Page 60 of The Cornish Widow

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The boom of the gun, when it came, reverberated across the expanse of sea between The Dolphin and her prey. Water sprayed up about a hundred yards ahead of The Fly’s bows. A warning shot only, to encourage them to heave to and allow the larger ship to come alongside them. Jack peered into the gloom, trying to make out their pursuer and only finding her by the lights she was showing. She had no reason to hide, unlike The Fly. But if that was all that made her visible to him, then her captain would have even more difficulty in locating The Fly. He’d be firing blindly in the direction he thought they lay, and he wasn’t far off in his aim. In fact, he was even more dangerous if he couldn’t see them than if he could.

“Prepare to come about.” Jack kept his command to Daniel Bussow low. All the men were making as little noise as possible. Anything to stop the crew of The Dolphin divining where they lay. Not that he thought their hunter would be able to hear anything above the sound of the waves and the wind in the sails and shrouds. But caution was not to be scorned.

Jack glanced at where Harriet remained seated with Theo, holding onto him as if she thought at any moment he’d be snatched away. Good. One thing she possessed in quantity was common sense, even if she had hidden in the hold of his ship.

Coming about changed the line The Fly was following. Hopefully, The Dolphin’s captain would assume they were still beating for the safety of the coast as fast as they could, where they’d be harder to spot with the cliffs behind them, even if it would be more dangerous thanks to all the hidden rocks. Perhaps, under cover of the friendly darkness, they could double back behind The Dolphin and lose her. Although her captain might decide to hang around nearer the coast hoping to catch them at first light. Jack would just have to make sure they were safely in harbor by then and empty of their cargo. Holing the barrels and chucking them overboard was a last resort he didn’t intend to have to turn to.

A second shot fell astern of The Fly, a bit too close for comfort this time. They must be nearly a mile away, at the extreme range of their guns, but if they scored a hit they might sink The Fly without even knowing they’d done it.

Will swung down out of the rigging where he’d been trying to watch their hunter. “Shall we get the swivel guns out?”

Jack shook his head. “If it comes to an all-out battle, they vastly outgun us, and our little guns don’t have the range their big ones do. We’d lose, and probably some of us would die.” He looked again at Harriet and Theo. The last thing he wanted was these two becoming collateral damage.

Will nodded, his face a pale blur in the darkness. “We could put the widow and her boy below decks.”

“Just as dangerous. When the master of the Dolphin realizes we’re not stopping, he’s likely to order his men to fire for the body of the ship as it’s easier to hit. No, our stowaways had best stay on deck. We’re not in danger of being caught yet, so they’re safe enough there.” He glanced around the deck. “And it’s getting darker with every minute they don’t catch up with us. Let’s just hope the moon doesn’t give us away.”

Will nodded. “Which way d’you want to head?”

Jack grinned. “Towards them. But to the south. They won’t expect us to do that. They’ll be thinking we’ll head west to run for the coast further along, to cut around the Lizard and Lands’ End and get away from them. If we head east instead, and get past them in the dark, we can turn north again before they realize we’ve done it. In fact, I’m hoping they won’t realize at all and will head for Lands’ End themselves.” He glanced up at their full set of sails straining in the wind, billowing out in their efforts to drive the ship forward. “We’ve two and a half thousand square feet of sail. We’ve speed and maneuverability on our side. They’re bigger than us, but they don’t have the minds of smugglers. We can do this.”

Young Harry had been on the tiller a while, so Jack took over from him, and Will went to stand in the bows, staring towards where they both thought the sloop must be heading. Jack bit his lip. If they got it wrong… how ridiculous would it be to crash into the Dolphin in the dark? That would be bad luck indeed.

All the crew were now on deck, ready to adjust the sails at a moment’s notice, all of them with their eyes straining into the darkness for any sign of their pursuer. Had she extinguished her lights? Jack would have done so himself had he been in her captain’s place. Trying to sneak up on her prey. But her prey was wily as a fox.

“Shouldn’t have a woman on board,” Uncle Billy muttered under his breath, but just loud enough for Jack to catch. “She done brought bad luck on us.”

Jack rounded on him. “An old wives tale. I’ll have none of your superstitions on board my ship. If I hear that sort of thing again, this’ll be the last time you sail with me. Now get below and fix us something to eat and drink.”

Uncle Billy, scowling, shut up, but Jack could tell he hadn’t stopped ruminating over the old saying.

Young Harry gave Uncle Billy a shove towards the cabin. “Give over. You’re talking like an old woman. How d’you think passenger ships and packet boats manage? They take women, don’t they?” He chuckled. “Show a bit of the common sense you might’ve been born with, can’t you?”

With a grunt and a mutter about not being called old by a whippersnapper, Uncle Billy disappeared below to the cabin. It was his job to keep the crew fed and they were going to need it tonight.

Jack shook his head in bewilderment that anyone could think a woman could bring bad luck. But then again, this was the first time they’d encountered a revenue sloop on this bit of the sea…

The night wore on, only the flap of the sails above their heads breaking the comparative silence on board. Ears strained. Eyes strained. Everyone stayed quiet. Even the exuberant Theo remained silent, nestled against his mother’s side.

Jack relinquished the tiller to Will and went to take his position forward. The clouds that had covered the horizon had spread across the night sky, obscuring the stars, and only now and then allowing the waning hemisphere of the moon to peek through. Which was both good and bad. Little light for their pursuer to see them by, but also little light for them to see her, or where they were headed. Would it be wise to try to get into the tiny inlet at Bessie’s while as good as blind? He’d been sailing from there all his life, and knew the narrow passage as well as his own home, but if you couldn’t see, you couldn’t see. And he had Harriet on board… and a child.

He’d think about that when the moment came.

Instead, his thoughts wandered unbidden to that kiss and the way she’d reacted. For a moment, he’d thought she’d liked being kissed. He’d kept his hands to himself and made it gentle and undemanding, wary of frightening her off. He’d felt her mouth soften under his, her lips parting… and then… it had been as though he’d bitten her, not kissed her.

Jack was no head doctor or alienist to assess why she’d reacted like that, but he could have a good guess, and the answer he came up with didn’t bear thinking about. But he had to. Whatever her husband had done to her, it had gone deeper than just bullying and a few blows. He’s scarred her mentally as well as physically, and he was going to have to approach her even more gently than he’d first thought. If they survived the night without being thrown in jail… or sunk.

He grinned to himself. What was he doing, doubting his abilities like this? Of course they were going to get away from the revenue men. They always did. They were one tiny ship in a vast ocean of nothingness and for The Dolphin to come upon them in the dark, the luck of the sea god would have to be with her captain. And Jack was pretty sure the sea god was on his side, not theirs. He cast a glance back at Harriet and Theo, still sitting upright on the hatch cover, but now wrapped in a blanket one of the men had fetched them.

*

“I’m tired,” Theowhispered.

Harriet nodded. “I am too, but I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to go to sleep. Not just yet.”

He stifled a yawn. “Are you frightened, Mama?”