Page 12 of The Pirate Lord
“P’raps we should fight,” Petey suggested.
“Are you bloody crazy?” Captain Rogers snorted. “That’s theSatyr, man! They’d blow us to pieces! We don’t have the guns or manpower to fight off a well-armed pirate ship. Besides, if we fight, they’ll think we have something worth fighting for, and that’ll make it worse for us.”
“You can’t outrun ‘em,” Petey said. “He has the fastest ship on the seas.” As if lending credence to his words, theSatyrsurged forward, hounding them like a demon on the heels of a sinner. In moments it would overtake them.
The captain glanced at his crew, then back to his first mate and Petey. “That’s our only choice, lads. Run or be taken. And I much fear that ’tis taken we’ll be unless a miracle come to save us.”
The miracle never came. Scant minutes later, the other ship hailed them, threatening to fire their guns if theChastitydidn’t halt to be boarded. And it was only as Captain Rogers gave theorder to his crew to surrender that Petey remembered he hadn’t warned Miss Willis.
Chapter Four
My topsails they did shake
And the merchants they did quake,
So many I did take
As I sail’d….
— ANONYMOUS, “BALLAD FOR CAPTAIN KIDD”
Until today Sara had found the voyage uneventful. True, she’d had trouble squelching the gambling of the more hardened women who liked to fleece the country maids of their rations. And she’d given many a lecture on the inappropriateness of swearing. Still, her classes had gone well, and she and Petey had succeeded in keeping the women separate from the men.
Now, however, confusion reigned. The women had been sent below, and they gathered around Sara, panic-stricken and babbling. It took some minutes before she could make sense of what they were saying. A pirate ship approaching? Surely not. Pirates grew scarcer with every year as the British andAmericans sought to clear the waters of the pests. And what would they want with a convict ship carrying nothing of value?
Of course, they didn’t know that theChastitycarried only women. She froze, a sick fear settling into the pit of her stomach. Women. Everyone knew what pirates did to women. And if these men found no gold to sate their savage appetites, they would surely turn to other terrible pleasures.
“They’ll rape and kill us!” Ann Morris cried above the clamor of voices, speaking aloud Sara’s worst thoughts. “Oh, Miss Willis, what are we to do?”
Sara wanted to scream that she didn’t know, that she’d never faced pirates before. But she couldn’t. The others relied on her. They watched her expectantly, as if she could conjure up an army of protectors to save them. Oh, if only she could.
She forced a calmness into her voice that she didn’t feel. “There’s no need to panic. The sailors will fight them off. The ship is armed?—”
“Not well enough to frighten pirates,” Queenie grumbled.
“That puling bunch of sailors won’t fight,” came Louisa’s cynical voice. “They’ll jump ship before they lose a finger for a shipload of convict women.”
Unfortunately, Louisa was right. The milling voices in the hold became oppressive, and Sara had to struggle to keep from panicking as the other women were.
Suddenly Louisa cried in a loud voice, “Listen, everybody!”
One by one the women heeded her words until only the sounds of babies crying and the children’s plaintive voices broke the silence. They could hear nothing at first, except a faint muffle of voices. The ship seemed to have stopped, although it was hard to tell in the hold.
Suddenly there was a rumble as of several men jumping on the decks. Then the ship swayed to one side, causing the women to grasp at the bars for balance, before it righted itself.
“They’ve come aboard,” Queenie pronounced.
“Perhaps if we stay still, they won’t know we’re here,” Ann Morris whispered. “Perhaps Captain Rogers will tell them the hold is empty, and they’ll leave.”
Louisa’s pretty features were ashen in the lantern light. “With just a word from our good captain? I think not. Besides, he won’t tell lies on our behalf. We’re the only thing of value he can throw as a sop to the pirates.”
The chilling words made all the women shudder, even Sara. Never had she dreamed when jesting with Jordan that this could occur. There shouldn’t be pirates in these waters, and they shouldn’t have stopped theChastity.
If only she and the others could fight. But they had naught with which to defend themselves. Nor could they prevent the pirates from entering the hold.
Every creak of the ship added to the tension in the hot, stifling air. Even the children seemed to be holding their breaths, waiting for what would become of them.
“Oh, how I wish Petey … I-I mean, Mr. Hargraves … was down here to protect us,” Ann burst out into the ominous silence.
