Page 79 of Escaping Pirates
A crewman on the upper deck yelled, “Ships on the horizon! Four—no, five!”
I gave a sharp inhale. Korth had seen the flares. He was coming.
Panic surged across the crew. Shouts rang out. Men scrambled, unsure whether to ready the cannons or try to outrun the other ships.
They were distracted.
And that was all I needed.
A lantern swung above, still bracketed near the quarterdeck railing. It rocked on its hook, the flame inside flickering in the wind. A single good hit, and it would fall.
I rolled out of Tyrone’s reach, ignoring the sting in my ribs. Harsh shouted, lunging toward me, but I grabbed the nearest piece of wood, a splintered pole from a broken spar, and heaved it upward.
Clang.
The lantern snapped free.
It hit the deck with a clatter and then the oil ignited.
Flames burst into life, hungry and fast. They raced across the deck toward the mast, licking up the ropes and catching on stray bits of sailcloth. Smoke billowed up in black coils.
Tyrone leapt back with a shout. “What have you done?!”
I didn’t answer. The fire between us blazed, its heat scorching my cheeks.
“Douse it!” Tyrone screamed.
Harlan and I were forgotten as the crew rushed to put out the fire that was spreading faster than it could be contained. In the confusion, I looked over the edge of the ship.
Illuminated from the blaze, Peter was keeping Gil’s head above the water and trying to stay afloat while dodging some of the ashes arcing down into the water. A small explosion rocked the aft deck. One of the smaller powder stores must have caught. The blast flung debris into the air and scattered crew in all directions. Harsh swore and vanished into the smoke, barking orders.
“We’re losing the ship!” someone screamed.
Harlan scrambled to his feet, coughing. I grabbed his arm. The flames surged higher, dancing up the rigging like they belonged there.
“We’ll never make it back onboard once we jump,” he said. Across the deck, Tyrone was already rushing back to theFortune Hunterand trying to loosen the gangplank so he could move his ship out of harm’s way. Many pirates were abandoning theKraken’s Revenge, fleeing over to theFortune Hunter, and I saw Sugar and Blossom in their midst, shrieking and trying to heave some of their possessions along with them.
Harlan and I backed as far as possible from the roaring flames and the heat that was quickly becoming unbearable.The sea below was chaos. Waves lashed, the water churned with debris, and somewhere in the mess, there were splashes of Peter trying to keep Gil aloft.
“Go!” Harlan urged me. “I’ll come in a minute! Go!”
I leapt.
The plunge sent me plummeting into the dark depths, and once I broke surface, I gasped. The salt water stung at the cuts marking my hands, and the temperature was much lower in the ocean at night. I kicked hard, determined to stay afloat.
Still aboard, Harlan was throwing crates and barrels into the water, anything to help us float, then shouted in pain as a burning sail fell and caught him on the shoulder.
“Hold on,” I called to Peter, who had struggled closer, still holding Gil by crooking his arm around her neck so her face was angled up to the sky. She was regaining consciousness, stirring back to life and coughing. She was alive.
I turned, treading water just long enough to watch theKraken’s Revengefully erupt into flames. Harlan was still on deck, silhouetted against the fire.
“Jump!” I shouted, clawing my way over to hang onto a crate. “Harlan, jump!”
Harlan obeyed, leaping into the water near me. Once he was up, he threw one arm around some splintered boards and wrapped his other arm protectively around my waist. “I’ve got you,” he panted. We both looked back at the ship blazing like a funeral pyre.
CHAPTER 29
Flames climbed the sky, writhing like fiery serpents from theKraken’s Revenge. Wood splintered and groaned, and the scent of burning pitch filled my nostrils. I clung to the crate with one arm wrapped tightly around it and the other around Harlan, both of us bobbing in the black sea. Salt burned my eyes and my teeth chattered. Korth would have no problem finding us.
