Son of a Sailor: A Cozy Pirate Tale by Marshall J. Moore

Author:Marshall J. Moore [Moore, Marshall J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atoll Press, LLC
Published: 2023-05-24T16:00:00+00:00

Quint had timed the Wisherman’s launch well. The tide was so high that they only needed to haul the boat a dozen yards down the beach before she was bobbing in the water. Lurk slithered around to the prow, still pulling as her powerful tail lashed back and forth in the surf. Quint stood waist-deep in the swelling waves, pulling with her, while Lex and Chuck pushed from the stern, Mani assisting them as much as his slight frame allowed.

A wave rose, lifting the sailboat with it. The tide ebbed, drawing the Wisherman into the cove, waves lapping against her prow. Quint let drop the line he’d been holding and threw himself aside, the hull passing by him as the boat’s prow cut smoothly through the water.

He swam around to her stern, to find Mani clinging to one of the lines trailing from her aft.

“All aboard, mate,” Quint said, seizing Mani by the back of his shirt and hauling him onto the boat’s stern. He lifted himself up after the lad, then turned and began hauling in the trailing line Mani had been clinging to.

“Come on, mates!” he hollered to Chuck and Lex, who stood in the shallows, the tide lapping at their knees.

“Can’t swim!” Chuck called back, his curls bouncing as he shook his head.

“We’ll meet you back ashore tonight!” Lex shouted, cupping her hands to her mouth.

Quint nodded his understanding. He coiled the rope he’d been hauling and tossed it to the deck behind him.

“Treat yourself to lunch at the Arms!” he shouted to them.

Lex’s face scrunched up in consternation. “But we ain’t allowed!”

“Tell Ma it’s a favor to me!” Quint yelled, the waves nearly drowning out his voice as the Wisherman slipped toward the deep end of the cove. “Just mind you behave yourselves!”

“Aye, Cap’n!” Chuck saluted, and with that the pair of them turned and began to trudge back up the beach.

Quint turned his back on land, the breeze blowing his hair from his face as he looked out at the broad blue horizon beyond the protective jetties of Cinder Cove.

“Crewman Mani!” he called, stepping easily across the rolling deck, marveling at how swiftly his sea-legs had returned after weeks spent ashore.

“Aye, Cap’n!” Mani called, and to Quint’s immense approval he was already hauling away on the mainsail rope. Quint joined him, and together they pulled until the great white triangle of the Wisherman’s sail rose above them, rippling and billowing in the breeze.

The deck lurched beneath them, sending Mani’s arms windmilling as he struggled to keep his balance.

“Easy, lad!” Quint said, clapping a hand on his shoulder to steady him. With his other hand he grabbed the wheel, steering the Wisherman out between the jetties and into the sea beyond the cove. “Where’s Lurk?”

In answer, the mermaid shot up from the water at the boat’s prow, rocketing into the air as swiftly as if she’d been launched from a cannon. Water glistened off her scales as she arced over the Wisherman’s prow, arms pressed tight against her sides.

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.