back on one hand for a moment. I strained my aching muscles by raising my arms to pull the gag from my mouth, but he sat back up and swept my hand away. He nodded at me and gently lifted the scarf out and from between my lips, and then he gathered my shirt around me and tied it closed. He wiped off the cutlass blade, sheathed it, and then handed me the dagger and said, “We have to go.”

“This is gonna cost ye, Bergman,” the angry tavern owner shouted when he burst through the crowd that had gathered outside the room. Rasmus ordered them all to stay out and move away.  He scooped me up quickly in his arms and rushed down the stairs and out into the rain. He put me down gently and turned to the row of several horses tied off at the front of the tavern. “Can ye ride?”

I nodded my bald head frantically at him and shouted, “Yes!” He ran over and took a beautiful black stallion by the reins and tossed me upon its back. Once he’d secured his own mount, I shouted to him, “Rip escaped! I’m certain he’s headed to the McCormack’s.”

“We have to save those girls!” he roared as he leapt from the ground and landed on the animal’s back.

“But what about the Captain and Master Green?  Won’t they be there?”

“I don’t know, but even if they are, I’m sure they’ll be grateful for our assistance.”  He gave the horse a kick, and off we flew. I followed behind him in the darkness, keeping my eyes on him as best I could with the rain now relentlessly beating against my face. I wiped my eyes clear and lowered my head as far as I could and yet still have a view of Big Red’s white-tailed horse ahead of me.

When we’d nearly reached the house, he slowed down to a walk and dismounted. He reached up and helped me off the stallion and pushed me behind him while he crept to the gate. “Have your weapon ready, lass. It’s black as pitch, and they could be all over the place. No lanterns on the front porch tonight, but I can see two figures moving against the house lights coming from the windows.”

“Follow me,” I said, and I waved him on. “We’ll go the back way.”

I knew where the wall wrapped around the back of the property because I’d surveyed this place well in case we needed to make a hasty exit. I showed Rasmus where we could go over the wall through the thick bushes and vines and still stay hidden. We tied the horses off there in case we needed to get away in a hurry.

“Of course, if we had dark clothing, this would be a lot easier.  But since we’ve both obviously lost most of, or in your case,
all
of our shirts, it won’t be simple. Thank God for this blasted rain for cover, at least,” I whispered to him.  He rolled his eyes at me and gave me a leg up to the top of the wall and then followed me over.

“Ye know, lass, I haven’t even taken a second to ask ye if you’re…”

I reached up and covered his mouth lightly with my hand and said, “I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

He followed me around the perimeter until we reached the back of the house. We were about fifty feet from the cottage. Not a single light showed in any of the windows. I was worried that something had happened to River, and I held fast to Rasmus’s arm and told him of my fears.

“What if they’ve killed him? I was counting on him to help us get away.”

“Maybe he’s in the house, which is even better for us.”

“There’s a trellis there by the back porch. That’s how I get onto the porch roof and in the window. There,” I said, and I pointed up, noticing a light in our bedroom. “Let’s go.”

“Hold on there, lass. I can barely see my hand in front of my face, and we don’t know if there’s a man on that porch. Let’s just make our way to that cottage first.  Maybe we can get a closer look.” Rasmus took my hand, and we made a dash for the cottage. We crept along the outside until we reached the window, when we heard someone behind us.

“Ivory, is that you?”

“River?” I called out.

Rasmus pulled his cutlass, but I pushed it to the side when I saw River’s face coming out of the darkness. “Jesus, River. What are you doing out here alone?”

“Ivory, what the ‘ell?” River said, shaking his head. “Where’s yer hair? Shit, what did ye do?”

“Forget about my hair, will you? Where is everyone?”

“Shit, ye’s ain’t all gonna do that, are ye?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I whispered and pulled him by the shirt into the shadows.

Rasmus was silent. He leaned back against the side of the cottage and eyeballed River, who relayed to us that Rip had arrived only minutes before with at least eight men on horseback. Rip had ordered him into the house, but he’d convinced Rip to allow him to watch the perimeter wall so that he could keep an eye out for me.

“Where are Master Green and the Captain?” I asked.

“They got them too. They’re all in there.”

“What are they doing?”

“They’re keepin’ the girls locked up in the bedroom until Cap’n Calvert gets here.”

“Wait, are you saying the
Thunder Cay
is here?” I grabbed him firmly by the arms.

“Not only is she here, lass, but Rip said he seen Calvert comin’ up the street ta’ the
Gull
when he run ta’ gather up them fellas he’s got up there at the house with him. After this big gent here run ‘im off,” River said, pointing his thumb at Rasmus and smiling. “Rip ran back ta’ the
Demon
and gathered up what was left of his ilk. He told ‘em if they want their pay fer you girls, they had ta’ come with ‘im.”

