Capture The Wind by Virginia Brown Read Free Book Online

her. She was glad to see that it was not the one called Reed.
    He grinned, his face pushed so close to hers that she recoiled. “Ho, me beauty—grab hold,” he said, still grinning. Angela had no time to protest before he lifted her and slung her over his back.
    The swift pressure of his shoulder cutting into her middle pushed the air from her lungs, and she gasped for breath as she dangled over the pirate in an undignified heap. A glance upward showed her that Emily had suffered a similar fate. Doubling her hands into fists, Angela beat a protest on the pirate’s back as he swaggered past his captain toward the rail.
    When he swung her to her feet, she drew in a deep breath, expecting to be flung overboard. Her breath exhaled in a rush when he swept her up again and leaped over the rail. There was a sickening moment of being airborne, and Angela let out a piercing scream as she was swung between the two ships. A yawning expanse of choppy gray waves swirled below, and she quickly squeezed her eyes shut. Then they landed with a jolt. Only when she felt the security of solid wood beneath her feet again did she open her eyes.
    Emily appeared beside her as if dropped from heaven, her eyes wide and her hair in charming disarray around her plump shoulders. They clung weakly to one another, watching as pirates still on the Scrutiny swung aboard, then pushed the other ship away. Grappling hooks were disengaged, and the chasm between the ships grew larger.
    Angela saw that the fire had raged higher aboard the Scrutiny, and now licked its way across the main deck. Smoke billowed in dark clouds, and sparks flew into the air. She thought of her trunk, the miniatures of her family, and the music box her father had given her. Unexpected tears stung her eyes, and she felt Emily shudder.
    As they watched, the Scrutiny began to list. High-pitched sounds almost like human screams emanated from the ship, and halyards snapped and canvas tumbled in flaming sheets to the main deck. Though the decks were aflame, the mainmast still stood intact. Flames licked at it with a growing frenzy, and the ship listed sharply to the leeward side. With a mighty screech of wood, the doomed ship began to take on water more quickly.
    Angela could see water pouring through the scuppers. For what seemed an eternity, she watched the death of the Scrutiny. Around her, the pirate crew bustled with cheer and chores, hauling lines and shouting orders in what seemed to her to be incomprehensible terms.
    “Ready about!”
    “Helm’s a-lee!”
    The bow of the ship nosed about slowly, and canvas flapped loudly overhead as wind tugged at the sails. “Off tacks and sheets!” Lines creaked and whined, and there was a slithering sound as they hummed through sailors’ hands and tackles. Yards swung around slowly from the force of the wind, canvas sheets cracking. “Mainsail haul!” came the shout, and sails tautened under the press of wind and tightening lines.
    Angela listened in a daze, barely aware of the alien sounds. In such a short space of time, her life and Emily’s had changed drastically. She had to think, had to safeguard them from the pirates as best as possible.
    “Let go and haul!” rang out across the deck. Angela glanced upward to see the yards shift into line with the others, watching dully as men hauled on bowlines and braces to pull them taut, then began to coil the gear and hang it on the pins dangling neatly at the ship’s rails.
    As the wind tugged at her loose hair and sent it in tangles around her face, she pulled it away and turned to look for the pirate captain. He was standing on the quarterdeck. His massive quartermaster stood next to him; a white cloth was bright against the dark skin of the quartermaster’s upper arm where he’d bandaged it.
    A deafening roar startled her and she jumped. Emily let out a scream as the deck shuddered. Before this afternoon, Angela would never have recognized the source, but now she immediately knew the