was clear, she drew in air that made her lungs burn. But she prepared to duck down once more if she had to. The sound of oars echoed in the cavernous chamber as it moved away from her.
“Stupid bitch must be dead,” the third man said. The only response was a grunt. Moira didn’t care who it came from, as long as it came from a distance. She treaded water until everything went silent. Not trusting the men, she remained in the water in case they laid a trap for her. She wouldn’t move until she was certain they’d given up their search. When she was confident that only she and the bats remained, she struggled to pull herself back onto the ledge. Freezing and exhausted, she lay on her side, curled into a tight ball. She knew she should stay awake, not succumb to the cold, but the fight was useless. She gave in as her eyes drifted closed.
“Where is she?” Kyle demanded as he paced the deck. He’d watched Dermot jump into a dinghy and row away from the cove. As though God or Mother Nature was acting out of spite, the fog cleared, and the sun appeared just as the battle ended. The O’Malley boats, all low-profile fustes, rowed away from the Lady Charity and the Lady Grace. Kyle breathed a sigh of relief as the sky cleared, and he realized the O’Malleys weren’t sailing any of their French corvettes. Those ships carried four to eight guns each. He supposed Dermot hadn’t been willing to risk losing any and saw no benefit of shooting blind. The fustes disappeared to the south end of the cove, but Dermot had rowed to the north.
“You’re alive, brother?” Keith called out as he boarded the Lady Charity. The Lady Grace had maneuvered to come alongside the Lady Charity during the fight. The two crews worked together and forced the O’Malleys to retreat.
“Barely,” Kyle said distractedly. He went to stand by the rail when he caught sight of Dermot’s dinghy rounding the jetty. He strained to see, but there were still only the three heads that had moved away from the Lady Charity. He muttered, “Where is she?”
“You lost her?” Keith asked in disbelief. Kyle glanced at his brother as Keith turned to look around the ship. His brother’s concern surprised Kyle. He was glad when Keith kept quiet, not wanting to hear anything but Moira’s voice. The twins watched as Dermot’s dinghy reappeared a few minutes later but remained out of reach.
“She must be dead. None of my men called out to say she’s on the beach,” Dermot bellowed. “And no bobbing head in the water. Your whore was worthless to begin with. Now she’s worth even less,” Dermot chuckled at his own jest. “I have her dowry, and Dónal is a fool. I don’t have to bed the little bitch, and I have the MacDonnell’s money. I’ll have his fleet soon enough. Send my regards to the MacNeil bastards.” Dermot nodded his head in an exaggerated act of deference. Kyle wanted to launch himself over the side and squeeze the life from the man’s body as he watched Dermot’s eyes bulge and his face turn blue.
“Wait,” Keith muttered, his lips not moving. They watched as the dinghy inched past them until it met the last fuste. Kyle snorted as Dermot struggled up the robe ladder onto the ship. Once the dinghy was up, the O’Malleys rowed their last boat south.
“I never should have made us stop here,” Kyle snapped as he looked at his brother. “This is my fault. You didn’t want to, and I didn’t listen. I shouldn’t have taken Moira ashore. A patrol must have spotted us.”
“I don’t think so. At least not about the patrol. I think they’ve been watching us. Maybe they saw Moira on deck, or maybe as you went to the beach. But they knew who she was, and they knew she was aboard the Charity. They only attacked the Grace because they reached us first. I think they were confused and off-course in the fog. I heard Dermot’s complaints when they realized it was the Grace they tried to board. It forced them to divide their party. Neither did they expect us to pull alongside one another to keep them from attacking on both sides of either of us.”
“That has always been our best strategy,” Kyle agreed, but he didn’t take his eyes off the coastline.
“You wish to search for her,” Keith stated.