their share of the payroll. Will ye be going back for it soon?”
They had been at their hideout for several weeks while Jack recovered from his injury, and the men were getting anxious. Jack wasn’t surprised, as they hadn’t been paid in months. Though they had shelter and food, it wasn’t the same as having money in their pockets, and Jack knew it.
“Tell one of the men to saddle my horse.” He had money hidden on the island. He would pay the men out of his personal stash. Riding to get it might prove painful, but anything was better than sitting here thinking about Katherine and what could never be.
“The sawbones said ye wuz to stay abed for another week, Jack.”
“The sawbones is a charlatan,” Jack responded, as he gobbled the rest of his meal. He hadn’t felt hungry, but he figured he needed his strength if he was to repay his men—and not just for the wages they had been denied. They had saved his life, and he would see them paid handsomely for it…even though he felt his life wasn’t worth a farthing now that Katherine was no longer a part of it.
“Aye, Captain,” Jim said, hanging his head as he acknowledged that Jack was the boss, and therefore would do whatever he wanted to do.
Jack got dressed, adding his well-worn great coat over his leather jerkin. The snug-fitting tunic would help protect his chest, and the coat would keep the water off him. The ride would be a long and dismal one, over a road that was little more than a footpath in good weather. Now, due to the seasonal rains, it was a nearly impassable bog. Such a journey in this steady drizzle would do nothing to lift Jack’s spirits, but his men deserved to be paid now, not in a month when he might be able to retrieve the money from the cave.
As he saddled his big roan, he considered what Jim had told him. Deep down inside Jack knew that the old salt was right; he and Katherine were never meant to be together—now even less than before. He wasn’t just a thief. Now he was an abductor of women, and he would have to remain dead to the world, or risk being hanged without benefit of a trial. His future as a fugitive from the law was not the sort of life she deserved. What Katherine deserved was fine clothes, a fine house, and healthy children. He could, he was certain, give her children—he might already have, if the fates were truly cruel—but, that aside, she deserved a husband who could hold his head up in society, not one who had to hide his face in disgrace. She deserved the best life had to offer, and she could have that now that she was away from him. Once again Jim’s words echoed in his ear, and Jack’s heart felt like it was being pulled from his chest.
Kicking his horse into a gallop, he forced himself to admit defeat where his lady love was concerned, but that didn’t keep him from thinking about her and wishing things could be different. Katherine might be exactly where she belonged, but his love for her would never die.
Chapter 12
Time seemed to go by in the blink of an eye; one day her stepfather was telling her she must think of her future, and the next he was introducing her to the man who would be her husband…whether she liked it or not.
Katherine had been stunned at first, wanting to protest the unfair arrangement on the one hand, yet knowing she had no real choice in the matter on the other. It would do no good to mention the fact that she had no desire to marry…ever. Remaining unmarried at her age was totally unacceptable as far as the judge was concerned. So what else was she to do?
Judge Houghton had the answer. Living as they did, in a close-knit society, in the resplendent luxury of a far-off British colony, her chances of meeting someone acceptable to her were highly unlikely, thus her only alternative was to marry the first man who asked. That man was none other than Captain Anthony Spencer, the man who had rescued her from the villain, Jack O’Bannon. When her stepfather informed her at dinner
They had been at their hideout for several weeks while Jack recovered from his injury, and the men were getting anxious. Jack wasn’t surprised, as they hadn’t been paid in months. Though they had shelter and food, it wasn’t the same as having money in their pockets, and Jack knew it.
“Tell one of the men to saddle my horse.” He had money hidden on the island. He would pay the men out of his personal stash. Riding to get it might prove painful, but anything was better than sitting here thinking about Katherine and what could never be.
“The sawbones said ye wuz to stay abed for another week, Jack.”
“The sawbones is a charlatan,” Jack responded, as he gobbled the rest of his meal. He hadn’t felt hungry, but he figured he needed his strength if he was to repay his men—and not just for the wages they had been denied. They had saved his life, and he would see them paid handsomely for it…even though he felt his life wasn’t worth a farthing now that Katherine was no longer a part of it.
“Aye, Captain,” Jim said, hanging his head as he acknowledged that Jack was the boss, and therefore would do whatever he wanted to do.
Jack got dressed, adding his well-worn great coat over his leather jerkin. The snug-fitting tunic would help protect his chest, and the coat would keep the water off him. The ride would be a long and dismal one, over a road that was little more than a footpath in good weather. Now, due to the seasonal rains, it was a nearly impassable bog. Such a journey in this steady drizzle would do nothing to lift Jack’s spirits, but his men deserved to be paid now, not in a month when he might be able to retrieve the money from the cave.
As he saddled his big roan, he considered what Jim had told him. Deep down inside Jack knew that the old salt was right; he and Katherine were never meant to be together—now even less than before. He wasn’t just a thief. Now he was an abductor of women, and he would have to remain dead to the world, or risk being hanged without benefit of a trial. His future as a fugitive from the law was not the sort of life she deserved. What Katherine deserved was fine clothes, a fine house, and healthy children. He could, he was certain, give her children—he might already have, if the fates were truly cruel—but, that aside, she deserved a husband who could hold his head up in society, not one who had to hide his face in disgrace. She deserved the best life had to offer, and she could have that now that she was away from him. Once again Jim’s words echoed in his ear, and Jack’s heart felt like it was being pulled from his chest.
Kicking his horse into a gallop, he forced himself to admit defeat where his lady love was concerned, but that didn’t keep him from thinking about her and wishing things could be different. Katherine might be exactly where she belonged, but his love for her would never die.
Chapter 12
Time seemed to go by in the blink of an eye; one day her stepfather was telling her she must think of her future, and the next he was introducing her to the man who would be her husband…whether she liked it or not.
Katherine had been stunned at first, wanting to protest the unfair arrangement on the one hand, yet knowing she had no real choice in the matter on the other. It would do no good to mention the fact that she had no desire to marry…ever. Remaining unmarried at her age was totally unacceptable as far as the judge was concerned. So what else was she to do?
Judge Houghton had the answer. Living as they did, in a close-knit society, in the resplendent luxury of a far-off British colony, her chances of meeting someone acceptable to her were highly unlikely, thus her only alternative was to marry the first man who asked. That man was none other than Captain Anthony Spencer, the man who had rescued her from the villain, Jack O’Bannon. When her stepfather informed her at dinner
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