Chapter 3

A fortnight had passed since Dudley Finster had issued his demands; half of Eden’s alloted time now gone, while still she dithered over her reply. What was she to do? Passing a weary hand over her brow, she glared at the open account book on the desk before her, its columns of figures mocking her, and commanded herself to keep her mind on the task at hand. Perhaps by dealing with one concern at a time, thinking no further than the hour and day upon her, she could find some way out of this tangle. Or would that be tantamount to hiding her head in a basket until the inevitable snared her anyway, as it surely would?

Just now, her most pressing problem was attempting to make some sense of the monthly warehouse accounts, a chore she thoroughly detested. As adept as she was at reading and writing, and as much as she enjoyed both, her talents had never stretched to mathematics. Therefore, she had to rely heavily upon her manager’s ability in that area, though she had doubts as to whether John Tilton was any more skillful at it. Also, she found herself in the position of having to continually bow to his advice about the operation of the warehouse, and hope that he was both capable and honest in his dealings with her. It was not the most comfortable circumstance in which to find oneself, but there seemed little help for it, unless she wanted to turn her books over to Dudley Finster or his father each month for an additional fee, which she could not afford to do.

She was still struggling to make heads or tails of the accounts when the bell above the office door chimed, announcing the arrival of three men. As she glanced up from her work, Eden’s first reaction was one of dismay. By their clothing, it was obvious that they were seamen. It was also obvious to her, since she’d lived in Charles Town all her life and encountered a number of their sort, that they were pirates. The big, handsome fellow in the center wore a red sash about his waist and a gold hoop in his left earlobe, while the man on his left sported an eyepatch, and the one on his right a gold tooth. All were heavily armed, bearing pistols and cutlasses.

For all their fierce appearance, Eden read no immediate threat in their faces—that being no guarantee of safety, of course. Even as fingers of fear rippled through her, despair battled with fright. She needed more trouble like she needed an extra eye in the center of her forehead. And this motley band undoubtedly meant trouble.

In the past, Charles Town residents and businessmen had readily dealt with pirates, glad not only for the increased trade, but also for merchandise the brigands brought into port, goods not always available through ordinary means. In more recent days, however, tariffs and restrictions on imported items had been eased, and the town was thriving without the stolen booty. Indeed, most citizens now considered the pirates more of a nuisance than a benefit, more hindrance than help to legitimate commerce. Not only did they attack lawful trading vessels which were bound into and out of the Carolinas, but when in town they caused quite a disturbance—stealing, whoring, and drinking till all hours, destroying property and generally terrorizing innocent folk.

In the last months, the attitude of the community had undergone an about-face. The citizens were determined to rid themselves of this riffraff. Though not yet a crime, doing business with pirates was severely frowned upon. On the other hand, refusing to do so often brought swift retribution from the angry sea robbers.

Which put Eden in a pickle.

With much trepidation, she swallowed the lump in her throat, dredged up a polite smile, and asked weakly, “How may I help you, sirs?”

The fellow with the gold tooth answered. “We’ve just put into port, and are lookin’ for a place to store our cargo, ma’am. Is the owner about? We’d like to discuss arrangements for transferrin’ it to yer warehouse.” Thinking she might have found a way out of her predicament, Eden countered, “Have you dealt with us in the past? We’re taking no new customers at the moment.”

The man frowned and tossed a quick glance at the pirate in the center, who grunted softly, leaving the first man to reply. “Aye. We’ve put goods here b’fore, I guess.”

“Don’t you know?” Eden questioned.

“If the cap’n says we did, then we did,” Gold Tooth told her gruffly. “He ain’t a liar.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that he was,” Eden said, nervously licking her suddenly dry lips. “Merely that I need a name in order to check our records.”

“Oh. Well, I suppose it’d be listed under ... uh ...” He hesitated, seemingly unsure how to reply until Red Sash growled the answer into his ear. “It’d be under Kane, ma’am. Captain Devlin Kane, of the Gai Mer.” 

