Chapter One

The pirates came an hour before dawn. The first that Caroline knew of their presence was a hammering from below. She looked out of her bedroom window and saw a dozen men throwing their weight against the front door, which gave way with a huge crash. The men poured inside. Caroline rushed to bar her door, but she was too late. A burly man pushed it open. She threw herself against him, scratching and punching, but he was far too strong. He grabbed her wrists, and she spat in his face. With a curse the man hit her across the face and for a few moments she was stunned. When she came round, her hands had been tied behind her back and she was over the burly man’s shoulder being carried downstairs. Just then Sir George came out of his room, crying out, demanding to know what was going on. A man hit him on the head with a cudgel and Sir George fell to the floor. Then Caroline was outside. It was a warm night, fortunately, because she was clad in nothing but her silk nightgown.

She was carried down to the harbour, where there was a great deal of noise. Drawn up on the quay were about a dozen girls, some like Caroline in their night attire, and one or two completely naked. Some of the men of the village were still trying to put up a fight, but they were being overwhelmed by the pirates’ superior numbers and armaments. Caroline saw two men lying on the ground bleeding. Then she was put down and made to stand in line with the other girls. She could see the pirate ship anchored just outside the harbour, and two longboats moored alongside the quay.

After a few minutes the captain of the ship appeared. He was a tall man with thick, glossy black hair down to his shoulders and a gold ring in his ear. He wore a blue satin coat and a black cocked hat. He strode up and down the line of girls, looking them over, stopping at one, a very plump girl from the village called Molly. Caroline knew her well; she was a dairymaid. The captain turned to the man beside him.

“What fool put this fat girl in line here?”

“I, I don’t know, sir,” the man answered nervously.

Suddenly the captain pushed the girl violently, right over the edge of the quay into the water below. Caroline knew the water was deep there; she hoped the poor girl could swim.

“Right,” said the captain. “Get the rest of these girls loaded and we’re off.”

The men herded the girls into one of the boats. Several of the girls were crying, and looking tearfully back to the village, doubtless fearful of the fate of their