Page 15 of Escaping Pirates (Legends of Neverland #4)

“ H arlan spent all night thinking of what to write to you,” I told the sisters when they had me brought to them the next day.

I held the letters out to them. “He wanted me to give them to you right away and says he looks forward to his time with you tonight so he can hear what you thought of them.”

Their eyes widened, and they snatched at their treasures, unfolding them and greedily reading.

“I knew it!” Sugar squealed. “He thinks I’m charming!”

“And he thinks I’m witty and clever!” Blossom fanned herself. “We should write letters back!”

Hope surged in my chest. Harlan wouldn’t even need to steal away paper if I could get them to compose long letters. “That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard,” I told her enthusiastically. “Shall we start now?”

“Yes,” Sugar said eagerly, but Blossom forestalled her.

“No! Remember? Uncle Tyrone is supposed to arrive this afternoon. He always has fancy stationary. Let’s wait for that.”

Disgust soured my mouth as I remembered the greasy- haired man who had offered to buy me from Harsh.

If I put one toe out of line, they could easily sell me to Tyrone that very day.

Harlan’s words from the night before came back to me.

“Successful people make their own luck.” All I needed to do was keep the girls occupied and happy.

“You could work on drafts now, then rewrite them on the nice stationary later,” I suggested. “I’d be happy to write it for you or clear your desks so you have a clean place to write. Whatever you’d like.”

“Yes!” Sugar clapped her hands, and Blossom nodded eagerly. “Help me think of what to write.”

We spent the rest of the morning composing the sappiest, most cringeworthy love letters I’d ever read. Blossom compared Harlan’s strength to a devouring kraken, and Sugar wrote that Harlan was very, very, very, very handsome and that she would dream of him every moment.

“That’s perfect. He’ll love that,” I praised with each sentence they came up with. “He only talks about you two, you know.”

“He wasn’t excited about seeing us at first,” Blossom said at one point, gloom seeping into her prior enthusiasm. “He probably doesn’t even care.”

“Oh, come on, Blossom, don’t mope!” Sugar chided. “Remember what I told you to say when you’re feeling down?”

I perked up, genuinely curious to hear what sort of motto they’d have.

Blossom managed a small smile as Sugar went on in a singsong voice, “Depression is temporary but these cheeks”—she slapped her hindquarters—“are legendary! No man can resist us.”

I turned quickly to hide my laughter. Of all the moments I’d spent with the pair of sisters, this had to be an all-time high.

“What do you think?” Blossom asked me, her face dour once more.

“I’m sure he was only upset because he was concerned about his crewmates at the time. It had nothing at all to do with you ,” I lied. I wasn’t sure how I managed to keep a straight face. “All you need to do is keep him focused on you.”

“And you won’t try to steal him from us, will you, Scurvyella?” Sugar said, shooting me a suspicious look.

“Not at all. I don’t like blond men.” If nothing else, I would become highly proficient at lying by the time Harlan and I escaped.

“Ship ahoy!” one of the crew called out from the deck.

“Uncle Tyrone!” Sugar said, eagerly looking over the letter she’d painstakingly composed. “He’ll help us.”

“I’ll leave you two to your family matters,” I said, hastily standing and trying to make my way to the door. Anything to avoid Tyrone.

“No, you need to stay and write the letter,” Sugar ordered. “Your handwriting is neater.”

I bit my tongue. Keeping Sugar happy would mean that she wouldn’t want her father to get rid of me.

Would it be enough? Tyrone might have forgotten all about me in the last few weeks.

My stomach settled slightly. Any man who offered to buy a servant so readily likely did so very often and wouldn’t even recall that I was on board.

All I needed to do was keep out of his way.

“I would be glad to do that for you. While you get the stationary from your uncle, I can stay here and clean your room and prepare your outfits for tonight.”

“Yes, do that,” Blossom said without a word of thanks, getting to her feet. “Then we’ll get ready while you write the letters so we can give them to Harlan tonight.”

They left, and I immediately took several pieces of paper, folded them, and tucked them into my bodice.

I didn’t care in the slightest if the paper I got was fancy or not.

With it, Harlan and I were even closer to sending the pleas for aid now.

Once he was given another quill and pot of ink for more love letters, we would be able to write the notes and get the bottles out.

Tension drained from my shoulders at the thought, and I began cleaning with renewed enthusiasm.

The girls got along with each other better when their room was well organized and their possessions neatly arranged, so I devoted myself to doing just that as they went to find their uncle and beg whatever fancy paper they wanted off him.

Hungry as I usually was, I would gladly forego any midday meal if it lowered my chances of running into Tyrone.

When the girls returned, they were chattering away excitedly together, discussing the latest story their uncle had told them, about some boy named Peter who had been accused of multiple kidnappings and murders but instead of being executed had been sentenced to life in prison.

I listened as they went on and on about how he’d already been in prison for years now, and that he had been suspected of instigating a prison break but hadn’t escaped himself.

Escape. At least escape was possible on land, however unlikely it was. Here on the ocean, escape would simply mean drowning.

