Скачать книгу

would be powerless to stop it.

ship.jpg

      That evening Bonnie Mary mentioned her reservations to Long John.

      He chalked the crew’s low spirits up to boredom. Though they had not been at sea long, as maritime voyages went, if boredom was indeed the culprit of the crew’s widespread malaise, then they were in deep trouble.

      Of all the enemies a captain may face at sea, boredom is one of the most difficult to combat. Ask any ship’s captain and he’ll tell you straight off he’d much rather deal with scurvy. At least one can suck a lime for that.

      Bonnie Mary and Long John decided a little light weapons practice might provide some entertainment and improve crew morale. Swords were all good and well at close range, but for the long-range tactical response a musket on one’s shoulder was vastly preferable. With no ships in sight to attack at the moment, the crew had to be kept in fighting form through target practice, too, and so the floating buoys with their fluttering paper targets were put out.

      They bobbed about in the ocean now, still attached to the Pieces by their mooring ropes. Long John had a standing bet with the crew that anyone who bested him in shooting practice was to receive a ration of double biscuits and grog for a week. So far, only Bonnie Mary and Sharpeye Sharpova had ever done it, and that at very close margins indeed, but this never prevented the rest of the crew from trying.

      Long John, Changez, Lobster Duncan, and twelve others took their turns first. The paper targets were pulled in, the holes counted and new ones put out.

      Long John leaned back against the foremast to prepare for a nice relaxing smoke. He hoped he wouldn’t win by too much this time. He turned out his pockets before realizing he’d left his pipe in the cabin.

      “Little Jane—”

      “Yes, Papa — Sir!” said Little Jane, happy to be called upon for something.

      “Fetch me pipe, from the cabin.”

      “Aye-aye, sir,” she said and caught the key ring he threw to her.

      She put her small hand through the brass hoop of the key ring. Wearing the tangle of keys like a bracelet, she scampered off below decks.

      Little Jane went down to their cabin in the stern of the ship and unlocked the door. Her father’s pipe took some finding. Shots continued to go off overhead as she searched. She finally discovered the elusive object languishing in the corner by the rubbish bin where it must’ve landed after taking a tumble off the desk.

      Walking through the narrow passage midships Little Jane noticed she was not alone below decks. Just down the narrow hall she thought she spied Ned Ronk, going about some business, completely unaware of her presence. She watched as he locked the door to the powder room, the chamber where the guns and gunpowder were stored, before climbing up the ladder to the main deck.

      She could think of no good reason for the boatswain to be down there when he was supposed to be topside watching the shooting practice.

      What sinister purpose can he be up to? she wondered. As soon as her nemesis was safely out of the hold, Little Jane went to the powder room to see.

