Chapter Eleven #2
She could overpower this whelp. About the same height as her, he was all gangly limbs. Her shoulders slumped. But then what? Escaping her cell while at open sea served her no good.
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t try nothin’.”
Samantha flashed him a weak smile and he grabbed the bucket from her. The clank of the lock a moment later reverberated in her head and she forced the smile to stay. Get him to talk.
When he turned to the stairs, she cleared her throat. He paused and looked back. How could she get the young teen to open up? Play to his pride. Of course.
“What’s it like being cabin boy to such a notorious pirate?”
It worked.
The boy gave her a crooked grin. “It’s real swell. He says I’m the only one good enough to keep his schedule. Get to do all his laundry and bring him his meals.” He gave a pointed look at the tray she’d set down. “He eats a lot finer than that.”
“I’m sure he does,” she said dryly. But this was good info. “A pirate that keeps a tight schedule?”
“Yep. He eats at seven-o-clock on the dot every night no matter what.”
She nodded at the keys still in one hand. “He must trust you an awful lot to let you hold the keys to the brig.”
His dirty fingers clenched around the metal ring and his chest puffed out. “There’s only one set of keys on this whole boat. Capt’n keeps them on him at all times, ’cept when we check on ye.”
“Only one set? That seems risky. What if he falls in battle?”
The boy looked at her as if she’d sprouted horns. “That wouldn’t ever happen.”
She lifted a shoulder. “I meant hypothetically.” He blinked at the word and she revised. “What if someone stole them from him?”
“I dunno. Guess ye’d rot then. Ain’t no one getting the keys from him though. He’s got more pockets than one would have time to search.”
In other words, little chance of her getting the keys, unless she swiped them from the boy.
She flashed him a smile. “Well then, I hope, for my sake, he doesn’t come to any misfortune.”
He cocked his head. “If someone was going to kill me, I’d wish for something bad to happen to him.”
Cool iron pressed into her forehead when she leaned against the bars. “What’s your name?”
“Skip.” His eyes dropped to his boots. “But most hands just call me ‘boy.’”
“I think Skip is a lovely name.”
His cheeks reddened and he scrunched his nose. “Ye stink.”
“Oh.” She gave a little sniff. “Well, I’d be grateful for a bucket of clean water and soap if you could spare it.”
“Won’t make a difference. Smell’s like a bull’s arse down here.”
Samantha let out a chuckle. He wasn’t wrong. “If you can’t tell me where we’re going, can you tell me how much longer we’ll be at sea?”
He shrugged. “Guess it don’t hurt. We’re just less’n two days from port.”
Four days of travel. After the first day spent sailing at breakneck speed, they had slowed. After some quick calculations, the answer seemed obvious.
“Tortuga,” she whispered.
Skip jumped back with wide eyes. “How’d you do that?”
But she didn’t have time to answer. The faint ringing of a bell reached them and the cabin boy’s eyes lit up. “Ship ahoy!” He turned and scurried up the ladder.
“Wait!”
The hatch slammed shut.
At least she had gotten the kid to talk. She replayed their conversation, trying to pick out anything of use. After a few minutes, the ship shifted and she leaned with it.
They were turning.
She backed against the wall and splayed her fingers against the damp wood. When they finished the turn, the frigate slowed. Vibrations and thumps came from the deck above and her pulse jumped. Cannons being readied.
The infamous Captain Thorne was about to attack a ship.
God help them.
Samantha closed her eyes and concentrated. Not much longer till they engaged. The thrum of activity above came across muffled. She breathed out. The brig lay below the water line. No need to worry about getting blown apart in a cannon blast.
Her hands tingled against the wall, the ship’s energy pulsing through her. They had come to a near stop. Soon. Very soon.
A muffled shout came from above.
And hell broke loose.
The explosion of a dozen cannons going off in sync rocked the ship. A strange quietness followed in the seconds after, and her shoulders went tight.
Crack!
The impact was followed by another. And another. The ship trembled at the onslaught and Samantha slid down the wall to the floor. Her back vibrated with the explosions of another round of cannon fire from above and tears pricked her eyes.
Several more impacts rocked the hull, but the frigate rested steady in the sea. No critical damage had been done. She strained her ears, and the faint echoes of shouts came from above. For the first time ever, the thought of battle made her go numb. Whoever was on that ship was going to die.
The minutes began to stretch by, and Samantha pulled her knees to her chest. She flinched when the cannons above her sounded again.
The battle had been won. A silent prayer caught in her throat for the lives lost. Those last shots from the guns would have been aimed below the waterline and it wouldn’t take long for the captured ship to sink.
A cheer rose from the upper deck.
And then silence.
Samantha leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Her heart beat a dull thump in her chest. She wasn’t naive. The chances of her escaping this alive were slim to none. Heavy on the none.
She was going to die.
Alone.
Her eyes pressed against hot tears. Everything she’d worked for, all the long hours learning to sail, training to become the best, all were for naught. She’d wanted to become a pirate. Now, her career was ending before it even started.
Footsteps sounded above her and the hatch flung open. She blinked against the bright stream of light as the giant descended. Samantha scrambled to her feet while two more feet came into view. Dangling feet.
A body dropped down and the giant caught it with a grunt. She pressed back against the wall while the huge man threw the limp form over his shoulder and unlocked the cell next to hers.
When the door swung open, he glanced over at her with a grin. “Brought you some company.”
He tossed the body to the floor and slammed the cell door shut. A moment later, the hatch closed and she was alone with the stranger. She swallowed and stepped to the bars separating her from the man lying face down on the dirty floor.
“Sir?” She fell to her knees and reached through the bars to touch his shoulder. “Are you alright?”
The man groaned and rolled over. He flopped onto his back and squinted at her.
Samantha jerked her hand back. No. It couldn’t be.
But it was.
The room around her began to spin and she sucked in a breath.
“Lieutenant.”