Page 58 of Hooked

With a cry of outrage, he unsheathed his sword, aiming it at me where I lay on the wooden boards, propped up on my elbows.

The sound of another pair of boots hitting the deck arrested both of our attention. It might have been anyone there in the dim moonlight, but despite the deep shadows, I recognized him at once.

Falstone stood at the other end of the long deck, right beside the railing. He stepped forward into a swath of moonlight and the look on his face when he saw me sprawled on the floor with Huckley standing over me would have terrified me if I didn’t know him so well.

Huckley, however, was rightly terrified and immediately turned to face Falstone, his sword held in front of him. “Not another step!”

But Falstone was entirely undeterred. He took three long strides across the planks, his face a mask of fury, his sword raised. His arm slashed down, the sound of metal on metal breaking the silence on the water. The force of the blow knocked Huckley off balance, sending him stumbling to the side. I rolled away from him, scrambling until I was able to grab hold of the railing and pull myself to my feet.

Falstone and Huckley were facing off, Falstone walking clockwise, forcing the captain to do the same, which effectively put Falstone between Huckley and me.

And suddenly I could breathe again.

“Insufferable whelp!” Huckley spat.

“You’ve lost, Captain.” Falstone’s words were measured, but I could hear the hum of restraint running through his voice. Only years of training kept him from attacking in a maelstrom of rage.

“I never lose!” Huckley had no such control and came at Falstone like a man possessed.

I flinched with every sword clash but couldn’t look away. Falstone fended off each blow, but his moves were purely defensive. He never attacked. I wondered what he was waiting for. The right opening? Reinforcements?

I flexed and rubbed my hands, desperate to get full feeling back. I hated being defenseless and useless.

Huckley tried to circle around, but Falstone never gave up his position, always keeping his body between mine and Huckley’s. Despite the fact that I’d moved position, he seemed to know exactly where I was. The captain fell back several steps, air huffing from his lungs like a bull ready to charge.

Once my hands were working normally again, I searched frantically among the barrels, coiled rope and folded sails piled beside me, triumphant when I found a long, narrow, broken piece of wood, about the length of my forearm. Perhaps an old plank that had split down the middle. I wrapped both hands around it and held it down in front of me, wanting to be prepared but inconspicuous.

“It’s over, Huckley,” Falstone warned. “The magistrate is on his way. We know it was all a lie.”

“I won’t give her up!” Huckley shouted.

“The choice isn’t yours,” Falstone stated.

Huckley charged again. He brought his sword down in three punishing blows, but on the third, Falstone heaved him away, leaving Huckley to stumble back, barely keeping his balance.

He was not deterred. If anything, the captain attacked with even more ferocity, his eyes strangely cutting in my direction several times instead of staying on his target. His distraction allowed Falstone’s blade to come close enough to his chest that it caught on the chain of his pocket watch, sending it flying across the deck with a clatter as it broke into pieces. The captain took one more vicious slash at Falstone’s abdomen before retreating once more and yelling, “Take her, Smeed!”

Smeed?

I had only enough time to recognize the name before an arm circled my neck from behind and the cold caress of a blade once again touched my throat.

I cried out.

Falstone kept his blade toward Huckley but turned to see what had caused my distress. He immediately readjusted his position so that he had both Captain Huckley and me in his view.

I managed to latch on to Smeed’s wrist, doing my best to push his knife hand away from my throat, but I didn’t have the strength or the leverage, so I looked to Falstone, waiting for him to act.

Falstone stood there, his jaw hardened, his fist clenching and unclenching at his side while his other hand held the sword aloft.

“I’m afraid you’ve been beaten, soldier,” Huckley declared with labored breath. “And I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” The last words were spoken through his teeth as he bared them.

Falstone’s eyes kept flitting from Huckley’s face to the tip of the knife poised at my neck and back again. I was so used to Falstone’s decisive movements that his hesitation left me confused. Did he not know what to do? How could that be? How could Falstone, with all his control and observation, not have a plan?

His panicked eyes flitted to me again and suddenly I knew why. It was me. He was so distracted by my plight that all his other instincts had fled. He’d told me months ago that the reason he was able to do his job effectively was because he wouldn’t be leaving anyone behind if he failed. That wasn’t the case anymore. I would be left behind.

“Drop your weapon, soldier,” Huckley said as he slid one step closer to my position. “Or are you willing to see her blood splattered across the deck of my ship?” His eyes glinted with wicked pleasure.

My breath pulsed in and out in desperate breaths. The power was shifting too quickly. If Falstone surrendered his weapon, it would be over. Captain Huckley would kill him, I was sure of it.