      The door was locked as always. She tried a few of the keys from the bunch her father gave her, and was unsurprised to see them fail. There must’ve been forty keys or more on that ring. Not to mention that the locks on the Pieces were often rusty. Even with the right key, Little Jane failed to open them more often than not.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEBLAEsAAD/7QAsUGhvdG9zaG9wIDMuMAA4QklNA+0AAAAAABABLAAAAAEA AQEsAAAAAQAB/+IMWElDQ19QUk9GSUxFAAEBAAAMSExpbm8CEAAAbW50clJHQiBYWVogB84AAgAJ AAYAMQAAYWNzcE1TRlQAAAAASUVDIHNSR0IAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPbWAAEAAAAA0y1IUCAgAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARY3BydAAAAVAAAAAz ZGVzYwAAAYQAAABsd3RwdAAAAfAAAAAUYmtwdAAAAgQAAAAUclhZWgAAAhgAAAAUZ1hZWgAAAiwA AAAUYlhZWgAAAkAAAAAUZG1uZAAAAlQAAABwZG1kZAAAAsQAAACIdnVlZAAAA0wAAACGdmlldwAA A9QAAAAkbHVtaQAAA/gAAAAUbWVhcwAABAwAAAAkdGVjaAAABDAAAAAMclRSQwAABDwAAAgMZ1RS QwAABDwAAAgMYlRSQwAABDwAAAgMdGV4dAAAAABDb3B5cmlnaHQgKGMpIDE5OTggSGV3bGV0dC1Q YWNrYXJkIENvbXBhbnkAAGRlc2MAAAAAAAAAEnNSR0IgSUVDNjE5NjYtMi4xAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS c1JHQiBJRUM2MTk2Ni0yLjEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAFhZWiAAAAAAAADzUQABAAAAARbMWFlaIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABYWVogAAAA AAAAb6IAADj1AAADkFhZWiAAAAAAAABimQAAt4UAABjaWFlaIAAAAAAAACSgAAAPhAAAts9kZXNj AAAAAAAAABZJRUMgaHR0cDovL3d3dy5pZWMuY2gAAAAAAAAAAAAAABZJRUMgaHR0cDovL3d3dy5p ZWMuY2gAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZGVzYwAA AAAAAAAuSUVDIDYxOTY2LTIuMSBEZWZhdWx0IFJHQiBjb2xvdXIgc3BhY2UgLSBzUkdCAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAuSUVDIDYxOTY2LTIuMSBEZWZhdWx0IFJHQiBjb2xvdXIgc3BhY2UgLSBzUkdCAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGRlc2MAAAAAAAAALFJlZmVyZW5jZSBWaWV3aW5nIENvbmRpdGlvbiBp biBJRUM2MTk2Ni0yLjEAAAAAAAAAAAAAACxSZWZlcmVuY2UgVmlld2luZyBDb25kaXRpb24gaW4g SUVDNjE5NjYtMi4xAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAB2aWV3AAAAAAATpP4AFF8uABDP FAAD7cwABBMLAANcngAAAAFYWVogAAAAAABMCVYAUAAAAFcf521lYXMAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAKPAAAAAnNpZyAAAAAAQ1JUIGN1cnYAAAAAAAAEAAAAAAUACgAPABQAGQAeACMA KAAtADIANwA7AEAARQBKAE8AVABZAF4AYwBoAG0AcgB3AHwAgQCGAIsAkACVAJoAnwCkAKkArgCy ALcAvADBAMYAywDQANUA2wDgAOUA6wDwAPYA+wEBAQcBDQETARkBHwElASsBMgE4AT4BRQFMAVIB WQFgAWcBbgF1AXwBgwGLAZIBmgGhAakBsQG5AcEByQHRAdkB4QHpAfIB+gIDAgwCFAIdAiYCLwI4 AkECSwJUAl0CZwJxAnoChAKOApgCogKsArYCwQLLAtUC4ALrAvUDAAMLAxYDIQMtAzgDQwNPA1oD ZgNyA34DigOWA6IDrgO6A8cD0wPgA+wD+QQGBBMEIAQtBDsESARVBGMEcQR+BIwEmgSoBLYExATT BOEE8AT+BQ0FHAUrBToFSQVYBWcFdwWGBZYFpgW1BcUF1QXlBfYGBgYWBicGNwZIBlkGagZ7BowG nQavBsAG0QbjBvUHBwcZBysHPQdPB2EHdAeGB5kHrAe/B9IH5Qf4CAsIHwgyCEYIWghuCIIIlgiq CL4I0gjnCPsJEAklCToJTwlkCXkJjwmkCboJzwnlCfsKEQonCj0KVApqCoEKmAquCsUK3ArzCwsL Igs5C1ELaQuAC5gLsAvIC+EL+QwSDCoMQwxcDHUMjgynDMAM2QzzDQ0NJg1ADVoNdA2ODakNww3e DfgOEw4uDkkOZA5/DpsOtg7SDu4PCQ8lD0EPXg96D5YPsw/PD+wQCRAmEEMQYRB+EJsQuRDXEPUR ExExEU8RbRGMEaoRyRHoEgcSJhJFEmQShBKjEsMS4xMDEyMTQxNjE4MTpBPFE+UUBhQnFEkUahSL FK0UzhTwFRIVNBVWFXgVmxW9FeAWAxYmFkkWbBaPFrIW1hb6Fx0XQRdlF4kXrhfSF/cYGxhAGGUY ihivGNUY+hkgGUUZaxmRGbcZ3RoEGioaURp3Gp4axRrsGxQbOxtjG4obshvaHAIcKhxSHHscoxzM HPUdHh1HHXAdmR3DHeweFh5AHmoelB6+HukfEx8+H2kflB+/H+ogFSBBIGwgmCDEIPAhHCFIIXUh oSHOIfsiJyJVIoIiryLdIwojOCNmI5QjwiPwJB8kTSR8JKsk2iUJJTglaCWXJccl9yYnJlcmhya3 JugnGCdJJ3onqyfcKA0oPyhxKKIo1CkGKTgpaymdKdAqAio1KmgqmyrPKwIrNitpK50r0SwFLDks biyiLNctDC1BLXYtqy3hLhYuTC6CLrcu7i8kL1ovkS/HL/4wNTBsMKQw2zESMUoxgjG6MfIyKjJj Mpsy1DMNM0YzfzO4M/E0KzRlNJ402DUTNU01hzXCNf02NzZyNq426TckN2A3nDfXOBQ4UDiMOMg5 BTlCOX85vDn5OjY6dDqyOu87LTtrO6o76DwnPGU8pDzjPSI9YT2hPeA+ID5gPqA+4D8hP2E/oj/i QCNAZECmQOdBKUFqQaxB7kIwQnJCtUL3QzpDfUPARANER0SKRM5FEkVVRZpF3kYiRmdGq0bwRzVH e0fASAVIS0iRSNdJHUljSalJ8Eo3Sn1KxEsMS1NLmkviTCpMcky6TQJNSk2TTdxOJU5uTrdPAE9J T5NP3VAnUHFQu1EGUVBRm1HmUjFSfFLHUxNTX1OqU/ZUQlSPVNtVKFV1VcJWD1ZcVqlW91dEV5JX 4FgvWH1Yy1kaWWlZuFoHWlZaplr1W0VblVvlXDVchlzWXSddeF3JXhpebF69Xw9fYV+zYAVgV2Cq YPxhT2GiYfViSWKcYvBjQ2OXY+tkQGSUZOllPWWSZedmPWaSZuhnPWeTZ+loP2iWaOxpQ2maafFq SGqfavdrT2una/9sV2yvbQhtYG25bhJua27Ebx5veG/RcCtwhnDgcTpxlXHwcktypnMBc11zuHQU dHB0zHUodYV14XY+dpt2+HdWd7N4EXhueMx5KnmJeed6RnqlewR7Y3vCfCF8gXzhfUF9oX4BfmJ+ wn8jf4R/5YBHgKiBCoFrgc2CMIKSgvSDV4O6hB2EgITjhUeFq4YOhnKG14c7h5+IBIhpiM6JM4mZ if6KZIrKizCLlov8jGOMyo0xjZiN/45mjs6P

Скачать книгу