Moving Forward - 42. Chapter 42

While Marshall thought the house tour was pretty interesting, it was the exploration of Blackbeard’s castle that was the highlight of their trip to the island. Originally, Skytsbord Tower had been a Danish military tower in the 17^th century. Blackbeard had used it to keep an eye out for authorities who might try to sneak up on him and his crew and capture them, as well as other pirates who sought to steal the treasure he’d worked to amass.

Denver had joined them for the tour—there was no sign of Dustin, and no one brought up his name. The three of them stood at the top of the tower, looking out over the parapet and enjoying the spectacular view of the harbor and all the vessels anchored there. Marshall imagined what it must have been like to be a pirate back in the day—traveling around the world, seeing the most amazing sights and meetings unusual people, matching wits with the navy, free to do as he pleased. Sounded like a great life to him. He’d read somewhere that the pirates were more understanding of men who enjoyed the company of other men—long sea voyages far from the company of women made for interesting bedfellows, and sexuality became as much a matter of convenience as anything.

What happened on the ship stayed on the ship. Nobody needed to know.

After they finished with the tower itself, they caught up with Roger and Kenny, and the five men toured the historical manors together. The houses were beautiful, and filled with some amazing things, including a number of sculptures of pirates done in copper and bronze. A lot of the furniture was hand-made from West Indian mahogany. The people in the area seemed to have a fondness for fountains, as well as cobbled terraces and lush tropical gardens. What a beautiful place to live. At the end of the trip, they passed through the shopping district on the main street. There they picked up some souvenirs, including a few things for Roy, then had lunch at one of the local restaurants before heading back to the ship.

Separating at the elevator, Denver said he’d meet them at the pool in a half hour or so. Roger and Kenny said they’d be up a little later than that, exchanging knowing looks. Marshall had to keep himself from laughing. He understood exactly what would be holding them up, and he could relate to their desire to be alone.

He and Lee carried everything into their suite and put it up, before getting out clean swim suits.

“Still need to do the laundry,” Marshall said. “At least there’s one on our floor. I can do that after we go swimming. Should be plenty of time before dinner.”

“I’ll come with you,” Lee began, but Marshall laughed and shook his head.

“I can manage. I’ll probably just see if I can drop it off and come back for it. No need for us both to sit there, probably.”

“Maybe.” Lee didn’t sound as sure as Marshall did. “But if you think you’re going to have to sit down there, call me and I’ll come down. I don’t want you to be alone, even that close, any longer than I can help.”

Marshall nodded. He knew what Lee meant. Whoever had beaten up one of the passengers was still at large, as far as they knew. They couldn’t afford to be anything but cautious. Not to mention, they had no idea where Dustin was. Marshall wasn’t sure he thought Dustin guilty of what happened, but he couldn’t absolutely swear he’d had nothing to do with it, either.