The Highland Commander by Amy Jarecki

Author:Amy Jarecki
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2017-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Aiden peered through his spyglass. “The sloop is flying a black flag, sir.”

“How many cannons?” asked Captain Polwarth.

To be sure, Aiden counted again, though he’d already made an assessment.

“Seven on her starboard side—fourteen most likely in total. There are two and fifty men on deck, but a sloop typically holds five and seventy.”

“I am aware, Commander.” The captain grinned. “But the odds are not bad.”

Returning the spyglass to his eye, Aiden focused across the water to the pirate captain, who was dressed in black, including his feathered tricorn hat. His arms waved through the air—as he shouted a barrage of orders, no doubt. Men on the deck ran to and fro, some with bows and others with sabers in their hands. The ship slowed.

“They’re heaving to,” Aiden reported crisply.

“What’s our dead reckoning?”

Having expected this question as soon as the sloop had been spotted an hour ago, Aiden had calculated their position. “A hundred leagues from Lizard Point, sir.” He used that reference because it was the southernmost point on the British mainland.

The captain stood ramrod straight. “And from Portsmouth?”

Indeed, Aiden had figured that distance as well. No ship navigated the English Channel without knowing how far it must sail to reach the largest shipbuilding port in the kingdom. “One hundred, five and seventy leagues northeast, sir.”

“Cannon three at the ready. We’ll fire a warning over her bow,” Captain Polwarth ordered.

“Cannon three!” MacPherson’s voice bellowed from the gun deck below.

“Tack to port.”

“Tacking to port,” echoed MacBride from the helm.

Aiden continued to watch through the spyglass. Pirate activity off Britain’s coast had escalated in the past several months, and this wouldn’t be the first Bermudian sloop the Royal Mary sent to a watery grave.

Men without scruples, pirates preyed on Britain’s merchant ships, but the smaller-bodied sloops were ideal for a ship the size of the Mary. They were sleek and fast, with a narrower turning radius than the heavier frigate, but Aiden’s crew outnumbered the pirates. Though they were matched for cannons, he would place any wager on the Royal Mary’s crew. His men were disciplined, lean, and trained to be deadly.

And this wasn’t their first time facing the dragon-hearted varlets who lurked on the seas, waiting for their chance to plunder cargo sorely needed by Britain’s own.

As the Mary’s boom swung, the sails collapsed before they once again filled with the breeze. The captain raised his spyglass and waited.

Tension rested on Aiden’s shoulders like the points of sharp knives.

The only sounds on deck were those of the sails flapping and the waves breaking against the hull. His pulse pounded through his veins with the thrill of anticipation.

When the ship sailed broadside, not a hundred feet from the sloop, the captain gave a nod.

“Fire!” Aiden bellowed.

“Fire,” repeated MacPherson from below.

Boom!

The deck shuddered with the force of the blast. Aiden’s ears rang while the cannonball whistled through the air. With a dunking splash, water washed over the sloop’s deck while the captain ordered the Royal Mary to heave to.

Aiden lowered his spyglass. “A bold move, sir.

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.