Carried Home by Heather Manning

Author:Heather Manning [Manning, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Clean Reads
Published: 2015-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

****

Ivy blinked against the glare of the sun. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she wished to close them again. A large majority of the crew was utterly battered. Blood drenched everything, soaked their clothing, and pooled on the wood. The deck seemed divided into two sections, with groups of men standing on either side. They did not look at all pleased with each other.

Rogers stood at the head of the men on the left. Ivy’s stomach sank. Of course that wretched man would be leading a mutiny against Gage. Oh, what were they to do?

Mr. Douglas stepped with a hand behind his back to keep Ivy a step behind. She liked to think of herself as brave, but she was glad to stay back. These men were vicious and not in a mood to be polite. “Brought the cap’n’s little lady friend to protect you, didja?” Rogers sneered.

Indignation shot through Ivy’s veins. How dare the man? She lunged forward. “It is not right to speak that way and you will do well to change your tone, mister.”

After a moment of painful silence, the majority of the men burst out in laughter.

Heat flooded Ivy’s face.

“The little lamb does have a bite!”

“Hey, I didn’t know she could speak fer herself!”

“That’s just ’cause her girl-friend, the cap’n, ain’t here.”

Ivy’s hands balled into fists at her waist.

Adam stepped forward. “Silence!” Ivy had never heard such a sharp tone come from the soft-spoken man. “What is your position, men?”

Voices roared on both sides of the ship.

“Order, please!” Adam proclaimed. After a moment, both sides quieted. “Now, you first. What say you?” He motioned to the right half of the crew.

A man with golden-red hair that glistened with sweat cleared his throat. “We are standin’ behind Captain Thompson. He’s been fair to us and was good to a lot of us when we was on Captain Archer’s ship, too.”

“Aye!” Some of the men near him shouted. Ivy’s knees nearly buckled. There were more men on that side than on the other side. However, she dreaded to hear what Rogers had to say.

Nonetheless, Mr. Douglas faced the other side of the deck. “And you?”

Rogers jerked forward and jutted his chest out. He spat on the deck, and many of the men on his side of the ship did the same. “That sissy will not be my captain any longer—he never deserved the title and he doesn’t now, that’s for sure. He can’t even command us successfully during a battle. He can’t even survive a battle—he’s hidden away in his little cabin with whate’er injury he claims to ’ave gotten. ’E’s like a dog hiding under the table with his tail between its legs.”

Ivy clenched her fists tight. Oh, how she wanted to speak her mind and put this horrid man in his place once and for all and somehow remove him from this ship. But that would be a foolish idea. She was a woman. A small woman. Who was she to attack a man? If she did, she would certainly not fare well.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.