“We’ve no time to waste,” I said as I turned to Rasmus.

“Calvert’s comin’ ta’ take those girls, I’m tellin’ ye. Ain’t no way Rip’s gonna lose that money,” River said, shaking his head.

The clouds overhead were moving away from the island and the rain had stopped. As our eyes adjusted in the clearing darkness, I saw Rasmus look up at the sky and then at the light in the bedroom window. “Nah, we’ll see to that,” he looked down and said to me.  He started away from the cottage and across the yard to the house.

“Ivory, ’tis he the one they call Big Red?” River asked while he trotted along behind us.

“Could they call him anything else?”

“Come on, we have the light now,” Rasmus whispered. Then he stopped, waving us off.

We were now a mere thirty feet or so from the house, and with a bit of moon and starlight now visible, we could clearly see the two men pacing back and forth like pale blue ghosts on the porch. We retreated and made our way into the shadows along the garden wall.

“I know what to do,” I said, pulling the scarf from around my neck and wringing it out. I wrapped it around my head to cover my scalp and tied it off in the back.

“What are you doing?” Rasmus asked, grabbing me by the arm.

“We have to be swift and quiet. They want me. They’re not going to kill me. I’m worth more alive than dead, unlike you two. I’m going to act as if I’m sneaking back to the house like I’ve been doing.”

Rasmus smiled at me and winked. “River, I’ll take the one on the right.”

“Here, River, take my dagger,” I said, and I sucked in a deep breath. “Wait until I draw them from the porch.  Then, they’re all yours.” I started off and made my way casually towards them until I knew they could see me.

“Who are you and what are you doing on Miss Millie’s porch?” I snapped at them. I stopped a few yards away and waited for them to come to me.

“Hey, ain’t ye that Ivory they’s waitin’ fer? Ye stay right there, girl,” the one on the left said as he started down the steps to the yard. He was looking left to right and asked, “Where’s that red-haired bastard?”

“I…stole a horse and ran from him,” I quickly replied.

I began to back away, when I noticed the one on the right making his way down the steps as well. When I believed them far enough from the house, I turned and started to run, at which they gave chase. Out of the shadows flew Razz and River, hitting the men at full speed and knocking their prey off their feet, quieting them instantly with cold steel.

I raced back to them and looked down at the dead men as River and Razz relieved them of their weapons. I chose to also relieve one of them of his hat. “I love a nice, soft leather cavalier. This one’s a small head. I think I’ll take this for my trouble. He won’t be needing it anymore.”

Rasmus tilted his head at me and raised a curious eyebrow. I shrugged my shoulders at him and popped it on my head. “Fits perfectly,” I said as I took my dagger from River and swiped it through the wet grass.

My plan had worked perfectly. Now, we needed to quickly take care of the two in the front. Since my plan had been such a success, we played it out again as quickly as we could. We knew sooner or later someone would come looking for them. Once the other two were silenced for good, we were well-armed and could peer through the windows and Millie’s sheer French curtains to find out what it was like on the inside.

Chapter Fourteen

~Freedom Isn’t Free~

We could see them, but as dark as it was on the front porch, they couldn’t see us. Captain McCormack and Master Green were seated on Millie’s precious sofa. They appeared to have their hands tied at their backs. They were both gagged as well, and Millie sat like a queen in her big, blue velvet winged-back chair. The windows were open, and we could hear them bickering back and forth over what to do with the Captain and Green, among other things.

“How long will it be before Calvert arrives?” Millie asked.

“How the ‘ell should I know?” Rip shouted at her.

“Don’t take that tone with me. You lost the blond one and nearly got yourself killed.”

“I know I seen him, so I’m sure it won’t be long ‘fore he comes ta’ collect,” Rip lowered his voice and paced back and forth. “And ‘bout that blond one; well, she ain’t blond no more. That crazy tart went and shaved her head bald. She was foolin’ ‘round with that Big Red. That’s where we snatched her ta’ bring ‘er here, and we got a little caught up at the
Gull
.” Rip paced back and forth, running his black fingers through his filthy hair as he spoke. 

“Bald or not, you still lost her, and that’s money out of my pocket.”

“Listen, ye swampy old wench, ye wasn’t there. Ye didn’t see that crazy son of a bitch come through that door. He ‘ad an ax in one hand and a blade in the other. No man in his right mind would a’ stayed ta’ find out what he was ‘bout ta’ do. He must want ‘er fer ‘imself. She’ll probably be spoilt anyway.”

“How did he know you had the girl?”

“We snatched her at the dock. Maybe he seen us. Maybe ’twas that big-tit trollop, Lilly. She seen us carryin’ her in. I don’t know, but I wasn’t stickin’ ‘round ta’ ask ‘im. I’ve heard ‘bout this Big Red, and I ain’t getting’ carved up over some stupid whore fer no amount a’ money.”