“And when might you have stored goods here last?” she persisted. “To facilitate locating the entry in the registry.”

“Uh ..After again consulting with Red Sash, Gold Tooth blurted. “Three years past.”

There was nothing for it but to play along and make a show of finding the old records. Eden was half out of her chair when the bell tinkled once more. Ridiculously grateful for the timely interruption, she turned her gaze to the new arrival, only to find herself faced with the equally unwelcome sight of Dudley Finster.

The accountant looked from her to the pirates and back again, his thin nostrils pinching together as if he’d suddenly smelled something foul. “Might I speak with you, Miss Winters?” he requested archly.

Feeling as if she were caught between the Devil and the deep, Eden nodded. “Sirs, if you will excuse me for just a moment, I will attend to this gentleman and be back straightaway. Or perhaps you would care to talk with our manager in my stead? He is, I must admit, more capable of advising you than I.”

Before their designated speaker could reply, Red Sash nudged him and gave a sharp shake of his head. “Nay, ma’am. We’ll wait fer ye,” Gold Tooth told her.

Within the crowded confines of the tiny warehouse office, there was little chance of conducting a private conversation. So, edging past her potential customers, Eden motioned Dudley to precede her outside. Aware that she was leaving her cash box behind, in an unlocked drawer of her desk, she intentionally left the door ajar, hoping this would deter the pirates from stealing her pitifully small funds.

Once outside, she faced Finster with a stern countenance. “What brings you here in the middle of my workday, Mr. Finster?”

“Why, I’ve come to receive your answer to my request for your hand, of course.”

“My time is not yet up,” she reminded him sharply. “I’ve two weeks before the limit you have set for me. A fortnight more in which to repay the debt Papa unwittingly bequeathed to me.”

He favored her with a tight smile. “Why delay, my dear? Have you any other recourse than to accept my offer of marriage and thus cancel the loan?”

Both knew she didn’t unless some rich, heretofore unknown relative appeared suddenly out of the blue.

“Consider how pleased I would be if you were to accede now, rather than make it seem as if I have forced you into becoming my bride,” Finster continued. “Our life together would begin on a much more favorable note, and I would be more inclined to be a kind and generous spouse.”

“You will have my answer in two weeks, Mr. Finster,” she insisted, standing her ground. “I care not if it displeases you. And it remains to be seen whether or not I become your wife. Forfeiting the business would not immediately put me or my mother in the poorhouse, or send me flying into your waiting arms for rescue.”

“Though matters are likely to end in the same way, after all is said and done, don’t you imagine?” He gave an exaggerated sigh of resignation. “Ah, well, have it your way, if you must. For now. Go attend to those two cutthroats awaiting you, but I might warn you to steer clear of doing business with them. Not only would the town assemblymen disapprove, but you might find yourself courting bodily harm—and as badly as I want you, I would balk at taking soiled goods to wife.”

Meanwhile, inside the office, Devlin and his men unrepentantly eavesdropped on the conversation between the proprietress of the warehouse and her would-be suitor.

“Would ye listen to that struttin’ fop?” Nate commented. “Actin’ fer all the world like some sort of king, browbeatin’ that poor woman into marryin’ him when ’tis plain she wouldn’t have him on a platter.”

“Not that she has much choice as I see it,” Arnie put in. “She looks a mite long in the tooth and too tall by far to be pickin’ and choosin’.”

Nate nodded. “Aye. An’ skinny as a pike, too. Do ye suppose she’s so bad off that she’s been starvin’ herself to save up the money to repay her loan?”

“What’s the matter with you two simpletons?” Devlin asked with a frown. “Have your eyes gone as dull as your brains? The lady may be tall, but not overmuch, particularly to my tastes. And while she could use a bit more weight on her bones, neither is she gaunt. Fact is, I rather fancy the way she looks, with that creamy skin and those lush lips. Why, I’ll wager when she lets her hair down, it ripples all the way to her waist, soft and brown and scented. And those big eyes. Now, I ask you, have you ever seen eyes that color before, like sun-dappled seas?”

