Page 76 of Escaping Pirates
Slowly.
Too slowly.
The ships were nearly side by side now, theFortune Hunterbrushed up next to theKraken’s Revenge. Orders wereshouted deck to deck and there was the heavy thud of gangplanks being readied.
I didn’t have enough time.
My breaths became shorter and shallower, my movements more frantic and haphazard, resulting in several more slashes to my fingers and hands as I continued to hack away at the ropes. I ignored the new cuts. There was no time to feel pain or think.
Pirates were already crossing over to Harsh’s ship from Tyrone’s. Where was Harlan? The ship was near enough that I could make out faces, but none were of the man I loved. Spots popped into existence in my vision and my pulse raced. I strained against the ropes, but they were still too tough for me to break, even sawed halfway through.
“Harlan,” I whispered in a choked voice.
Tyrone was buckling on his sword, smiling smugly as he watched me pull at the bonds that kept me tied to the mast.
“Ooooh, Blossom, look! Isn’t that Scurvyella?” Sugar’s sycophantic voice triggered a surge of strength, and I managed to hack through another fiber in the rope. How I wished that I could take her voice and sink it to the bottom of the ocean so I never had to listen to another syllable ever again.
Blossom laughed. “I think it is! I thought she drowned ages ago. Looks like she would have done better to stay here. We should call herTar-ellanow!”
The girls walked away with linked arms, laughing to themselves. If Harlan wasn’t with them, he must be in his cell—if he wasn’t already…
I wrenched so hard against the ropes that my shoulder nearly dislocated. I had to get over there, I had to. Even though I had no plan, no fighting skills…I had to dosomethingbefore Tyrone got to Harlan first. I had to warn Harlan.
Gil bobbed past me, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “Captain!” she called. “Can I carry something for you? Or I could take the helm if you’re going to be away! Or I could take over the crates you wanted loaded…”
“Just take the crates, Gil,” Tyrone said dismissively. “Put them wherever Harsh wants.”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” Gil said, beaming ear to ear. “My privilege! I’ll get them now! I’m stronger now, you know…” her chatter faded into the background as she picked up a small crate and tottered across the gangplank to theKraken’s Revenge.
Tyrone didn’t spare Gil a second glance but took a long time to appraise me. I stopped my sawing motions and concealed the glass in my palm as he slowly walked over to me and put his hand on the mast above my head so he could lean in close to whisper in my ear.
“I’m glad you’re here to watch this,” he said softly. “Now pay attention and know that you caused this. He’ll be dead before dawn. I’m going to enjoy this.”
He pivoted on his heel and marched away, headed toward the gangplank as the sun’s final rays cast one last beam of light upward and then faded.
My time was up.
The shard of glass slipped again, slicing a thin line across my thumb. Blood smeared the hemp, making my fingers slip. I sucked in a breath, pressed harder, carving the edge with slow, careful determination. Please, please let the deepening darkness hide my actions from the crew.
Another strand popped.
My wrists were raw where the ropes rubbed with every movement, but I kept going. The glass was nearly impossible to grip between my bloody fingers, and I had to wedge it between my thumb and forefinger and drag it like a sawagainst the same weakened spot. I focused on the sound, not the creak of the gangplank or the sea below, but the tiny rasp of glass against rope, working at it bit by bit.
And all the while, I thought of Harlan. I couldn’t lose him. Not like this. But even if I could get to Harlan, what then? I couldn’t take on two full pirate crews; no one could. I needed Korth’s navy, but how to alert him?
Another strand gave way.
Harsh stood on his own deck, shouting orders, all the while waving to his brother as Tyrone walked across the plank. Lanterns were lit along the deck, casting long, eerie shadows of the crew’s movements over everything, undulating like snakes slithering across the pirate ship.
The rope was almost sliced through. I could feel the slack growing with every careful draw of the glass.
I paused to flex my fingers, the blood sticky between them. My breath came in shallow gasps, my arms aching from being held in place too long and my shoulders screaming.
Gil had vanished into the crew crowding the other deck. Had she gone for Harlan?
Please, I prayed. Let her find him. Let her get to him before Tyrone does. Before Harsh realizes what’s going on. Before it’s too late.
There was another rasp from the rope and I felt it give. I was able to move my wrists—just an inch or two, but I could move them. Tyrone was talking to Harsh, head inclined, and he gestured toward where I was bound to the mast. Harsh nodded and beckoned for Steele to come over, then gave him a muttered order.
