Stowaway (A Pirate Novel) (Completed)

Chapter 6 The Art of a Sword

Chapter 6

It was a month at sea and she asked Harve to teach her to use a sword. She pestered him for a week before he agreed. The swords were heavier then she expected.

A week into her lessons just as Harve disarmed her she heard the captain laugh behind her. She turned and openly glared at him. It just caused him to laugh again.

"Maybe by tha time your two years er up you may be able to use that thing, boy." he said good-natured humor ringing in his voice. In truth all Elle heard was critic.

Captain James Talbot drew his sword from his left scabbard with his right hand. "Pick it up." he said and looked at hers lying on the deck. She glanced at Harve as she picked up her new sword. The captain parried and thrust she was disarmed again.

"Plant your feet boy," he said harshly. She picked up the sword. "Havre's too easy on you," he said.

"Capt'n..." Harve said. The captain looked at him; Elle glared, warning him to keep her secret. She saw him swallow. "Nutin sir."

Without warning, the captain exploded in motion. "Always expect the unexpected," he said as she glared at the sword that again lay on the deck. An hour past before she deflected a disbarment sweat coated her skin and the hollow between her bound breast felt sticky.

She didn't have time to bask in her success. "Sail ho!" the call from came from above them. The captain started calling orders and the crew rushed to obey, more booty to be had, a chase to score, a ship to sail, what more could a pirate ask?

That day they took the booty, 70 cask of rum, 100 bolts of silk 2 trunks of gold and gems, 300 pounds of beeswax.

The captain of The Intrepid was allowed to keep his ship and all its crew. Even as he sailed away, Elle found more respect for her Captain.

The other captain left with a liter shipment but his eyes held respect for Captain James Talbot.

Captain Morris had been in a rage when the pirate had captured his ship. His crew had fought but they outnumbered them two to one.

Every one stood frozen in a ready state to fight as the captains met. The men from their crew eyed the men from Talbot's; Talbot's crew eyed theirs. The captains kept their voices low. It took longer than Elle had expected.

In the end, the other crew stood in two groups as they loaded their cargo onto the ship..

Elle got little sleep. She loved the sea but in six months eight of the crew had perished, some taken by the sea during a storm. Men she knew, some she liked, and those were the hardest.

With less crew, the work was harder, more demanding. Each man had a place. Each job must be filled regardless of the number of men to fill them.

She didn't let her duties slid but she was still determined to learn the sword in every moment available. When she slept, she slept like the dead.

When she heard the call, "Land ho," she felt joy.

Before debarking, she grabbed the lather her dress was wrapped in and her coins. She drank less than the men drink and had no use of the wenches in port. Some of the crew had remarked about the last. After visiting her father, she intended to change that.

She went to the captain's cabin and accepted the messages. With a shock, she found one addressed to her father. Silently she cursed. She couldn't deliver that one.