Vampirates 4: Black Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

surf under Stukeley's own tutelage, but already he was as good as his teacher. All his experience on horseback had given him a strong sense of how to balance and steer the board through the most powerful of waves.
    Johnny was whooping with exhilaration as he scooped up the board and ran out of the water to meet his friend. "How'd I do?" he asked.
    Stukeley smiled and reached out his hand to squeeze Johnny's shoulder. "You did good, mate," he said. "You're a natural."
    "Thanks, hermano," Johnny grinned. Hermano The word meant "brother" in Johnny's native tongue. And it was true that in the short time they had known each other, they had become like brothers. Stukeley had had close friendships before. His brain flickered briefly with an image of him on board the Diablo, clowning around with Connor and Bart. Such images were becoming harder and harder to conjure now, as if they were a dream he had once dreamed but could no longer return to. This was his life now -- this world of pervasive darkness.
    "You look distant. What are you thinking about?"
    Stukeley shook his head. "I just had this flashback to when I was mortal."
    "Still getting those, eh?" Johnny gave a wry smile and set his Stetson back on his head.
    "Yeah, I was thinking about --"
    "Don't go there," Johnny said with a shake of his head. "It'll only bring you pain." He slammed his surfboard into the sand. "Trust me. I've made that mistake too many times myself."
    Stukeley watched the moonlit waves reflected in Johnny's dark eyes. "Then what?" he asked. "Do I just let it all go? Everything I used to be?"
    Johnny nodded. "Yes. Just let it float away from you. Live in the here and now."
    Stukeley looked at his friend. "Is that what you do?"
    "I try to, man. It's not always easy, but it's easier than filling your head with pain and regret and yearning."
    Stukeley nodded. "There are people I cared about and people who cared about me. I didn't always do right by them... ."
    "Trust me," Johnny said. "The only way you'll ever be free is to live in the moment. On this beach. Right now. This is all we have."
    Though Johnny looked a few years younger, on account of his age when he'd crossed, he'd been in this realm a whole lot longer than Stukeley. His journey had been long and often hard, Stukeley knew, from the few snippets he'd told him. When it came to giving advice on making fresh starts, this onetime vaquero knew what he was talking about.
    "Look." Johnny spun Stukeley around and they watched the other surfers. Mortal eyes would have been blind to their serried ranks, even if any mortals had been brave enough to be out on the beach tonight rather than shut up indoors, behind closed windows and locked doors.
    The water was teeming with them. There was excitement in the air, not just from the exhilaration of the surf but also from the anticipation of what would follow.
    "Where's the captain?" Stukeley asked. "I don't see him."
    "Right there," Johnny pointed. "Right where you'd expect him to be -- at the heart of the action."
    And there was Sidorio, head and shoulders above those surrounding him, utterly in command of the tall wave that he rode in to shore. Seeing his two lieutenants awaiting him, he gave a roar and propelled his muscled body up into the air, turning a complete somersault, the surfboard still attached to his feet. Then he landed once more on the raging waters and latched onto another wave to complete his journey to the beach.
    "Nice one, Captain!" Stukeley nodded in admiration as Sidorio strode up to join them.
    Sidorio smiled. "Sometimes I even surprise myself," he said.
    "Did you see Johnny surfing before?" Stukeley asked. "He's getting good. Really good."
    "I saw him," Sidorio said, nodding at Johnny. "Nice work, Stetson."
    Johnny basked in the captain's praise, which was rarely quick to flow.
    Now the beach was filling up with the others -- a massed rank of dark figures emerging from the water and stepping onto land, immediately bone-dry.
    "Look at that!"