Read Capture The Wind for Free Online Page B

were being interrogated, and unbelievably, some of them seemed willing to join the pirate crew. Angela watched with astonished disgust as they eagerly fell in with the enemy. How could they? Were there no decent men left? Seething with angry despair, she forced her attention away from them.
    Thick smoke from smoldering coils of tarred rope stung her eyes and nose, and she turned her head to try and take a breath of fresh air. From where she and Emily were tied to a mast, she could see the hatch that led below to her cabin. Smoke billowed out in gentle puffs. A steady glow was diffused by the smoke, faint flickers that made her frown and study the opening. Then her eyes widened.
    “Fire!”
    Her scream brought Captain Saber’s head around, and he swore crudely before rapping out orders to douse the blaze. The pirates dropped what they were doing and scurried with buckets of sand and water. They flung the buckets down the opening but, from what Angela could see, made little progress. Her throat tightened. The ship was going to burn. That much was obvious. And more than likely, she and Emily would be left tied to the mainmast while it did, a fit retribution for daring to shoot the pirate officer.
    Smoke and angry tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them back. It was quickly apparent that the fire had taken a good hold, and Captain Saber began snapping orders. He then turned to Turnower.
    “Take your boats, Captain. You’re not so far from shore that you won’t be able to get there within a reasonable time, or perhaps be picked up by a passing ship.”
    Turnower nodded stiffly. “Aye, but we have only two jolly boats that are seaworthy.”
    Saber stared at him for a moment, then flicked a quick glance at the captured crew. “How shortsighted of Sheridan Shipping not to provide ample room for her crew,” he said after a moment. “Well, the decision is up to you, Captain. I leave you to your own.”
    “Saber!” Turnower called out when the pirate captain spun on his heel and started for the rail. “What do you intend should be done with the women?”
    Saber shot him a startled look. “I don’t intend that anything be done with them. They’re your problem.”
    “You have them tied to the mainmast. I assumed that to mean that you intended to take them with you.”
    “You assumed incorrectly.” Saber’s voice was soft, but held a steely edge to it that made Angela shiver.
    Turnower took a step forward. “I cannot take them with me. I did not even want passengers aboard, especially females, and yet the bloody purser took their passage. Take them with you. There is no room in the boats.”
    Swinging back around, Saber gave the captain a look of contempt. “What a brave Englishman you are, Captain. I see that it would not distress you to leave them lashed to the mainmast.”
    “Not when it means the lives of my loyal crew.”
    Emily made a faint sound that reminded Angela of a wounded animal. She blinked against the sting of smoke and horror. She must have been getting lightheaded from the smoke and stress. There could be no other explanation for the exchange that she was witnessing, the callous disregard for her life by the captain of the Scrutiny.
    But when she closed her eyes and opened them again, she saw that Captain Turnower had turned his back on her and given the order for the boats to be launched. Men grabbed eagerly at the davits, not one of the Scrutiny’s crew so much as glancing in the direction of the two women tied to the mast.
    Emily began to whimper, and Angela saw Captain Saber take a step forward again. Her heart pounded, and she hoped he would order Turnower to take them with him.
    But he did not. Instead, he motioned for two of his own crew to come forward. Before Angela could give so much as a single protest, the thick ropes tying them to the mast were severed and they were pulled to their feet. To her surprise, her legs would not support her, and she swayed so that the pirate had to grab