Читать книгу To Slight the Jacket Blue - Bronwyn Sciance - Страница 5

Sam paused in his labors, partly for the pain in his shoulder that seemed to get worse when he resented his lot in life and partly for the feeling of being watched. No one on deck was paying him any mind, but he spotted a shape on the distant horizon. Something about it made him feel a bit uneasy.

"Robin," he called. His one friend aboard the ship, a young man recently raised from midshipman, paused and looked back at him. "Robin, what's that out there?"

Robin squinted. "Looks to be a ship."

"A ship?" The captain was on hand almost immediately. Sam quickly looked down and resumed scrubbing the deck, but Captain Overwood seized him by the scruff of the neck and hauled him upwards. Sam couldn't help but tremble slightly as the captain pulled him closer. "Where, boy?"

Sam made himself calm down and pointed straight ahead. "Th-there, Cap'n."

"What device?"

Sam shielded his eyes. "My eyes aren't too good at this distance, sir. But it looks like the Union Jack."

"Sail closer, Mr. Bathan," Captain Overwood ordered the man now on his right. "She may be in need of assistance."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"And as for you, Jameson..." The captain squinted at Sam. "You raised alarm for one of His Majesty's vessels. Punishment, you are confined to my cabin until further notice. Go there immediately."

Robin and Sam exchanged glances, and then the captain gave Sam a shove towards the cabin. He stumbled, recovered, and headed into the small cabin.

"And don't come out until I say otherwise!" he bellowed after the lad.

Sam sat on the low wooden box set aside for him, trying to stop himself from shaking. Any minute now, the captain would come in and tell him that he would have to do extra tasks to repay the offence, and that he might as well start right away, and then...

There seemed to be a lot of shouting going on outside the cabin. Sam nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the captain bellow, "Jameson! On the double!"

Sam hurried out the door to find the captain pointing upward. "You're the best at climbing the rigging. Get up there and tell me what device is on that ship!"

Bewildered, Sam complied. About halfway up, he stopped to look. The flag that flew from the approaching ship was definitely not the Union Jack, nor was it the same flag that had been flying before.

Cupping a hand around his mouth, Sam yelled down, "Red field with a white skull, a flying glass, and a cutlass, Cap'n!"

"Cap'n, red means no mercy," the quartermaster called. "We should surrender."

"Surrender?" the captain roared. "Wid' a full hold of cargo? Never! Men, arm yourselves, prepare to fight!"

"Is that wise?" Sam asked Robin as he touched the deck. To his mild surprise, he wasn't afraid of the pirates.

"Not unless you've a death wish," the young quartermaster replied dryly. "This device I'm not familiar with, but it's a red flag. You and I both know that won't be good. If we're lucky, we might manage to win the fight."

"And if we're unlucky?" Sam inquired, taking a sword from the weapons cache.

"If we're unlucky, lad, pray it ends swiftly."