Swashbuckling in the Dark

Chapter Sixteen

It was early when I rose. Not wanting to tarry, I dressed by the light of the dawn. My ritual had changed; I slipped on dark trousers and a loose blouse instead of a dress. A vest covered my torso in place of a petticoat. My feet stepped into sturdy boots rather than uncomfortable feminine shoes. As I twisted and turned, securing a leather belt around my hips, I thought these clothes were far more befitting.

Hiding my pistol on my person and my other belongings in my pack, my outlaw’s mask was in place. The likes of Worthington might see me as a respectable woman turned criminal, but I preferred to see it as a prisoner who became a free woman.

Reluctantly, I had to admit the truth in Dark’s statements. I wanted freedom, and remaining here would not fulfill my desires. Carlos had convinced me to stay another day, but I had been determined to right my wrong-headedness. I could not keep running in search of something better; I was tired of it. My mission now was to find Dark before he left town and hope I still had a place in his crew.

“Ready to leave?” Carlos inquired from my doorway.

I tied off my hair in a braid, letting it fall between my shoulder blades. “Yes,” I responded, grabbing my pack from the floor and brushing the dust off.

He nodded approvingly, reaching into his trouser pocket for something. He held out his hand to me, dropping a coin pouch into my palm. “For the last few days’ work,” he said.

I protested, “I cannot accept this.”

“Take it.” He shook his head, withdrawing his hands in a gesture of stubbornness.

Thanking him, I dropped the coin pouch into my boot.

“I believe you’ll find him at an inn called The White Rook,” he provided. “Be sure to stay out of sight.”

“I will.”

Carlos leveled his one-eyed gaze at me. “I shall see you again, I think. If you have need of me, you know where to find me.”

Approaching him, I reached out to clasp his hand. “Thank you,” I told him, looking in his face so he could see my sincerity. “You have been a great help to me when you needn’t have been.”

He shrugged, still gripping my hand. “Not a bother. Let your captain know that he owes me another favour.” This he said with a glint in his eye. I gave him an inquisitive look, arching a brow.

Carlos chuckled and leaned closer to give me another message to pass along to Dark. “And tell him I want my ship back.”

********

The faded paint, curling from age, decorating the inn’s wooden sign seemed to wither in dawn’s cool light. Passersby walking beneath it also folded in on themselves, shielding themselves from the unseasonably chill morning. They could sense it in the air on some baser level. Across the ocean, a northern wind blew and settled over the town, leaving behind a foreboding fog.

Dark marched quickly, avoiding the townspeople as he strayed towards the shadows, keeping his hood up. The cold didn’t bother him, nor did the whisper of some ill force in the air. Try as he might, however, he could not dismiss it.

He halted outside the Rook, trusting his instincts as he silently took in his surroundings. Aside from the fog, townspeople, small wooden houses and damp cobblestones under his feet, he saw nothing. If there was anything amiss, it wasn’t a visible thing. He heard the wind rattling the rooftops, and felt its cool kiss on his skin, giving him gooseflesh. Above him the sign shook in the breeze, its creaking grating on his ears.