The Captain & the Stowaway (Regency Romance) by Regina Darcy

Author:Regina Darcy [Darcy, Regina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clean and Wholesome Romance
Published: 2017-02-23T05:00:00+00:00

SIX

“Your idea is to return to the ship?” Lucy whispered. “That is your plan?”

They were currently hidden behind a thick, winding tree, whose branches hung down, resplendent in blossoming vines.

“Yes,” Preston said, sounding a bit too proud of himself, considering the circumstances and the weak premise of his idea.

“Are you certain that this is not simply an outgrowth of some suicidal tendency that you have been concealing from me?”

“Not at all. Listen, Miss Madison. We need to get off this island if we are going to live. If we stay, we will either become marooned here, or we shall be captured by these ruffian pirates. We must leave as quickly as possible.”

“And you intend to do so on the Golden Griffin?” Lucy nodded at the ship, which appeared wedged upon a sandbar. There was no way that ship could move anytime soon. As of right now, sailors milled about the ship, lowering cargo into rowboats and transporting it all to The Delight. In the distance, they looked like ants crawling up and down a dropped sweet. Once they were finished looting the Golden Griffin, the pirates would likely torch it.

“The Golden Griffin? No. I intend to do so on The Delight. We can stow away…just as you did.”

“That is a mad plan, Captain Preston, and very weak, all things considered.”

“Yes. I know it is.” For the first time in their entire conversation, the captain’s confidence appeared shaken.

“But I have faith it will work.”

“Then I suppose it is what we must do.” Suddenly, a twig snapped somewhere behind them. Lucy whirled around to see a group of sailors walking towards them. They had not yet spotted them.

“We need to hide,” she whispered to Captain Preston.

“Lie down,” he told her, and she did so.

She could feel her heart beating, threatening to thrash straight out of her chest. “What are you doing?”

“Hiding you,” he said, ripping few large leaves from some low-hanging bushes and plants. He placed them over her prone form.

“Captain Preston, you must hide yourself, as well.”

“You are one argumentative young woman. For once in your life do as you are told. Do not move,” he whispered, ignoring her frantic plea.

Lucy lay there, practically quivering with fear.

“Captain Preston, you must hide yourself, too,” she repeated.

“I will, I will. Now, be still.”

“Captain Preston…please. Save yourself.”

“My dear Miss Madison, if they catch you, there is no telling what they will do. I must at least try to lead them off course.”

Before she could catch his hand and beg for him to stay, he ran off into the jungle. Lucy held her breath as she heard the posse of pirates thump after him. Then the jungle was silent once more, aside from the screech of the jungle birds and the whistling wind in the canopy above.

She lay there in agony for several minutes. Then her heart sank as she heard gleeful cries echoing through the forest.

“We have the captain!”

That could only mean one thing — Captain Preston had been caught. His plan to lure the pirates away from her had succeeded.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.