Page 51 of An Imperfect Scoundrel
“No, Captain,” Mr. Johnson replied as Mr. Hayward joined them.
“Cargo,” he muttered, his gruff voice expressing both the blessing and the curse of discovering this type of ship in that single word.
Cedric lowered the spyglass. “Have they reacted to our presence?”
Mr. Johnson shook his head. “Their speed hasn’t increased since we spotted them.”
“They must have seen us by now,” replied Cedric.
Something felt off about the situation.
“At our current rate, we’ll overtake them before they reach port. They should at least attempt to outrun us, but they appear to be slowing.”
Mr. Hayward glanced at Cedric. “What do you suspect?”
“Bait.” He raised the telescope again, inspecting the cargo ship. “The Navy may be waiting to intercept.”
There did appear to be very little movement aboard the main deck… perhaps they just needed a little provocation. He scanned the horizon.
“I see no other visible ships. Even if they are hidden, they won’t reach the cargo vessel in time to be of any assistance.”
Both men nodded their ascent with Cedric’s observation.
“Mr. Hayward, let’s show them how fast we can really travel. You have ten minutes to get us portside of the cargo ship.”
Mr. Hayward nodded and retreated below deck.
Cedric, accompanied by Mr. Johnson, headed toward steering, where he took control of the wheel just as the first burst of speed exploded through his ship. Within moments alarm bells rang out on the cargo vessel, and armed men appeared on the main deck, pouring out from parts unseen.
Mr. Johnson pointed at the growing number of sailors. “Is that enough reaction for you?”
“Might be too much.” Cedric grimaced.
The flurry of motion confirmed his suspicion that the Navy was lurking nearby, perhaps behind the finger of land that poked out into the ocean, protecting the nearby port town from hurricanes.
Not close enough.
They could steal the goods and sail away before the Navy reached them… well, it wasn’t really sailing, but only his crew knew that.
“Ready the starboard cannons!”
Mr. Johnson headed toward the bow and climbed down to the gun deck.
Cedric’s gaze slid across the horizon, searching for the identifying flags of the Naval ships. Peeking out from behind the tip of land, the bow of a boat slid into view. Despite the expectation that a patrol ship would be there, seeing those banners in the distance caused his heart to race.
They couldn’t delay.
Shots rang out, fired from the wheelhouse aboard the cargo ship. With a terrifying yell that grew to a defeating volume, his men rushed to the starboard side of the boat and returned fire hitting several of the cargo ship’s crew members.
Cedric’s gaze shifted back to the approaching Naval ship, estimating their speed.
If the crew aboard the cargo vessel was able to hold them off long enough, the Navy would overtake his ship, then they would all hang.
They weren’t close enough for their cannons to effectively damage the cargo vessel, but the threat of death might be enough to frighten the crew into abandoning their posts.
“Fire the cannons!” he yelled, and the command echoed across the deck.
A minute later, explosions rocked the starboard side of the ship as cannonballs flew. Most of them missed, as he’d expected, but one lucky one struck the rudder, not quite disabling the ship but hindering the cargo vessel’s ability to steer.
