22. Jonto #4
“What are you waiting for, swabbie? The captain gave you an order.”
Grasping the bell rope, Isla hesitantly tugged until the clapper barely struck the brass bell.
Jonto laughed. “You have to ring it harder than that. Put your muscles into it.”
With determination shining in her eyes, Isla jerked the bell rope hard. A resounding clang echoed through the air. She winced at the sound but repeated the movement four more times.
Jonto snaked her arm around Isla’s shoulder and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Now listen. Listen to their answer and try to judge if they’re the same distance away as they were before. That’s very important.” Straightening, Jonto called over his shoulder, “Alpia!”
A small voice sounded from somewhere aft. “Aye, Cap’n?”
“Wake Ilona and have her report to me on the fo’c’sle.”
A sultry but sleepy voice responded from about twenty paces away. “Already done, Captain. She came and woke me not long after she woke you. The girl’s too clever by half.”
Jonto sighed and dropped his hand from Isla’s shoulder. She turned to see the swordswoman leaning against the bulkhead with her legs crossed. “You’ve been there a while, I take it?”
Ilona sauntered forward with her hands tucked into her coat pockets. “Long enough.” An amused glint shone in her eyes as she looked first at her captain and then at Isla.
A blush crept into Isla’s cheeks as she crossed her arms over her chest, clearly feeling guilty about the intimate contact between her and the captain.
Jonto walked toward Ilona, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at the woman’s obvious amusement. “I’ve assigned Lady Brighton to the fog bell. Stay with her while I climb up to the foremast’s lookout to do some spotting myself.”
The “Aye, Captain” was accompanied by an amused wink.
Knowing she could trust Ilona not to say anything about what she’d seen, Jonto chuckled as she made her way to the mast. The far-off sound of the Red Rover’s fog bell tolled while she climbed.
Stopping momentarily, Jonto looked to port, where she could barely make out the ship’s fog lanterns in the distance.
To starboard, the Syren’s lanterns were exactly where she expected them to be.
What she hadn’t expected was the light from a third ship tracking the Syren.
She finished her climb and slipped into the confines of the crow’s nest, knowing she’d find a spyglass secured in the sturdy, waterproof cabinet attached to the low walls of the nest. She retrieved it and extended it to its full length and brought the eyepiece to her eye.
After twisting the eyepiece back and forth, she eventually brought the lights of the trailing ship into focus.
The differing thicknesses of the fog made it difficult to discern the other ship’s design.
During a brief moment when the fog lightened between them, she saw the distinctive black and white skull and crossbones flying high on the foremast. She placed her cupped hand to the side of her mouth and shouted to the man in the other crow’s nest. “What of the third ship, Connor?”
The sailor called back. “Pirate ship, Cap’n, but she’s rigged like th’ Virosa from th’ few glimpses I catch through th’ fog. She’s been riding quiet behind th’ Syren fer a while now. I been keepin’ a close eye, but so far, she’s naught to worry about.”
The Amanita Virosa was Jack Dubbin’s three-masted galleon. Jonto brought the spyglass back up and studied the fog lanterns. Why hadn’t she heard a fourth set of fog bells? That was unusual enough to give her pause, but it wasn’t long before the sound of five far-off clangs reached her ears.
The Syren immediately answered.
Jonto smiled when Isla responded with five bells of her own.
It wasn’t long before the Red Rover added her reply to the mix.
The Syren was close enough to have identified what ship was following her, and since she hadn’t sounded the alarm, Jonto had to agree with Connor that it was probably Jack who’d joined the fleet.
Jonto stayed aloft until the rising sun burned off enough of the fog to where she could see that it was indeed the Amanita Virosa in the distance.
Jack knew these waters even better than Jonto, and there was no doubt that she’d realize they were headed to Leibow Island.
With that thought in mind, Jonto turned her spyglass to look over the bow.
As usual, even in the fog, her helmsmen had led them straight toward the island that appeared as a small dark bump on the horizon. Closing the eyeglass with the snap, she replaced it in the cupboard and secured the door before climbing out of the nest and descending the rope ladder.
Isla and Ilona had returned to their cabins shortly after four bells.
Although Jonto could have used a few hours of sleep, she decided getting ready for their excursion was more important than indulging her need to rest. She’d spent many sleepless nights seeing to the needs of her ship and crew and had gone on to work the following day. This day would be no exception.