Lord of Devil Isle by Connie Mason

Author:Connie Mason
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Dorchester Publishers

Mr. Higgs had the crew well in hand when Nick reappeared on the quarterdeck, but seeing their captain at the wheel made the seamen leap even more smartly to their duties.

Nick had sailed the Susan Bell in plenty of dicey weather.

“The wind is her lover,” he liked to say, “and occasionally, the old girl likes it rough.”

He intended to outrun the coming storm. It was a measure of his crew’s faith in him that spirits were high and there was nary a grumble from any save the cook, who was unhappy that Nick ordered a cold supper to avoid having a fire in the galley.

As soon as they cleared the harbor, he commanded all her canvas laid on and the Susan B bounded over the waves like a fox fleeing before the hounds.

Once they left the ring of reefs and shoals, Nick turned her nose south by southwest. She nearly lifted from the water and took flight.

“Mr. Tatem, did you bring along that wheezy old squeeze box of yours?”

“Aye, Cap’n.”

“Fetch it out and step lively man, we need some music to speed us on our way.” Nick looked up at the rigging, where every sail strained against the cords. “At this rate, lads, we’ll hail the Turks in record time.”

The men danced the hornpipe below the mains’le, laughing and singing roughly.

A quarter hour later, Nick was ordering the sails trimmed. They wouldn’t bear the growing force of the wind. Then in another quarter, he commanded them taken up altogether, leaving the ship’s masts bare. The sea mounded up around them and sails only gave the storm a firmer grip on the Susan B.

By the sounding of the next bell, Nick was faced with the grim knowledge that he should have listened to Mr. Higgs.

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