Charlotte's Promise by Jennifer Moore

Author:Jennifer Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2019-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

The pistol’s blast echoed across the deck.

Charlotte froze, watching in shock as Captain Thatcher fell. No. Her insides went cold, and she looked at the others, searching for support or help or someone to tell her she was only imagining it, but the rest of the crew just stared as well.

She pulled away from Marchand and ran across the deck to the captain. No one stopped her. She didn’t know whether the marines had been told to allow her to pass or whether they simply didn’t care now that the Belladonna’s commander had fallen.

“Captain.” She fell to her knees, feeling helpless. Blood covered his shoulder and pooled on the deck beneath him. Charlotte patted his face. “Captain, can you hear me?”

He opened an eye and groaned. “That really hurt.”

“Lie still,” Charlotte said.

Captain Thatcher’s eyes rolled, and his head lolled to the side.

“Oh drat.” The English captain peered down at them, his lip curled. He shook his head. “I’d meant to kill him. Would have made for a much more sensational exit.” He sniffed and handed his used pistol to a marine. “I have such a flair for the dramatic.”

Charlotte glared at him, her tears turning to anger. She opened her mouth to tell the horrible man exactly what she thought of him but stopped when she felt a hand on her arm.

Marchand knelt next to her. “Remain silent, Charlie. You cannot help Captain Thatcher if you are dead.” His voice was sharp.

Charlotte was taken aback. She’d never heard the soft-spoken man speak in anger. But as her temper cooled and she saw the situation clearly, she realized the need for the reprimand. Feeling a calm determination, she held Marchand’s gaze and nodded to tell him she had control of her emotions.

The English captain gave another sniff. “Farewell, Mr. Thatcher. I suppose it is destiny that you will still be alive when I blow your ship from the water.” He strode away to supervise the marines. Charlotte searched for Tom among them but caught only a glimpse of him in the commotion as the redcoats moved to the gunwale. Some had already climbed over, descending on ropes to their small boats. She wiped a sleeve over her face. Now was not the time for tears. She looked back at Captain Thatcher. His face grew pale as he lost more blood. “What do we do for him?”

Marchand pulled back Captain Thatcher’s coat and unbuttoned his shirt, exposing the bloody wound in his shoulder then rolled him to the side, looking at his back. “Ze bullet went clean through.”

“Is that a good thing?” Charlotte asked.

“Oui et non.” He shrugged. “We do not need to remove a bullet, but he bleeds from two wounds.”

Following the Cajun man’s direction, Charlotte helped remove Captain Thatcher’s coat and shirt completely.

Captain Thatcher groaned again as they laid him back, flat onto the deck.

“Don’t worry, Captain,” Charlotte said in a comforting tone. “We’ll take care of you.”

Marchand wadded the shirt against the wounds on the front and back of the captain’s shoulder.

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.