Captains of Destiny, Judy Colella and Cassidy Shay [red queen ebook .TXT] 📗

Coming from five different directions, five different ships were sailing towards us. I took the long glass away from my eye and motioned to the new ship’s boy Sammy to come up to the rigging with me. “We are pretty much trapped right now. The sun will be down shortly, so we don’t have much time to get out of this mess. Once it’s dark, all the lights will have to be put out, hinges and wheels oiled, and no sounds at all. Right now, we must go tell the helmsman to alter the course. And it wouldn’t hurt to inform my uncle.”
He nodded, soaking in everything so that when it came time to prove himself as a worthy sailor, he would succeed.
We hopped down from the rigging, and I looked over at the Wonderment, the flagship of our small fleet of merchants. Heavy with cargo, it sat low in the water only a few yards away from our much smaller ship. I told the helmsman to assume our new course, which was aimed at the biggest hole in the circle of ships. Then I climbed onto the rope that was attached to both ships which had been stretched across the intervening space so we coud easily cross over to have ship-to-ship communication without screaming our lungs out across the water.
When my feet landed on the deck, I immediately climbed up the mainmast to the crow’s nest, where I found the look-out fast asleep. I gave him a kick that almost sent him over the side.
He woke up immediately, grabbing at the hand and foot holds. “What was that for, boy?” His words, while agry, were slightly slurred. He rubbed his head, and then stood up in front of me.
“Pick up your glass and tell me what you see on the horizon,” I said. As he obeyed, I saw his eyes grow wider every time he turned and saw another ship. By the time he spotted the fifth one, his eyes were about to pop out of his head. “Why is it that the look-out on the smaller ship, who is much lower than you, saw these ships before you did? Why were you sleeping, sailor? Do you think that because this isn’t the Royal Navy, you can slack off on your duties? If you do, you better find a new post, because that won’t be tolerated here. Do you understand?” I spat at his feet, and left without waiting for an answer.
I knew that he would not like being scolded by a mere boy, but I also knew that it had to be done. Besides, as the captain’s son, I figured that I had a bit more authority than most boys my age.
I told the helmsman to change course, and then spoke to the captain through the tube that led from the quarterdeck down to his cabin. “Captain, we’ve got a situation. We need you up here.”
I looked over at the other ship and saw that Sammy had called my uncle out on deck. He was standing in his usual position, one foot planted firmly on each side of the centerline of the ship. Moments later, my father joined me on the quarterdeck.
“What’s the problem, Jake?” he asked. I explained about the ships and the sailor, and he shook his head slowly. “Jameson!” he called out to one of the sailors. “Relieve the lookout, and send him to me. There are five ships surrounding us. If you are able to identify any of them, let us know.” The sailor went off to the crow’s nest, and my dad looked at me. “You handled this situation very well, Jake. I’m proud of you, and I know your mother would be, too, if she were here. You’ve been responsible and smart about this. Now go back and make sure your uncle doesn’t need anything.”
I returned to the smaller ship and stood between Sammy and my uncle. When the horizon started to turn pink and the darkness started to fall, both captains ordered all lights to be put out. Soon we were in complete darkness.
“All we can do now is wait,” I whispered to Sammy.
After a couple minutes, my uncle looked at me and pointed down. I took the hint and grabbed Sammy’s hand, leading him to the lower decks. We were soon in the room where the hammocks were hung.
It was a small space, and the size was always being adjusted, depending on the cargo. There were only two sets of hooks available at the time, and I showed Sammy how to hang his hammock and how to climb into it without being dumped back on the floor. We had only been at sea for about a week, and Sammy had chosen to sleep outside every night. I was about to climb into my hammock when my uncle came through the door, a grim expression on his face.
“I have talked to your father about this, and we’ve come to a conclusion. None of the ships has made any effort to conceal itself. If anything, the fleet wants to make its presence known. Before dark, they didn’t have any flags up to indicate who they are, but before I came down here, I was able to see each of them in the distance without a spy glass.” He looked Sammy sitting up in the hammock, me with one leg in, and frowned. “This situation is very dangerous. If that look-out hadn’t fallen asleep, we could possibly have been out of it by now,” he continued. “Then again, if Jake hadn’t taken immediate action the way he did, we would be in a far worse fix than this.
