The Misadventures of Anna Cabbot

Dangerous Big Ideas

It was a floating bordello and it was massive.

If Anna looked through the tangle of walkways, wood, canvas sail, and miles of rope, she thought it looked as though it had been built around two or three large ships. Everything else had since then grown out around it, an unholy mess of ramshackle buildings, crooked stairways, and boardwalks — and all of it floated on clear blue water more at home in the Caribbean than the Great Lakes. She wasn't sure if this was due to the Endless Sea or it was another facet of Nigel's in-between state.

She rested both hands on the rail and looked out from beneath a floppy-brimmed hat. Carson was a steadfast warmth beside her — dressed like an ordinary crewman in order to blend in better — and he shifted his weight from foot to foot as Jenny navigated the Lady in the spaces between tethered ships and the edges of the bordello.

"It's like a floating city," Anna murmured.

"It's a floating house of debauchery," Carson whispered.

They rounded another outcropping of boardwalk. Anna felt more than heard Jenny's audible inhale and whipped around to look over her shoulder. The first thing she noticed were Jenny's white-knuckled hands on the wheel. The second was the ship.

It was pitch black except for the sails, and even those were dingy in comparison to its neighbors. Radiating malice, it dwarfed the Lady as she floated by. Anna tried to look critically at it and kept drifting back both to the sheer bulk and the number of gun ports. The Calico Lady had only four cannons — less weight meant more maneuverability and more cargo space for stolen or imported goods.

Based on what she'd learned from Jenny about different types of ships and sail configurations, Anna knew there was a snowball's chance in hell of them outrunning anything like that.

"If Nigel's there he's probably kept below decks during the day," Carson whispered.

Anna crossed her arms over her chest and looked for the name on the transom as they slid by. She read it, blinked, and read it again.

Wretched Soul.

"Well that's stupidly fitting," Carson drawled.

"I am going to narrate this to someone who's going to turn it into a book and we're going to make millions, I swear to God," she said. "We need a plan."

"We maybe need a miracle."

The ship shuddered. Crewmen hauled on lines and sheets.

"Or maybe," Anna said slowly, "we need one hell of a distraction."

"What are you thinking?" He glanced between her and an approaching Jenny.

"That whole thing is made of flammables." Anna looked at the number of ships, the bordello's hulking structure, and everything in between. "Gunpowder is pretty unsteady, isn't it?" She turned to Jenny. "How is it stored?"

"In powder magazines," Jenny said. "Lead-lined places in the depths of the ships protected by water-soaked curtains. The last thing you want is a stray spark. I've heard tales that whole ships go up from an accident."

One of the first lessons Anna had learned as a witch — purely for self-defense and not at all because explosions were sometimes cool — was how to make things go boom. It was one of the best, most common ways to work off excess, too.

She let the magic go with a snap. "Let's go below. I have an idea."

"I think I know that look in your eye," Carson said, following along behind the pair of them as Jenny led the way to her cabin. "I'm not going to like this idea you have."

"Probably not, but I have the feeling you're going to roll with it anyway." Anna looked over her shoulder. "You get to make the daring rescue."

His eyes widened comically.

"You're the strongest swimmer," she reminded him. "Even without your sealskin."

He leaned against the wall in Jenny's cabin. "This is true. What do you want me to do, though? Swim up to the ship, climb over the rail, and rescue Nigel while someone makes something go boom on the other side of the bordello?"

Anna sat on the end of the bunk and grinned at him.

"What?" Carson did a double take. "Are you shitting me?"

"No. I'm not. Hear me out." She looked at Jenny. "I need the best shots you've got in the crew and whatever gunpowder you can spare."

"In pouches or in barrels?" Jenny's eyebrows rose.

"Whatever's going to explode the easiest, honestly. That's going to be most of the diversion. Toss 'em, shoot 'em, make boom. How close can you get to that far side dock thing without hitting it?"

"Close enough for you do something incredibly stupid, probably," Jenny said. "I take it that's how those gunmen are getting back on board?"

"Them and me." Anna took a deep breath. "I'm the other part of the diversion. Me and the lantern."

"And magic," Carson added.

"Yeah." She took a deliberate deep breath to steady her nerves.

"You up for this?" he asked, not unkindly.

Even if she wasn't she was going to do it anyway. The it in question was still up in the air though it would, to quote Carson, a 'hell of a party trick'.

Her attention swung to Jenny. "You have functional cannons, right?"

Jenny nodded, her eyebrows still high on her forehead.

"Great. Aim for the ass end of that ship. Or the mast. Whatever's going to do the most damage."

"Both." Carson rubbed the back of his neck. "Both is good."

Anna snorted. "And you call me a nerd."

"You are."

Jenny rolled her eyes.

"You, my favorite selkie," Anna said, "have the most important job. You get to swim across with a couple of Jenny's best fighters, climb up that ship, and jailbreak Nigel."

"How do we get back?" He straightened. "What do I do if Nigel can't walk, for whatever reason?"

She shrugged. "Haul him around like a potato sack?"

Carson gave her a flat, unimpressed stare.

"You'll figure it out?"

He blinked. "I'll case the joint in a little while for ideas."

"I leave this in your very capable flippers."

"Jackass." His tone was impossibly fond.

Anna pointed to herself. "Diversion." She gestured to Carson. "Extraction. And getaway driver," she finished, jerking her thumb at Jenny.

"I'll divide the crew as needed." Jenny sat heavily in the chair next to the bunk. "We'll scout what we need and get an idea for the details — I'd rather not wind up dead."

Anna gave her a look. "Jenny..."

"Shut up, Annabelle."

Carson barked out a laugh.

"Right." Anna scrubbed her hands over her face. "I know it's quick but I don't know how long that ship is going to be here, so, tonight? We do this tonight?"

"If you think it can work." Jenny's tone was firm.

She was so tempted to say the only certainty in life was death and taxes but she wasn't willing to see how well that would go over. She did she say was, "I think so. Hope for some luck."

"Pray for a miracle she means," Carson stage-whispered.

Annaadjusted her floppy hat and sang, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."