A Captain's Destiny Read Online Free PDF

they got closer, the color of the object changed from gray to the dark green of a tropical island. Between the ship and the land she could see large birds flying about, circling high above the water before diving beneath the surface. There were gulls and other sea birds calling riotously as they reaped the bounty of the sea, before carrying their catch to the land where their young awaited.
    Katherine watched, enthralled, but it wasn’t long before the noisy sight was eclipsed by the sound and the sight of waves crashing on the rocky shore. Some of the rocks looked to be the size of wagons. Surely they weren’t going to put down anchor here, where going ashore would be a risky proposition at best? She was about to voice her concerns, when the ship lurched, and she was forced to hang on to the railing to keep from being thrown overboard. Looking back over her shoulder at Jack, she saw that he was turning the great wheel hand-over-hand as quickly as he could. Obviously he had no intention of putting ashore here, and for that she was thankful.
    *
    Jack had initially pointed the bow of the Lady Elizabeth toward the point of land that jutted out on the port side of the ship. He’d known that on the lee side of that promontory there was a bay deep enough to accommodate the ship. They would have been able to lay up there for a day or two, just until the storm passed. The timing couldn’t have been better. In fact, he had felt pretty good about everything. He had gotten away with a small fortune, money which was owed him and his men, and he had saved Katherine from making the worst mistake of her life. She might have tried to run away, but in the end her stepfather would have found her, and by now she’d be married to that French fop. At least he’d been able to prevent Richelieu from getting his hands on her. But now what? Jack supposed that depended on her; he knew what he wanted.
    He was daydreaming about what their lives could be like if she consented to marry him, when he was suddenly jarred back to reality by another shout from the lookout. “Ship! Ship, ahoy!”
    From where he stood, Jack could make out the top of a mast riding above the promontory. Damn! Another ship was sailing into the bay where he planned to drop anchor. And what was worse, she was flying the Union Jack.
    “Can you make out her ordnance?” Jack shouted back. He knew there was a good chance the Lady Elizabeth had been spotted, and his body became rigid with anticipation as he waited for an answer. If the ship was merely a British merchant ship, he’d sail into the bay too. The flag of British Ceylon, which he was flying, would not cause any concern to those who, like him, sailed the seas delivering cargo. But if the other ship was a naval vessel, it might be searching for him. Better safe than sorry, as his father always said.
    The Lady Elizabeth , a three-mast clipper ship, was fitted with twenty guns of various sizes, from six pounds to twenty-four. She might be able to defend herself against pirates, but she wasn’t equipped to defeat one of Her Majesty’s warships, if it came to that. It was several tense minutes before the boy posted in the crow’s nest gave out another cry.
    “She’s a man-of-war, Captain!” the boy shouted back.
    Jack knew they had to get out of there as quickly as possible. The navy ship had firepower enough to blow them out of the water in under five minutes…if she could come about and get her sights fixed on the Elizabeth , that is. But she was pointed bow-in, toward the land, and only a miracle could get her turned around in time to catch the much smaller and faster Elizabeth. Just the same, Jack prayed that the navy lookout was asleep in the crow’s nest and hadn’t already spotted them.
    The big wheel spun in his hands as Jack worked to turn the ship around, before the land ended and they were exposed. Bringing her around, while keeping out of sight, meant sailing very close to the island, and that meant the