Read Online The High King: A Tale of Alus by Donald Wigboldy - Free Book Online
Authors: Donald Wigboldy
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telescope. "Where?" he shouted demandingly.
"Three o'clock and one o'clock, sir!"
The captain turned the telescope towards the direction mentioned, forward and slightly away from the bow. "Damn!" he cursed as he found two more ships of galleon size moving towards the Patar from the northeast.
"How could they have gotten so far ahead of us, Captain Dernick?" Gerid voiced the question that his brother had been asking of himself.
The captain lowered the spyglass wearily. Turning slowly back to face Gerid's question, with a look of dread in his eyes, Simon thought the man looked to have aged decades in that one instant. "Carnal gulls or maybe it was all just a trap?"
"What are carnal gulls?"
The man nodded to himself as if deciding, without seeming to hear Gerid's question. "It would almost have to be carnal gulls, I think," he mumbled to himself as much as to anyone listening. Captain Madron looked at Gerid then, "They are birds that have extremely good senses and for some reason they are able to find their mates up to about a twenty or thirty mile radius. Some shipping companies use them to send messages and they're also perfect for finding ships lost after a storm as well.
"These pirates must use them to coordinate fleets to trap a fleeing ship. That's the only way that they could possibly be ahead of us and trying to line up to cut us off."
"There's still a lot of water between us," Simon interjected. "Can't you try and dodge away from them?"
"I doubt it. It's not as easy as a child's game of tag. If we lose our wind changing directions, then the ship behind us still has its oars to close in and close the gap. The ships ahead of us are tacking into the wind already and that distance that you mentioned makes it that much easier to cut off our angle in any of our best possible paths."
"Captain, surely there is something that you can do?"
"We'll do what we can, Aramathea, but, if I were you, I would prepare for the worst. I'm not giving up yet mind you, but you might as well look at the possibility."
The ships continued their dangerous game of cat and mouse. Simon had little that he could do aside from waiting. He watched helplessly as the sailors of the Patar worked their magic as best they could. Captain Dernick would shout orders to take advantage of every wind and adjustment of their enemy while the crew immediately jumped to implement the orders. It resulted in several different course changes. It often took several minutes for the less maneuverable pirate ships to react and compensate. After a time, Simon and the others could tell that, despite the captain's best tricks, the Patar would be unable to escape from this trap.
Their pursuer from behind had men in the sails and their boarding parties were ready now that there was only a few more boat lengths between them and their quarry. The two others were closing quickly on them from ahead as well. Simon could tell that short of driving through them, the Patar had lost her options of escape.
He glanced at his brother fingering the hilt of his sword. Simon strode over to the young men and shook his head. "Gerid, don't do anything foolish. There is no way that we can defeat so many. Even if you were strong enough to do so, the rest of us would most assuredly be dead. Besides, the captain believes that they are only interested in what we carry. None of it is worth fighting over, let alone dying for, boy."
Gerid nodded, "I know, but I just hate to see them get away with this so easily. Maybe if I challenged their best to a duel?"
Laying a hand on his shoulder, Simon looked up into his brother's eyes. "Unlike Merrick's soldiers, these men don't play at this game. I sincerely doubt they would be willing to give up their prey, especially when they know that we can't possibly resist them. They've won. Besides, I doubt that they would even keep their word. They are thieving pirates after all."
"Yeah, but still...."
"No, you follow the captain's lead and keep quiet. If we stay out of
"Three o'clock and one o'clock, sir!"
The captain turned the telescope towards the direction mentioned, forward and slightly away from the bow. "Damn!" he cursed as he found two more ships of galleon size moving towards the Patar from the northeast.
"How could they have gotten so far ahead of us, Captain Dernick?" Gerid voiced the question that his brother had been asking of himself.
The captain lowered the spyglass wearily. Turning slowly back to face Gerid's question, with a look of dread in his eyes, Simon thought the man looked to have aged decades in that one instant. "Carnal gulls or maybe it was all just a trap?"
"What are carnal gulls?"
The man nodded to himself as if deciding, without seeming to hear Gerid's question. "It would almost have to be carnal gulls, I think," he mumbled to himself as much as to anyone listening. Captain Madron looked at Gerid then, "They are birds that have extremely good senses and for some reason they are able to find their mates up to about a twenty or thirty mile radius. Some shipping companies use them to send messages and they're also perfect for finding ships lost after a storm as well.
"These pirates must use them to coordinate fleets to trap a fleeing ship. That's the only way that they could possibly be ahead of us and trying to line up to cut us off."
"There's still a lot of water between us," Simon interjected. "Can't you try and dodge away from them?"
"I doubt it. It's not as easy as a child's game of tag. If we lose our wind changing directions, then the ship behind us still has its oars to close in and close the gap. The ships ahead of us are tacking into the wind already and that distance that you mentioned makes it that much easier to cut off our angle in any of our best possible paths."
"Captain, surely there is something that you can do?"
"We'll do what we can, Aramathea, but, if I were you, I would prepare for the worst. I'm not giving up yet mind you, but you might as well look at the possibility."
The ships continued their dangerous game of cat and mouse. Simon had little that he could do aside from waiting. He watched helplessly as the sailors of the Patar worked their magic as best they could. Captain Dernick would shout orders to take advantage of every wind and adjustment of their enemy while the crew immediately jumped to implement the orders. It resulted in several different course changes. It often took several minutes for the less maneuverable pirate ships to react and compensate. After a time, Simon and the others could tell that, despite the captain's best tricks, the Patar would be unable to escape from this trap.
Their pursuer from behind had men in the sails and their boarding parties were ready now that there was only a few more boat lengths between them and their quarry. The two others were closing quickly on them from ahead as well. Simon could tell that short of driving through them, the Patar had lost her options of escape.
He glanced at his brother fingering the hilt of his sword. Simon strode over to the young men and shook his head. "Gerid, don't do anything foolish. There is no way that we can defeat so many. Even if you were strong enough to do so, the rest of us would most assuredly be dead. Besides, the captain believes that they are only interested in what we carry. None of it is worth fighting over, let alone dying for, boy."
Gerid nodded, "I know, but I just hate to see them get away with this so easily. Maybe if I challenged their best to a duel?"
Laying a hand on his shoulder, Simon looked up into his brother's eyes. "Unlike Merrick's soldiers, these men don't play at this game. I sincerely doubt they would be willing to give up their prey, especially when they know that we can't possibly resist them. They've won. Besides, I doubt that they would even keep their word. They are thieving pirates after all."
"Yeah, but still...."
"No, you follow the captain's lead and keep quiet. If we stay out of
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