Pirate's Ransom

Chapter 10

Climbing the stairs to the deck proved harder than she thought. The ship rocked, swayed, and crashed into waves. The closer she got to the men, the louder the wind and men howled. Crawling up the steps to steady herself, it was clear she needed to focus. One wrong move and she could easily tumble off of the deck and never be found. The thought of capsizing while being trapped in the room was more frightening than being up on deck, of that she was sure.

Steeling herself she reached the top deck to find men scrambling this way and that. Some held ropes, others shouted orders. Rain was pelting down in sheets making it very difficult to see but every once in a while the moon would peek out from behind a storm cloud and illuminate the ship for a few moments. She used those moments to search for Charlie and the Captain. Charlie held tightly to a rope about a hundred feet from her and was pulling on the sail. The captain was at the helm holding steadily onto the wheel, she could see the strain on his face and the budging of the muscles at his arms. It was clear the ship had other plans and he was fighting it.

Lightning streaked across the sky and a thunderous crack reverberated in her chest. God, the storm was right over top of them. Desperately trying not to think of all the stories that she'd heard about ships being destroyed by crashing waves, and the deaths that came from that. Her own betrothed had died on what she thought was probably a similar night.

Within seconds her hair was plastered to her face and chest, beaten down by the rain. She was soaked clear through, but it didn't matter. Her heart pounded so fiercely that the cool rain felt good on her heated skin and face. A crash of a wave behind her sent water flying over the side to slam into her back, shoving her forward a few steps. Isabella kept her knees bent, giving herself more stability to rock with the ship. How could she help?

Charlie was clearly struggling with the rope he was yanking on so she slowly made her way to him, the pitch of the ship at times made her have to walk uphill in order to reach him. By the time she did, she snagged the back of the rope in his hand and helped tug. 

"What are you doing!" Charlie shouted above the rain and thunder. 

"Helping," she shouted back. With her help they were able to hold the mast in place. 

A gust of wind nearly ripped the rope from her hands, it slid down her palms, burning them. Her muscles began to burn with the effort of holding steady. Her legs braced and arms pulling she did what she could to help Charlie. Isabella blinked rapidly trying to keep the water from her eyes. 

The boat dropped out from underneath them on a large wave and everyone dropped to their knees losing footing. Carefully, everyone around her righted themselves and began their shouting again. She couldn't make out what they were saying. 

"Cap'n is gonna kill me." She heard Charlie say. 

It made her look up at where the Captain was but he wasn't there anymore. Another large man faught with the helm instead. She straightened, where had he gone?

"It's not your fault she's daft!" 

The Captain's shout came from behind her and then two strong hands gripped her wrists, pulling her away from the ropes. She stumbled back into his chest when another wave hit, his arm wrapping around her middle. Charlie began to struggle with the rope again. 

"Let me go! I'm here to help."

"All you're doing is distracting me," he growled into her ear and spun her to face him, her breasts pressed tightly against his chest. "Get back down to the bridge. Do you want to drown?" 

He'd ordered her. His voice and eyes made that very clear but she couldn't go back down there, not while other people were up here trying to save the ship, and her. Not that any of the men were saving her on purpose. She didn't want to drown, and that was exactly why she couldn't go back down there. "I can't! I can't be trapped in there!" She screamed, shaking her head.