“Adrian,” Christian said, pointing his arm through the mist. “Look!”
The black hull slowly emerged as the skiff strained through the waves, the larger vessel itself bowing and rising deeply in the water.
“Is that our ship?” Christian asked, and Adrian could hear the uncertainty in the boy’s voice.
“I do doubt any others are anchored so far from the docks, even in this chop,” Maisie muttered wryly.
The boy glanced around with a worried frown. “The merchant ship I sailed on was much larger. This seems too small a vessel to take on passengers.” He looked back at the swarthy oarsman suspiciously before turning sideways on the seat and leaning over precariously to whisper, “We could be led into a dangerous situation, Adrian. Brigands of some sort. Perhaps even pirates. It’s a scheme of theirs to lure unsuspecting passengers out to open water under the excuse of securing passage. They rob them before tossing them all into the sea.”
Adrian smiled. “It’s all right, Christian. We aren’t unsuspecting in the least.”
“Aye, lad,” Maisie said. “Unfortunate though it may be, we know exactly the sort that lie in wait of us.”
An ear-piercing whistle sounded from the oarsman, causing Christian to startle and frown doubtfully once more at the dark-complexioned man before raising his fair eyebrows at Adrian and his wife.
“Certain about that, are you?”
Adrian only laughed.
Christian shook his head and turned forward on his seat in the skiff just as theAzure Skullbegan to emerge fully from the fog. Adrian saw Christian’s head tip back as he caught sight of the man standing on the rail of the ship, one hand grasping the rigging as he leaned out over the roiling waters. He swept his plumed hat from his head in a merry greeting.
“Welcome! Welcome, my friends!” Francisco Alesander called out with a broad smile. “Let us hurry you aboard and raise anchor before the fog is gone, yes? I have managed to fit in a bit of work before your arrival and I would hate to delay your voyage with a battle at sea.”
“Or by getting you out of the jail,” Valentine called out from the skiff behind them, causing Christian’s head to whip around, his eyes like an owl’s.
Roman’s laugh echoed over the water. “Val, I think we all know that although your talents are many, orchestrating prison escapes is not one of them.”
Francisco brought his elaborate hat to his chest to cover his heart. “They have no yet constructed a cage capable of containingLa Ave Mortal, cousin.”
Back and forth Christian looked between the two men before his wide gaze went to Adrian. “Are we . . . are we going home on apirate ship?”
“Would that please you, young Christian?”
He nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Then I would suggest that you turn ’round and take hold of the rope dangling there before you,” Adrian said, motioning past the boy with his finger.
Christian spun around and was scrambling from his seat in the next instant, swiping at the swaying knot and causing Adrian to stagger to his own feet to prevent the boy from being pitched into the breach between the two vessels. He grasped the rope and held it steady while Christian took hold and then wrapped his arm around the boy’s middle, hoisting him up to stand on the knot while, above them, two of Francisco’s mates began to pull, lifting Constantine Gerard’s son through the air.
Adrian stood with one hand braced on the edge of the pitching skiff, watching closely while the boy was helped over the railing. Christian spun around and leaned against the wooden rail, looking down at Adrian with his face split in a wide grin.
He gave a high-pitched whoop with a little jump and then drummed his palms on the rail. “Come on, Adrian!”
A second rope had been dropped to the left of their dinghy and Adrian glanced over to see Lady Mary and Valentina being carefully lifted into the air. Adrian thought the look on Valentine’s wife’s face closely matched that of young Christian’s.
“I’ll join you in a moment, lad,” Adrian shouted up to the boy as he took hold of the rope once more and motioned for Maisie to come to him.
“I should have at least tried to summon a crawler,” she muttered as he lifted her high enough to gain a foothold.
“Hold on.” He grinned at her and then let her go as she rose above the water.
Adrian himself was aboardThe Azure Skullin time to help the crew haul up the massive form of Roman Berg as well as the belongings of the friends. The two oarsmen didn’t bother waiting to be pulled on the ropes, ascending with the expertise of swarthy spiders, leaving the oars in the bottoms of the skiffs that were already drifting away from the pirate ship. Adrian looked questioningly up to Valentine, whose boots had now taken the place of his Spanish cousin’s upon the railing.
“Those weren’t even Francisco’s boats, were they?”
Valentine shrugged a shoulder and gave Adrian a grin. “Something makes me think they were no.”
Adrian shook his head and turned toward the center of the small ship, which was alive with festive movement even as the vessel itself began to turn in the fog. The crew scattered across the deck and rigging at their tasks, save for an old man seated upon a squat barrel, whose sole responsibility, it appeared, was to play the slender pipe in his hands. A merry, birdlike song flavored the sea air with the bright promise of an English spring only days away.
