Poppy and the Pirate by Elizabeth Cole

Author:Elizabeth Cole [Cole, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SkySpark Books
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Carlos —

Well, have you solved your Poppy problem yet? Rose knows she’s there (her cousin wrote to her as fast as you wrote to me—the letters arrived in the same post). She is pestering me for details, and I have none to give. I don’t know what you’re planning, but as a friend, I’d counsel you to give up on vengeance and simply try to win the lady back. Trust me, it’s better to have a future you can look forward to than a past you just want to forget. I’d know.

But why do I waste ink on this advice? You won’t stop till you get justice—woe to anyone who hurts someone that de la Guerra calls friend. Just don’t be an idiot. I’d hate to have to write to your family with the news that you’re coming home in a box.

Write when you can, for Rose’s sake if not mine.

—Adrian

Though it had arrived yesterday evening, Carlos read over the letter once again in the early hours of the morning, thinking of all that had happened since he first received it. No one could say that his life was dull at the moment.

He’d have to think before responding to that letter, mostly because he was going to ignore Adrian’s advice completely today. He intended to dig deeper into the world of smugglers and murders, instead of pursuing Poppy.

It’s better to leave her alone, he told himself. Especially after last night, when he learned that having Poppy close led to him making very impulsive decisions and looking for excuses to see her again.

No. He had one reason to be in Cornwall, and it wasn’t (sadly) the fiery Poppy St George.

The sun hadn’t even crested the horizon when Carlos rode one of the horses out of the stable towards town. On his own, he made the journey in half the time it took for a carriage laden with people. As he approached Treversey, only a few people were moving about the streets, and nearly all the stores were shuttered. He rode to Seven Sisters and left the horse there, then walked away from the high street to a place where the road ended abruptly at a promontory overlooking the Channel, one of countless vistas in the area.

Carlos had arranged to meet his first mate Valentin there, to get the full report on Spargo and anything else he gathered.

Valentin was waiting, looking somewhat nervous until he saw Carlos approach.

“Thank God,” he said in Spanish. “I was worried something had happened to you.”

“I’m all in one piece, for now,” Carlos replied, keeping to Spanish, just in case anyone was close enough to be curious about their conversation. “Did you meet with Spargo?”

“Yes. What an ass. He runs smugglers in one tiny town and he thinks he’s king of the world.”

“That was my impression too,” Carlos agreed. “But he does seem to be the man to go to when it comes to smuggling. So what did you find out?”

“He wants to sell you arms.

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