Chapter 58

THE PIRATE SHIP loomed upon them now. Eyes wide, he realized Roscoe was about to ram them, and Jack braced himself for the impact. When it came, he was thrown into the railing, the impact jarring all breath out of him and making his ribs scream in pain. He righted himself as quickly as he could and began to fire at the boarding pirates, dropping a few dead into the ocean.

All around him, the battle waged. Sword fights, knife fights, hand-to-hand combat. The attackers were not well-organized. As near as Jack could tell, their captain—this ‘Shad-ow’—had not even boarded *The Independence*. Was he so confident in a victory that he did not believe he needed to partic-pate, or was he afraid he would die with his men?

The man showed himself the coward.

Jack looked to his right and caught sight of a man rushing Captain Hancock, who was already viciously engaged in a sword fight. Jack drew his tomahawk, aimed, and threw the axe at Hancock’s attacker, catching the man in the side of his head.

“I thank you, Mr. Justice!” Hancock called, ever the gentlemen.

Jack smiled then took on his next opponent with his sword. The pirates were skilled enough, but Jack bested each man that faced him.

Smoke began to billow around them as various sails and posts caught fire. Ash fell from minor fires that men not en-gaged in fights began tending to. Jack climbed the rope ladder of the main mast up to the crow’s nest. From this vantage point, he had a bird’s eye view of both ships. He propped his musket to his shoulder and aimed, taking out two more attackers before the pirate ship caught his eye.

Roscoe stood at the helm, dressed head-to-toe in black and a large, sweeping black hat with feathers protruding from it. The man looked like a bloody peacock and not at all like an experienced pirate.

When Roscoe saw Jack’s sight on him, his eyes widened comically. He looked around frantically for cover before diving behind the helm. Jack fired, and the man next to Roscoe fell. Waiting for his opportunity, Jack stood statue-still as the fighting around him continued. There. The feathers of the hat began to appear. Vanity seemed more important to the man than his safety. Aiming just below the feathers, Jack fired. He knew he’d shot true when the man lay motionless upon his deck, and only the damn feathers moved in the ocean breeze.

Looking around him, Jack saw bodies scattered about the deck. The surviving pirates were being held at gun and sword point by the crew of *The Independence*. Sighting two pirates running below decks, Jack scrambled out of the crow’s nest.

Nora!

How many had made it to the cabins before those two?

“There are men below!” Jack bellowed, running by everyone. Just as he hit the stairs, a shot fired, then a second one.

Breathless, thoughtless, Jack ran for his cabin. He stepped through the door and saw Nora aiming a rifle. He dove to the floor as a shot cracked over his head and split the wood on the wall behind him.

“You shot at me!” he yelled, pushing to his feet.

Nora’s mouth and eyes made perfect circles. She dropped the gun on the bunk and covered her mouth with her hands. Jack stepped over the bodies and surveyed her and Ben for injuries. Neither of them appeared the worse for wear.

“It was just these two lads that got in,” Ben said, gestur-ing to the bodies. “She felled them both.”

“And then nearly killed me!” Jack’s heart raced from the adrenaline of the fight, and now he shook with his most recent near-death experience. Imagine surviving the pirates only to be killed by Nora’s fair hand!

A sound escaped Nora. Jack looked over and found her with one hand on her stomach and other covering her mouth, her eyes bright with humor. Another laugh bubbled out and in mo-ments, she was in hysterics, laughing so hard tears streamed from her eyes.

“You find this amusing?” Jack asked incredulously. “You nearly killed me! I find nothing mirthful in that!”

“It’s your own fault for rushing through the door!” Nora gasped out between peals of laughter.

“If I am not mistaken,” Ben said, moving to Jack’s side, “I believe this is the tension in her breaking. Things sounded desperate from here, and we didn’t know if we were winning or losing. When the pirates breached the door, it seemed the end was here, and we were to be taken prisoner—or worse.”

Jack wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. Reaching up again, his hand came back bloody, his scalp and hair sticky. Staring at his hand in puzzlement, he played back the battle in his head, trying to recall anyone ever getting close enough to cause injury. Taking the opportunity, he assessed his body. A burn flared red and angry on his forearm, and blood oozed through his shirt on his side. It seemed he had not come through unscathed after all.

Hancock came into the cabin then. “We are taking supplies from *The Mermaid’s Serpent*,” he said with an eye roll, indicating what he thought of the ship’s name. “We have some minor repairs to make before we can continue. I have no interest in taking prisoners, and I am not equipped to feed them for the rest of the voyage. Nor am I interested in killing them. So, they will be given minimal supplies and sent on their way. Without a captain and most of their crew, their fate is undecided. My guess is they will likely come across the British navy.” Hancock put his hands on his hips and took in the scene before him. “Well, you two are quite the pair. Your quick thinking using the crow’s nest to shoot from saved many lives, Mr. Justice. It was ingenious.”

At that moment, Jack began to sway from the blood loss. Nora’s laughter began to subside, and Jack read the concern on her face before he pitched face-first onto the bunk, and everything went black.

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Nora's hands were steady as she cleaned Jack’s wounds and stitched them closed. They were not as serious as the one he’d received the day they met, but if they became infected, he could be in serious danger. As long as he kept the wounds clean and rested, he should be fine. Sore, but just fine.

He had regained consciousness shortly after he fainted. Ben had crammed a bottle of whiskey in Jack’s hand, and now he was drunk. Nora had never seen him this way and found herself amused. Jack was always in control, unwilling to put himself in positions of vulnerability. Now, however, he babbled on about her pretty eyes and perfectly pert breasts. Nora flushed as he spoke of all the things he liked to do to her body. She thanked God that the cabin door was closed and locked, so nobody could hear Jack’s outrageous words.

“You wouldn’t be in this state if you had just taken the elixir. You’d be nearly healed by now,” Nora muttered.

“Why would anyone want to live forever?” Jack slurred. “You outlive everyone you know. Well, I suppose not you, but I would. People you meet along the way, you cannot get attached to. You can form no lasting relationships. Is it not just constant heartbreak?”

Nora wiped the blood away from the stitches on his scalp and thought about his question. “I don’t think it will be for you. You’ve already said goodbye to your family. You must know every time you leave your tribe you are in danger of never returning. You would be with me. Perhaps eternal life with me is distasteful to you?”

“Mmm.” Jack smiled and crooked his finger at her. Nora leaned in close. “Why don’t you take off those clothes and climb into this bunk? I will show you how utterly distasteful you are.”

Nora rolled her eyes and pulled back. “You are drunk, you lecher. Why don’t I go get you food instead?”

Jack nodded and closed his eyes. She definitely would not have any serious conversation with him tonight, and she imagined once he was sober, he would no longer be inclined to discuss it. So, once again, she would wait.