by Jamie Davis
The door opened and Jackie, Captain Hitchcock’s wife, stood in the doorway silhouetted by lamplight coming from inside the home. “Cari, my dear, how nice to see you.”
The woman took in the scene behind Cari, seeing all the others in the cart. “What brings you to our home with all of your friends in that strange little cart? Is everything all right?”
“Jackie, can we come inside? There’s been some trouble up at Crandall’s house and we had to get away in a hurry. There was a mob of people demanding for us to be turned over to them.”
“Day Ivarson, that bastard,” Jackie said, guessing who was behind the mob. “When I get my hands on that man, I’m going to remind him that I used to change his diapers when he was little. How he got to be a captain and stay there in that job when he’s such a bastard, I’ll never understand.”
“We can worry about that later, Jackie, can we come inside?”
“Of course, my dear, come on in. You know you’re always welcome in our home. After all, it was you who rescued us from the Sultanate compound when we were hostages. My family and I owe you our lives.”
Six months before, Cari and her crew had rescued Jackie and other Raider hostages who’d been held prisoner by the Duke of Charon’s friends to the south. They were imprisoned to coax the Raiders into attacking ships and villages up and down the western coast of the empire. With the return of the hostages, Cari was able to convince the council of captains to stop their piracy and turn back to peaceful merchant endeavors.
Cari beckoned to her friends in the cart. They unloaded in a hurry and darted inside. As Cari followed the last of them inside, Captain Hitchcock came out of his study into the central hallway. “Cari, you look concerned. What are you all doing here? What’s wrong?”
“Day Ivarson has managed to gather enough captains behind him to attempt to overthrow Crandall’s hold on the council. Given what Day plans to do, I thought it best for us to get out of there while we could. I’m hoping you and Jackie can help us get off the island. It’s not safe for us here anymore.”
“Of course, I will do anything I can to help you. The problem is that my ship is currently being overhauled and it’s not going to be able to sail anywhere for several days.”
“That’s not the ship I’m thinking of,” Cari said.
“What ship did you have in mind?”
“I’m going to take Crandall’s racing schooner, the Sailfish.”
Captain Hitchcock pursed his lips and shook his head. “He’s not going to be very happy about you taking that toy of his.”
“We’ve got to get away from here fast. And I don’t think we should be in a vessel the others could easily catch if they followed after us. In the racing schooner, we’ll be able to outrun anything that might try to follow us from here and the other islands nearby.”
“That’s true. But the three of you and the two children aren’t going to be able to crew that vessel all by yourselves.”
“That’s why she’s here, husband,” Jackie said, guessing their reason for stopping. “Cari needs our help once again gathering a few loyal crew members. Isn’t that right, Cari?
Cari nodded.
Captain Hitchcock scratched his head in thought, then nodded in return. “I suppose there are a few of my crew I could recommend, but I’d have to tell them what was going on. I can’t send them into trouble like this blindly. If they decide not to go, they’ll still know what you’re planning on doing. Are you alright with that?”
“I don’t have a choice,” Cari said. “We’ve got to get off this island. I’ll take whatever crew I can get.”
Captain Hitchcock agreed with her. “Alright, you all stay here. Jackie will get you something to eat and keep you safe from prying eyes. I’ll head out and see what I can do about gathering a crew. You shouldn’t need more than four or five people for that schooner. I don’t think that’ll be too hard for me to find.”
Captain Hitchcock grabbed his coat and hat and headed out the door, pulling it shut behind him.
Jackie smiled at them all and pointed towards the back of the house. “Come along. The cook just finished making dinner. There’s plenty for everyone. I want you all to eat your fill. Lord knows when you’ll get another decent meal.”
Cari smiled and followed Jackie back towards the kitchen and the smell of delicious food wafting from it. The others tagged along behind her.
An hour later, Cari pushed back from her seat at the table and leaned back in her chair smiling upward at the ceiling. The fried potatoes and fish reminded her of the fish and chips she would occasionally get from a pub at home, and she’d probably eaten more than she should have.
Like Jackie said, though, there was no telling when she’d get a meal like it again with everything laying before them. She planned on being on this journey for quite some time once they left Cairn Island.
Cari smiled at her hostess and said, “Jackie that was wonderful. I’m going to miss having dinner here.”
“Hopefully, Cari, you’ll be able to return someday and stay as long as you wish.”
Cari reached out and raised her wine glass. “I’ll drink to that.”
Jackie raised her glass, as did Helen and Francesca. The four adults toasted to better times. As they all drank from their glasses, the front door opened and closed. Cari stood up, her hand drifting to her sword’s hilt. She hoped it was just Captain Hitchcock returning. She could hear more than one voice, though, and that concerned her.
She relaxed when she saw the captain enter the room. He was followed by six sailors, two women and four men.
“I was able to find these six. They are all able sailors and will serve you well. We do however need to get moving. One of the people I stopped to recruit turned me down and he seemed a little cagey about his answer when I pressed him. I have to wonder if he is one of those siding with Captain Ivarson. It’s probably best if we get you back on the road to the harbor. We need to get you all on that schooner before it’s too late.”
