The Pirates and the Nightmaker by James Norcliffe Read Free Book Online

the question. ‘Very,’ she said.
    I stabbed a guess. ‘The captain is your father?’
    She laughed again. ‘No,’ she said. ‘The captain is my
mother
!’
    I looked at her in astonishment.
    ‘Let me tell you,’ she said, ‘that the captain of the
Medusa
is Jenny Blade.’
    That meant little to me, and my blank look led her to explain. ‘Had you been, Loblolly Boy, longer acquainted with these waters you would have known the name of Jenny Blade, for she has much renown hereabouts.’
    ‘She has?’
    Sophie grinned mischievously. ‘Although some might call it notoriety, even, or ill repute.’
    I took her meaning and understood why bringing on board such a one as Captain Lightower might provoke difficulties.
    ‘What of these men on the little boat?’ I asked her.
    I could not imagine her as being as heartless as Jacob Stone.
    She pondered briefly, and then said, ‘There may be a way, but they will need to come closer.’
    ‘Closer?’
    ‘They should row their boat on a course that brings them nearer to the
Medusa
, if they can find the strength.’
    ‘I will tell Mr Wicker …’
    ‘Do so, but I must to my mother.’
    All at once my need to get back to Mr Wicker became pressing again, as if I had kite-strings attached and they were gently but urgently being tugged.
    Sophie hurried across the deck, but paused at the top of the companionway, to watch as, obeying the summons, I leapt into the sky and climbed higher and higher before veering to my right. I waved down at her and she half-waved back, and then I flew directly back towards the jolly-boat where waited both my old master and my new.

CHAPTER 5
BEYOND THE SHADOW OF THE SHIP
    From on high, I glanced back at the
Medusa
as she sat unmoving in a world of blue, for the ocean and sky were as one. From this height the distance between ship and jolly-boat seemed a small thing but I knew that at sea level they were separated by a horizon of unremitting emptiness. Moreover, to bring the vessels together, the men on the jolly-boat must bridge that gap, must man oars and pull despite cramped stomachs and weakened arms.
    For the second time, I alighted effortlessly in the prow of the boat where Mr Wicker still lolled.
    ‘You have been a considerable time, Loblolly Boy,’ he remarked. ‘What have you discovered?’
    At first, I thought I would reveal all I had learnt in one swoop for I was proud of myself and not averse to seeking his favour, but something gave me pause. I felt I would hold back that I had met a girl on board, a girl who could see and hear me, one with whom I had talked.
    Instead I spoke of the figurehead and that the barque was called
Medusa
. I said it looked to be crewed by Englishmenand not Spaniards, but that I had not learnt whether it were a privateer or a pirate ship. I told Mr Wicker it had not flown any flags and that it was utterly becalmed. I did not mention that I had learnt the name of the captain, or that astonishingly the captain was a woman.
    ‘So not the
Firefly
?’
    I shook my head.
    ‘That was too much to hope for, I suppose, for I would have liked my trunk back. However the
Medusa
is more than satisfactory, more than satisfactory. Ideal, in fact …’
    I considered that, given the desperation of their situation, getting his trunk back was a strange desire in the circumstances, but I had already learnt what a strange being the man was. I thought, too, that the
Firefly
under its present regime would have offered even less comfort than the
Medusa
.
    But there was an even stranger thing: Mr Wicker seemed especially gratified that the vessel was the
Medusa
. It was as if he knew of her.
    ‘Well,’ he said decisively. ‘Clearly this barque cannot move to us, so we must row this boat to it.’
    I was glad he had made the suggestion. I was not sure I could have made it myself without revealing I had been able to talk with Sophie, and more than ever I felt I needed to keep that knowledge to myself.
    ‘Captain!’ cried Mr