I was fuming, and Razz held me back by the arm as I started to lunge right through the open window. “You’ll have your chance, lass. River,” he turned and said. “You said at least eight?”

“Aye. Give or take.”

“Well, there’s two milling about the room that I can see, which leads me to believe the other two are upstairs watching the girls.”

“I say we go with my original plan to go up the trellis and in through the bedroom window,” I insisted, pulling away from Rasmus’s hold on my arm.

“No.  You could endanger those girls by bursting in there.”

“They’re not helpless, for God’s sake, Razz. Come on,” I said and dashed around the side of the house. I reached the trellis before they could catch up to me.

Hand over hand, I flew up to the roof and crouched down as I made my way to the window. I could see Cass sitting on the bed reading as she always did in the evening, but as I leaned farther to get a better look, I saw one man standing with his back against the door. His arms were folded at his chest, and from what I could see, he wore a pistol tucked in his belt and his cutlass was sheathed.

I crawled beneath the window to see in from the other side, and there was no one else in the room except for Keara and Miranda. One man and they hadn’t even made an attempt to escape? I felt as if I needed to have a stern word with all three of them when this was over.

I looked up and saw River as he came up and over the side of the roof. I placed my finger at my lips for him to be quiet.  Then, I crawled back to where he now sat. “Where’s Rasmus?”

“He didn’t want ta’ risk the trellis breaking under his weight. He said he’s gonna sneak in the back door and take ‘em by surprise.”

“Alone?” I shouted in a whisper.

“He said ‘e’d meet us downstairs. I s’pose he thinks ye can handle this after all.”

I shook my head and waved River on behind me. “Are you a good shot, Watts?”

“I’m a hell of a shot.”

“Here.  I’m not much with a pistol yet, and once you fire this, there’s no turning back. Do you understand?”

He nodded at me, and he took the loaded weapon from my hand. “Now, once you shoot, the sound will draw them upstairs to us. Be ready for a fight,” I said.  I moved aside and allowed him the space to get a clean shot at the man standing by the door.

I held my breath as River balanced the weapon in his hands. He looked over at me one last time and turned back, lined up his shot and squeezed the trigger. I watched as the man’s forehead opened up and the blood ran down his face before he fell forward and hit the floor with a bang. I shoved River through the window and climbed in behind him.

“Are you girls alright?” I asked, but I wasted no time handing them the weapons we’d taken off the men in the yard. River quickly pulled the dead man’s pistol from his baldric and made sure it was loaded.

“Yes, but thank goodness you’re here,” Cass answered, throwing her arms around my neck.

“No time for reunions, girls,” I said.  We could hear boots pounding their way up the stairs.

We stood back from the door as it blew open with a kick from the first man who entered. River was reloaded and waiting to the right of the door. Again he fired, taking half the man’s skull at close range.

“Stay here,” I said.  I could hear another set of footsteps approaching. These were calculated and slow, obviously taking precautions. “Who’s there?” a voice asked.

“You girls, go out the window now.” I laid back against the wall by the door.

“We want to help,” Keara whispered.

“I’ll need your help later, but right now, I need you to get out of here. Just go and run as far to the back wall of the property as you can and stay there.”

No sooner had the words left my lips than I saw the blade of a broadsword coming around the doorway. I swung hard at it and connected with a steel bang. “Go!” I shouted at them, and they scrambled to the window and onto the roof.

As I engaged the man, I drew him into the room and kept his back to River. Our swords had crossed a mere three times when the cold steel of the cutlass in Rivers’s clutch passed through the man’s heart, and he collapsed at my feet. My head shot up as the sound of things crashing and breaking below us pulled us from the room and to the top of the stairs.

“Rasmus,” I said aloud and barreled down the steps with River close behind.

There he was in the parlor, with one man already lying in a heap to his right and the other swinging a broadsword wildly at him. Rasmus spun around and met the man’s sword with so much force it flew from his opponent’s hand and impaled itself in the parlor wall. Rasmus shouted to us to go after Rip and Millie. “They’ve escaped, but I doubt they’ll get far on their own in the darkness.”  He quickly dispatched his opponent, who had tried to pull a dagger to continue the fight.  Then, he was by our side, ready to move.

Rasmus and I rushed to the Captain and Master Green and untied them while River pulled the broadsword from the wall. Then, we gave chase out the front door.

“River, wait for us!” I shouted as we followed him. I turned to Rasmus. “Rasmus, stop!  I have to go and get the girls.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, wide-eyed and pointing ahead toward the open gates.

