Author's note - I have been unable to find a way to format text so that italics and bold print may be seen after the story is posted here. Also, my keyboard will not allow me the use of em-dashes anymore. I apologize for these distractions and hope they do not cause much confusion.
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The hatch was thrown open and sunlight streamed down into the fetid cargo hold. Kate Darling, lying in a heap atop a bale of soft trade goods raise her head and squinted into the dazzling light.
"Fetch the wench up out of there, Mr. Smithers," she heard the captain say. "And be quick about it."
Kate arranged herself into a sitting positing, and shielding her eyes with her hand, watched Emmet Smithers, first mate of the galleon, Willow, descend into the belly of the merchant ship. He turned to her with a rueful smile and wiped the palms of his hands on his trousers.
"Sorry to disturb ye, Miss," he said. "Cap'n wants ye up top."
"Again? He's a persistent little fellow isn't he?"
Smithers smile faded. He took her gently under he arms and lifted her down from her perch. "Don't make a fuss now, girl. It'll do ye no good."
"But..."
"No buts this time, Miss, "Smithers said softly. "'E means to 'ave ye and it won't do to cross 'im.
Dark ringlets bounced when Kate tossed her head, and fire flashed in her deep blue eyes. "We'll just see about that!"
"Smithers!" the captain bawled from above.
"Coming, Cap'n." Smithers pointed to the narrow ladder. "Please, Miss."
"All right, Mr. Smithers, I'll go quietly," said Kate. "And I do thank you for you many kindnesses." She shook some of the dust and bits of filth from her skirt and adjusted the bodice of her frock to better accommodate her pendulous breasts before pulling herself onto the first steps of the ladder.
As Kate neared the lip of the open hatchway, rough hands reached down and hoisted her up onto the gun deck where she found herself face to face with the ship's master, Captain Nigel Terwilliger.
"Now then, my pretty," Terwilliger said with a leer. "Has a week with the rats and spiders softened your resolve?"
She smiled at the bandy legged captain and stroked his pock-marked cheek. "If you mean will I sleep with you now, dear Nigel," she cooed. "The answer is...still no!"
Kate drew herself up to her full height and thrust her magnificent bosom defiantly to the fore, expecting the captain's wrath to explode once again. But Nigel Terwilliger merely rocked back on his heels and opened his lips in a dark toothed smile.
"Forgive me, m'lady, I seem to have forgotten my manners," he said with a syrupy voice. "I'll wager you're absolutely ravenous. There's a fine supper laid out for you in my cabin."
He nodded to the pair of deckhands who had lifted her from the hold. "Show Miss Darling to my quarters, men. And lock her in!"
The sailors dragged Kate toward the ship's stern. Terwilliger cabin was a wooden, box-like structure built between decks so its crown extended into the open air above the main deck. With a few coarse remarks and a good slap on her bottom, the two seamen sent her sprawling on the rough floor planks before slamming the heavy oaken door.
Kate waited until she heard the key turn in its lock, then sprang to her feet. She leapt onto the captain's bunk, thrust her lovely face through the porthole and hungrily gulped in her first breaths of fresh air in many days. "God, but that's good," she murmured as the sea breeze wafted through her air and cooled her skin.
"What I'd give to climb the mast," she whispered. "Naked as a babe I'd climb like a monkey to the highest point and I'd not come down until the stink of this filthy scow was blown off me for good. I'd...What's this, then?"
Kate squinted at the horizon trying to bring into focus the tiny speck that had caught her eye. "Is it...No! Could it be? Yes, by glory...it's...Bless my soul, it's another ship!"
She clapped her hands and laughed aloud at her good fortune. Then remembering her situation, she plopped dejectedly down on Terwilliger's bed.
"Don't be a fool," she told herself. "Wouldn't matter if there were a hundred ships out there or a thousand. There's none can help Kate Darling now."
But two ships meeting on the open ocean was a rare occurrence she knew, and this chance encounter might just postpone her ravishment. In the meantime there was little she could do but quiet the grumblings of her empty stomach.
The 'fine supper' turned out to be a small dish of boiled beef, a stale biscuit and a flagon of tepid water left for her on the captain's table. Humble fare to be sure, but a feast compared to the scraps she'd been tossed while imprisoned below decks. Kate polished off the tiny meal in a trice and celebrated its demise with grateful, yet dainty burp. Her contentment was short-lived. With a sinking heart, she heard Nigel Terwilliger's key rattling in the door lock.
