Ocean's Justice

Part 25

Twenty-Five

Two steps inside, I stopped dead. It appeared I was to share this cabin, too, but with William's opposite.

Instead of a smiling young man, I met the gaze of a frowning older woman. Her cold eyes drifted from me to the captain. I heard the click as he closed the door behind him.

"If you expect me to keep her condition a secret, you're sorely mistaken. No woman deserves to be beaten like this. Where did you find her and who is responsible for the deplorable act?" Her voice rang with authority – she sounded like my mother.

Captain Dunnet's voice was low as he replied, "We fished up one of the Trevessa's lifeboats today and found her aboard. Whoever did this was aboard the Trevessa. There are no women listed as passengers, so she must have been a stowaway or someone smuggled her aboard. Even a stowaway's entitled to some dignity – to be put ashore at the next port, in the hands of the authorities, but it looks like she was kept a secret and...ill-used instead. Now, we're committed to searching for survivors, but if the rest of the crew hear of this, half of them will want to call off the search, while the other half will want to continue, to bring the offenders to justice. If we find survivors, what will happen if we bring aboard the men who did this to her? I'm asking you to keep her hidden from the crew and keep her safe until we reach port in Fremantle."

I returned the woman's stare with fish-cold eyes. The two humans might be engaging in a power struggle, but I wouldn't submit to either of them. I'd killed two men and sunk one ship already this week – what was one more?

"Very well. Someone must take care of the girl, so I shall. But if the men who did this survive the shipwreck, heaven help them, for I will see them charged for this." The woman waved him away and he left without another word.

"Sit down," she said to me, gesturing at the bunk. I perched on the edge of the mattress, tucking the sail around me. She continued to stare at me, her eyes raking me from top to toe. After some time, she sank onto the bunk opposite me. "What's your name?"

"Maria."

"Tell me what happened."

I swallowed. I didn't know the words to explain half of it, but I was determined to try. "Ship sank."

She shook her head and pointed at my arm. "To you, Maria. What happened to you? Did someone hurt you?"

I nodded curtly, glancing down at my arms. The bruises formed a dark rainbow that looked quite disturbing. No wonder these humans were so shocked.

"What happened to the men who did this?"

I hesitated for a moment, before deciding to be honest. Let her fear me a little. "Sharks." I felt my face lift in a grin.

"Sharks?" she repeated.

I nodded. I thought of Sciarra screaming as the sharks tore him to pieces and only wished the brutish Barrett could have shared his fate. I was far more dangerous than any shark and the fish knew it, too. "Sharks."

To my surprise, she burst out laughing. "I can't say I'm sorry. I think you and I are going to get along fine, Maria. I'm Meryl D'Angelo, but you can call me Aunt Merry. Let's get some arnica on those bruises and I'll see if I can find you some clothes. I have boxes of them from my friends and relatives in England to donate to the poor people in Australia. They'll be poorer still once they see the outdated fashions I have. Some of these are older than me!" She laughed again, before gesturing at me. "Stand up and take that piece of sailcloth off. Let me look at you so I can work out what might fit you."

Perhaps for the first time in my life, I obeyed. I rose to my feet and let go of the salt-stiffened sail, which slipped to the floor. Her horrified gasp made me look down. The sordid rainbow across my broken ribs made my eyes water.

"With breasts like that, it's probably a good thing I have some fashions from a few years ago," she managed to say. "If I put you in one of the flapper dresses my nieces were wearing, men wouldn't be able to stare at anything but your chest. So, are you ready to have some fun?" She dropped to her knees by one of the boxes on the floor and flipped open a clasp. Lifting the lid, she pulled out ruffled, frilly garments like those she was wearing.

I shrugged off the shredded shirt that was all I had left from the Trevessa and braced myself. Women's clothing and a willing teacher. She offered me everything I wanted…except for the one thing I wanted most. William. With a heavy heart, I took the garments she offered and clothed myself in another new life.