“We can’t afford to get caught here this far from the harbor by that mob. We’ll never fight our way through,” Cari said. “We need to get moving now. Percy, go out and make sure the horse and cart are still hitched out front. Get it ready to go.”
“Aye, ma’am.” The boy raced off to attend to his task.
Cari turned to address the new recruits for her crew. “I thank you all for volunteering to come and help us. It means a lot that you are willing to risk everything in this way.”
One of the women in the group stepped forward with a broad smile. “I was just angry I couldn’t sail with you before, ma’am. I would’ve joined up in an instant if my ship had been in harbor at the time. I’m glad Captain Hitchcock came and found me.”
“What’s your name?”
“I am Sylvie. I was the second mate on Captain Hitchcock’s most recent voyage.”
“Are you sure you can do without her, captain?” Cari asked.
“I’ll do just fine. She’ll be a perfect person to back up Miss Doolan while you’re sailing. She’s also pretty good in a fight, all of them are.”
“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to a fight. Let’s get going. We still have to steal that schooner and get it out to sea before anyone catches us.”
“Might I recommend that we go on ahead and get the schooner ready for you, ma’am?” Silvie said.
“That’s a good idea. A group as large as all of us might draw more attention. It would be better for us to split up,” Cari said. “You all go first. I will trust you to get the ship ready. Get everything ready to go and be prepared to cast off in a hurry. We might be on the run when we get there.”
“Aye, aye, ma’am,” Silvie said. “Come on, you all. You heard the captain. We’ve got work to do.” With a nod, the woman led the other five back out towards the front door.
“She seems able enough,” Cari said after the group left. “Are the other five as capable as she is?”
“They are. I’ll actually miss hav
ing them with me on my next voyage. But I think they are better served sailing with you and helping you get this young lady back to her great-grandmother.”
Jaycee smiled at the mention of her great-grandmother. “I can’t wait to see grandma. It has been so long I almost don’t remember what she looks like.”
“Hopefully, you’ll see her in a little over a month,” Cari said. “Finish up your cookies. It’s time for us to leave.”
Chapter 3
Cari gave their new crew members a half hour head start, then she and the others loaded back on their small cart and prepared to ride into town.
“I wish you Godspeed on your journey, Captain Dix.” Captain Hitchcock held out his hand and clasped wrists with Cari as she leaned down from the cart’s seat.
“Thank you, Captain. Without your help, we wouldn’t be going anywhere. I hope we see you again soon.”
“We would like that very much,” Jackie said. “My husband and I will be waiting for you to return. You can tell us of your further adventures. Take care of that little girl.”
“That’s the plan.” Cari sat up and shook the reins, slapping them down on the horse’s back. The cart lurched forward.
As soon as they cleared the front gate of Captain Hitchcock’s home, they turned right to head down the coast road towards the harbor. Cari cautioned the others. “Keep your eyes open. We don’t want to get caught by surprise. I don’t like what Captain Hitchcock said about that one crewman who balked at joining us. It could be nothing, or it could spell a big problem for our plans to get to the harbor unnoticed.”
The others nodded and set to keeping an eye out on either side of the cart as Cari continued down the dirt track. They hadn’t gone far into the outskirts of town before a voice called out from behind them.
“There they are! I told you they were at Captain Hitchcock’s. Come on we have to catch them!”
Cari looked over her shoulder and saw a group of five men on horseback begin galloping up the road behind them. “Damn, on those horses they’re going to catch up quick. Be ready, everyone.”
Cari slapped the reins down harder across the horse’s back. The horse began to gallop down through the outskirts of town towards the harbor.
She kept the cart upright somehow despite the way they bounced along the dirt road. It was close to tipping over a few times but she managed to stabilize them again just in time. Cari realized when they reached the cobblestone streets in the center of town, they were going to have to slow down or the rickety cart would probably fall apart.
She didn’t have to worry about that, though. The horsemen caught up to them and one of them raced ahead and grabbed the cart horse’s bridle, pulling the jostling cart to a stop. Cari stood up and drew her sword and dagger as did Helen, Francesca, and even Percy.
One of the men rode up next to her side of the cart and swung his cutlass at her head. Cari parried the slashing attack with her dagger and thrust forward with the point of her rapier, driving her sword through the man’s chest. She pierced his heart in one stroke. With a groan, he fell from the saddle to the hard-packed dirt of the road.
* * *
2,500 experience awarded
* * *
Cari turned to screams of alarm from the back of the cart. Percy was holding his own against one of the horsemen with his cutlass. She was glad to see their sword practices over the last few weeks had paid off.
Another of the men had reached down and grabbed Jaycee by the leg. He dragged her towards the back of the cart.
The little girl kicked at the hand that held her ankle, but she was unable to dislodge it.