“Oh, ho!” Nate crowed. With uncanny aim, given the fact that he could not see his target, he slammed an elbow into Devlin’s ribs. “Methinks our leader is smitten, Arnie. And with a spinster lady in dire need of rescuin’. Think ye that we might work something out here for him? Do ye reckon she’d consider beddin’ a man she can’t behold, rather than mate with that fuss-fidget who’s hot on her heels? I wonder how much that debt of hers amounts to, anyway? Why, if we all throwed in a sum, maybe we could offer her enough to meet it and buy her favors for our dear, nearly departed captain.” 

“Belay the ill-fitting humor, Mr. Hancock,” Devlin snapped. “Spinster she might be, and well in need of aid, but ’tis clear she’s a lady. So, hold a civil tongue in your head, if you please.”

Nate executed a smart salute and stifled a chuckle. “Aye, aye, sir!”

At this juncture Eden reentered the room. “Now, sirs,” she said, still trying to collect her scattered wits after the encounter with Finster, “perhaps we can conclude our business without further interruption. Where were we?”

“Ye were about to check yer records, ma’am,” Nate offered politely, though his eyes still held a twinkle of humor.

“So I was, though I doubt that will be necessary. You see, I have just recalled how filled the warehouse is at this time. I sincerely doubt we have space for any more goods.”

A quick conference was held between the three, whereupon Nate declared, “Beggin’ yer pardon, but we saw ourselves through the place afore we come to the office, and there appears to be plenty of room for our cargo.”

Eden’s face colored at being caught in such a baldfaced lie. “I see,” she murmured, chewing her lower lip. “Well then ...” she hedged.

Again, the center pirate whispered something to his spokesman. It proved more than Eden could tolerate after the morning she’d been through. To her own amazement, as well as that of the men before her, she blurted, “Why is it that your Captain Kane—I assume that’s who the fellow in the red sash is—cannot speak for himself? I know he’s not mute, for I can hear him muttering to you. Has he some aversion to dealing with a woman?”

All three pirates gaped at her in varying degrees of amazement. “Ye can see him?” Nate asked incredulously, while Devlin continued to stare at her with an expression betwixt hope and disbelief.

“Of course I can,” she said. “I’m neither nearsighted nor wall-eyed.”

“She can see me!” Devlin exclaimed softly. Then more excitedly, “Blow me down! The wench can detect me! I’m revived! Returned to my normal self once more!”

“Nay, yer not!” Nate corrected quickly, before Devlin’s hopes could rise too far, only to be dashed on rocky shoals. “Ye’re still a spirit, Dev. Neither Arnie nor I can behold ye. Ain’t that so, Arnie?”

Arnie’s head bobbed up and down as he struggled to sort out the confusion of having two persons on hand who could not view the captain, and one who could. “I don’t know what’s goin’ on, but I sure can’t spot ye, Cap’n. Not so much as a hair on yer head.”

“Oh, come now,” Eden declared warily, the nape of her neck starting to tingle. “What manner of prank is this? What do you hope to gain by such farce? You’ll find no foolish audience with me, sirs!”

“ ’Tis no joke we’re playing,” Devlin assured her solemnly, anxiously. “My men cannot see me. Truth be told, in the last couple of weeks, out of a hundred people, not one has viewed me—until you. Tell me honestly now. Look upon me and describe my person.” 

Why she complied was beyond her, but her eyes and tongue seemed to have acquired a will of their own, and she found herself studying him and replying, “You are tall, wide of shoulder, and broad of chest. You are wearing boots, dark breeches, and a white shirt, with a scarlet sash about your middle and a gold earring in your left lobe. No hat. Your hair is shaggy, in need of barbering but not unbecoming, blond with lighter streaks in it. Your eyes are dark-brown—no, black. Never have I seen eyes as black as yours. Your chin is cleft, in a strong jaw ...”

