The Bride of Blackbeard Read Online Free Page B

from a
person’s veins.
    Without pause she stormed into her father’s
office, where certificates and awards galore decorated the walls of
the erstwhile great man.
    The once great man with his face on the desk
in a pool of drool.
    “ Father! Wake up!”
    His bleary eyes cracked a slit, but quickly
fell shut. They seemed to have a mind of their own. Attempting to
rouse him again, Constanza furiously shook his shoulders, which
only resulted in his sitting up, whilst his neck lolled grotesquely
about. A marionette let loose of his strings, courtesy of
liquor.
    With no hesitation, she poked him—hard. “You
must wake up! We have a grave problem. The apothecary expects
payment today, and our money is gone. Do you have money hidden
anywhere else?”
    He didn’t respond.
    Her open palm slapped his cheek, leaving an
instant welt. Doctor Smythe roused, the anger of the devil burning
in his eyes. Constanza felt a rush of air pass her cheek as his
first swipe missed. Without time to step back, the second connected
with her jawbone. Her father slumped back to his unconscious
position as quickly as he’d awakened.
    The force of the blow propelled her,
cartwheeling her backward. Clutching her cheek, she thought, not
for the first time, that she wanted to run. That she had to
leave. She couldn’t bear this suffering any longer. His beatings
and spending all of his days living in the past, while she was
expected to continue to live on in the present—alone—wasn’t right.
She wanted to run away as far as she could and never look
back.
    As sure as the beating of her heart, she
knew she couldn’t. Knew she wouldn’t.
    Trudging up the stairs, muffled sounds
issued from behind the nursery door.
    Will's crying filled the hallway when she
opened the door. Quickly wrapping his tiny body in the fullest
blanket she could find, she set out to save them—yet again. She
swallowed a threatening sob as she headed outside, balancing Will
on her hip.
    She fought her way through the blackened
snow-filled streets of Bristol.
    After what seemed an eternity, they entered
the warm pub. Sitting her baby brother on the bar, she dropped her
eyes to the floor.
    The bartender, an attractive woman in her
fortieth year, took one look at the shiner on her cheek. “Not
again. What is it this time, love?”
    Tears welled in her eyes.
    No, I will not cry. If I cry, he wins again
and I only bring shame upon myself.
    Pressing her lips together, she squared her
shoulders and blinked back the tears. “The apothecary needs
payment, or we will only have the medicines from the herb garden.
Unfortunately, last year was not a productive crop and my supplies
are low.”
    “ All right then. Take William upstairs,
love.”
    After complying, Constanza re-entered the
bar and drew an apron tightly around her slim body, then picked up
the first night’s round of drinks. If she worked ‘til closing, she
should have enough to get through—this time.
    ~ * ~
    Eyes fluttering open to the day, Constanza
smiled. As far as she could cipher, this grand morning was day one
hundred and twenty, and land—beautiful dry unmoving land—should be
within sight in the next twenty-four hours. The three of them had
made it through their ordeal alive, albeit each was a good fifteen
pounds lighter.
    Katrina of course was the most distressed.
“Constanza? How will I ever land a husband with a body so frail?
Why, I look like you!”
    Will's eyes were shadowed with dark half
moons below them, which she knew to be a mineral deficiency of some
sort. She was only able to bring a few of her medical books aboard
as they had barely enough for the reduced passage on what she’d
surmised to be a rumrunner.
    A small hole had been chewed in one of the
hold’s barrels by Teredo worms. The ship must have been in tropical
climates prior to this voyage by her estimation. Tropical water
weeds were still being removed from the ship’s hull, and the
mollusks, or pileworms, had not only burrowed into some