There stood Cass with a firm grip on Millie, pushing her forward toward us. Keara and Miranda had Rip on his face in the grass with a cutlass pointed at his back.

“Ha ha!” I shouted at them. “I should have known.”

“Handy, indeed,” Rasmus looked over at me and smiled. “Let’s get them in the house and make certain there aren’t any more surprises awaiting us tonight.”

“Come on, ye scurvy rat,” River said as he pulled Rip to his feet and shoved him ahead, holding the broadsword at his back.

“Fuckin’ traitor!” Rip spat blood and shouted at him.

“Aye, that’s exactly what ye are, ye bastard,” River replied.

The girls waited on the porch with Master Green, to keep an eye out for unwelcome visitors, while we took Rip and Millie back inside.

I felt horrible for Captain McCormack. The look on his face when he realized that Millie had been carrying on with Barclay for quite some time, along with the dirty deals in which they had been involved, left him quiet, and he appeared to me to be shamed and broken. How wrong I was. We stood and watched as he retrieved his baldric from the floor and pulled it over his head, securing it back in its place. He stood with his arms folded, staring at both of them for several moments, as if he were contemplating what to do. It soon became obvious that he’d found an answer, and we all took a step back as he pulled his pistol and moved toward them.

“I aughtta blow both yer lyin’ heads off fer what ye been doin’ behind me back. Looks like I owe Miss Shepard here for killin’ yer lover, aye Millie?”

Millie sat up and gasped. “You no good tramp! I should have killed you when you back-talked me the other night. And you, William, I kept Townsend from killing you and your lap dog tonight, and this is the thanks I get.”

“Yes, Millie, by all means, let’s make this ‘bout how kind ye are. Ye’re ‘bout as kind as a school a’ sharks surroundin’ a wounded seal,” Willy said.  He paced back and forth, as if he were mustering the nerve to just kill them and get it over with. I, on the other hand, couldn’t allow that vile comment to pass by without at least a hard slap to Millie’s smug face. Rasmus snatched me around the waist and pulled me off of her, as one slap wasn’t nearly enough for all of the damage she’d done over the years. I was satisfied to at least have that handful of black straw I’d been hungry for.

“Ye can beat us all ye like, but ye better get on with it. This’ll all be over soon,” Rip mumbled and licked his bloodied lip.

“Ye’re right about that…at least fer ye it will be,” Willy growled at him, pointing the barrel of the pistol inches from Rip’s face.

“I’m talkin’ ‘bout Calvert. He’ll be ‘ere any minute now, and you’ll all be on yer backs…some dead, some not.” Rip looked over at me and winked. I wanted to carve that eye out of his head.  Instead, the Captain flipped the pistol in his big hand and busted Rip across the skull. By the sound of the loud crack we heard, we thought that one blow had done him in, but Willy wasn’t nearly through with him yet. Rasmus seemed not to be interested in Willy’s personal vendetta, and he shook his head as we watched Willy beat Rip until he was bloodied and fell to the floor. I, however, believed Rasmus enjoyed every crushing blow and stomp of Willy’s boot and wished he was the one delivering them.

Finally, Rasmus stepped forward and placed his hand on Willy’s chest. “Captain McCormack, you do what ye like here, but this is business
you
need to settle, not us.” Rasmus nudged me toward the door. “We’re going, with or without ye.”

“Ivory, riders are coming!” Miranda burst through the door and shouted.

“See what I mean?” Rasmus said.              

We rushed out the door and took a horse. Green and River took two more and pulled Cass and Miranda into their laps, and Keara took a third. Rasmus reached down and pulled me onto the back of his horse with a firm jerk, and they all followed us fast out of the gate and around to the side of the perimeter wall. We couldn’t risk being seen as we left, so we waited.

Sure enough, it was Calvert and five of his men. They were flying up the road at a full gallop. He was obviously not about to waste any time. We watched from the shadows as Calvert threw his leg over the front of the saddle and leapt to the ground. He was closely followed by his men up the porch steps to the house. I watched as he looked at the dead men and stepped over them as if they were nothing but sleeping dogs.

I sat with my arms wrapped tightly around Rasmus’s waist and pressed my body close against him. “Willy’s in there alone. Can’t we do anything?” I cried out at him.

“No, lass. He made the choice to stay. I’m making the choice that we go.”

“Where are we going?” I asked when he pulled the horse around and looked over at Green.

“We’re taking the
Demon
. There’s no other way.”

With a nod from Green, Rasmus clucked his tongue at the horse and led us to the ship. Just before we rode off, we heard a shot. I squeezed Rasmus tight, closed my eyes, and prayed it wasn’t Willy.

xxx

“Get those girls aboard, River,” Rasmus shouted as he slapped the horses on their haunches and sent them flying. “We need to set sail immediately.”