Page 36 of Hooked by a Hero (Tales from the Brotherhood #4)

“Robert!” Miss Winters cried when she saw who had come to her rescue. She pushed away from Caspian and into Archer’s arms.

Archer caught her and held her close, then glanced up and met Caspian’s eyes. “They attacked just after dark,” he said. “That bastard must have been luring them to our camp with his incessant noise.”

Caspian felt no victory in knowing his guess had been right.

“They are no better than savages,” Archer went on.

“They are all starving and in rags. Tumbrill could not stop half of them from descending on our food stores like locusts and eating their fill while the others smashed and burned whatever they could. We might have suffered greater losses if the convicts who had abandoned the others and who are loyal to us had not fought so valiantly on our behalf. But then the blackguards went for the women.”

Caspian nodded and glanced around the encampment.

Archer spoke as if the battle were over, but it continued to rage around them.

Hunt now stood with Ruby, either defending her or fighting alongside her as three of the mutineers attempted to kill him to get to her.

On the other side of the encampment, Dick and one of the other mutineers held a small but clearly very heavy trunk between them and appeared to be attempting to carry it to the path that led to the beach.

“Ferrars’s treasure,” Caspian whispered. “Women and wealth. This is still all about stealing Ferrars’s treasure for Dick, and he wants to take the women, too.”

“Yes, he must,” Archer said, mistakenly thinking Caspian was talking to him.

Caspian nodded to him, then dashed off on a course to intercept Dick and hopefully return Ferrars’s treasure to where it belonged. He only got a few yards before someone swung some sort of blunt weapon and hit his arm.

The blow was weak and clumsy, but it was enough to distract Caspian from his path. He turned to find a wide-eyed, hollow-cheeked former sailor staring back at him, fearful that he might fight back.

“Drop your weapon and run!” Caspian shouted at the man. He grabbed for the man’s club, and to his surprise, the emaciated sailor let it go and stumbled back.

“Fight, you swine!” Tumbrill’s rough voice shouted somewhere behind the man. “I ordered you to fight!”

The sailor looked even more terrified. He glanced between Tumbrill and Caspian, then made up his mind and ran.

Tumbrill jerked after him, but when he saw Caspian standing there, he froze and all color drained from his face. “You!” he gasped.

“You will drop your weapons and beg forgiveness from Hunt right now,” Caspian growled at the man, marching toward him with the club raised.

“Hunt?” Tumbrill spat the name, regaining some of his senses. “Why would I do anything but run that weaselly surgeon through? And why should I listen to a dead man?”

Caspian saw at once that he’d underestimated Tumbrill.

He was far heartier than any of the others still attacking the camp, and he had a sword.

He brought that sword slicing through the air, intending to cut Caspian from shoulder to hip, but Caspian held the club up to block him.

Tumbrill’s sword slammed right into the club and held there for a moment, but Tumbrill was able to use that to yank the club out of Caspian’s hand.

Caspian did not allow himself to hesitate.

While Tumbrill still held the sword and club aloft, Caspian lunged into him, using his shoulder as he had with the other men.

Tumbrill was heavier and bulkier, though, and Caspian was unable to knock him off his feet.

The best he could do was knock the wind out of the man for a second.

That was all the time Caspian needed to grab for the handle of Tumbrill’s sword.

Tumbrill’s grip slipped for a moment, but he recovered far too soon.

He swung his other hand around like he would pry Caspian’s hand off his, but Caspian did the same.

The result was the two of them grappling closely for control of the sword with neither of them gaining the upper hand.

Until someone shouted, “Dick has the treasure!”

That broke Tumbrill’s concentration just long enough for Caspian to wrench him off balance. Once that was done, Caspian kicked Tumbrill’s knee with his heel.

At last, Tumbrill fell to the ground and lost his sword.

He didn’t lose his fight, however. He grabbed for the ankle that still held most of Caspian’s weight and pulled it, sending Caspian sprawling with him.

From there, it was Tumbrill’s turn to be quick.

He shoved himself over Caspian, pinning his chest with his knees as he scrambled to grab the club, which still had his sword stuck in it.

Caspian was certain he would have used either the club or the sword to end him, but before he could do more than reach for the weapon, Ruby appeared suddenly and brought her knife slicing down across Tumbrill’s arm, shouting, “You will not hurt my friend!”

Tumbrill cried out in pain, clutching his now bleeding arm with his free hand. The movement enabled Caspian to roll out from under him and push himself to stand.

Hunt raced up to join them, tackling Tumbrill to the ground to subdue him. Ruby had done a fine job of doing just that by nearly slicing off his arm.

For a moment, Caspian thought the battle might be over, but Hunt glanced desperately up at him and said, “The rest of them are heading to the beach. They have Miss Winters with them.”

They had more than that. If the mutineers reached the beach, they would find Elias, Lady Adelaide, and Emily there as well, along with the lifeboats.

Caspian nodded to Hunt, and without a word, he raced toward the path.

Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one chasing after the remaining mutineers.

Woburn and four others scrambled along the path in the dark as well.

None of them had torches or lanterns, but they knew the path so well at that point that they were able to make their way along it at a reasonably fast pace.

The mutineers must have had something to light the way.

They were far ahead of them, and by the time they reached the beach, the scene that met Caspian had his heart pounding.

Two of the survivors’ lifeboats had been launched into the water.

A few of the men who had abandoned the battle at the encampment and who had taken Miss Winters were busy trying to push Miss Winters, Lady Adelaide, and Emily into one of the boats, though the women were fighting back valiantly and making it difficult for them.

It was the sight of the other boat that filled Caspian with rage.

That boat sat lower in the water, as if the heavy treasure chest had already been loaded into it.

Dick was inside the boat, but it was Elias’s limp form as the man who had carried the chest off with Dick handed him over the side that enraged Caspian.

For whatever reason, Dick was attempting to steal his lover along with the women.

He was trying to row away with everything Caspian held dear.

That was the last mistake the man would ever make.

On land, Caspian had his limitations. In the sea, nothing could stand in his way.

He raced after the boat as the other man climbed aboard and as he and Dick pulled hard to row it out to sea, in the direction of the Fortune , and as soon as the water was deep enough, he dove in.