Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key
It's 1672 in Port Royal, Jamaica. John James, London bricklayer's apprentice turned pirate, is returning from the sack of Panama with his share of the loot (a lousy 200 pieces of eight) and a resolve to go back to bricklaying, since piracy pays so badly.
First, though, he has a duty: he must deliver a letter to a lady. The letter is from his dead comrade, Sir Thomas Blackstone, who was a court intriguer on a mission for Prince Rupert of the Rhine. The letter's recipient is Clarissa Waverly, Blackstone's mistress and accomplice. Before he went off to Panama, Blackstone hid four thousand pounds of the prince's money, unwilling to trust his lady friend not to make off with it in his absence. Dying of battle wounds, he wrote to let her know where he'd concealed the money.
Readers also enjoyed
Kage Baker
Kage Baker (1952–2010) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer.
Kage Baker was born in Hollywood, California and lived there and in Pismo Beach most of her life. Before becoming a professional writer she spent many years in theater, including teaching Elizabethan English as a second language.
Kage Baker is best known for her "Company" series of historical time travel science fiction. Her first stories were published in Asimov's Science Fiction in 1997, and her first novel, In The Garden of Iden, by Hodder & Stoughton in the same year. Other notable works include Mendoza in Hollywood (novel, 2000) and "The Empress of Mars" (novella, 2003), which was nominated for a Hugo Award.
More books by Kage Baker
