The Treasure Keepers_Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Soledad put aside her worries and headed back to the feast with Lidia and Silvana, while miles away in Portsmouth an unexpected turn of events was about to take place.
*

AllyAnna felt Oliver’s rough seaman’s hand on her naked thigh. He kissed her neck slightly and moved his free hand to her breasts. It was too hot in the room, even though it was a cool night. She encircled his neck with his arms, pulling him closer. Suddenly they heard footsteps on the dock above Oliver’s chamber – somebody could hear them.

  AllyAnna sat up reluctantly. “I’d better go before we get caught,” she said peering into his face anxiously.

  “Yes, better finish early tonight.” He glanced at his golden watch, the one he had taken from Luther Jenkins before sliding his blade through his stomach. He watched Ally put on her white shirt, black pants and black leather boots. “Where will you be in a month?”

  AllyAnna had just finished combing her light brown long curls. “I don’t know. The captain says we are going on a very important mission.”

  Her lips were still rosy from their feverish lovemaking. He planted a slow, passionate kiss on her lips and said, “What kind of mission?”

  “I can’t tell you. You know how our captains loath each other,” she said fumbling with the buttons of his shirt in the darkness. Smiling sadly she added, “Strange how love can make everything so complicated.”

  “Ally, you know you can trust me.”

  “No, I can’t, I’m sorry. Now help me sneak out.”

  Oliver put on the rest of his clothes and they sneaked to the dark hallway of The Englishman, Captain Blackmoore’s infamous ship. Oliver was Captain Blackmoore’s personal assistant, and he was always the first to be entrusted in the captain’s secrets. AllyAnna loved the aura of power about him. She, on the other hand, was a simple sailor under Captain Arturo Lorenzo’s command. If there was one single captain out there who wasn’t superstitious enough to believe a woman aboard brought only disaster, then it was Captain Arturo Lorenzo.

  They huddled in a dark corner for a last kiss and he whispered in her ear, “In a month we will most probably be in La Cabancia.”

  “I’ll stop by if I happen to be there.”

  At this hour there was usually only one guard on the deck of the ship; the rest of the boys were in the common bedroom down the staircase fast asleep. Oliver got to the moonlit deck, motioning AllyAnna to stay in her place. He approached Connor, who was that night’s guard, and asked how the shift was going on. Their silhouettes disappeared from the view that was open from the staircase – it was the sign, just like Ally and Oliver had planned moments ago. AllyAnna hurried to get onto the deck and disappear on the dockyard of Portsmouth. All the while Oliver kept Connor busy in conversation to give Ally a chance to sneak away.

  The moment AllyAnna stepped on the dockyard she felt better. No other feeling matched the sense of relief once she was out of danger zone. She headed back to her own ship, The Star Pursuer, Captain Lorenzo’s most valuable property. She would tell that she had taken a walk, stretching her legs, if anybody asked her where she was. Suddenly she heard somebody calling out her name behind her.

  Her lieutenant, Michael Johnson, approached her. “What were you doing on The Englishman?”

  Ally was astonished, her heart was racing. Lieutenant Johnson’s voice had never sounded so bone-chilling before.

  She said, “Lieutenant, I didn’t see you.”

  “I was in The Sailor’s Nest, that pub down the street. Imagine my astonishment when I on my way back to the ship I saw you coming from Captain Blackmoore’s ship.” She peered into his eyes with what she hoped was a blank expression. He was astonished and angry.

  “Michael, let me explain.”

  “And you will. You will explain yourself to the captain.”

  Ally shivered, but not from the cold. The captain wouldn’t hesitate before locking her in the cage down in the damp equipment chamber. Locked in the lieutenant’s room she couldn’t get herself to sleep the three hours she had left until dawn when her trial would take place. Should she try to hide the truth? Should she confess? Three long hours crawled by, and she was still clueless. She dreaded seeing the captain’s harsh features, but she had no choice but to face his rage.