"Ah, you've eaten," he said, striding into the room. "No need to thank me, girl."
"You needn't worry yourself on that account."
"Saucy bitch, aren't you?" The captain glared at her a moment as he fingered an ugly boil on his neck, then he moved behind the small table and seated himself on an upturned cask.
"I have in my possession something that's sure to still your wagging tongue." He reached inside his coat. "Can you guess what this is, you dirty little magpie?" he asked, waving a leather packet at her. "Don't bother...I'll tell you." He opened the pouch and removed some folded sheets of foolscap. "These are your papers, Miss Darling. Your traveling orders, if you will."
Kate gasped in surprise, but quickly collected herself. "Those papers were sealed by the court," she said evenly.
"Well, maybe they were and maybe they weren't," said the captain, pretending to examine the leather packet. "Perhaps the seal fell off."
"You bastard," Kate hissed. "You're not allowed to read those papers. The magistrate..."
"Damn your eyes and damn any fool magistrate who tries to ship secrets with me!" Terwilliger's fist slammed down onto the table with a loud bang. "I'm master of this vessel! Between ports I command this ship and everything on it and that includes your pretty little pussy! Do we understand each other, Miss?"
Kate crossed her arms on her heaving bosom and bit her lip to keep from spitting in his ugly face. After a few moments, Terwilliger affected a serene look and opened the folded sheets.
"Let's just have a look then, shall we? Let's see...name, Katherine Darling, age given as nineteen years. Mother deceased, father unknown...No surprise there, eh?" He traced the next lines with a grimy fingernail, his lips forming the words as he read silently.
"Um, yes," he said. "Here 'tis. You were sentenced to the Heathrow debtor's prison for failure to make good on a note held by a gentleman named Charles Hyde and...Oh my, it seems Mr. Hyde loaned you quite a substantial sum of money, young lady. A good friend was he? Or perhaps you were to provide some service in exchange..."
"It was for a shop," Kate blurted out in spite of herself.
"A shop you say? What sort of shop? Never mind, it doesn't matter." Terwilliger dismissed Kate's shop with a wave of his hand. "So the shop failed and you couldn't repay the loan and your Mr. Hyde sent your lovely arse off to debtor's prison."
No, Kate thought. Not quite so fast as that. First he stripped me naked and bent me over the desk in his counting house. Then he took everything I owned and gave me to a madam in Whitechapel to work off my debt. And when I ran away he found me and he beat me but I ran away again and again until finally he had me thrown in prison. But I'll burn before I tell this to you, Terwilliger, you slimy pustule!
"And now," the captain continued, "let me see...ah, here we are. It seems your Mr. Hyde has a friend in the colonies who has assumed your debt. Now why would he do that, I wonder? Could it be that you are to be indentured to this American chap? This...what's his name? Mr. Randolph Shelton of Carolina? Is that the case, my dear?"
The slump of her shoulders said it was.
"Well, I don't envy you your future, dear Kate. No, not one little bit." He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Still it can't be worse than whoring in Whitechapel, eh?"
Terwilliger rose and stepped close to her. "We'll be docking in Charleston inside the week. In the meantime..." He squeezed her left breast and winked. "You and I will have a bit of sport on the high seas eh, Kate?"
"I'm not be abused," she said, fighting to keep a level voice. "Mr. Shelton insisted on it. It's written there in the magistrate's order."
"Cunt!" Terwilliger slapped her hard and sent Kate spinning against the wall. "You dare put on airs with me, you whore?" He grabbed her arms and shook her viciously. "You're a cheap slut, a woman of the streets who's been sold into slavery. And now that I know your true station, I'll have you as I please."
"I'd rather mate with a poxed hyena!"
"You'll do as you're told or I'll hoist you up the mast by your tits! I'll bugger you six ways from Sunday and when I'm through you'll suck my cock if I say so!"
He reached for her, intent on making good his threat but a loud knock at the door stilled his hand. "Cap'n", Smithers voice called from beyond the door. "Sir, that schooner we spied off the starboard bow is comin' 'round."
"Damnation!" Terwilliger glared at Kate but his hands dropped to his sides. He called to the mate. "Are they within hailing distance?"
"They will be in a few minutes, Cap'n."