A Bride for Adam by Barbara Goss (speld decodable readers .TXT) 📗

turned to the three men behind him. “Check the room for another key to the door.”

Chapter Twelve

“What have you done with Adam?” Greta asked while cowering near the desk.

“He’s somewhere in Liverpool,” the scraggly man said. “We’ve sent him on an errand. When he returns, we’ll be gone.” He laughed, and the other men joined him.

“Would you please put me ashore, too? I’ll be of no use to you.”

The men laughed again. “Oh, we’ll find a use for you, all right.” The men continued laughing.

Greta shivered. “Please, I have a daughter waiting for me at home.”

The scraggly one laughed again. “We’re going to have a game of dice to see which one of us gets to enjoy your company first.”

Their ghoulish laughs made Greta’s stomach feel queasy, but all the while she moved closer to the desk drawer. While the leader’s head was turned toward the men, she opened the drawer, slid the key out, and placed it in her pocket.

One man said, “You know how lucky I am at dice, Simon. I know I’ll win.” The man rubbed his hands together.

Greta now knew the leader’s name: Simon. She edged away from the desk.

Simon yelled, “Never mind. You guys get up on the rigging and get those sails hoisted. We don’t have too much time. I’ll search for the key to the room.”

The men turned and left, still laughing. Simon opened the wardrobe, and searched through the pockets and shoes. He felt the bed pillows and even lifted the mattress before turning to search the desk drawers.

“Where’s the key?” he asked with a snarl. Greta nearly gagged on the stench of his nasty breath.

She had to think fast. “Adam gave it to Tully so he could wake me when we reached Liverpool, and he never gave it back to me.”

The man swore. “Tully’s with Adam.”

He’d found her apron hanging on a hook by the door. The keys to all of the rooms were in the pocket. “Well, well.” He held up her ring of keys. “I have this. I’m locking you in here until someone wins the dice game. Then, the fun will begin.” She heard him trying several of the keys before the lock clicked, and she saw his wicked smile.

Greta gasped.

“Don’t worry your pretty head off. Everyone will get a turn.”

Simon left, and she heard him lock the door behind him.

Greta knew she had to get off the ship before they left Liverpool, but how? She’d have to be fast or the men in the rigging would surely see her. She’d rather die trying than stick around for what they’d planned. Greta would jump overboard if she had to.

She listened to Simon’s footsteps until she heard him going up the stairs. Greta figured he’d either be at the helm or giving orders to the men up in the rigging, and she used her key to quietly leave the room. She crept up the stairs, cringing when one of the steps creaked. Greta didn’t go up on the deck but peeked around the corner when she reached the top step. The ramp to disembark was between the helm and the forecastle. Greta got on her hands and knees and crept along the rail to the ramp. She was just about to stand and run for it when a hand clamped around her upper arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Simon asked, jerking her roughly to her feet.

Greta was shaking too hard to answer him.

A cutlass suddenly flew by her and landed on Simon’s chest near his neck.

“Get your hands off my wife!” Adam snarled.

Simon dropped his hold on Greta.

While Adam had Simon covered, Tully and Manny aimed the ship’s guns up at the men in the rigging. Manny yelled, “Climb down and stand with your hands up or by God, I’ll shoot all of you—you’re no good to us now.”

Greta leaned against the railing and watched the men climb down, put their hands above their heads, and Manny and Tully escorted them off the ship. She didn’t know where they took them, but she breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes flew to Adam who was still holding Simon with the blade of his cutlass.

“Turn around, you bilge rat,” Adam yelled. When Simon turned, Adam led him off the ship by poking his cutlass into the man’s back. He turned to Greta and said, “Go back to the cabin, lock the door, and stay there. I’ll be back as soon as these men are locked up.”

“He has the ring of keys,” she cried. “It’s in one of his pockets.”

“I’ll get it,” Adam said. “Lock yourself in and wait for me.”

Back in the cabin, Greta paced the floor. That had been a close call; she was still shaking. When Adam knocked and entered, she flew into his arms.

“Are you all right?” he asked, tightening his hold on her.

“I’ve never been so frightened in my life. They were going to all...” She shuddered. “They planned to...” Greta felt relief in Adam’s arms, but it also released her emotions, and she wept.

He rubbed her back, and she thought she felt him kiss the top of her head.

“You’re safe now. We’ll be leaving for home as soon as possible.” He put his finger under her chin and wiped away her tears. “It won’t be long, and we’ll be home.”

“Where did you, Tully, and Manny go?” she asked between hiccoughs.

“To find you!”

“Me?”

“Simon told me minutes after we’d moored that you’d run off the ship and made him promise not to tell me you’d gone. Naturally, I ran off the ship, taking Tully and Manny with me. We each went a different direction looking for you. I asked people if they’d seen you after describing you, but no one had seen you which