“Help! Help me! He’s stolen my boat!”
“What are ye doing?” he bellowed at her. “Shut yer noise!”
But it was too late. The brigantine had spotted them. The big ship swung toward them, cutting through the waves with more speed than theMermaidcould hope to muster. The men swarmed the rails and Conall’s blood turned to ice as he saw the weapons they cocked against their shoulders. Long guns. He’d heard of them but never seen one. There was the sudden retort of gunpowder and then cracking sounds all around as projectiles thudded into the wooden slats of theMermaid’shull.
“Get down!” he yelled at the lass, throwing himself at her and taking them both crashing to the deck.
She sprawled onto the boards, looking around in a panic, eyes huge in her pale face. There was a hole in the rail not a hands-width above her head. A small lead ball was lodged in it.
“They...they’re shooting at us,” she whispered as if unable to quite believe it.
“Of course they are!” he snarled. “Dinna ye recognize a raiding ship when ye see one? Now help me sail if ye want to live!”
He scrambled up and hurried to the main mast. From the rumors he’d heard of long guns, they took a few seconds to reload so that was all the time he had if he wanted to get them out of this alive.
The lass gaped at him in shock for a second, before lurching to her feet. Jaw set, she moved to obey. Her hands shook as she helped Conall adjust the sails.
“Why don’t you just start the motor?”
“The what?”
“The engine!” She gestured toward the back of the boat.
He frowned in incomprehension before shaking his head sharply. “Never mind that now, lass. Just keep us moving!”
Molly leapt to follow his barked orders. He had to admit, she knew her way around a boat. She reefed the sails and the boat swung sharply, taking them around an islet and out of sight of the larger ship. But the advantage would not last long. They couldn’t outrun the raiding ship so their only option was to hide.
The shoreline loomed ahead, and Conall aimed for a narrow islet with a high cliff that came right down into the water. If he was lucky—and judging from today’s events he had no reason to think he would be—they might just be able to hide out in the cliff’s shadow.
Conall’s pulse pounded in his ears as they slipped under the cover of the cliff face. He pulled on the rope to furl the sails so the white canvas wouldn’t stand out against the darkness and took the boat as close to the shore as he dared, deep into the shadows beneath the craggy, overhanging rock. TheMermaidhad a shallower draft than the brigantine and he had to pray that they wouldn’t dare bring it this close to the islet for fear of rocks and other hazards.
Molly crouched by the main mast, her eyes bright with fear. Conall waited, tense and still. After endless moments, the bigger ship emerged from behind the islet, sailing slowly. Conall glimpsed men at the rail, guns cocked to shoulders, scanning in every direction. He held his breath, watching as the brigantine sailed past their hiding place and carried on southward along the shore.
Conall breathed out slowly. That had been close. Too close.
Chapter 4
