AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Until he looked up and saw the curtains decorating his windows.
His stomach lurched.
Nay! Surely she hadn’t…
Oh, yes, she had!
His anger igniting, he charged to his ruined sails. “What the hell have you done now?” he roared.
Serenity came awake with a small cry of alarm. She looked to him and her demeanor instantly changed to one of relief. “Oh, it’s just you.”
“Yes,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s just me. The man who’s now going tokillyou.”
Instead of being alarmed, she lifted one eyebrow curiously. “Kill me?”
Morgan clenched his teeth. This was the last thing he needed. He had an unidentified ship heading straight for him. A ship that appeared friendly, but on the open seas, there wasn’t such a thing as a friendly ship. Even though it flew the American flag, it could still be pirates or anyone else flying under a phantom flag.
“Do you realize, Miss James, that the material you used for yourcurtainshappens to be the canvas for sail repair?”
She gave him a huffy glare. “Are you saying you only have two sails on board a ship this size?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“You’re not amusing, Captain Drake,” she said in a dismissive tone. “I know for a fact that ships carry entire rooms full of spare sails. Why, you’re trying—”
“Our spare sails were damaged in a storm that ripped a hole in the helm where they were stored,” he interrupted. “The two in my trunk were the only two that were salvageable.”
Uh-ohwas written plainly on her face as she realized what she’d done.
Before Morgan could say anything more, Kit stuck his head in the door. “Beg pardon, Captain. Lou says the sloop is making haste straight for us. We be needing a flag or they’re sure to think we’re pirates.”
Morgan’s gaze narrowed as he continued to stare at Serenity. “I’ll deal with you later.”
He crossed the room to his desk drawer, pulled out a key, then went to the trunk he had next to the door. Morgan threw back the lid. Searching through the folded material, he located an American flag.
Morgan stopped at the door. “Keep her out of trouble, Kit. If she touches anything else in my room, toss her overboard.”
Kit’s eyes widened. “Aye, Captain Drake.”
Morgan pinned Serenity with his hostile gaze. “I mean those words, Miss James.”
Instead of being concerned, she just rolled her eyes.
Grumbling under his breath, Morgan headed topside.
“What did you do to get the captain so steamed, Miss James?” Kit asked.
Serenity pushed herself off the bunk, and pointed to the windows with her thumb. “I made curtains with the sails.”
Kit’s eyes widened even more. “Miss James, didn’t you know better?”
“I do now,” she said with a sigh. Wishing she had given her actions more thought, Serenity picked up the flags and clothing Morgan had left strewn on the floor.
She noticed Morgan had four flags—from Ireland, France, Britain, and Spain. “Why does Captain Drake have all these?” she asked as they refolded them.
Kit showed her where to place them in the trunk. “If a ship flies a friendly flag, then most approaching ships will let it pass without conflict.”
“And if a ship doesn’t fly a friendly flag?”
