The Pirate Episode by Kristy Tate

Author:Kristy Tate [Tate, Kristy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-28T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Joel flung himself after Cami. She huddled in a corner between two bunks, and his only thought was to protect her from who knew what. Kneeling before her, he shielded her as another blow rocked the ship.

“Do you think that was cannon fire?” Cami whisper, her breath warm against his skin.

“I don’t know,” he said, but he was pretty sure she couldn’t hear him because he couldn’t hear his own voice above a sudden screech of grinding wood.

After a few minutes of prolonged huddling, Cami said, “Smoke.”

He sniffed and realized she was right. The ship was burning.

“We have to leave.” Joel sat up and looked around.

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Cami said.

Joel grabbed a cot and flipped it over, knocking the thin pallet and bedding to the floor.

“Is that going to be our boat?” Cami asked.

“No, this is your boat.” He handed it to her before he picked up another. “This one is mine.”

“Don’t you think we should try and stay together?”

Above them came the terrible sounds of clashing metal and the screams of fighting men.

“Swords,” Joel said.

“How are we going to get our cot-boats to the upper deck?” Cami asked.

“Take off your dress,” Joel said.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Don’t be modest. I’ve seen you in your tennis uniform a thousand times. There’s no way you can swim in that dress.”

She turned her back to him. “You’ll need to undo the buttons.”

He hesitated.

“I’m serious. I can’t undo them myself,” Cami said.

Joel sighed and pulled a knife from behind him.

“Oh my gosh! Where did that come from?”

Joel wrapped his arm around her, steadying her. “I borrowed it from one of the sailors. I thought it would come in handy.”

“And he just let you take it?”

“No, of course not. I stole it. Now hold still.”

“You don’t need a knife—” Cami began, but seconds later the dress fell away. She shimmied out of it.

Joel smiled, thinking she looked like Little Bo Peep in her petticoats.

Cami slapped his chest. “Stop it!”

“Stop what?”

“You know what.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and turned away from him.

Joel found himself grinning, despite the dire circumstances. He grabbed Cami’s dress from the floor and used his knife to cut the fabric into strips.

“What are you doing?” Cami cried. “That’s one of my favorite dresses!”

“Not anymore,” Joel said. He held up a strip of fabric. “We’ll use these to tie our bunks together when we’re in the water.”

“And how are we going to get in the water?”

“I haven’t figured that—” He fell silent as another boom rocked the ship.

“Grab your cot!” Joel grabbed a low-hanging beam and braced against the assault. Closing his eyes, he waited for the rocking to subside. When he opened his eyes, he immediately searched for Cami, but couldn’t find her.

She lay moaning at his feet. Blood trickled from her forehead.

“Oh, no,” Joel whispered. Kneeling beside her, he touched her throat. As her steady pulse reassured him, relief mixed with fear swamped him.

A quiet noise startled him and drew his attention to the corner of the room.

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.