Cari put a hand on the back of the wagon seat and vaulted over it into the rear of the cart. She slashed downward with her sword at the arm holding the little girl. “Let go of her, you bastard.”
The man saw her attack coming and let go of the princess before Cari’s sword was able to connect.
With his other hand, he swung an awkward blow down at her from the other side of his horse, trying to catch her at the extension of her lunge. Cari barely managed to pull back in time to avoid the attack.
“We have to finish them fast,” Cari called out. “They’re only going to draw others to us.”
Behind Cari, Helen and Francesca managed to each finish off one of the attackers.
Cari was particularly impressed with how good Francesca was with the blade. She’d learned a great deal since she’d first joined the crew of the Vengeance. She looked particularly fierce with the eyepatch she wore. It reminded Cari how she lost her eye fighting at Cari’s side last year.
With only two attackers left, Cari was confident they would finish them off. Cari turned to help Percy finish of his attacker. The boy had impressively been holding his own but the man he was fighting was bigger and stronger. It was only a matter of time before he overcame the boy’s defenses.
Cari reached out and slashed downward with her dagger, blocking a blow that might have killed the boy. She stepped over to interpose herself between the two and called over her shoulder at Percy. “Get Jaycee to safety over there in the alley. We’ll be right behind you. Francesca, go with him. Helen and I have these other two.”
Helen had jumped in the back to stand beside Cari and together they fought the two remaining horsemen. Cari finished hers off with a thrust to his throat though she took a hit to her side that drew blood.
* * *
Health damage — health -8
2,500 experience awarded
* * *
Helen was still fighting her opponent and Cari came over to assist.
She jumped down from the cart’s rear platform and reached up to pull the man down from his horse. He must’ve realized he was outnumbered because he wheeled his horse around and broke away. Cari started to give chase but stopped short as he raced off into the darkness.
“I managed to get a hit in as he turned about, Captain,” Helen said. “I’m not sure if it was enough to kill him, though.”
“It’ll have to do, Helen. Come on, let’s get to the others. If he does live, he’s going to bring help, and bring it fast.”
Together the two women headed towards the alley where Francesca guarded Percy and Jaycee.
“We’ll leave the cart here for now. We’re not that far from the harbor and we can proceed the rest of the way just as quickly on foot. Let’s stay to the back of this row of houses along the alley and see if we can avoid the main streets until we get closer to the docks.”
Cari took the lead followed by Helen, then Jaycee, and Percy. Francesca brought up the rear turning to watch their backs as she followed the others. They continued along the alleyway until they reached an intersection with the main thoroughfare. Cari heard loud, angry voices to the left towards the center of town.
Holding up her hand to halt the others, she moved to the edge of the alleyway and glanced around the corner to see who was there.
Cari saw the trouble right away. In the distance, there was a large crowd of people coming down the main street from up the hill in the direction of Captain Wheldon’s home. Just beyond them, she saw flames and smoke rising above the trees. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like they’d set Captain Wheldon’s home on fire. “Bastards.”
“What is it, ma’am,” Percy asked.
“Looks like Captain Wheldon wasn’t able to calm the crowd. I hope he’s all right. I think they set fire to his house when they didn’t find us there. This sucks. I wish we could go back and help them, but we have to get Jaycee to safety. Come on, the crowd is heading this way.” Cari turned and led them to the right down the harbor road. Gas lamps lit the way, but they were few and far between. There were plenty of shadows in which to hide.
Cari looked ahead at the masts of the ships jutting up over the roofs ahead of them. It wasn’t too far now. They only had to go a few more blocks.
They were about a block away from the harbor when they ran into trouble again. This time a group of four thugs stood in front of them guarding t
he intersection. Clearly, they were set in place to watch out for Cari and her crew.
The men pointed in her direction as soon as they appeared. “There they are, get them!”
“Percy, get Jaycee and head back down that alley we just passed. You should be able to cut around this intersection and get to the Sailfish from there. We’ll hold these attackers off and meet you there. Don’t let anything happened to her.”
“I won’t, ma’am. You can count on me.”
Cari turned around, drawing her weapons again just in time to bat aside the first sweeping attack from one of the cutlasses.
It was three of her team against four of them and Cari set herself in position to take on two of them at one time. That left one each for Helen and Francesca.
Cari dodged the first attack by leaning to one side and then caught the second attack on the edge of her rapier blade while trying to follow up with an uppercut dagger thrust into the first attacker’s abdomen. It didn’t connect, but it forced him to dance backward to avoid the blade.
That gave Cari an opportunity to take on the second attacker one on one for a few seconds. She drove in with a flurry of attacks to try and get past his guard. She managed to strike home with her dagger. A quick thrust upward into his abdomen pierced his heart and the man fell backward with a groan.
* * *
2,500 experience awarded
* * *
Cari hadn’t been paying attention and lost track of the first attacker. He managed to get a blade in with a thrust at her back before she could counter.
She managed to turn aside just in time to avoid the worst of the blow, but she still felt the stabbing pain from the tip of the blade.
* * *
