Jessica poured two wooden mugs half full of rum. “Don’t tell Eleanor,” she said, smiling.
Alex took a drink and then grimaced. “I see why the smell doesn’t bother you. A few swigs of this and your nose falls off.”
Jess sat down, one foot in the chair, the other propped on the knob of a cabinet door. It was a masculine stance, but Jessica’s body made it very unmasculine. Her breasts were outlined by the full shirt, and the pants wrapped themselves about her thighs—just exactly what Alex imagined his hands doing. He leaned back in his chair.
“So what is Pitman up to?” Jess asked, cradling her mug of rum, letting the liquid seep into her bones. A moment of rest like this and someone to share her precious rum with was pure pleasure. None of the women would have anything to do with her, and the men either treated her like a disease or they thought she lacked virtue and attacked her. Sitting with Alex who had no physical interest in her was a rare treat, rather like having a special friend.
“Jess, how would you get in touch with this Raider?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I have some information he might be interested in.” He proceeded to tell her of the money arriving for Pitman. If the Raider appeared with this knowledge that could only have been obtained by searching Pitman’s private papers, Alex was afraid Jessica might guess who had found that information.
“I guess you could always tell Abigail,” Jessica said, smiling maliciously. “I’m sure the Raider slips into her bedchamber at night.”
“Are you jealous?” Alex raised one eyebrow.
“Of a sneak thief? The Raider is no better than a highwayman. If he had any courage, he’d stand up and denounce Pitman.”
And hang for it, Alex thought. “So you have no idea how the Raider heard of Ben Sampson’s smuggling tea in?”
“Everyone in town knew about Ben and the tea. Even Abigail had heard of it.” She put her mug down and leaned forward. Her eyes were bright and the color in her cheeks heightened.
Alex began to sweat again.
“What if we start passing this information around? What if we tell a few people that the Golden Hind is delivering money to Pitman from the sale of Josiah’s ship? If the rumor starts at the wharf, maybe Pitman will think it came from a sailor of His Majesty’s ship.”
Alex sipped his rum and thought that maybe there was more than one Taggert who had some brains.
* * *
Jessica stayed on deck even when the sailors from the Golden Hind made lewd remarks to her. They’d been out to sea for months and the sight of so pretty a woman on the little relic docked next to them was more than their imaginations could handle. Usually, Jess took precautions and stayed away from newly arrived ships, but last evening she had made every effort to put her little ship next to the big one. It loomed over her like some fat old lady, the leering eyes of the sailors like rats at her beltline. Jess did her best to ignore them.
After Alex’s visit yesterday morning, they’d separated and started casually spreading their rumors about Pitman’s money arriving on the Hind. It hadn’t taken many tellings to irritate the people. The money was from the sale of a ship belonging to one of their own and they directed their anger at the newly arrived English sailors. Already, four fights had started and three men were in the stocks in the town square.
After starting the rumors, Jessica had sailed out of the harbor and gone shrimping. She’d trawled close to the northeastern shore where she could see the arrival of the Golden Hind, and all afternoon she’d cast and recast her net—and waited. She wasn’t sure what she planned to do, but if the Raider appeared and he needed help, she planned to help him.
A couple of times her mind rebelled at the idea of helping the man who’d so publicly humiliated her, but her desire to repay Pitman made her forget her own personal anger. If the American people didn’t start protesting the English treatment, there wouldn’t be any end to their tyranny.
The hold was half-full of squiggling shrimp before the Golden Hind had arrived and Jessica had tried her best to act nonchalant as she pushed her way into the harbor and tied up next to the big ship. She’d no more than dropped her sails before Nathaniel was there to catch her rope and tie her ship next to the square-rigger.
Nate scurried up the rope Jess tossed over the side. “You’re out late. Eleanor made me wait for you.”
Jess didn’t answer him but started watching the activity on the English ship as best she could considering her much lower position.
“Gor…” Nate said, looking at the amount of shrimp in the hold.
“Get the other kids and bag it, then take it around and sell it,” Jess snapped.
Nathaniel gave her a shrewd look. The boy saw much too much for someone of his few years.
“Don’t give me any trouble, just do it!” Jess was annoyed because she couldn’t see what was happening on the Golden Hind.
She stayed on board her stinking ship all night. When Eleanor came to the dock, Jessica barely answered her questions about why she wasn’t coming home. She slept very little, not allowing herself to go downstairs to the relative luxury of her berth, instead staying on deck, leaning against the side of the ship, a bailing pin nearby in case one of the sailors decided to do what all of them threatened.
At dawn she rose, stiff, a kink in her back, and heard the soft whinny of a horse nearby. Hanging over the side of her ship, she looked below to see a saddled horse ready and waiting.
She came fully awake. The horse had streaks of gray on its coat, but nothing could hide the sleek lines and the nervous prancing of the animal. It was the Raider’s horse.