AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Monk glanced at his men. They were all motionless, waiting. Hooper had a pistol and the cutlass. Orme and Laker both had pistols.
‘Don’t waste your shot,’ Monk said quietly. He indicated where each man was to stand near the hatch, far enough from it not to get caught by stray bullets.
‘Watch the side, Laker,’ he ordered. ‘If anyone comes up out of the water, or from one of their boats, fire a warning shot, then the next one to kill. If they come up behind us we’re dead.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Laker did not argue. His face was pale in the dawn, his eyes steady. He moved slightly so he had a clear view of the whole east-facing deck.
Another shot came through the hatch, splintering wood.
No one moved.
The butt end of a musket smashed the already weakened centre of the hatch. The next moment a gun barrel came out and fired at a sharp, low angle. The bullet hit no one and went off over the water, passing close to Bathurst.
Monk held up his hand to prevent any of his men from responding.
It was so quiet they could hear the slurp of the water against the hull, and the dull thump of a piece of driftwood hitting the beams.
Then there was another bump, louder, as of a weight brushing against the hull.
Laker stiffened, squaring his shoulders, holding his gun towards the source of the sound.
There was a noise of men moving below the hatch.
Laker fired, the shot sounding like a cannon in the silence.
Someone burst through the shattered hatch, firing blindly. At the same moment, Laker shot at the man boarding up over the side. He fell with a scream. A moment later they heard the smack as he hit the water below, and the splash as the water subsided.
Monk wanted to tell Bathurst to go, get out of the way. He had no idea how many of the gunrunners there were in the hold, or of the pirates boarding from the east. One man alone at the oars would have no chance.
Monk swung around, making for the west side of the deck. His instinct was to shout a warning. Bathurst wouldn’t know the shots were fired at boarders on the far side. But if Monk shouted down to him, he would warn everyone he was there, and leave Bathurst undefended.
He turned back and saw a huge, bearded man scramble out of the hatch and roll sideways on to the deck, a pistol in his hands. Hooper had his back to him, aiming his own gun at another boarder who was climbing hand over hand up the mizzen rigging. If he got high enough, he would have a bird’s-eye view of the entire deck and every man on it.
Hooper shot at him and missed. The wind was rising and the ship rolled just enough to take the man a yard to the left as the mast swayed.
The bearded man on deck raised his pistol and aimed at Hooper.
Laker, a dozen yards forward of them all, raised his gun, fired, and sent the man sprawling back, blood gushing from his throat. It was a brilliant shot, or a lucky one. His gun fell to the deck. Orme lunged forward and kicked it away, far out of his reach.
Without hesitating Hooper adjusted his aim and shot at the man on the rigging. This time he caught the man’s shoulder and for an instant he swung wide, holding on by one arm, then he crashed into the sea, sending up a huge spray of water.
Another man was away up the rigging. He held the ropes with one hand and his gun with the other.
A second man was coming out of the smashed open hatchway, straight at Laker.
Laker saw him and froze.
The second man on the rigging also aimed at him.
Monk lowered his gun because he could not fire at the man in the hatchway without hitting Laker.
The ship was beginning to roll a little with the freshening wind.
The man in the hatch straightened up, lifting the barrel of his gun. The man on the rigging looked at Monk, half-sheltered from him by one of the yards, and turned back to the deck.
Orme seized a coiled rope and flung it across the deck.
It caught Laker in the middle of his body just as the man in the hatchway fired, and the deck erupted in splinters where Laker had been. Hooper took one of the men on the rigging, and Monk took the other. One of them got caught in the ropes and swung grotesquely by one leg. The other crashed to the deck and lay motionless, blood spreading around him.
