Calico Jack laughs, the sound unhinged. He’s afraid. No matter what he says, he’s terrified of Hook. So scared, in fact, that’s he’s sailing us right into our death.
Keeping my hands on the outer wall of the captain’s cabin, I make my way to the side of the ship. The rowboat is there. Covered loosely with a tarp, it has oars poking out on either side. Maybe I could climb in and—I stop and look up when I hear a roar.
It only grows louder as I stare at the fog ahead of us. The crew does the same, some of them letting go of their ropes and hanging onto the rails as the mist clears.
The source of the roar becomes clear—the whirlpool. The waters spin in a huge circle, waves higher than the ship rising in a wall around it and echoing out into the sea before dissipating. We can’t go in there. There’s no way we’d survive.
“Ready the cannons!” Calico Jack yells, his voice barely audible over the din of the water.
My knuckles go white as I grip the sides of the rowboat.
Turning back, I gasp when I see the Jolly Roger right behind us, its figurehead a beautiful mermaid with her teeth bared.
“Hard port!” Calico Jack yells as the ship wrenches to the side.
I hold onto the rowboat as we veer away from the swirling walls of water ahead of us, the ship fishtailing as we swing around to face the Jolly Roger broadside.
“Fire!” Calico Jack cries.
The entire ship rocks as the cannons let loose. I want to cover my ears, but I don’t dare let go of the rowboat. Smoke and the acrid smell of burned powder fill the air as bits of wood fly off the sides of the Jolly Roger. But it’s like a fly biting a horse—unpleasant for the horse but easy enough to ignore. The Jolly Roger keeps coming, the figurehead aiming right for us.
But we’re moving again. Backwards this time.
“Captain, the whirlpool’s got us!” a pirate yells from somewhere behind me.
“No!” Calico Jack turns the wheel in a never-ending circle, but whatever he’s doing isn’t enough. His ship can’t resist the pull of the water. My stomach clenches and cramps, and I try to pull myself into the rowboat. It’s futile. I know it is. The waves we’re being dragged into will drown everything—the Ranger and this sad little rowboat right along with it.
I get my good leg over the side and roll into the boat, the tarp beneath me as I sit up and grab the sides. When I look up again, I scream. The Jolly Roger is nearly on top of us, the mermaid’s fierce teeth right in front of me.
“Captain, they’re boarding us!” Pirates rush around me, their swords drawn.
Something swings past me, and then I see someone hit the deck in front of me, his sword swinging as he cuts down man after man. No, not someone—it’s Hook. I can tell by the fierceness of his fight, the way he moves. I can almost smell the sea spray and pine tar on him.
More men land on the deck and fight alongside him. Then I see a flash of dark hair and a ridiculously great rack. Widow. She’s here, too, fighting with a ferocity I can only envy. Theone with all the tattoos, Bill, grabs two pirates and crashes their heads together. Starkey wields his sword like he’s doing a dance, cutting and murdering with effortless flair.
Hook runs to the captain’s cabin and flings the door open, then wheels around, his gaze searching the ship. When his eyes meet mine, he stomps right toward me.
A pirate rushes him. Hook cuts him down without even turning his head, his blade slicing the man almost in two.
“There you are, lass,” he yells over the sound of the whirlpool.
Water is splashing all around now, the wall of swirling water so close I know there’s no way we can escape.
“Damn you, Hook!” Calico Jack calls, but he doesn’t come down from the wheel to fight.
Hook ignores him and reaches for me.
Shame coats me as I go to him, letting him lift me from the rowboat without protest. He’s my enemy, but if I stay here, I’m dead. I can’t help Peter if I’m at the bottom of this hellish whirlpool.
“Hang onto me, lass. Tight.”
I wrap my arms around his neck, and he helps me clasp my legs around his waist.
“Tighter,” he growls in my ear.
I squeeze, clinging to him as he reaches for a rope and lashes it around his forearm.
He turns his head and yells, “Abandon ship!” Then he yanks on the rope.
