Nick Of Time by Bell Ted

Author:Bell, Ted [Bell, Ted]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Young Adult, Adventure, Children
ISBN: 0312380682
Google: ePqnRu50dWIC
Amazon: B001W6RRL6
Goodreads: 2278470
Publisher: Turtleback
Published: 2002-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XXIV

Captain McIver’s Cannonball

3 October 1805

H.M.S. MERLIN, AT SEA

It’s them three stowaways from the pig locker, Captain,” Old Ben said, stomping in on his peg, and ushering the three strange figures, with small ceremony, into the great cabin at the very stern of McIver’s crippled frigate.

“Thankee kindly, Ben,” the captain said, rising from his table and looking them over. “They don’t look a too dangerous lot. You can leave ‘em here and go tell Lieutenant Stiles his presence is requested, if you please.”

Ben shook his head with uncertainty, but withdrew from the cabin pulling the door closed behind him, unhappy about leaving his captain alone with these scalawags.

The captain regarded the new arrivals silently, taking their measure, and Nick used the brief moment to look around his quarters. It was difficult to believe he’d arrived in such a splendid place!

Sunlight was twinkling out on the blue water beyond the leaded-glass stern windows, throwing a checkerboard pattern of yellow light across the burnished paneled walls and the polished wooden floor. But it was a large gilt-framed portrait on the wall that got Nick’s immediate attention. Why, it was an exact duplicate of the one that hung in his own kitchen! With one glaring difference. The admiral in the lighthouse had a jagged hole in his belly, and this fine fellow had none!

The stern-looking fellow in the portrait very closely resembled the living man who now stood before Nick, a huge grin on his bearded face. The captain, Nick noticed, was not a tall man, not much taller than Nick himself, with a shock of brown hair and kind blue eyes that were quite merry considering his current predicament.

“McIver?” said the captain, squinting at Nick. With all the hope in the world in his eyes, you’d have thought him a father beholding his long-lost son. Which in a strange way, Nick was. “Are you McIver, lad?” he asked.

“McIver,” said Nick, breaking into a laugh at the sheer impossibility of the scene. “And you the same, sir?”

“Aye, lad, a McIver,” he said. “To the very last drop of me briny blood, and fiercely proud to say so, sir!” The captain took Nick’s hand in both of his, peered into his eyes, and then all but enveloped the boy in his arms, squeezing him with pure joy. “You’ve come, haven’t you, you’ve come for all love!”

Lord Hawke extended his hand to the captain. “Lord Richard Hawke, sir, an honor to meet you. I apologize for coming along uninvited, but I’ve a personal interest in this chap Blood you mentioned in your letter. Young Nicholas was kind enough to allow me to accompany him on this adventure. I hope to resolve a long-standing grievance with William Blood. And in so doing possibly aid you in your current dilemma. Please consider me humbly at your service, sir!” Lord Hawke bowed deeply from the waist and the little captain did the same. Nick had never seen grown men bow to each other before, but in this otherworldly setting, it seemed ever so normal.

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