“Did you get the paper?” I asked them as they went through their gowns, wondering aloud at which ones Harlan would like best. “I can copy those letters over while you decide what to wear, then I’ll do your hair. ”

“Yes, here.” Blossom handed me the paper with unusual care. “Don’t crinkle the edges or mess up.”

I had to admit, for all of his faults, Captain Tyrone Renshaw had excellent taste. The paper was thick and had a hand-painted floral border. It truly was luxury paper, likely nicer than anything I’d ever written on before.

Taking great care to not make a single mistake, I meticulously copied each and every word that Sugar and Blossom had written onto two letters, leaving a large section at the bottom of each.

“It looks empty,” Sugar said critically when she came over to examine my work.

“That’s for you to sign nice and big since he likes your name so much,” I told her pleasantly. “I can show you how to do it fancy if you’d like. Then you can practice for future letters.”

After a moment’s consideration, she nodded decisively. “Good idea. Show me.”

“Blossom?” I asked. “Would you like me to show you, too?”

“No. I already like how I write my name.”

Issuing a silent apology to my handwriting instructor for ever bemoaning her lessons, I taught Sugar how to curl each of the curves in her name, then had her practice several times on different parchment before showing her where to sign on her letter.

“It’s beautiful,” I told her as she reviewed it proudly. “I’m sure Harlan will love it. Do you know what you’re planning to do tonight?”

Sugar’s face fell as she went over to pick out a gown. “I wanted to do dancing, but I don’t know how to very well. I stepped on his feet a few times last night.”

A hot pang stabbed at my stomach as I thought of Harlan holding Sugar’s waist and spinning her across a dance floor.

Her skin was flawless, her hair held curls, and she had curves that most women envied.

Sugar was beautiful, no denying it. Surely Harlan had noticed that much, even if he didn’t like her personality.

I snuck a look at my own reflection in Blossom’s mirror, then hastily averted my eyes.

No man would ever want to look at me with how I was wasting away.

I had no curves to speak of anymore, and my hair was filthy.

I cringed as I thought of how I’d flirted just the tiniest bit with Harlan in such a state.

Sugar put back the dress she’d been holding up to her front. “Do you know how to dance?”

“A little.”

“Then you can teach us starting tomorrow! Once we learn, we will hold a ball.”

A knock came at the girls’ door, followed by the oily voice I remembered all too well. “Sugar? Blossom? It’s your uncle.”

“Don’t come in!” Blossom shrieked. “We’re getting dressed!”

“I won’t,” he assured them, then after a pause, asked, “Is your servant girl in there with you? She wasn’t in the brig.”

My blood turned to ice. He remembered me after all.

“Yes. Scurvyella’s helping us get ready.”

“How kind of her. I thought we could all do a big dinner tonight. Your father says you have a gentleman to accompany you, and I’d be happy to have your servant as my personal guest.”

Fear clogged my throat.

Blossom nodded at Sugar. “Yes. Then Uncle Tyrone will talk to her instead of us, and we’ll get more time to talk with Harlan.” She turned back to the closed door and raised her voice. “That’s fine! You can go tell Daddy! ”

Shoals, was Tyrone intending to offer to buy me again? Was this Captain Harsh’s twisted way of showing me the very real threat of what would happen to me if I didn’t cater to his girls’ every whim? If it was, it was working.

“Do you miss doing each other’s hair before I got here?” I asked pointedly as I styled their hair.

“No,” they both answered at the same time.

“Well, it’s a good thing I enjoy it,” I told them. “I’ll do your hair anytime you want.” I’d do anything to avoid being sold to Tyrone.

When Captain Harsh came to check on his girls, he beamed at them. “You two are simply beautiful.” Then he turned his attention to me and scanned me up and down. “Take a bath before dinner,” he barked gruffly. “I won’t have anyone that dirty at my table.”

The irony of a man participating in human trafficking being concerned about dirt at his dining table made me want to scoff.

“Come along, darlings,” he told Sugar and Blossom, then shot me a malevolent glare. “You’ll be on your best behavior tonight, or you’ll regret it. Stay here and don’t come out until you’re presentable.”

I didn’t doubt him for a second. At least I finally got a good bath out of it.

Anytime my mind relaxed, Harlan’s face would pop into my mind.

I wouldn’t mind if I looked nicer for him, but doing so would also mean that Tyrone would see me the same way.

Electing to keep things simple but clean, I washed my hair and scrubbed off all the dirt coating my body so I finally felt like I could breathe.

Captain Harsh wouldn’t allow my old dress at his table, I was sure, so I hunted around in Blossom’s wardrobe until I found a modest, unassuming brown frock that must have been at the back of the wardrobe for some time.

She probably wouldn’t even remember it was hers.

Then again, I hadn’t thought Tyrone would remember me.

It took nearly an hour to work all the knots out of my hair and work it into a style that was halfway decent, and by the time I was ready, Captain Harsh had come to pound on the door and order me down to dinner.

I took one last look at my appearance in the mirror before I took a deep breath and left the room.