Read Voyage of the Dreadnaught: Four Stella Madison Capers for Free Online

duties.” Even Stuart had to
admit the voyage was turning out to be one of the best he had ever
made. Mostly because of the food. With three women aboard who loved
cooking, the meals were fabulous. He even started to contemplate
the possibilities of taking on a few charters, after this trip was
over, in order to complete renovations.
    But all that was before their first
storm.
    Up till that point, most of the travel had
been motoring. Outside a time or two of raising the sails (in order
to keep up skills, as Stuart put it), the entire trip, so far, had
felt like nothing short of a delightful holiday cruise. For
everybody.
    Even Gerald, who took his “turn at the
wheel” with the utmost seriousness and respect, was actually
becoming dependable. He stayed precisely on course, did exactly
what the Captain told him at all times, and was even getting a bit
of color back into his face. Of course, he had to make a few
concessions, considering his condition. He rarely left the main
deck (where his cabin was situated), and—except for the few steps
up to the wheelhouse—avoided stairs and companionway ladders,
altogether.
    He was cold most of the time, too, but
solved that problem by wearing a black navy watch cap (both waking
and sleeping), as well as half a multicolored Mexican poncho that
was cut off at elbow-length so that he could still do his work.
Something that made him resemble the haggard form of Lincoln,
moving through hallways of the White House, during the last dark
days of the Civil War. Without the beard, and should you come up on
him from behind.
    However, that part of sea—which funnels
through the straits from the “big water” (as Stuart called it)
outside the islands—can turn suddenly wild and dangerous with
hardly any warning. And considering they had known nothing but
idyllic conditions the entire way, all hands were caught
horrifically unaware when one of those famous storms crashed into
them. That is, all accept Captain Stuart.
    Who knew exactly what to do in such
conditions, if he only had at least one person who could lift more
than fifty pounds in a full gale. He could only hope everyone else
could handle at least twenty, and still manage to stay on their
feet. This because the sea was so rough the engine propellers were
out of the water half the time, and the old schooner was much more
stable with her sails up than without them. After all, it was what
she had been designed for.
    Meanwhile, everyone except the Captain was
seasick. Not counting the baby, who was never bothered by anything,
and having a delightful time bouncing wildly, back and forth, in
his “Johnny Jumper” attached to a cabin ceiling as he watched his
“Uncle Gerald” throw up into a bucket. His mother and Mason were
out on deck, doing their level-best at hauling the mainsail up, as
Stella and Millie grappled with “taking up the slack” in the
sheets.
    This so Stuart could see to the sudden
banging noises that were coming from his engine, and the Colonel—by
sheer size and strength—struggled with the wheel to keep their ship
bucking through the waves instead of getting trapped in the troughs
between. All of which presented itself to Stella (even though she
was scared-stiff, and wet to the bone in spite of rain-gear) as
such a display of courage and cooperation that she would remember
it for the rest of her life.
    One particular scene, especially.
    It was the expression on the Colonel’s face
(when she looked up at him through the wheelhouse window) after the
mainsail suddenly tore in half and began flapping like thunder,
causing the lines to go slack, and send them tumbling toward the
rail when the boat began to roll. With the determination of a
weight-lifter contending for Olympic gold, He clamped onto the
wheel and began to inch the giant hull back up by brute force, in
order to save them from shipwreck.
    But it wasn’t enough.
    ***
    At the same time, down in the engine room,
the Captain knew exactly what was