The Ship of Lost Souls 1 by Rachelle Delaney Read Free Book Online Page A

his knee on its chest, and grabbed the map. Another Lost Soul lunged at him from the side, but he elbowed it. Then—for now he had nothing to lose—he grasped the ghost’s hood and yanked it back.
    The ghoul had hair. And large, dark eyes. And a mouth, wide open. Jem froze as his unbelievable adventure reached new heights of illogicality.
    The Lost Soul was a girl. A dark-haired, dark-eyed, very angry girl.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Although Scarlet McCray spent a good portion of her time in disguise, not once had anyone ever uncloaked her. For a moment she could only stare, openmouthed, at the boy who crouched over her, his bony knee jabbing into her chest. With one swift kick and a twist, she could have him pinned to the mast with her dagger to his Adam’s apple.
    But as she reached for her weapon, hidden deep inside her cloak, she saw the fear in his eyes. First kidnapped by pirates, then by a bunch of cloaked ghouls—could she blame him for reacting the way he had? So, instead of knocking him overboard and leaving him for shark bait, she nodded at his knee.
    â€œGet off me.”
    The boy scuttled backward, crablike, still staring at her. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t . . . you’re a . . .”
    â€œGirl. Yes. Observant.” Scarlet rolled her eyes, used to this routine. Blah blah unladylike, blah blah petticoats. Blah. She hopped up and offered the boy a hand. He eyed it the way she herself might eye a plate of slimy oysters and scrambled to his feet without her help. Then he glanced around at her crew members, who surrounded them, still cloaked.
    â€œSo if you’re a girl, then none of you are really . . .”
    â€œCome on, mates,” Scarlet said. “Off with the hoods. Stop confusing him.” She turned back to the boy. “What’s your name?” Of course, she already knew, but telling him that would likely scare him even more. She wondered what had happened to his uncle Finn and why she hadn’t been able to find the man during her quick search of the
Dark Ranger
.
    â€œJem. Jem Fitzgerald.” He watched incredulously as Scarlet’s crew members began to peel off their hoods, revealing a motley gang of children with identical mischievous grins.
    Scarlet turned to look at her crew. There were twenty-three Lost Souls in total: small ones and gangly ones, pale ones and dark ones, dirty ones and—well, they were all in need of a good bath. There were Lost Souls with loose teeth and Lost Souls with lisps and even a few who could turn backflips across the deck. She surveyed them all and nodded, satisfied.
    One about Jem’s size stepped forward. “Timothy Sanders,” he said and presented his hand. “Quartermaster and resident nautical genius.”
    â€œBut you can call him Drivelswigger,” a taller one with sand-colored hair piped up, shrugging off his heavy cloak. “Or Swig for short. That one spends far too much time with his head in the books.” The boy welcomed Jem with a wide grin and a wink. “I’m Smitty, but you can call me Hurricane Smith.”
    â€œIf you can say it with a straight face.” Scarlet gave the boy a friendly nudge. “None of us can. He’s just Smitty.”
    A freckled, ginger-haired brother and sister duo shed their cloaks and slipped forward to introduce themselves. Liam and Ronagh Flannigan. Jem looked surprised at the sight of another pirate girl—a reaction that Scarlet had seen countless times among new recruits. Especially those fresh off a boat from the Old World. And Jem Fitzgerald, as Scarlet knew from earlier observation, could be the spokes-boy for the Old World.
    One by one, the Lost Souls uncloaked and introduced themselves, until only two of Scarlet’s crew members remained hidden under their hoods. Lucas Lawrence and Gil Jenkins, of course. But before Scarlet had to repeat the order, Lucas pulled off his hood to