Deadweather and Sunrise (33 page)

“Think we’d better go now,” he said.

WE NEARLY RAN aground rushing out of the harbor against the tide, but Captain Racker put oars in the hands of every man on board, Guts and me included, and we managed to row out of the shallows before the field pirates got drunk enough to start real trouble.

The farther out we got, the more frequent the sound of gunfire became, and by the time we were under sail and Port Scratch was slipping out of view, I thought I saw flames rising from one of the buildings. God only knew what shape the place would be in when I got back to it.

If I ever got back.

I took one last, good look at the black lump of the volcano, smoldering in the sun. Then I turned away from Deadweather and looked ahead, to the western horizon and the New Lands beyond.