The Silver Swan Read Online Free PDF

under scorching sun afloat in a small boat with the man who turned out to be my father; our hilarious, tearful return to Santa Lucia, when Mama and —
    Mama and Lucas! I shot out of the cabin as fast as I could, scrambled up the ladder, and emerged on deck to find Papa and Jem standing together near the tiller, peering through their telescopes in the hope of sighting the distant coast of Malta.
    They were oblivious to the fact that Mama stood a few paces behind them, waiting. She was standing steadily on the swaying deck, bare feet planted firmly on the boards, like a real sailor. She was dressed as I remembered her in my earliest memories, in a simple blue dress that puckered and shimmered in the ocean breeze. Jem saw her first.
    â€˜Bloody hell!’
    Papa whirled around, one hand on his sword.
    â€˜Good morning, dearest,’ said Mama sweetly.
    â€˜What on earth?’
    Lucas skipped along the deck to greet him. ‘Hello, Papa. Guess what? We’re coming too!’
    Papa looked, incredulous, from one to the other, and then at Jem, who seemed just as stunned. He slammed his telescope shut.
    â€˜No,’ Papa said, resolutely. ‘No, no, no, no!’
    â€˜We’re going to have an adventure,’ said Lucas.
    Papa raised his face to the sky. The veins in his temples seemed to quiver. I wondered if he might actually explode.
    â€˜McGuire,’ he said, his jaw clenched tight. ‘Get ready to come about.’
    â€˜What?’ wailed Jem. ‘Where are we going now?’
    â€˜We have to deliver this ridiculous family of mine back to Santa Lucia.’
    â€˜I thought the British needed reinforcements,’ Miller joked. I glanced around — all the boys were standing in a semicircle behind me.
    â€˜You lot all knew about this, didn’t you?’ said Jem. ‘I thought it was just Cyg who was coming along.’
    â€˜It’s been one of my major problems in life,’ said Miller. ‘I’ve never been able to say no to a woman.’
    â€˜Really?’ said Papa, sarcastically. ‘Allow me to teach you.’ He turned to Mama and Lucas. ‘No!’ he shouted. ‘You are not coming to Malta. I forbid it.’
    Mama flinched at the anger in his voice, but kept the smile on her face. ‘But you are only one vote against three, darling.’
    â€˜What is this? Parliament?’ Papa growled. ‘Who in hell made this family a republic?’
    Mama moved closer to him. ‘I promise to keep out of your way. I won’t even leave the ship.’
    â€˜Do you have any idea what we’re sailing into?’ he said. ‘This is a small part of the greatest war of our time.’
    â€˜Precisely.’ Mama’s smile had vanished now. ‘Do you have any idea what it’s like waiting for your husband — or your daughter, for that matter — to come home? I will not go through that again, Rafe. You can’t force me.’
    They stood facing each other, only a yard apart, like strangers who had just been introduced. Itseemed as if they were both desperately trying to understand someone very dear and familiar but completely different from the person they knew.
    â€˜Are we there yet?’ asked Lucas.
    â€˜Allah, have mercy on me,’ said Papa, forgetting who he was for a moment.
    â€˜Don’t worry so much,’ Miller reassured him. ‘Malta is safe enough, now the French are locked up in the city. They never try to leave, and nobody else can get in. The rest of the country is free. So long as we don’t sail under their guns into the Grand Harbour, we’ll be safe as silver.’
    â€˜You see?’ I said, reassuringly. ‘There’s nothing to worry about.’
    Papa snorted.
    â€˜I’m going to help you,’ said Lucas. He tugged on Papa’s hand. ‘We brought the Swallow , too, in case you need her.’
    Papa looked down at him and smiled. ‘Good lad.’
    I