Blood and Iron: The Book of the Black Earth (Part One) by Jon Sprunk Read Free Book Online Page A

Sari's hand, Horace led them along the quay. Fishermen were hauling their belongings aboard their shallow craft in preparation to depart. Horace kept moving with long strides, trusting his instincts. Calbert would take them, if he was still at port.
    A weight lifted off Horace's chest as he sighted a familiar yellow mast at the end of the waterfront. The Sea Spray was still nestled in her berth. Horace had spent two weeks refitting the merchant frigate, and during that time he had gotten to know her crew. He hoped they remembered him fondly. He pulled harder on Sari's hand to urge her along while Josef continued to yell “Boats!” at the top of his lungs.
    They passed a gang of sailors loading barrels onto the Spray . Captain Calbert stood on the ship's waist, exhorting them to work faster.
    Horace raised his free hand. “Captain! Captain Calbert!”
    The middle-aged sea captain squinted in their direction. He held up a finger to the marine standing beside him with a loaded crossbow. Horace stopped in his tracks and gathered Sari behind him. “Captain, it's me. Horace Delrosa.”
    A smile creased the captain's lips. “Shipwright! I'd ask what you're doing down here at a time like this, and with that pretty lass who must be the wife you've been telling us about, but I think mayhap I can guess.”
    “We need passage out of Tines.”
    Calbert climbed down from the ship. “Aye. I can fathom that much, but there's orders come down from his lordship saying that any ship that takes on townsfolk as passengers will be set alight.”
    Horace looked to the burning hulks along the waterfront, proof that it was no idle threat. Shouts arose as the two-masted schooner in the next berth was set on fire. Horace tightened his grip on Sari's hand as a melee erupted between the sailors and soldiers not more than thirty paces from where they stood. “Please, captain. They've shut the gates. I can't keep my family here. It's not safe.”
    The captain shook his head. “I understand what you're going through, but that don't change the weather, if you take my meaning.”
    “Captain,” he said. “I don't have much money, but if you'll take my family to your next port, I'll serve as your ship's carpenter for a year without wages.”
    “I'd like to help, son, but—”
    “I'm begging you, sir. If I'm serving on your ship, that makes me crew, so no laws are broken. My wife can wash and cook, too.”
    Calbert sighed as the flames climbed up the neighboring schooner's sleek sides. “All right. I can't leave you behind to face this unholy mess. Get on board.”
    Horace clapped a hand on the captain's arm before leading Sari and Josef up the gangplank. Sailors hustled across the deck carrying tackle and provisions, hauling on lines, and scrambling through the rigging. Horace pulled his wife into a spot of relative calm beside the forecastle ladder and hugged her close. Josef pulled on his hair, eager to see the goings on. All the anxiety Horace had held pent up came out in a long breath.
    “We made it,” Sari whispered.
    “Aye. Soon we'll be underway.”
    “Where will we go?”
    Horace turned to the railing. Distant noise echoed from the city. Above the fortified walls, the white cliffs sparkled in the afternoon light. He could see the shipyards past the breakwater. In the huge dry dock beside the warehouses and port offices sat his latest creation, a four-masted ship-of-the-line. “It doesn't matter. We're safe.”
    Josef wriggled free of Sari's grasp and ran across the middeck. Horace laughed as his wife chased after the little hellion and shaded his eyes for a better view of Tines. The town was in shambles. Come nightfall, those still trapped inside the walls would realize their fate, and then things would get truly ugly. He tried not to think of all the friends he was leaving behind—the men of his work crew and their families. The only saving grace was that both his and Sari's parents were already gone, so they would be spared this