Miya Black, Pirate Princess I: Adventure Dawns (22 page)

"Most of them aren't."

"Why has Badger Pete anchored so many ships out here?" she wondered out loud.

"There are several small islands nearby. Based on the positions of the ships, it seems like a blockade."

"How do you know about—read it in a book," Miya answered her own question before Sola had a chance to. "A blockade, though ... stopping anyone from coming through, or else—wait a minute, what if these aren't Badger Pete's ships? All we're identifying them on is the Highland flag, these could be ACTUAL Highland ships."

"Would that be likely? For Highland ships to be in these waters?"

"I don't know, I don't think so. The Highland hates us, there's a standing trade embargo, you know, to or from. Dad says that's what causes a lot of the smuggling. But it wouldn't make sense to just plonk a bunch of ships down here for no reason."

"Perhaps they're trying to catch smugglers, then."

"Maybe ... that doesn't really help us, though, this ship kind of looks like a smuggler's. Actually it was, originally. That's part of why it's so fast. Dad captured it from some really bad smugglers a few years ago."

Miya looked out to sea. Without using the spyglass it was hard to see any of the ships 'surrounding' them, but just knowing they were out there irritated her.

"We could just try to sail through," she said. "We can outrun any ship. Especially brigs like these."

"Can we outrun a cannonball?"

Miya laughed. "Don't be clever."

"I think the closer one to the east has spotted us. They've changed course," said Sola, looking through the spyglass.

Miya sighed. "Oh, great."

"They've put up a signal flag. It's red and white."

"Red inside a white square?"

"Yes."

"They're asking us to identify ourselves and state our intentions," said Miya. "Rats."

"What should we do?"

Miya was gazing up at the Clover Island flag they were flying, her brow furrowed. After a moment, she clucked her tongue and ran to a long, low storage chest nailed to the deck next to her cabin.

"I'll tell them we're travelling to the Diamond Isles," she said, rummaging through the chest. "Shoot, what's the code for the Diamond Isles?"

"I have no idea."

"Me neither. I'll just have to guess. Okay, here we go."

It took a few minutes for Miya to send the message, and by the time she'd finished the other ship was within eyesight.

"I sent 'Travelling to Diamond Isles'," said Miya. "Well, 'DI'."

"Do you think that will be okay?"

There was a crack, and a thin line of white smoke rose from the distant ship.

"They FIRED at us! Sola, they just FIRED at US!"

"What do we do?"

"PREPARE TO RETURN FIRE!"

"With what?"

"Oh. Oh yeah," said Miya, a little sheepishly. There was a splash some distance away from the ship as the cannonball hit the water. "They're still well out of range, that was a warning shot," she muttered. "What are they warning against? COMMUNICATE BETTER, YOU GOONS!"

"Perhaps they think we're smugglers."

"It doesn't matter what they think, we've got to focus on the facts here. They're firing at us. We've got to get through them." Miya bit her lip as the CRACK of another cannon shot sounded out, then glanced up at the mast. "Get to the wheel," she said, decisively. "Be ready to turn on my command."

Miya took the spyglass from Sola as he headed for the wheel, then she climbed up the mast to the crow's nest, wincing a few times as her shoulder gave a twinge. Once in the nest, she looked around.

"South-east, turn us hard to starboard!" she called down to Sola. "We'll show these mooks what we're made of!"

There was a splash in the water, uncomfortably nearby.

"Perhaps literally," Sola called back.

Miya grinned as she climbed out of the crow's nest, the ship creaking as it turned in the water.

"That's far enough, straighten her out," she called down, before looking through the spyglass. "They're turning, trying to come in to broadside us ... good. They underestimated us. Hang on, I'm gonna catch us some more speed."

Miya scrambled over the rigging, trimming the sails for their new course. Gradually the Black Swan picked up more and more speed, until it was skimming through the water. Miya held onto the rigging about halfway up the mast, hanging off by her left hand, swinging the spyglass around to look.

"Haha! No way they're gonna catch us now, they played their card too soon. So long, losers!"

Miya waved to the other ship, ignoring the fact that they couldn't possibly see her.

"Miya, I can see more ships close by."

"It's fine, I think most of them are anchored," she said, looking around with the spyglass. "Um ... oh, wait a moment ..."

