The Sea Captain and the Lady by Vada Foster

Author:Vada Foster [Foster, Vada]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Lesbian, Fiction
ISBN: 9781933113890
Google: pUbuNwAACAAJ
Amazon: 1933113898
Publisher: Intaglio Publications
Published: 2009-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Sea Captain and the Lady

Chapter

18

Just after sunset three days out from port, the lookout in the crow’s nest of the Betsy Ann spotted the flag of the William.

“Pirate ship to starboard!”

Charles ordered the ship brought to bear on the larger vessel, maintaining a distance that would put them out of reach of her cannons in the event they were seen. He hoped the fading light would give them the element of surprise, and he and four well-armed crewmen could take the jolly boat and catch them by surprise.

Alas, Calico Jack himself stood at the railing relieving his bladder and saw the little boat approaching. He called for a crewman to bring him a musket, and when the jolly boat was within range, he fired at the man in the red jacket, figuring he was the highest-ranking person aboard the ship pursuing them. “Hah!” he crowed when he heard the unmistakable cry of someone who’d been shot. “There’s more o’ those for any man who tries to board the William,” he called loudly enough for them to hear.

The flash from the muzzle followed immediately by the echoing report of the musket told Colleen that her father’s attempt to approach the pirate ship and board her unawares was not successful.

Vada Foster

“They’re firing on him, Col,” Gordon called from the crow’s nest, but his words were a confirmation of what her own eyes and ears already told her. “Someone’s been hit, I think! The jolly boat is turning around.” Despite the darkness, from his vantage point high up on the mainmast, and with his spy glass, he knew better than Colleen what was going on.

“Get a rope ladder over the side,” Colleen ordered the nearest sailor as she made a dash for the railing. He beat her there by only a few moments, and she was over the side and down to water level, watching for the returning jolly boat. She heard the oars slapping the water and the grunts of the sailors as they hauled away for all they were worth to reach the Betsy Ann.

“Ahoy, on deck! The captain’s been shot!” Colleen almost lost her grip on the rope when she heard those words, and her heart seized in her chest. She could not lose him; he was the only family she had left, and they depended upon each other more than either of them truly realized. She took a deep breath and reached down to take hold of the rope offered by the sailor and secure the small boat. “Is he—alive?” she asked, praying the answer would be yes and that he was merely wounded.

“He is, but he’s in a bad way, Col. We need help to get him on board.”

Colleen clambered back up the rope ladder and motioned for Pickles, the tallest and strongest man on board, to climb into the small boat. “Tie him onto your back, Pickles, and carry him up if you can. If he’s too heavy, we’ll try to relay him up the ladder.”

“Nae worry, Col.

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.