Pirate

We were less than five miles from the reef, and I could see a mast askew on the horizon. Mason called to raise the foresail, and we picked up more speed. For the better part of an hour we fought the wind and waves. Finally, we came within hailing distance of the wrecked boat and shortened sail. We kept a safe distance and watched Appleby, his boat standing off in deeper water, at the tip of the bowsprit yelling back and forth with a man on the sinking ship. I couldn’t make out the words, but expected they were negotiating for the rights to the cargo in exchange for saving the crew. Suddenly, the captain broke off the negotiation and looked toward shore. We all turned to follow his gaze and saw two other boats heading toward us.

Appleby yelled back to him and the man appeared to accept his terms, as he threw him a line. One of the crew caught it and secured the boats together, and the wreck was ours. Mason closed on the boats, and my jaw dropped as I stared across the void at the captain who had taken Rory.

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Appleby’s crew ran his launch back and forth removing the men stranded on the wrecked boat and bringing them to his. I scanned the worried faces waiting by the rail, looking for Rory, but saw no sign of her.

“That’s the boat I put the girl on,” I said to Rhames, who stood next to me.

He squinted into the sun. “Don’t see her now,” he said, and leaned over to grab the rope a crewman from the launch below us was about to toss up.

Communication was difficult between the boats, but Mason knew what Appleby wanted and we were prepared to receive the line in order to tow the wreck off the reef. He had just returned from evaluating the damage with Appleby and several of his crew. The men had conferred and agreed that in its present state, the boat would be torn apart by the coral before the cargo could be offloaded. Their plan was to tow the boat into deeper water, where a temporary repair could be made and the rest of the crew safely evacuated. I had to admit that, although fascinated by the process, quite a bit of what he said was lost on me, as we had more experience sinking boats than saving them.

The boats were drifting apart. Rhames grabbed the line and took a few turns around the winch used to raise the anchor. The mechanical advantage provided by the winch took some of the load off the line, allowing us to gain enough slack to tie it off. Appleby was in the process of fixing another line to his stern. He signaled to us, and we followed as he changed his course to keep the boats parallel. We followed suit as he raised his mainsail. Mason yelled from the helm to stay clear as the tow line became taut, shedding a spray of water on the deck as it stretched. The boats stalled, and again we followed Appleby’s lead as he raised his topsails. With the additional canvas, the tension in the line felt like it was about to tear apart our boat, and I looked for the ax in case we needed to cut it. The entire boat shook and groaned, but finally began to move. I looked back and saw the wreck shift and then follow us into deeper water. Now that it was free, we continued what I guessed was a quarter mile before dropping our sails.

Both boats had all hands pulling the wreck toward us using the tow lines and winches. When the wreck was within a hundred feet, Appleby gave the command to tie off the lines. We were drifting together, but the water was deep, and he dropped his anchor before turning his attention to the sinking ship.

I had nothing to do but watch and hope that Rory would appear. Ever since she had boarded the boat, her screams had still echoed in my head, and she hadn’t been far from my thoughts since we had escaped the harbor in Key West. I couldn’t wait any longer to see if she was still aboard and jumped over the rail. The waves battered me as I swam toward the foundering ship, and I struggled to keep my head above the water as several large swells tried to submerge me. I reached the boat, swam to a section of rigging lying in the water from the downed foremast, and used it to haul myself aboard. The deck was a flurry of activity as Appleby’s men worked to keep the boat afloat.

I looked around and didn’t see her, and the captain stared at me with a malicious grin on his face as he went over the side with the last of his crew. I looked down into the hold and saw much of the cargo floating in the building water. The companionway was aft of the hold, and I went to it, hoping the damage was to the hold and that the cabins would be free of water.