“Enough,” Devlin broke in, surprised to find himself somewhat embarrassed by her assessment of him. Still and all, she’d related his features correctly enough that he could not doubt that she saw him quite well.

“So you do see me,” he murmured half to himself, a wide smile curving his lips. “By God! You surely do!” he announced joyously, wonder still pulsing through him. “How this can be, when no one else is capable of doing so, eludes me, but I’ve never been so grateful for anything in my score and seven years! Oh, lady! If you only knew what a trial I’ve been through these past days, living the life of a ghost, when I know beyond doubt that I am still an earth-bound man.”

The tingle at her nape had spread down her spine, raising chill bumps. It was only now that she recalled Finster commenting on the two pirates in her office. Two, he’d said. Not three, as stood before her, plain as the nose on her face. “Please,” she begged. “Tell me you jest. Tell me this is not—”

“ ’Tis so,” Nate answered. “Sad, but true. Ye ken, several days ago, we had us a hellacious storm.” At the shove Devlin gave to his shoulder, Nate said, “Beggin’ yer pardon, ma’am, but ’twas. Then we had this bolt of Saint Elmo’s fire strike the mast, and it come down and encircled the captain here. And afore ye could spit, he’d disappeared—him an’ the bird with him.”

“Saint Elmo’s fire?” she repeated stupidly. “And a bird?”

“Aye. ’Tis a lightnin’ of sorts, I suppose, though not really. An’ the cap’n has a trained falcon he keeps aboard ship with ’im,” Arnie put in helpfully.

“Oh.” Eden nodded, completely befuddled. Certain now that she was caught up in a bad dream, the result of something she’d eaten which had not agreed with her, she longed only to put it to a quick resolution. With that single goal in mind, she rose and started for the door. “Sirs, I must ask you to excuse me, please. I simply cannot sit here and participate in this nightmare any longer. I am going to walk outdoors, where I pray that this will end at last and I will awaken snug in my own bed, and this entire, disastrous day will never have been.”

Devlin could not let her go, could not allow the only person who could see him to walk away. As she sidled past him, he caught her arm. When he did so, another miraculous thing happened. With no more warning than an odd, warm tremor tripping through him, Devlin became visible to his two crewmen. They cried out in shock upon his sudden appearance before their startled gazes.

“Dev!”

“Cap’n! Ye’re back!”

“Just look at ye, Devlin! Why, I never knew how much I missed that ugly puss of yers till just this minute!”

“What?” Devlin gasped in delight. “You can see me, too? Both of you?”

“Aye! Ain’t it glorious?”

Without thinking, Devlin released Eden’s arm. Immediately, he began to fade from sight. Strangely, this time he could actually feel himself doing so. And the dismal looks on Arnie’s and Nate’s faces told him it was so.

“Devlin! Do somethin’!” Nate implored anxiously. “Ye’re vanishin’ on us!”

At their initial shouts, Eden had turned back and stared. At the moment when the pirates claimed to glimpse their captain, she realized that she, too, could see the man more vividly, as if what she’d viewed before had been slightly shadowed, not quite as clear as he should have been, though she’d not realized it then. Now, not having the slightest notion what motivated her to do so, she reached out and touched his shoulder. Just that small contact, and Devlin Kane reappeared to one and all.

“’Tis her!” Nate announced in jubilant wonder. “Not only does she see ye when none else can, but when she touches ye, ye become visible. ’Tis the queerest damned thing I ever seen, other than you fadin’ away to start with!”

Devlin had to agree. He also knew without a doubt that he was going to keep this woman no more than an arm’s length away from him, if he had to lash her to his wrist to keep her there—for the rest of his life, or however long it took to regain his normal state permanently. Still, the thought of being chained to an unwilling captive for an undetermined length of time, with her ranting and raving the whole while, left something to be improved upon. Far better if he could convince her to go with him of her own volition. And he had just the thing to persuade her, thanks to her unwanted suitor.

Never one to waste time or opportunity, Devlin said, “Miss Winters—that is your name, is it not?”

