Free The Pirate's Witch by Candace Smith Page B

possible.”
     
    Monique scrambled for how it could be up to her to decide if they left the island.   The only conclusion she could reach was that he meant if she was going to behave, they could go sailing.   “When will you decide?”
     
    “When will I decide?” he roared.   Monique fell back and scrambled away from him as he rose and glared down at her.   “You know the decision to bring the boat back early is yours, Clarette.   And if you have lost that magic, then I am certain you will be waiting as anxiously as I for the next fifty years.”
     
    Monique tried to make sense of his words as he once more gripped her arm, and she cried when he dragged her over by the tree.   “I don‘t understand,” she wailed.   “I don’t understand why you think I’m this other woman… and you’re blaming me for whatever it is you think she did to you.   I’m not even from your time.   It couldn’t have been me that did this to you.”
     
    The pirate scowled and tied her wrist cuffs together behind her while she sobbed.   He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scarf, wrapping it around her mouth to gag her.   Monique kicked out with her feet, frustrated, angry and frightened again at his dark mood.   He gripped her secured wrists as he loosened the rope tied to the cleat held fast to the trunk of the tree, and the other end slowly lowered from the branch it had been tossed over.
     
    There was a heavy iron hook fastened onto the end of the rope, and Deegan attached her lashed wrists to it then pulled the other end.   Monique was raised to the balls of her feet.   They slid in the shifting sand while her arms were being lifted up high behind her back, causing her to wail in agony.   Deegan tied the loose end of the rope off to the cleat, leaving her to try to balance in the precarious position.
     
    Monique struggled to keep on her toes, as her arms were stretched so painfully high behind her that she was afraid they would twist out of their sockets.   Deegan had walked back towards the edge of the jungle growth and snapped off a strong thin shoot from the cane that grew beside the pond.
     
    Monique was concentrating so hard on trying to ease her discomfort that she missed the hissing wind as the cane sliced through the air.   She felt a slight press on her bottom… and then it was on fire.   She shrieked behind the gag.   Out of the corner of her eye, she caught his arm drawing back again, and she screamed when it slammed down across her upper thighs.   One more time the arm with the cane made its arch, and she felt the burn across her bottom again.
     
    Deegan dropped the cane and walked around to the front of the sobbing girl.   He lifted her face and growled, “Until you are willing to admit to me why you have returned, you are to remain silent.   Any other words out of your mouth will result in punishment.”   He left her hanging in the torturous position and she watched him disappear down the path towards the beach.
     
    Just as they had been doing for centuries, the pirates put the treasure into a pile on the sand and used sticks to draw out wide lines indicating the points of the compass relative to their individual strongholds on the island.   The way they divided the treasure had become a ceremony for them, and was the most important event they shared until the return of their ship.   They each had a woman and a bottle of rum, so that portion of the valuables left them on equal status to begin separating and discussing the merits and worth of the rest of the plunder.   They were all studying the five expensive fishing rods and deciding what they were willing to give up for one.
     
    Deegan never took a greater share than the rest, as on the island each of the crewmembers was equal.   It was only on the schooner that Deegan was their undisputed leader, though the crew referred to him as either Captain or Deegan on land and still tended to ask his advice or follow his