Beyond paradise by Copyright Paperback Collection (Library of Congress) DLC, Elizabeth Doyle Page A

a fist at Jacques, and then opened his hand in a strange gesture. Jacques responded in kind. The best Sylvie could tell, they were making signals at one other. They must have been old friends, for at the end of it, they both laughed. And she couldn't guess for the life of her why. She tried to smile along, for some instinctive reason, and that's when the captain noticed her. "Oh my," he said, stepping toward her. She instinctively feared his approach. He was a large man, and dressed in a most sinister manner. His beard and mustache did an excellent job of covering his otherwise handsome face, and that made him look a bit suspicious. But none of that is what caused her fear. It was his confident, rigid shoulders which made him look like a wall rolling to-

    Elizabeth Doyle
    ward her. He possessed a strength from deep within that seemed to make him a fearsome obstacle. When he reached out and touched her, he did so with the point of his sword. Holding the golden handle, he teased her pale brown hair, sparkling like auburn in the sunset. His sword point came dangerously near her face, but she stood rigid in trust. He looked like an expert with that weapon. "Lovely," he said to Jacques, in that language Sylvie now suspected was Spanish. He had a glint in his narrow eye, as though he were trying to communicate a compliment to her. "Where did you find her?"
    Jacques looked warily at the sword point in Sylvie's hair. "She helped me escape," he said. "I've told her she can go."
    "Go?" asked the captain, aghast. "No, no. I think not. Come, let me have a look at you, child. Does she speak Spanish at all?"
    "None, sir."
    So the captain said in mediocre French, "Lift your hair for me, like this." He demonstrated with his own.
    Sylvie, aware of her tenuous situation—though she didn't realize quite how tenuous it really was—lifted her hair as he instructed, only to hear him prattle on in Spanish again. "Beautiful neck," he told Jacques, "a lovely line to her jaw. Ah, I haven't seen one like this in some time. Very modestly dressed," he added, gazing at the body she hid so well behind a plain brown dress and apron, "but I like a woman with modesty. I think I shall even dance with her this evening before I bring her to my cabin. I am certain the taste of her will be even sweeter once I have roused her maidenly curiosity."
    "Sir," said Jacques, respectfully but quite firmly, "she has assisted me, and I promised her she could leave." He added a nod of determination to strengthen his words. It was a nod which said, Do you understand me? without forcing him to speak so brazenly to his captain.
    "Well, she has suffered a change in plans then," said
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    Roberto, smiling at Sylvie, who smiled in return, for she did not understand what was being said.
    "Sir. I
    "Enough," said his captain scornfully. "I am claiming her. Men, help me bring her to the ship, will you?"
    Jacques looked worriedly at Sylvie, and that made the crew hesitate. But only for a moment. Their friendship with Jacques ran deep, but their fear of their captain ran deeper. They began to move toward Sylvie. "Captain, you can't!" he shouted.
    His captain, who had just turned his back, suddenly whipped around. "What did you say to me?"
    "Captain, I... I can't let you do that because .. ." He swallowed. "Because she's mine."
    "She's what?"
    "She's mine, sir. I have already bedded her—I have already claimed her for my own. I... I want her, sir."
    Captain Roberto gently broke from his piercing stare into a smile. He began to laugh, and with him, the other crew. "Well, why didn't you just say so?" he asked, "You've a right to it. I didn't know she was spoken for. Men! Bring her on board for Jacques."
    Sylvie gasped as they grabbed her. She looked to Jacques for help. "No need," he told the men, "no need to drag her. I'll . . . I'll explain to her in French that she's got to come. It's all right." They unhanded her, much to Sylvie's relief. But her relief did not