"It's not too late to head back west, it still seems clear that way."

"Go back? Lose time? No!"

"Then what?"

Miya thought a moment.

"Sand bars!" she said. "We're much lighter, much higher in the water than those heavy warships all loaded down with cannons and such. They'd never be able to follow us into a bunch of sand bars! Genius!"

"We're in the open ocean," said Sola. "There are no sand bars out here."

"Still though, it's such a good idea!"

Miya thought another moment, then nodded.

"Push through!" she called.

"How?"

Miya looked at the ships heading towards them, her expression set.

"Give me the wheel," she said, climbing down then jumping up to the stern deck. "And here, keep an eye on those ships." Miya thrust the spyglass into Sola's arms before she took up the wheel. Her stern expression cracked as she felt the wood under her hands.

"Let's give 'em something to think about," she said, grinning, the ship creaking loudly as she pushed it to turn hard. She patted the wheel. "Come on, don't complain."

"One ship south, one north, one north-east, two north-west, two south-east," said Sola. "That I can see. All are heading towards us."

Miya nodded as she straightened out the ship. "North, then," she said.

"There are four ships that way," said Sola. "Including the one we just escaped from."

"I have a plan," said Miya. "One of the northern ships is closer than the others, right?"

"Yes."

"And there's another to the east of that one, right?"

"Yes."

"Those are the two we engage. We can't avoid all of them, there's no way, so we pick our fight. That closer ship? I'm calling it the chicken. The other ship's the ... the rabbit. If we go for the gap we'll be in cannon range of both and they'll tear us to pieces," said Miya, with a small shiver. "But if we can outsail the chicken, we should be okay."

"If even one cannonball hits us, we could sink," said Sola, as cannon-fire sounded out around them.

"I know that," snapped Miya, as a series of loud splashes sounded in the distance. "Don't be so—wait, why would they be trying to sink us, anyway? If these are Badger Pete's ships, shouldn't they be pirating? Using chain or grape shot to cripple us, then board and loot? Sinking a ship's exactly what pirates SHOULDN'T be doing, not until they've looted it anyway."

"Perhaps the reason for the warning shots," said Sola. "Or perhaps you were right and these are actually Highland ships."

More large splashes around them brought their focus back to the task at hand.

"Okay," Miya said, gripping the wheel tightly as more cracks sounded out, "this is kind of getting scary now. Why are they so serious about sinking us? Gimme the spyglass a moment."

Miya looked through it, frowning, looking from one ship to the next, then she handed it back to Sola and spun the wheel.

"I changed my mind, we're heading for the rabbit. It's not turning as quickly as that other one, I think we've got a better chance with—"

There was a sickening splintering noise and both Miya and Sola were thrown to the deck. Miya was the first to recover, standing and jumping down to the main deck, where a cannonball was lodged a quarter-way through the wood—it had hit them right at the end of its arc, having already lost much of its power.

"My deck! They hit my deck! YOU SCOUNDRELS!" screamed Miya, shaking her fists at the attacking ships. "YOU DAMN POLTROONS! I'LL HAVE YOUR SMELLY HIDES FOR THIS! Why don't I have a cannon on this ship?" she muttered, stomping angrily back to the wheel. "Just one cannon. I'D TAKE YOU ALL ON!"

Miya held the wheel a moment before shaking her head and letting it go again, heading for the mast.

"Sola, you take the wheel, steer us straight towards the rabbit, dead straight. I'm catching us some better wind. We'll need as much as we can get."

Miya clambered up into the rigging while Sola kept the ship on a straight course for the ship Miya had named 'rabbit'.

"Straight, Sola! Straight, I said! Hang on, you're going to feel some juddering for a moment, hold her steady, she's—"

Miya's next words were drowned by a deafening roar, the air just off the starboard side of the ship igniting in a tremendous fireball, a broadside from the chicken.

"FIRESHOT! YOU COWARDLY DOGS BETTER NOT SINGE MY SHIP! This'll be harder to avoid, Sola, keep her straight, I'm—PORT! HARD TO PORT! HARD AS YOU CAN, SHE CAN TAKE IT! RABBIT'S TRYING TO BROADSIDE US!"

Miya leapt down from the rigging and joined Sola at the wheel, pushing together with him to send the ship listing heavily to the side as it turned.

