Page 12 of Hooked by a Hero (Tales from the Brotherhood #4)

They made it to the first set of cabins at last, and as Elias wrenched open the door to the narrow corridor, the wind nearly blew it off its hinges. A grey-faced Mr. Ferrars was standing in the corridor, bracing himself against the walls on either side, while Ruby clutched at him from behind.

“What are you doing, man?” Mr. Ferrars demanded weakly of Elias. “Can you not see that the world is coming to an end?”

“The convicts have escaped,” Elias told him and Ruby without hesitation. “They’re attempting a mutiny. Ruby, you have to disguise yourself as a boy so that if they do win, you might be spared.”

“Good God!” Mr. Ferrars gasped, though whether at the threat of mutiny or the suggestion his granddaughter dress as a boy, Caspian did not know.

“I’ll do it!” Ruby said at once. “Grandpapa, you must return to the cabin where you will be safe!”

Mr. Ferrars did not look as though he would obey the command.

Caspian was forced to crawl around him, Elias following, as they moved on to the other cabins in that set.

Emily, Lady Adelaide’s maid, answered Caspian’s knock on her cabin door, and although she was horrified at everything happening and the request for her to dress as a man, she hurried to obey.

As Caspian and Elias made it out the other door of that section of cabins and crossed to the second set, things became much worse.

From the center of the ship, they were able to see nearly everything happening on deck, including the fact that convicts, crewmen, and passengers alike were struggling to move around the main deck.

Caspian saw more than one fly overboard, both as they lost whatever fight they were engaged in and simply because the wind and waves caught them unprepared.

“They’ll all be swept away if they’re not careful,” Elias shouted behind him.

Another pang of regret that Caspian couldn’t save everyone who deserved to be saved washed through him. But once again, there wasn’t time to dwell in those regrets.

“You wish me to do what?” Lady Adelaide balked once they’d made it to the other set of cabins and explained the situation.

“You do not want to know what horrors will befall you if you do not disguise yourself,” Elias told her as they all braced against the walls.

Lady Adelaide continued to look incredulous, but Mr. Cartwright took her arm and said, “I will help you, my lady.”

Once they were satisfied that all of the ladies had been alerted to what was happening, Caspian and Elias pushed on, exiting the second set of cabins near the ship’s stern.

Caspian could practically feel Elias’s anxiety and confusion about what they should do next as they stepped back out into the wind and rain.

The ship continued to fling itself against the waves, completely at the mercy of the storm.

“I do not believe anyone is steering the ship,” Caspian called out above the roar of a wave crashing over the port side.

“It is impossible to tell,” Elias agreed.

With wordless agreement, they grabbed hold of whatever rope, bar, or bit of the ship they could and pulled themselves along in the direction of the ship’s wheel.

Caspian had only learned the barest minimum about steering a ship in his many travels, but his scant knowledge would be better than nothing.

Making their way up to the wheel gave Caspian and Elias another stark view of what was happening on the ship.

The shouts and chaos around them had all the hallmarks of a losing battle, but which side was losing was yet to be determined.

Caspian caught one of the tougher sailors stabbing a convict in the gut, then pushing him off his sword and straight over the side of the ship.

But in the other direction, Dick was engaged in combat with Mr. Cox, and before Caspian or Elias could do anything to help the first mate, Dick punched the man square in the jaw, then shoved him to the railing just as the ship tipped to that side.

Mr. Cox went hurling over the railing and into the churning waves.

“No!” Elias shouted, reaching out as if he could save the man, even though it was too late.

The gesture knocked him off-balance, and it was all Caspian could do to tackle him and pin him to the deck to keep him from falling over the side as well.

There was nothing they could do but huddle there while the ship rocked, watching as men were run through or flung overboard.

The worst of it came when Caspian spotted Mr. Ferrars and what looked like a young sailor stumble out of the forecabin.

For a moment, Caspian’s heart lightened when he realized that Ruby had gone so far in her disguise that she’d chopped all her hair off.

That brief moment of lightness was ruined a moment later when a huge wave crashed over the side of the ship, knocking everyone off their feet. The wave was so ferocious that it swept violently across the deck, taking everything, including Mr. Ferrars, with it.

“Grandpapa!” Ruby shouted, reaching for her grandfather even as her body slammed against the foremast. She managed somehow to hold on, but it was too late for Mr. Ferrars. Caspian watched in horror as the old man was swept right over the edge of the ship and into the ocean.

“The poor man,” Elias groaned, clutching Caspian’s shirt.

Ruby continued to cling to the mast, but it was clear to Caspian she was in shock and that her grip would not last. That was enough to propel him to his feet, Elias struggling to stand with him.

Together, the two of them moved with the rolling of the ship to stumble and grasp their way through the easing battle until they were able to reach Ruby and cling to the mast with her.

“He’s gone,” she wailed, looking at Caspian and Elias with terror in her eyes.

It was worse than that. Moments later, a vicious cry rose up all around them.

Still clinging to the mast as tightly as they could, Caspian, Elias, and Ruby looked around to see that most of the men who remained standing on the deck were convicts or sailors who looked like they were in league with the convicts.

Worse still, when they inched their way around the mast, preparing to make a run for the hatch leading down to the middeck, Caspian caught sight of Captain Woodward, bloodied and barely upright, being dragged along the deck to the jeers and shouts of the man who remained.

“He’s lost,” Elias shouted against the sound of the wind, the rain, and the shouts of victory. “Tumbrill, Dick, and the convicts have taken over the ship.”

“What are they going to do?” Ruby cried out, her whole body shaking as Caspian sheltered her as best he could with his own.

A partial answer to their question came as Tumbrill stumbled up to the captain, doing a remarkable job of staying on his feet as the ship pitched. He grabbed hold of Captain Woodward’s face with one hand, leaned in close, and said something to the man that was swallowed up by the storm.

Then he took a half step back, placed his hands on Captain Woodward’s chest, and shoved them man hard over the railing and into the sea.

Ruby screamed and covered her face. Elias glanced to Caspian with a look that said, “All is lost.”

Tumbrill turned to the men who were trying to gather around in the brutality of the storm and called out, “The ship is ours now!”

Shouts of victory rang through the air.

Tumbrill silenced them with, “We still have this storm to weather. It’s only just begun, and there’s no telling how long it will last. Every man to your positions! We’ll make it through this, and then we’ll head for land and live like kings!”

Another cry of triumph swelled above the sounds of the sea and the storm.

“We have to get below,” Caspian called out, dread of the situation they were now in filling him. “We have until the end of this storm to come up with a way to survive this ordeal.”

Elias and Ruby nodded, then he and Elias helped Ruby across the drenched deck and back to the hatch that would lead them to the relative safety of the deck below.

Even without the storm, Caspian was certain there were no more safe places on the ship.

As soon as Tumbrill and Dick secured their hold over the passengers and remaining crew, there would be hell to pay for all of them.