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“No way, Cap’n. They’ve ripped out our ’ole larboard side!”
Drake closed his eyes for a split second, calling up his strength for what was to follow.
There was never a question of whether to fight. His crew was badly outnumbered. They would be slaughtered in hand-to-hand combat. And their lives were more important than anything else. Theirs and his wife’s.
The Canadian shore lay just ahead. The currents were strong, but they could make it in the lifeboats. They had to make it.
He turned toward the tense faces of his men. “Abandon ship, men,” he ordered, his own expression tormented. “We can make it to the Canadian shore in the boats before they board us.” He drew in a shaken breath. “Now!”
The men took off to ready the boats. Drake turned to Smitty. “I want Alexandria off on the first longboat,” he told him. “I don’t care if she screams and kicks all the way down. Get her on that boat!”
“Yes, Captain.”
“And I want you with her, Smitty, to keep her safe.” He shook his head sharply at Smitty’s protest. “I’ll stay behind and evacuate the crew.” He put his hand on his first mate’s shoulder. “I would prefer it to be a personal favor … but if I need to, I will make it an order, my friend.”
Smitty’s eyes were suspiciously bright. “I will see to it, Captain.”
“Thank you.”
Without another word Drake turned to help the men ready the lifeboats. Alex worked her way along the lame ship until she reached his side.
“You are leaving on the first boat,” he said without looking at her.
“Drake, no … I want to stay here with you.”
“I don’t give a damn what you want, Alexandria.” He stood glaring at her, but she saw the agony in his eyes. All around them men called out to one another, their voices tense, their faces ashen, as the boats were lowered into the water.
“I am staying,” she announced.
“Over my dead body.” His tone was lethal. “You are going if I have to heave you over the side myself. This isn’t a game, wife. Any minute the American crew is going to board this ship and try to kill us all.” He cast a worried look at the enemy vessel beside them, wondering why they hadn’t yet begun to throw their grapplings on board to lock the two ships together. They had certainly had ample time. Perhaps they didn’t know how severe the damage was they had inflicted …
Drake had barely completed the thought, when a final explosion thundered through the heavens, destroying La Belle’s remaining rigging and striking the foremast.
The crippled foremast shuddered as the stays snapped, swinging its boom forward wildly. Drake saw it happen and let out a choked warning, but it was too late. Alex saw the terror in his eyes as he leapt toward her. Before she could turn around, she felt the impact of the boom as it grazed the back of her head, propelling her over the side of the ship. And then the waters closed over her, carrying her down to certain death.
Drake was at the railing before she hit the water.
“Smitty!” he screamed. “Get the men off the ship! I’m going after her!”
He didn’t wait for Smitty’s answer, but dived over the side of the ship, cutting cleanly into the river at the spot where he had seen his wife disappear. He scanned the river for Alex, fighting the swift currents that threatened to overtake him. How could his tiny wife hope to survive?
Alex was wondering that as well. Dazed by the blow to her head, she struggled to come to the surface. An excellent swimmer, she was nonetheless weighed down by her gown and petticoat. She
kicked frantically, trying to counter their effect. Her lungs were bursting for air, her heart pounding from exertion. Just when she thought she had lost, she broke the surface of the water.
Gasping in air, she screamed Drake’s name. She could see La Belle Illusion, now farther away, slowly sinking. Beside the mutilated ship, Alex could make out the lifeboats, as the men abandoned the doomed vessel. She called for Drake again, splashing wildly as she tried to save herself, hurting at the sight of the proud ship that was now nearly submerged in the Saint Lawrence.
Drake saw it, too. But the pain he felt at seeing his beloved ship go down was overshadowed by the joy that surged within him as he heard Alex call his name, saw the splash of color in the water that was his wife.
“Alex!” he screamed back, waving frantically at her. “Hold on, love. I’m coming!”
His words, his presence, made her heart soar.
Her elation was short-lived. The currents swept her up, dragging her downriver. Her head throbbed beyond endurance, and she searched frantically for something to cling to.
It found her.
A tiny island of rock jutted just out into the water. For the second time Alex felt the impact of something solid striking her head.