"Keep pushing! They're about to fire, I don't—GET DOWN!"

Miya threw herself down as she yelled the warning, another deafening roar filling her ears, this one accompanied by a hail of burning splinters and hot sparks.

"We caught the edge of a fireshot broadside!" she yelled, on her feet instantly, running to the off-deck storage room and throwing an armful of buckets out onto the deck before rolling a large barrel of water after them and kicking out the stopper. She looked up and gasped as she saw the damage the shot had done to the ship's sails, then hardened her expression, grabbed a bucket and filled it, leapt into the rigging and flung the water over the still-flaming sail.

"GRAB A BUCKET!" she yelled to Sola as she dropped down to the deck once more—he was just getting up. "HELP ME PUT OUT—no, belay that! Get to the wheel! HARD TO STARBOARD! NOW!"

The chicken was turning
towards
them, while the other one—the rabbit—was turning away.

"They're trying to trap us between them! We've got to get closer to the chicken!"

Miya grabbed another bucket of water as more cracks sounded out around them, then she was in the rigging again, dowsing the flames as she yelled out—

"They're not ready to fire, they need time to reload, we've got enough momentum to get past before they can turn, trust me!"

"I do," said Sola, just loud enough that Miya could hear. She smiled grimly as she adjusted a nearby sail, catching just the tiniest bit more wind with it.

"Every bit helps," she muttered, before frowning as she noticed a small fire burning above her. She slapped at it with her bare hands until it went out, then went down for more water. She was about to leap back up into the rigging when her eyes widened.

"GET—" she managed, before she was drenched in water, a cannonball broadside hitting off the starboard.

"TURN TOWARDS THEM!" Miya yelled, even before she got up. "TOWARDS CHICKEN!"

They shot through the water, despite the damage to the sails, close enough to the enemy ship almost to hear the jeers and taunts of the crew. Miya stood against the railing, leaning out as far as she could, hurling abuse at them.

"BASTARDS! YOU BASTARDS! I'M GONNA COME BACK AND MAKE YOU EAT YOUR OWN FIRESHOT YOU SHIP-MUTILATING SCUM! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR BREAKING MY SHIP!"

In response, chicken fired another broadside salvo, but the Black Swan was too far past by a long margin.

"THAT WAS
NEVER
GONNA HIT US! HAH! YOU LOSE, LOSERS!"

Miya laughed hard and loud at the chicken, then turned her head, narrowing her eyes as she ran to the opposite railing. Rabbit was too far away to hit them with anything now—they still tried, a final broadside falling embarrassingly short, but then they were free of both ships and through, wounded but alive.

"They won't catch us now."

Sola turned away from looking up at the damaged sails to look at Miya. She was standing, watching the two ships they'd just outsailed, her hair a mess—at some point her bandanna had come off, and in several places her hair was singed from fighting the fires in the rigging. She had numerous scrapes and small cuts over her arms and on her face, and her clothes and skin were blackened and dirty. Her shirt was white no longer, bloodied and blackened and ripped, missing one sleeve entirely, and the previously clean bandage around her shoulder was beginning to come undone. As Miya absently raised a hand to touch a burn on her cheek, Sola noticed that her hands were red and burnt from beating at flames.

Miya turned to look at Sola, shrugged one shoulder with a helpless little smile, then she turned to pull herself back up into the rigging. Sola took the wheel once more, watching his sister carefully as she trimmed what remained of the sails—her actions were stiff and slightly awkward, in stark contrast to the usual grace and ease with which she enthusiastically leapt around the rigging.

After she'd finished tying down the loose sail, and had made sure everything was as good as it was going to get, Miya dropped down onto the deck, walked to the bow of the ship, and looked back up at the damaged mast. She stood there for a long moment, her expression blank, then she collapsed to her knees, face buried in her hands, sobbing her heart out.

*

The pursuing ships had quickly broken off the chase, most likely after realising that even with only half her sails the Black Swan could easily outsail them. Miya sat at the bow, legs dangling over the edge, one on each side of the bowsprit, staring out ahead, two clean lines down her blackened face the only sign that she'd been crying.

"We need to get the sails repaired," she said flatly, as Sola tentatively approached her.

"Do you have the supplies on board?"