Dragon Clan #6: Anna's Story

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The helmsman spun the wheel, and the ship started a wide turn. It straightened and surged ahead like it had just awakened from a long nap. Anna’s people gathered on the foredeck, laughing and joking while they strung their bows and laid out arrows within easy reach. They acted as if they were going to a party instead of a battle.

Anna still stole glances at the Captain. He didn’t feel their confidence. He stood stiffly at attention, but a slight tremor in his hands betrayed him. A Captain should be concerned with his ship and people. Trusting a young girl had to be an alien experience.

She said for his ears alone, “I know what I’m doing.”

“We all hope so.” His voice was soft and dry.

“The Rose can outrun them. All we have to do is get ahead. Without archers, I have no doubt this ship with you as the master could evade them long enough to find a way past that ship ahead. A turn of the wheel, putting on more sail, or whatever. You only need one pass, and they will never catch up. With night coming on you’d be away by dawn.”

Captain Jameson glared at her as if she was the cause of the problems. “If you were not here, that is what I’d do, but never in my command experience would I direct my ship at the enemy. I would try to escape.”

“You would try to escape. I am setting up a circumstance that will promise escape.”

“So you say.” He looked away and watched the other ship growing larger as they raced to it.

So much for trying to make the Captain feel better. Instead of talking, she stood further to one side and waited. She glanced up at the top of the masts where more sail waited. If the Captain fully understood, she could remain quiet, but said, “If you would put men up there to add the sails when we break free it would help. And as we approach the other ship, if you would slow us down, our people will have more time to release their arrows.”

“Slow down? That’s what they want us to do. Are you going to tell those men at the bow what we’re going to do?”

“They know.” Instead of making her case further, she shut up. She had offered her advice, and he appeared to reject it, but finally he called out to three men and pointed to the top of the masts. They instantly leaped for the rope ladders and began climbing.

Anna could now make out men on the other ship. It sailed at an angle to cut them off, a curl of white water at their bow. A single look to the Dragon Clan revealed they knelt behind the capstan on a raised platform that lifted the anchor. It was large enough to hide all four. There were arrows laid out side by side in front of each man. When firing, they would not take their eyes off their targets as they blindly reached for the next arrow.

While they were good at archery, they maximized the impact their sudden appearance would have. Those on the other ship expected to overtake and capture a defenseless merchant ship without resistance. There would be a dozen men with grappling hooks and ropes, swords, knives, and clubs. They expected to throw the hooks and pull the ships together, then leap aboard, and they may have done it a dozen other times.

Most of them would be standing in the open where they had room to swing their grappling hooks before tossing them. Behind them, also in the open, would be the men with knives and cutlasses, waiting to leap across from that ship to The Rose.

A twinge of regret touched her. She shrugged it away. The other ship had the option of letting them go their own way. If they captured The Rose, how many of her crew would survive? She asked herself that question over and over, always drawing the same answer. Probably none would survive. The Rose would be sunk or taken for profit.

The two ships were closing quickly, the other ready to change course to run alongside The Rose, so the grappling hooks were close enough to throw. The men at the rails started shouting and waving swords and knives. They raised fists and screamed insults, all intended to scare the crew of The Rose, and their actions did. The men on The Rose looked terrified. She wanted to run into the open and shout encouragement to them but held back.

Her eyes caught sight of Devlin, who was at the very top of the spar holding the furled sails. He was in place to release them so the ship would speed ahead. He was watching Anna, and she turned slightly so nobody would see her raise her thumb to him in silent approval. He returned the gesture. She turned back to the shouts and threats, the waving and flashing of sun reflecting off the weapons, and her eyes found their wheelhouse.

Another captain stood beside the helmsman, giving his orders. She could not make out individual faces. But a quick glance at the bow of The Rose showed all but one of her men ducking low to avoid detection. Only Raymer peeked above, and she saw his lips moving, so he was telling the others what he saw. The last thing he wanted was to give up the element of surprise.

“They’re getting too close,” Captain Jameson muttered.

Anna watched the closing speed of the two ships. The faster they came together, the fewer arrows would fly. The Captain’s attention centered on the other ship and not the plan she’d lined out. “Sir, this would be the time to spill air from the sails and slow down, as if you’re surrendering.”

He appeared confused for a brief second, then reluctantly issued the order. The Rose reacted instantly, slowing so quickly Anna wanted to take a step forward to catch her balance. She saw others doing the same.

The shouting and cursing on the other ship turned into cheers. The men at the rails started twirling the grappling hooks, getting ready to throw them. Anna wanted to shout at Raymer. He did nothing but watch. The other ship sailed even closer, well within the range of the longbows, but still he waited.

The other ship was about to cut across the bow of The Rose and the first of the grappling hooks flew when Raymer stood and shouted at the same time. Raymer let the first arrow fly from a distance of only two hundred paces, and easy shot for a longbow. It struck the nearest man holding a grappling hook in the chest. The second man turned, confused as to what had happened and two arrows appeared in his chest. The third fell man with one arrow.

Pandemonium broke out on the deck of the other ship as the crew that had intended to board and kill were suddenly the victims of a hail of arrows. From the corner of her eye, she watched Raymer grab arrows, pull, and release, then repeat the sequence so fast it was a blur to watch. The other Dragon Clan were as fast as Raymer. Men fell with arrows in necks, chests, and legs, many with more than one arrow protruding from them.

The men still alive, and those few without arrows in them dived for safety behind anything large enough to hide a body. As the other ship drew past, Anna counted. Eleven men were either dead, dying, or had an arrow in them. If her original guess of fifteen fighting men remained accurate, and it appeared it was, only four or five survived the surprise attack unscathed.

Not a single grappling hook had reached The Rose. Anna turned to Captain Jameson, who stood wide-eyed and stunned. He had rotated his head as the other ship slipped past, watching the carnage that had happened in the space of a few breaths. “Captain? Do you want to order the topsails unfurled and a course change? I see two more sails approaching directly behind us.”

The words snapped him out of his funk. He shouted orders and the men leaped to obey. Before the additional sails filled with air, he had ordered the lower ones tightened and had the helmsman turn further downwind, the direction where The Rose sailed fastest.

Anna kept watch on the ships behind, and in less time than she would have believed, they started to shrink in size and disappeared over the horizon. The ship that had attacked them looked as if it still floated, but in no particular direction. The survivors well enough to render aid to the others were probably too busy to steer a course until the other two ships arrived.

Raymer spoke to the others on the bow, and they went below decks while he strolled down the deck to stand in front of Anna as he unstrung his bow. She said, “I didn’t think you were ever going to give the order.”

“Surprise is a gift I do not give up lightly. What are your orders?”

She laughed, “I do not give orders.”

Raymer didn’t join her laughter. Instead, he showed her the respect he held for her. He said, “Most of us are hung over or tired today. I told them to sleep for now. I suggest that you call a meeting on the bow this evening.”

“What would I talk about?”

“Tell them how you intend to defeat a whole nation,” Raymer said.

Captain Jameson’s mouth hung open, and his eyes were still wide. But when Raymer glanced in his direction the Captain said, “I’ve questioned her decisions for the last time.”

Anna flashed her smile that displayed her dimples best, while meeting Raymer’s direct eye contact. In the sweet voice of one younger, she said, “But I’m just a little girl.”

Anna looked to the east where the Mystery river flowed and knew there was much to come, but with the people in The Rose, her confidence grew. Her job was not finished. She had barely begun.