Smuggler's Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page A

night,’ I began uncertainly. ‘I was trying to end my life, though I knew that was wrong.’ I paused and bit my lip, realizing my confession could make them ask me why I should attempt such a thing. That was the last thing I wanted. I rushed back into speech hoping to cover up my slip: ‘But things look very different in the morning light. I was deeply mistaken to despair. I owe you all a great debt for rescuing me.
    ‘I swear to each one of you that if you let me go now, I will never betray you. I’ll forget I ever saw a single one of you. I’ll swear it on the Bible. Please. Let me go!’
    I heard only low mutters in response. I had a bad feeling about the outcome of a vote. Slowly I sank to the deck, shaking so much I could no longer stand. They were going to kill me. I was going to die. And for someone who had been eager to embrace death just a few hours before, I was ridiculously terrified. I bit my trembling thumb until I tasted blood. I was so absorbed in the horror of what was happening to me, I scarcely heard that Gentle Jacob had started speaking.
    ‘I be thinking of the hidey hole at Studland,’ he said calmly. ‘No one ain’t seen that ghost for a while. I heard tell the Philistines have been sniffing round it. And even the children ain’t scared to go play there no more.’
    ‘Stick to the point, Jacob,’ interjected Will impatiently.
    ‘I’m gettin’ there,’ replied Jacob, unperturbed. ‘I was just thinking it was time someone saw that ghost again. You know the one, my friends. The young bride , what wrings her hands and wails in the grounds at night in a beautiful gown .’
    There was a silence and then a muttering. ‘You mean you’d trust her to play the ghost? To help us?’
    ‘One of us can wear that gown and do just as good a job, and safer to boot,’ snarled an angry voice.
    ‘You perhaps, Generous Joe?’ asked Jacob mildly. ‘Fine slender bride you’d make with that belly.’
    The other men guffawed with laughter and the tense atmosphere eased a fraction. ‘All I’m saying is, there don’t have to be no killin’,’ continued Jacob. ‘There’s other ways of keeping her mouth shut.’
    ‘Accomplices spill no beans,’ agreed another man in a low growl.
    ‘And there’s other ways a woman could be useful to us,’ Jacob added. ‘The financer’s been wanting to bring some lace across I heard. Skipper’s got some ideas about that.’
    I heard Will sigh beside me. ‘I doubt this is a good decision,’ he muttered. ‘But you have a point about the lace. And I’m certainly not for killing anyone.’
    ‘And there was us thinking you was the old hand at that,’ someone sneered. Will was silent.
    ‘Enough o’ that, Hard-Head Bill,’ said the skipper sharply. ‘A vote then. All those in favour of giving Isabelle a chance to prove herself useful—with Jacob and Will to take charge of her.’
    There was a long silence. My heart hammered and I longed to tear off my blindfold.
    ‘Right,’ said the skipper at last. ‘That’s more than half. That’s settled then; Isabelle, you stay.’
    Relief flared in me, leaving me trembling. I left off chewing my maltreated thumb. Jacob pulled me to my feet and pulled the scarf from my eyes.
    The sunlight was brilliant and I screwed up my eyes against it. When they had adjusted, the sight made me gasp. We were surrounded by sea, deep blue and sparkling brightly in the sunshine. The waves were crested white in places, and the ship carved a path through them, dipping and rising as she went. The autumn sun was warm against my skin and the sea air salty and fresh. I’d never been to sea before; had never imagined such beauty. It was a wonderful morning to be alive. A deeply poignant thought.
    I became aware of the curious stares of the men. Most watched me with interest, a few looked openly hostile. Others were already dispersing about the ship. There were an astonishing number of them; the crew must have been some thirty men in all.