She nodded dumbly, still shaken, not at all sure her mind hadn’t come unhinged. Is this what trying to balance accounts could do to a woman’s brain? No wonder men kept warning their ladies away from too much figuring! Was there a cure for what ailed her? Should she consult a physician? Or dare she admit the problem to anyone, lest they lock her away in an asylum, declaring her hopelessly afflicted?

“Miss Winters,” she heard the captain saying, “you’re not attending my words.” Mutely she stared up at him as he clasped warm fingers about her chin and tilted her face toward his. “Now, pay attention, please.” Again she gave a stiff nod, her chin bobbing within his large palm. “I ... I’m listening.”

“I want you to come with me.”

“Where?” she croaked.

“Back to my ship. Wherever I go.”

“Why?”

“Good God, woman! Need I explain, after all that has happened? You are the one person who can see me, who can make it possible for others to do so. Who can give my life some semblance of normalcy, as long as you are within the distance of a touch. I need you with me.”

“Nay.”

“Aye. You must.”

“I won’t,” she maintained, turning suddenly stubborn and, to her vast relief, feeling stronger and more herself by the minute.

“I wouldn’t hurt you, or allow any harm to come to you,” he assured her.

“You don’t understand. I have a business to run, and an invalid mother at home. Even if I wished to go with you, which I do not, I could not leave her alone and helpless.”

Devlin considered his options, which were few. “Then I’ll simply have to stay with you.”

“That’s impossible. I couldn’t allow it. Why, just to do business with you would be risking ostracism by my fellow townspeople. To have you walking about with me, visible or otherwise, would be unthinkable.”

“But you will do business with me, Miss Winters,” he assured her gravely. “And I with you. I shall strike a bargain with you. In return for your companionship, I’ll pay off your loan to that puny pup who is sniffing after your skirts. Your warehouse will be yours, free and clear of any debts; and for as long as I stay, it will continue to be so. For your part, you will accompany me wherever I need to go and be seen.

“If that is not agreeable to you, I could very well abduct you now, put a gag between your teeth, and a-sailing we will go. Together.” Only Devlin and his mates knew that this threat was a bluff, that unless there was no other recourse, Devlin would never risk his beloved ship by allowing a woman aboard and bringing disaster down upon them all. Miss Winters did not know this, however, and Devlin was not about to enlighten her.

“Or, if you’d prefer,” he continued, “I could haunt your home and your business until you relent. I’ve yet to attempt a haunting, but it shouldn’t be too difficult. And I do so love a challenge.” He ended his speech with a rakish grin.

“That’s blackmail!” she accused hotly.

“Did you expect less?” he taunted. “I am, after all, a pirate of some repute, and need to maintain my good standing with my fellow buccaneers.”

Eden wanted to scream. What a preposterous predicament! She was caught like a juicy bone between two hungry dogs! On the one hand, a priggish moneylender proposing lifelong misery. On the other, a mad pirate promising havoc and hauntings! Not a lot of choice there! Still, of the two, perhaps Devlin Kane presented the better bargain. She’d have the warehouse back, with no mortgage hanging over her head. And there was always the chance he’d soon regain his body and be out of her life much faster than Finster would. After witnessing today’s spectacles, surely even that was possible, and it might be worth the risk after all. Besides, if she had to have a man around, why not a handsome almost-ghost instead of a bony accountant?

“I’d want more,” she demanded haughtily, thinking to lessen her disadvantage.

“Oh?” Kane raised an arrogant brow.

“Aye. If I were to have you constantly underfoot, I’d need your pledge to discover the reason my business is failing. If the fault lies with me, I want you to teach me how to correct the problem, or hire someone who can. In that way, once you are gone, I can get my life back in order and not have to constantly worry about supporting myself and my mother. And if the fault lies elsewhere, you must help me find a means of resolving the problem once and for all.”

“Done.”

“What?”

“Are you hard of hearing? I said, I agree. We have a bargain, Miss Winters.”