Lions of the Sea

43

The sun was setting behind Roatan Island, only thirty miles north of Trujillo and Cape Honduras, and the wind turned in no hurry as light dimmed. It slowly shifted, and blew from the west down the broad channel between the Bay Islands and the mainland shore. Tall, lazy clouds moved from inland, promising to hide the moon and prevent it from weaving its revealing silver trail on the waters.

The Phantom circled Bonacca's southernmost end to reach the channel. At the foretop with Oliver, Marina lowered her telescope, grunting under her breath.

"And where the hell did those two come from?" asked the pirate, taken aback.

"I'm afraid that's the remaining frigates of the Armada," she replied.

They could see three warships gathered where the Phantom had sunken the first frigate in the morning, east of their current position.

"Keep your eyes on them," she said, grabbing the shroud to climb down. A moment later she joined Morris by the bow.

"Three, right?" he said. "The second frigate we fought this morning ended up in Davy Jones' locker too."

"I'm so going to kill Laventry and his useless spies! The Armada was supposed to be hundreds of miles south from here by this date!"

Morris smiled, hearing her grumpy growls. "Let's wait to see where they moor for the night, and then we can decide what to do."

"I'll be damned if I want to wait."

"If your mother heard you swearing so much, pearl."

"Then let's get the hell out of here. So you can go tell her, and I can slice Laventry's throat."

Hours crawled for the girl and the pirates, forced to keep their guard up despite the distance between them and the Spaniard fleet. The night closed and the moon rose in the east, a pale coin behind the clouds. They could see the fleet's lamps from the Phantom, but it was so dark they couldn't tell the frigates' shapes.

"If they're still there by midnight, we're crossing northeast to dodge them," Marina said.

But they didn't have to wait much longer. About ten, two frigates headed north, leaving the other east of the Islands.

"They're going to patrol that side of the Gulf so we cannot slip by unseen before dawn," Morris said, studying them through the telescope. "And at sunrise, they're going to canvass the area till they find us."

"Like we're going to stay to see it."

"Are we trying southeast?"

Marina nodded, observing the lights of the frigate still floating on their way. "Gather the crew below deck. The night shift too. It'll take only ten minutes, and I want everybody to know what we're going to do."

Thirty minutes later, the Phantom weighed anchor and left its hideaway among the keys east of Bonacca. Once the sails were trimmed, the whole crew hurried to their battle stations, hiding behind the gunwales. The Phantom's lamps were off, and the only lights onboard were four small veiled lanterns, in case the men from one side of the ship needed to get the attention of the men at the other.

Marina cursed her decision to quit dressing entirely in black. It was about time to drop the suggestion she caused by reminding people of her father. It was time to adopt the poetic name the Spaniards had given her, surely inspired by the affectionate nickname her men used to address her. It was time to quit acting as the Ghost's daughter and be the Pearl of the Caribbean.

Unfortunately, her desire to set herself apart from her father had come with a bad timing, and she'd left at home all her black shirt just when she would've needed them more than ever before. So that night she wore a blue coat to hide her pretty white linen shirt.

De Neill guided the Phantom out of that maze of shoals, keys and reefs that had kept the frigates away, and headed south. The inland wind soon loaded the sails and the Phantom sailed away from the Spanish lamps toward Cape Cameron.

Past it, the wind blew from the east all year, and once they left the shelter the shore offered, they'd be forced to sail close to the wind in order to cross to Jamaica and feel safe again. That would slow the Phantom by two or three knots, and would make an easy prey of them until they were able to get far enough.

It took them two hours to reach Cape Cameron. All the pirates sighed in relief when the lamps of the frigate east of the Islands disappeared behind the horizon. However, Marina didn't allow them to break the silence or leave their stations. She remained at the forecastle, scanning the dark sea with her telescope. That slight agitation she didn't understand was upsetting her again.

Morris was coming to meet her from the aft hatch, after checking everybody below deck stayed ready at their positions, when the girl's voice startled all of them.

"All hands down! Guns ahead!"

The roaring of cannons overcame her voice. Morris ran to her, and saw in disbelief the flashes of shooting cannons astarboard, revealing for a moment the massive black bulk of a frigate coming out of her hideaway behind Cape Cameron. It seemed to fly over the water toward them.

Half a dozen balls hit the Phantom's masts, which swayed but resisted. Another half dozen hit the upper works and the first guns below deck on that side. Jean ordered to respond with the cannons left.

Marina did the same with the on-deck guns, taking shelter behind the bow gunwale. She could bet her right hand it was the third frigate, the one that had come chasing them from the south, the one that had stayed out of the morning battle. Somebody onboard had paid attention during that combat, and had figured out where the Phantom's advantage lay. So they had ordered to lift the mouth of the guns on deck to hit the masts, and lower the mouth of the battery below deck to hit straight the Phantom's hull. Lucky them, Spaniards were still Spaniards, and they depended on their numbers where skill would have worked better. The idea was right, but the gunners weren't coordinated. Else, the Phantom would already be dismasted and loading water like a well.

"They're coming to board us!" Morris cried, joining her.

The girl was able to overcome the shock of seeing that mighty warship bearing down on them like a ghostly shadow come out of nowhere. In a nocturnal battle!

"We need to get the upper hand!" she replied, taking her coat off. "Lead our men, Morris. I'll fall on them from behind. Hard to southeast, De Neill! We need to stop both ships!"

"Aye, pearl!"

The pirate used the moment right after the frigate's broadside, that approached from the southwest, to set the Phantom on a collision course. The Spaniards bore off, veering astarboard. But De Neill held the course, forcing them to veer sharper east, until both ships were almost in the irons, facing the wind. That prevented the Spaniards from using their starboard guns and forced them to reload the larboard battery. Above and below deck, Jean's gunners made good use of their training at the Guanaba Gulf and reloaded faster than the Spaniards, firing again the guns that were still working.

Over those precious minutes, Marina and Morris organized the crew to repel a boarding attempt by the Spaniards and jump to the frigate.

"Take care!" Morris said before parting with her.

"You too, please!" The girl pressed his hand and ran barefoot to the larboard side. "Swimmers with me!"

Thirty pirates joined her. They dropped a dozen ropes over the bow and used them to climb down the hull to the water, that stretched its pitch-black arms up against the Phantom.

Meanwhile, many lamps and lanterns were lit above the frigate deck, to shine on the upcoming battle, so the Spaniards wouldn't kill each other by mistake.

Marina slid down the hull after Maxó and shivered when she got into the dark waters, an instinctive fear taking hold of her. Until she grabbed the last step of the ladder. As soon as she touched the Phantom, the fear melted in the sea, that offered her a shelter and a chance to fight her enemies back.

They were all in the water when De Neill finally stuck the ships' sides together, and they heard the loud shouting of pirates and Spaniards, fighting over the gunwales to make the others retreat in order to jump onto the enemy ship.

The Phantom and the frigate, facing the wind with no chance to trim their sails, lost enough speed for Marina to deem it safe and guide her party around both bows.