A cannonball landed inches from my feet, but the fuse must have been bad as it blew through without exploding.  I stared at the hole even as the cries of the pirates filled my ears.  Swords and pistols drawn, the crew rushed around me toward the men spilling over the side of the boat.  A cargo ship, the Mariette had not one cannon on board. Seemed stupid in pirate-filled waters. Even a non-sailor like me had wondered why my husband had not outfitted it with such.  Blood started to flow over the deck towards me as the ship listed. I could smell its coppery tang.  One body floated lifeless in the water, turning it red, and ominous fins slowly gathered in the distance.  Then everything went black.

Someone was trying to throw an old sail over me when I woke, head pounding.  The attack on the Mariette came flooding back and I screamed, knowing where I had to be.  The face staring down at me looked to be little more than that of a kid.  The lowliest of Jack Lott’s crew did not think of gagging me or binding my hands.  A bellow came as the door flew open.

“We don’t take prisoners, damn it!  How many times have I said it?”

“Captain Lott,” the boy stammered. 

Then the captain got a look at me.   

“I don’t blame you, Johnny boy.  Two hundred sovereigns from my share in the crew's take for the woman.  Buy you lots more than one woman in Tortuga. You will not be a lad anymore, I will take you to my favorite woman.  No one hasn’t had a good time when they’re with Maggie.”  Long dark hair and deep set brown eyes.  Thin nose and full mouth, the corner of which twitched when I was trying to keep from smiling.  Oh, and such an enchanting smile.  I had been told often enough how beautiful I was. I knew what the value was for.  They were stuck with me, but I was no burden. 

The boy beamed as Jack Lott hauled me to my feet.  Before I knew what was happening, my dressed was ripped from me and thrown overboard.  A ship full of pirates leered as if I was the last woman on earth as I was pushed past in a ripped shift barely covering anything.  All were armed to the teeth and covered in blood, blood of the men who had worked for my husband.

***

  He called it courting, though I was forced to be the whore of the man robbing my husband.  That I had slept with a pirate caused me no great duress. After all, for years, I had slept with François and he was little more than a stranger even if we shared the same name.  He might as well have thought me the cleaning lady for all the affection he had showed.