Eleven
The following morning, William seemed intent on showing me how to move furniture. "While I'm gone, you keep this door shut and push the locker in front of it. Wedge it against the bunk like this if you can." He moved the locker so that it was jammed between the door and the bunk, trapping us inside. As afternoon approached, he seemed more and more worried and he stopped speaking. Instead, he balled his hands into fists and punched the air at an imaginary opponent – first on one side of him, then the other. After the verbal altercation yesterday, he seemed to be preparing for a fight with the two men. I hoped it wouldn't come to that.
He didn't eat a bite at lunch. He just stared at me, grinding his teeth against each other in the absence of food, until I'd finished eating. Then, without saying a word, he took my arm and marched me back to our cabin.
"As soon as I'm gone, I want you to barricade this door. Don't let anyone in. Do you understand me?"
I looked into his worried eyes and nodded, hoping that was the response he required. I wished I understood.
This seemed to satisfy him. He leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead. "Don't worry, lass. I won't lose and I'll be back. The crew will leave you alone after I deal with these two. Just don't let anyone in until I come back."
My forehead still felt warm from his touch as I watched him hurry out of the cabin, clanging the door shut behind him.
I looked at the locker on the floor by the door and sighed. I started hauling it back to its place beneath the porthole, wishing I knew why William had wanted me to imprison myself alone in this tiny room.
I gave the locker one last shove and heard frenzied hammering on the cabin door. The door flew open and Charlie burst in, breathless and flushed. "Miss! Maria! It's time. Come quickly!" He grabbed my arm and tugged.
Mystified, I allowed the excited boy to pull me down the corridor and up the ladder to the main deck.
"It's Mr McGregor! He's fighting for your honour, like some sort of knight in a fairy tale!" He led me to the stern, down another ladder to where crates and barrels were stacked.
I heard the rumble of voices and the smack of flesh on flesh before I saw them, but I knew what I'd find. William hadn't been dreading trouble – he'd made an appointment with it. We rounded a stack of barrels and I almost bumped into two men who were waving their fists in the air, urging someone on.
Charlie pushed and jumped, but he couldn't push through the milling crowd which looked like it consisted of the majority of the crew. He looked around and pointed. "The mast, miss. We'll have a good view from the mast. Do you think you can climb a rope ladder? I can help you if you want." He hurried to the mast and gestured. "You go first, miss. I'll climb below you so I can catch you if you fall."
The tarred hemp was rough and sticky beneath my hands and feet, swaying in the stiff breeze, but I clambered up the rope ladder quickly, curling my toes around the beam at the top as I hugged the mast for support. I could see the combatants now and I couldn't tear my eyes away.
Stripped down to their trousers, both men circled each other in the clear patch of deck that was marked off by a rope draped around barrels and crates, creating a rough ring. The rest of the crew crowded around the rope fence, pumping their fists and shouting insults or encouragement – it was hard to tell which, or who it was directed at. The sound was angry and primal.
One man's fist cracked against the other's chin, followed by his other fist smashing the man's nose. Blood spurted, streaming down the man's face and onto his bare chest.
"Yeah, Mr McGregor! You show him what happens when you say bad things about Miss Maria!" Charlie hooted beside me.
Startled, William turned his head to stare at Charlie before his gaze shifted to me. I saw pain in his eyes and I felt responsible. No man should hurt for me when all he'd done was help me. He hadn't wanted me to see this.
"NO!" I gasped as the bloody-faced man took advantage of William's distraction to take a swing at him. William dodged, but the blow still landed, splitting his lip.
"Yeah, go, Barrett! Beat him good!" A single cheer rose up from a man with two black eyes – one of them swollen shut and bleeding. I recognised the man sitting in a puddle as Sciarra and my hands tightened on the mast, wishing I could wrap them around the man's throat.
I watched William wipe a trickle of blood from his chin as he advanced on Barrett. He delivered a series of jabs to the man's midsection and I heard the crack of breaking bone. Barrett stumbled back, but William pursued him, punching him in the face repeatedly. Barrett seemed to have trouble breathing, but somehow he remained on his feet. He said something I couldn't hear and spat in William's face. William's final blow smacked into the side of the man's head, spinning him around before Barrett collapsed on the deck. The crowd fell silent.
William pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face.
Someone grabbed Barrett's legs and dragged him out of the makeshift ring. I watched in satisfaction as someone splashed a bucket of seawater over his face to rouse him and he came up spluttering. Shoving the man with the bucket out of his way, Barrett stormed toward the bow, taking the rungs of the ladder two at a time.
William drank a cup of water and rinsed his mouth. He threw the cup down and held his arms out in an angry invitation, saying, "Who's next? Anyone else want to challenge me?"
A slim, black-haired man slipped under the rope to stand in the ring and I gasped as I recognised the polite green tea drinker. "I'll be your opponent."
Both men gave each other a short nod, as if accepting the other's challenge.
The surrounding crew seemed to think this was a signal to start arguing and exchanging pieces of paper. None of them looked happy.
"Betting on the outcome, miss. Mr McGregor's beaten every man he's ever fought, but so has Mr Kaito. No one's game to fight Mr Kaito, but sometimes they're brave enough to challenge Mr McGregor."
"You'll need to let go of your anger if you wish to beat me, MacuGuregoru-san," Kaito said with an eerie smile.
"Save your breath, Kaito," William replied, squaring up his fists for another bout. The crowd hushed.
The two men circled, throwing and dodging punches in a mesmerising dance. Without the blood or the blows, it was hard to believe the men were combatants. I could hear their bare feet shuffling against the boards, it was so quiet.
I held my breath. There was something about this dance that seemed far more dangerous than William's bout with Barrett. Perhaps it was the calm smile on Kaito's face.
