Page 75 of Of Magic and Rum
“You were one of the first?”
He nods. “Yes. Me, Duke, and then Ragnar. We were also a part of the mutiny that replaced Jack as captain over Vane.” Aranck shakes his head and returns to his herbs, his jaw setting. “That man was far too cruel for no reason. And I knew Jack would not be such a tyrannous leader.”
Now, the feud between Charles and Jack makes more sense.
“I—” I start, ready to ask more questions, but I’m interrupted by the furious clanging bell alarm from the crow’s nest.
Squid points to the north, and in the hazy distance, a ship appears with radiant white sails—an enormous ship. Even from this distance, its sheer size has my heart thundering in my chest.
Aranck hastily gathers his supplies. “Prepare yourself, Anne. This will get worse before it gets better.”
The deck becomes a sea of chaotic activity, Jack and Ragnar barking orders to the crew. I’m sprinting with a bouncing Laust in the crook of my arm, and in just that short amount of time, the ship has gotten close enough that I can make out the red flag flapping from the mast—the Royal Navy.
Jack lifts a spyglass to his eye and curses under his breath. “It’s The Ambition.”
Duke jerks his head. “We’re never going to be able to outrun them, Rackham. We barely out-gun them.”
“We’re going to damn well try.” Jack collapses the spyglass and hangs it from his belt. “This girl has a few tricks up her sleeve.” He trails his fingers over the ship’s wheel.
“Jack, if we turn back now, we may be able to lose them when the wind picks up at our backs.” Duke lowers his voice to say this, his mouth near Jack’s ear.
“Since when do I retreat with my tail between my legs?” Jack doesnotlower his voice. “I’d much rather go down fighting versus rolling over and taking it in the ass. But wewon’tgo down.” He harshly yanks the wheel, banking the ship from going head-on with the other. “Pull in the sweeps,” Jack shouts over the roaring waves. “Red, handle the guns below deck. Read, be on those lines. I’m going to be maneuvering the fuck out of her.”
Laust has woken up and is now trembling in my arms. “Jack, where do you normally keep Truffles?”
“Take them to my quarters, then get your ass back here, Bonny. Going to need you on those upper deck cannons.” Jack’s face flashes a troubled expression. One that displays so much with so little—he’s frightened for my safety but knows this is part of being a crew.
I catapult to Jack’s cabin after scooping Truffles into my other arm. Securing them inside, fluffing pillows around them to hopefully block out some noise, I secure the door behind me and bolt to the deck. The British vessel has gotten seven ship lengths from us now and turns to give us its broadside.
“They’re getting in attack formation. Everyone, prepare to duck,” Jack barks, grunting and gritting his teeth as he keeps our side from paralleling theirs.
Duke and another crewmate are ready at one cannon. Ragnar waves me over to one several down from theirs.
“I’ll load. You fire. Got it?” Ragnar points at a pile of cannonballs.
Nodding and forcing away a nervous lump forming in my throat because I’ve never participated in warfare like this, I duck my head and grip the railing for dear life.
“When I say fire, you give it all you got,” Jack orders. “Aim for the stern and the rigging. I want that ship stuck in the middle of the fucking ocean. Everyone understand?”
Mary shoves one crewmember away from the ropes and grabs it herself. “You keep being one step behind like that, you arse, and you’re going to hang yourself accidentally.”
Squid shimmies down the mast to the upper deck before the naval ship fires. With Jack’s maneuvering, he’s kept us at a distance, and the shot lands in the water, sending a spraying geyser near the bow.
“Ready yourselves.” Jack furiously works his hands over the pegs, turning our broadside to the massive British frigate. “Fire!”
The sky becomes a barrage of smoke as cannons from both decks fire at the naval ship. Most miss because it’s nearly impossible to aim with these damn things, but one successfully slams into the rigging, taking several ropes with it. Several more could take out the mast if we time it right. Jack narrows his eyes, waiting for the smoke to clear, and his face falls, quickly turning our ship in the other direction.
As two cannonballs launch into the lower decks, the ship lurches and rocks. There’s a loud splash as one of our cannons falls into the water. Hundreds of pieces of wood float in the ocean now, and the sight ignites something in Jack. He moves us into an attack position instead of turning our broadside away from them.
“Forget the rigging. Aim for the goddamned stern. That’s where most of the officers will be.” A steeliness settles over Jack,a sneer bouncing in his lip when the naval ship’s flag comes into prime view. “Fire! Fire!”
Both ships are launching cannons at the other now. Each blast from The Revenge sends sprays of splintering wood cascading around the English ship. Most are somehow missing us or barely grazing the hull. One slams into the railing near me, and I squint at the wooden projectiles the splinters become, blocking my face with an arm. We fire over a dozen rounds at the stern before the rudder becomes unusable. A grin as wide as the Baltic Sea spreads Jack’s lips, and he hurls the wheel back in the direction we’d been heading before the Navy’s interruption. Relief washes over me because I half expected him to command us to board the ship. But no, Jack had intended to incapacitate them so we could continue our journey in peace. I adore him for that.
Cheers echo along the deck, and Mary slams into me, hugging me and Ragnar to her sides. “Good shooting, you two.” Cloth curls Mary’s palms, light blood stains on them from rope burn.
I pry away long enough from the brief victorious moment to scan the crew. Aranck was right. We’d gotten away from them—for now. But it didn’t come without a price. Several crew members suffered scrapes and bruises, or were impaled by shrapnel. One lies motionless in an ever-growing pool of blood beneath him, which lurks closer to my boot.
“Duke,” Jack bellows.