“We don’t know who’s on those ships, or why they’re chasing us. We won’t know until morning.” Before finishing, he took a deep breath, almost like a sigh. His brown eyes met ours, and he hung his head. “Unfortunately, this might be your last night. I usually think it’s best to be positive in situations like this, but it’s five ships against two, both carrying full cargos, and one of them a very small schooner. If they’re enemies, then we don’t stand a chance. We can’t outrun them, and we don’t have enough arms to fight back.
“I hate to stick you guys down here like this, but it’s too dangerous to have you up top. If they start shooting at us, you will be safer here, unless they deliver cannons at the waterline. As long as the ship is still floating, I don’t want you going anywhere. Understand?” We responded with a nod, and then watched as he made his way back into what would soon become a war zone.
Throughout the night, we heard many cannon shots, as well as the smaller pops of rifles and pistols that meant the pirates were right on us. Then, suddenly, it was quiet except for a few yells and many, many boots pounding along the deck above us.
Footsteps stomped down the stair into the hold, and a man walked into the room, his clothes instantly identifying him as a pirate. When he saw us, his lips pulled back into an evil smile. “Captain, come look at this!”
Neither Sammy nor I had been able to sleep, and I swung down from my hammock, cocking my fists, determined to go down fighting. Behind me, Sammy hadn’t moved.
A moment later, the man’s Captain, who had apparently been right behind him on the stairs, came to stand beside his mate, a large lantern in his hand. He raised and took a step closer to get a better look at us. “Ah, a boy with spirit!” He threw back his head and bellowed a coarse laugh, the other pirate’s grin widening, both of them clearly amused by my attempt at bravery.
“Where’s the Captain?” I demanded. We had been captured and I didn’t want to think what that would mean for my father and uncle, but better to know right away so I could figure out what to do.
“Which one?” The pirate Captain raised an eyebrow.
“Either. Both.”
“Right where you’ll be soon, boy, unless you choose to throw in your lot with me.”
I regarded him through narrowed eyes. It seemed I had very few options now, so my response would have to be the right one. A moment later, I’d made up my mind. “Are they dead?”
“Not yet, not until I finish extracting some, ah, information from them.”
I swallowed hard. “I have a proposition for you.”
“And what would that be?”
“The Captain of this vessel is my father, the other one my uncle. I know what they know, and maybe a thing or two they don’t since I’ve been dealing with a lot of the business below decks.”
“What’s your point, boy?”
“My point is this: take all the spoils from this ship, which is too small to be of any use to you, and divide it among our flagship and your others. Once this is done, leave my father and uncle here along with members of their crews you deem the least useful. Harm none of them or this ship, and leave. In exchange, I’ll tell you everything I know about other cargo ships, when they’re supposed to sail this way and what they’re carrying, and I’ll…I’ll join you. I shall swear my loyalty to you for as long as we both live, and will work hard, doing whatever you ask of me.”
The pirate Captain pursed his lips, considering my words. “Tell me, lad. How would you be knowing all this about cargo and sailing times, eh?”
“My father had copies of the manifests and such, which he had me study before we set sail so I’d know how such things were done. I learned a great deal about the merchants and trading companies that were planning to use our vessels a well as others fit for the task.”
“And you’ll swear an oath to me, will you?”
“Yes, sir. It’s a small price to pay for my father’s and uncle’s safety, and for the lives of their crew. I’m young and strong, and know how to be a good sailor – and I never go back on my word.”
The other pirate who had been staring at Sammy for the past few minutes, nodded toward the wide-eyed, terrified boy in the hammock. “And what about you, rabbit? You promise to swear fealty to our captain as well, do you?”
I took a step back, keeping the pirate from getting too close. “He’s new to this, and I doubt he’d be of any help. Let him join my father and uncle.”
“N-no, Jake!” I heard him whisper behind me. A moment later he’d untangled himself from the hammock and dropped to the floor. He took a deep breath and looked up at me with determination. “I go where you go. That’s that. And…and if