The Valkyrie Series: The First Fleet - (Books 1-3) Look Sharpe!, Ill Wind & Dead Reckoning: Caribbean Pirate Adventure by Perkins Karen

Author:Perkins, Karen [Perkins, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: LionheART Publishing House
Published: 2016-06-08T04:00:00+00:00

PART TWO

Chapter 29

GABRIELLA

10th April 1686

I’d always loved the water. Virtually a prisoner on my husband’s estate, I’d stare out to the horizon from the cliff tops or my secret beach, thinking of all the possibilities the sea promised; daydreaming of just sailing away, catching the wind and riding it to the ends of the earth. I imagined the distance between me and my ship and the next living person could be so vast, and so unexpected. But I’d seen enough storms to know the sea could turn in an instant. You couldn’t forget her power nor her viciousness. The difference was that her brutality was avoidable; it could be harnessed and managed in a way my husband’s could not. If she did hurt me, at least it wouldn’t be personal, nor out of hate. A sailor’s life was to live on the edge and never be fully in control, never knowing what would come next. Living at sea, I’d be living in the midst of a squall, yet free from the torturous chains of my marriage. I’d be free; both of us would. I looked at Klara and smiled. She didn’t look quite so pleased at our situation.

“You have the quarterdeck, Frazer, it’s time for me to show these ladies to a cabin,” the Spanish pirate said.

I recoiled from the Scot’s glare as we walked past him and up the steps to the structure built at the back of the boat and raised above the tiller. I passed through the door the captain held open and held my breath as I brushed past him. My heart jumped as my arm touched his, but I didn’t think he noticed. Once in the cabin, I turned to look at him, but couldn’t think of anything to say. My thoughts had shriveled and hidden with that touch, and I looked at him, sure that he at least would know what to do or say next.

“If you’ll excuse me, my ship needs my attention. Please, make yourselves comfortable.”

He was gone. I stared at the closed door then looked at Klara, and the ship picked up speed. We’d done it, we’d escaped Sayba. At last we were safe from Erik and we smiled at each other. Then I felt the knot of terror in my stomach twist tighter. What had we done? We were two women alone on a ship of pirates.

I sat on the cot heavily as the reality of our situation sank in. I’d thought that last night with Erik was the lowest point of my life; now I wasn’t so sure. Was this vessel an escape or another prison? Had we swapped a life of constant fear at the hands of one man for a life of constant fear at the hands of a shipful? The captain was a pirate; a violent and brutal man who spread fear wherever he and his crew of cut-throats sailed. What did he plan to do with us? Had he rescued us from that slaveship, or

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