Bull confirmed.
Of course, she had known they would be armed, but had long-since convinced herself the guns on a merchant ship were for nothing more than show. Likewise, she had convinced herself the guns on the Amanda would be enough to induce any ship they encountered to drop their defenses and surrender post haste. She eyed the nine-pounder next to her. How foolish she had been!
The Amanda’s guns had filled her with awe and dread when she first came aboard, but compared to the massive ship looming on the horizon, they seemed little more than toys, her namesake no more than a sailboat.
The Amanda glided ever closer to the merchant ship, and she tried to count the number of open ports. She gave up when she reached thirty.
“Aren’t we outgunned?” She asked in a cracked voice.
“Yes, we are,” Bull answered, with characteristic bluntness.
“But why would the captain attack a ship when he is outmatched?”
Bull looked fully at her this time, and there could be no mistaking the reproach in his eyes. “I agreed we was outgunned. I never said we was outmatched.”
With every ounce of her concentration on the merchant ship, Amanda hadn’t noticed the captain leave his position at the main mast to perform a quick inspection of the crew’s readiness.
“Where are you supposed to be?” His strong voice snapped her out of her stupor.
“P-p-preparing the powder,” she said, mortified that he might have overheard her questioning his decisions.
“Then get to it!”
****
Will watched Adam scurry to his station, careful not to let his concern show. The boy had arrived late on deck. Moments before he took up his glass, he noted Adam’s absence. Then when he called “to stations” he nearly tripped over him. Adam had had the audacity to eavesdrop on his conversation with Buck. That he didn’t mind so much. In the young, courage often mingled with curiosity. However, he also noticed the young sailor conversing with Bull, an unusual thing in the moments before battle, especially since Will had ordered silence. He took his inspection tour close enough to hear the exchange.
The fear in the boy’s voice concerned him. Fear was natural. Not to have fear before going into battle could get the lad killed. Yet, to voice fear aloud did not speak well of the young man’s courage and the effect he might have on the crew’s morale. Not that Adam had expressed his fear in so many words, but Will could hear it in the high, tight pitch of the boy’s voice.
Of course, Adam was hardly the first new recruit to let his fear show. It wasn’t unheard of for a ship’s boy to dissolve into tears during their first battle or soil themselves the first time they heard the roar of a gun. Either the lad overcame his fear, or he returned the boy to his family with the gentle suggestion that their son take up farming or some suitable trade.
He’d hate to have to leave Adam behind. He liked having the boy around. His skill with a stove had been evident, but there was more to it than that. The boy had a gentleness not often found among sailors. Will found it...soothing.
Will shook his head at his own foolishness. A gentle soul did not belong on a privateer anymore than a woman did.
“All men at the ready, sir,” Bull reported.
Clasping his hands behind his back, Will walked past each of the nine-pounders, Bull trailing behind him.
“Will you have trouble with that one?” he asked when his inspection took him to the far end of the ship and out of earshot of Adam.
“No, sir,” Bull responded, turning for a moment toward the gun where Adam stood, waiting for orders from the captain of the gun crew.
Will wondered that Bull didn’t have to ask to which of the new recruits he referred. Several sailors still had a hard time keeping their grog in their bellies and their feet underneath them when the Amanda pitched without warning. More than a few were still unsure of their duties. Many of them had eyes glistening with
Of course, she had known they would be armed, but had long-since convinced herself the guns on a merchant ship were for nothing more than show. Likewise, she had convinced herself the guns on the Amanda would be enough to induce any ship they encountered to drop their defenses and surrender post haste. She eyed the nine-pounder next to her. How foolish she had been!
The Amanda’s guns had filled her with awe and dread when she first came aboard, but compared to the massive ship looming on the horizon, they seemed little more than toys, her namesake no more than a sailboat.
The Amanda glided ever closer to the merchant ship, and she tried to count the number of open ports. She gave up when she reached thirty.
“Aren’t we outgunned?” She asked in a cracked voice.
“Yes, we are,” Bull answered, with characteristic bluntness.
“But why would the captain attack a ship when he is outmatched?”
Bull looked fully at her this time, and there could be no mistaking the reproach in his eyes. “I agreed we was outgunned. I never said we was outmatched.”
With every ounce of her concentration on the merchant ship, Amanda hadn’t noticed the captain leave his position at the main mast to perform a quick inspection of the crew’s readiness.
“Where are you supposed to be?” His strong voice snapped her out of her stupor.
“P-p-preparing the powder,” she said, mortified that he might have overheard her questioning his decisions.
“Then get to it!”
****
Will watched Adam scurry to his station, careful not to let his concern show. The boy had arrived late on deck. Moments before he took up his glass, he noted Adam’s absence. Then when he called “to stations” he nearly tripped over him. Adam had had the audacity to eavesdrop on his conversation with Buck. That he didn’t mind so much. In the young, courage often mingled with curiosity. However, he also noticed the young sailor conversing with Bull, an unusual thing in the moments before battle, especially since Will had ordered silence. He took his inspection tour close enough to hear the exchange.
The fear in the boy’s voice concerned him. Fear was natural. Not to have fear before going into battle could get the lad killed. Yet, to voice fear aloud did not speak well of the young man’s courage and the effect he might have on the crew’s morale. Not that Adam had expressed his fear in so many words, but Will could hear it in the high, tight pitch of the boy’s voice.
Of course, Adam was hardly the first new recruit to let his fear show. It wasn’t unheard of for a ship’s boy to dissolve into tears during their first battle or soil themselves the first time they heard the roar of a gun. Either the lad overcame his fear, or he returned the boy to his family with the gentle suggestion that their son take up farming or some suitable trade.
He’d hate to have to leave Adam behind. He liked having the boy around. His skill with a stove had been evident, but there was more to it than that. The boy had a gentleness not often found among sailors. Will found it...soothing.
Will shook his head at his own foolishness. A gentle soul did not belong on a privateer anymore than a woman did.
“All men at the ready, sir,” Bull reported.
Clasping his hands behind his back, Will walked past each of the nine-pounders, Bull trailing behind him.
“Will you have trouble with that one?” he asked when his inspection took him to the far end of the ship and out of earshot of Adam.
“No, sir,” Bull responded, turning for a moment toward the gun where Adam stood, waiting for orders from the captain of the gun crew.
Will wondered that Bull didn’t have to ask to which of the new recruits he referred. Several sailors still had a hard time keeping their grog in their bellies and their feet underneath them when the Amanda pitched without warning. More than a few were still unsure of their duties. Many of them had eyes glistening with
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