Free Corsets & Crossbones by Heather C. Myers

scratching out some of his notes, and therefore, did not notice.
    “Did he return your necklace?” she asked, keeping her peripheral vision focused squarely on their cranky instructor.
    Brooke shook her head.  “No,” she replied, glancing up at the board and then down at her paper, filled with neat, elegant notes.  “Apparently he was satisfied with merely my company.”
    “What kind of company?” Fiona drawled suspiciously.
    “Of course you are not implying the sort of unrespectable company a man usually pays for, now are you?” Brooke asked with a smirk.
    Fiona smiled and shook her head.  “No, of course not,” she conceded.
    “He would not be able to afford me, even if that was the case,” Brooke mumbled, causing Fiona to laugh out loud.
    Mister Slater’s eyes snapped up to stare at his two students.  His brow furrowed so low that it nearly interfered with his sight.
    “I hear you!” he exclaimed, eyeing the laughing woman and then shifting his eyes over to the quiet, smiling woman.  “I know you’re the cause of this, Miss Cunningham!  You left-handers, you’re always up to sinister trickery!”
    Once he focused his attention back to his papers, Brooke rolled her eyes.
    “The only thing we are up to is trying to figure out how to keep from smudging our writing,” she said dryly and sighed.  Today was going to be a very long day.
    Both Brooke and Fiona were incredibly educated women.  They were taught everything one could be taught; English, French, Latin, mathematics, sciences, an assortment of religions, as well as varying assortment of elements in etiquette, all taught by the versatile Mister Slater for nearly fifteen years.  They were both bright young women with an envious education, and beautiful in their own right.  Men were besotted at first glance by either of them, and while Master Cunningham wanted Brooke to marry as quickly as possible, Governor Radcliffe deemed no man worthy of his daughter.  Currently, both daughters were not married, and while Fiona had a particular person in mind to marry, Brooke was happy just the way things were.  She did not wish to sacrifice her individuality for a man at all, much less right then.
    When lessons were over, Brooke and Fiona traveled down to Joel’s small home that was near the docks of Port Royal.  Fiona’s grandfather Oral accompanied the two young women, but once they entered the small home, he kept his distance, leaving the children their privacy.  Joel led the women through his house and into his study where maps were decorating the walls, the desk, even the floor. 
    “Someone has too much time on their hands,” Brooke murmured with a smile.
    “Ah, but time leads to talent, it would seem,” Fiona replied, looking at Joel with pride in her eyes.
    Joel smiled at Fiona, and Brooke had to strain herself from rolling her eyes.  As Joel continued to walk with Fiona throughout the room, and explain to her the different maps he had created, Brooke stopped walking and simply just looked at his designs.  There were maps of the Caribbean, maps of England, the Americas, and even a map of the scattered ports throughout the Caribbean.  One particular map caught her eye, however.  It was wrinkled and plain; there was nothing special about it.  And yet, the small islands that were etched on the map were formed in the shape of a five-pointed star.  They were adjacent to the island of Cuba, and a big X on the top island.  The islands were nameless, and Joel’s signature was not on the bottom right corner of the map.  Joel did not make this, she realized with wonder.  Without fully thinking about what she was doing, she folded the map up so that she could stick it between her bosom without notice.
    Suddenly, a shot was heard, fired into the sky.  It whistled low, and then increased in sound as the ball crashed into one of the meadows that adorned Port Royal.  A rumble caused Brooke to lose her footing, but she grabbed the edge of