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you go,’ he called to Groot, eyes now trained on the northern pattimars closing their position toward the sloop as the two burning pattimars fell farther away to the south.
    Babcock laughed. Pointing to the north, he said, ‘The Lord’s on your side as usual, Horne. Sending you not a minute too late—or too soon—to meet that sloop and those two other pattimars.’
    ‘The Lord or the devil,’ corrected Horne. The Huma was lagging in her change of tack, but her timing would now be near-perfect to confront the remaining three enemy ships.
    * * *
    The two northern pattimars greeted the Huma with cannonfire. Their aim struck short of the target, peppering the surrounding sea with ball and grape.
    Seeing that the northern pattimars would be closer to the Huma than the sloop, Horne was determined to persevere in his offensive to divide them; the sloop’s present tack could only work to his advantage.
    Wanting Kiro’s eyes as well as his ears, he crossed the quarter-deck and shouted, ‘Kiro, ho!’
    Kiro raised his head.
    Horne jabbed a finger towards the larboard gundeck, soon to face the northern pattimars as the frigate swung round; the cannons were already run out and gunners waiting for action. At the same moment, he raised his other hand palm upwards to the starboard guns. Hold their fire.
    Understanding the command, Kiro raced across to the larboard guns.
    When Horne was satisfied with the Huma’s new course, he decided it was time to put the chancy plan into action.
    He began, ‘Larboard guns—’
    Kiro crouched near the second crew, ready to shout them into action.
    Nerves alive, Horne gauged the range to the pattimars to the north, cautiously proceeding, ‘Prepare to fire and—’
    He looked toward the sloop, its jib boom fighting for new bearing.
    Satisfied that the Huma had the advantage of a few valuable minutes, he chopped down his hand.
    ‘— fire !’
    Abroadside raked both northern pattimars. But at the same moment, the deck trembled beneath Horne’s feet. Damn! The sloop had made her stays and, risking another long shot, scored a strike somewhere below the waterline.
    It was futile at the moment to worry about unknown damage. Horne concentrated instead on his plans to isolate the two pattimars from their commander.
    Looking towards the helm, he saw Groot grinning athim, cap pushed back on his sun-bleached curls, ready for the next command. A nod from Horne was all it took to set the wheel spinning through his hands.
    As the Huma heeled in the wind, Horne steeled himself to risk being trapped by the enemy ships and to exploit his position.
    Aloft in the shrouds, the watch followed the orders Babcock relayed to them; on the gun decks, the crews waited anxiously for Kiro’s next command.
    Holding Kiro’s eye, Horne pointed to both gun decks.
    Stern, voice unwavering, he commenced: ‘Larboard guns—’
    ‘Larboard guns ready, sir—’
    Certain he was not firing too soon, Horne proceeded: ‘Starboard guns—’
    ‘Starboard guns ready, sir—’
    Sluicing water, accompanied by the snap of sails, filled the tense moments as the Huma hovered between the two pattimars off larboard, the sloop off starboard.
    ‘— fire !’
    At the command, both sides of the frigate belched flame. A cloud of smoke engulfed the sea’s shimmering face; screams of men filled the air, timber splintering in the acrid explosion.
    As the wind slowly began dispersing the smoke, Horne was pleased to see flames licking from both pattimars, and men diving into the waves. Retaliation was now impossible from either ship. The smoke drifting over the water told him that they had also scored damage on the sloop.
    Aboard the Huma, victorious cheers rose from the crew as the gunners pulled the bandanas off their ears and waved them like pennants.
    Deaf to the jubilation, Horne’s first thought was of any losses aboard ship. What men had been killed or injured in the strikes? What damage had been done to the ship? What about the