Read Online Ill Wind and Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure (Valkyrie) by Karen Perkins - Free Book Online Page B

questions. I realized my hand had dropped from the necklace as I had been talking, and he was staring at it again.
    ‘Sharpe! Stop bothering my wife!’
    My heart sank, Erik had noticed our conversation. Sharpe struggled to tear his eyes away from my chest, and Erik thumped the floor with his cane in anger, silencing the room.
    ‘Captain Tarr!’ Tarr was already crossing the room to join us. ‘Your nephew is drunk and making a nuisance of himself, kindly remove him from the presence of my wife. And teach him some manners!’
    Tarr nodded once. ‘I beg your pardon, Mijnheer van Ecken, he is not feeling himself.’ He took one of Sharpe’s arms and indicated to Blake to take the other. They half-pulled Sharpe out of the hall and into the Caribbean afternoon sunshine.
    ‘Do not ever let me see you encouraging that man again,’ Erik hissed. ‘You are my wife and you will behave accordingly!’
    He turned and left me standing alone in a sea of people. I looked around the room, embarrassed, self-conscious and confused.
    I spotted Hornigold and Cheval in one corner, unable to conceal their amusement at the turn of events; Cheval even raised his glass to me. Jan stared, disapproval etched on to his features, and nobody else met my eye. Gazes darted away wherever I looked.
    ‘Be careful, Miss Gabriella,’ Klara spoke softly at my shoulder. ‘It seems you have an admirer. Mijnheer Erik won’t like that – be very careful around him.’
    I looked at her and nodded at the concern I saw in her eyes, then took another glass of wine from the tray she held.

Chapter 18
     
     
    The rest of the wedding celebrations passed in a blur of strange faces and not-understood language. I didn’t feel much different as a married woman than I had as a girl – apart from Erik’s nocturnal visits, and those I could do without.
    The household woke later on a Sunday and had a relaxed breakfast, then the three of us gathered in the library for prayers. As soon as I could escape, I found Klara and told her to come with me.
    ‘But where are we going, Miss Gabriella?’
    ‘You’ll see, Klara, I want to show you something.’
    ‘But I have much work to do,’ she protested.
    ‘The work can wait – you toil too hard as it is, I want us to have some fun today!’ I grabbed her arm and pulled her through the trees to the cliff top.
    ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ I asked Klara. She nodded.
    ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could sail away one day, just go?’
    ‘Go where?’
    ‘Anywhere we wanted,’ I said.
    ‘It’ll get better, Miss Gabriella, just give it time, you’ve only been married a week.’
    I looked at Klara and gave her a small smile. I didn’t believe her, but appreciated her trying to cheer me. We stared out to sea a little longer, dreaming of the impossible, then I urged her along the cliff path to the beach.
    Once on the sand, I kicked off my shoes, lifted my petticoats, and ran to the water, splashing in the shallows. ‘Come on, Klara!’ I laughed, urging her to follow me. She shook her head, but with a smile, and followed me to the water’s edge. She took off her shoes and jumped back as a small wave covered her toes.
    I laughed at her. You act like you’ve never seen the sea before!’
    She shrugged. ‘Not this close.’
    ‘But how?’ I was flabbergasted. ‘This is such a small island, and we live so close.’
    She shrugged again. ‘I don’t have time. I work at the house every day, and when there is some time on a Sunday, I have much to do at my hut.’
    I gasped. ‘Oh, Klara, I didn’t think. When you said you had a lot to do, I thought you meant at the house. Is Sunday your day off?’
    She laughed. ‘I don’t have days off, but there’s usually a little time to clean my hut, wash my clothes . . .’ she tailed off, staring at the sand.
    ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. Go if you want to,’ I said, embarrassed at my selfishness, my assumption that she’d be happy to come to the beach with