Kaito's arm lifted, then jerked down in a chopping motion toward William's neck. To my surprise, William caught the blow with his forearm. Kaito's smile widened. I could barely keep track of the flurry of blows that followed, as both seemed to want to hit the other with the sides of their hand as well as closed fists, and each blocked the other by mirroring their attack.
They circled again, exchanging blows and blocks as the crowd started to murmur. Kaito lifted his leg to kick and I gasped as William blocked that, too. The dance intensified as the two men attacked one another with both arms and feet. I'd never seen anything like it and neither had the hushed crowd. Kaito caught William's kick in his hands and both men spun apart. William was panting, but he didn't take his eyes off his opponent.
"Showing off for the lady. What will happen to her if you're defeated, MacuGuregoru-san?"
William charged at Kaito and the fight began again. This time, William landed first one blow, then another, on the other man's ribs, but Kaito delivered a crunching kick to William's diaphragm that evened the score. While William wheezed for breath, Kaito tenderly touched what I hoped were broken ribs. As if he'd read my thoughts, the Japanese man lifted his gaze to me.
"What is the girl thinking as she watches her protector lose to his own anger, MacuGuregoru-san?" he said softly.
"No," I whispered as William charged Kaito again. Kaito somehow flipped William from his feet to his back, so William lay gasping on the deck, still struggling to breathe.
The crowd seemed to be waiting for something before Kaito held his fist in the air and they cheered.
"Who will challenge me?" he called.
William clambered onto his hands and knees. "I'm not finished yet," he croaked. He crawled over to a barrel and used it to hoist himself to his feet. "I won't lose to you, you cold bastard." He lifted his arms into a fighting stance, but it looked like one breath would tip him over again.
"You have courage, MacuGuregoru-san, but you should surrender now. It is no dishonour among your people."
Kaito's tight smile set me on edge. I didn't understand his words, but it sounded like sneering to me – a deliberate taunt to make William attack him and face more pain and humiliation. I would not permit it.
Balancing on the balls of my feet, I leaped from my high perch, feeling the rush of air as I dropped toward the deck. I tucked my body into a ball just before I hit, rolling with the impact so that I could jump to my feet between them. I'd judged the distance almost perfectly – I could feel the heat of William's panting breath on my neck as I saw the fear in Kaito's eyes.
William's arm closed around my waist as he tried to pull me back. "A boxing ring is no place for a lady, Maria. You shouldn't be here. Too…dangerous."
Kaito stepped back cautiously, his eyes never leaving mine. "Among my people, there are stories of women samurai, MacuGuregoru-san – warriors who all men feared. This one may have the soul of such a warrior."
He feinted at me and I dodged, shaking free of William's restraining arms. I might not have their experience in inflicting violence, but that didn't make me helpless.
The next blow he aimed was no feint, but it didn't connect, either. He moved and I darted away, the tiniest twinge of his muscles telling me which way to go. He started slow, but my smile only widened as I turned, ducked, dodged and stepped out of his reach. Blows rained harder and faster, but I kept up, twisting my body as I danced away from the man. I was lighter on my feet and it showed – I was always a step ahead of him.
I saw a twitch in his thigh as he aimed a kick at me and I leaped, twisting in mid-air to avoid a well-placed fist as his leg swept beneath me. As our dance picked up the tempo, I couldn't wipe the smile from my face – even in my cumbersome clothing, I'd never felt so free. Wanting to see how he'd floored William so quickly, I advanced on him as if I wished to attack.
His eyes flashed in triumph as he seized my lapel with one hand and the waistband of my pants with the other. His foot hooked behind my knee, pulling me toward him, and I tipped back, lowered to the deck by his grip on my clothing. The moment he released me, I rolled, rising to my feet.
"McGregor! I said if there was any more fighting on my ship I'd drop the culprit overboard. I don't care if you're a paying passenger and my wife's cousin, by God I'll send you off in a lifeboat with naught but yourself for company if I find you fighting again." The crowd eddied aside, as if a strong rip pulled everything out of its path.
Kaito's attention was riveted on the shouting captain's approach, along with everyone else.
"McGregor! Do you want the girl to think we're a pack of savages, beating the daylights out of each other until they fall to the deck?"
I swallowed and tried to remember the sequence. Shoulder, hip, hook, pull…oh, my. Kaito smacked to the deck, looking shocked as he stared up at me. I burst out laughing.
"What the deuce is going on here?" Captain Foster demanded.
William coughed. "It started as a friendly competition, captain. A few men challenged me to a boxing match and we placed some small wagers. Others came to watch and I won the first few bouts, before Kaito beat me to become the next champion."
"An amateur boxing match is hardly the place for a woman, McGregor." Captain Foster glanced at me, then glared back at William.
William looked like he was trying not to laugh. "So I said to her, captain. Only Maria…I don't think she agreed with me. Then she…she dropped Kaito here to the deck." He offered his arm to the man and Kaito took it, rising to his feet.
Now all eyes were on me.
"This girl beat a man in a boxing ring?" Captain Foster's voice dripped with the disbelief reflected in his wide eyes. I lifted my chin to meet his gaze. I didn't fear this man, but I began to believe that he feared me more than a little.
Both William and Kaito nodded. "It seems she knows a bit of his Eastern hand-to-hand fighting, too."
Captain Foster didn't seem to know what to do. Turning away from me, his shoulders sagged. "I want everyone to get back on duty. And you, McGregor – get her out of my sight. If the shipowners knew I'd let a woman get into a boxing match with the crew…they'd be outraged. Take her below – looks like we have another storm coming in."
William grabbed his shirt off the top of the crate and curled an arm around my shoulders. "Better do what he says, lass. You don't want to be stuck in a lifeboat on your lonesome again, I'm sure."