Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) by Fletcher Best Page A

Captain approached, smoking his
pipe. “Well?” he asked hopefully.
    “I think we were successful. The
wedges were holding fast when we finished at each ship and I would
guess that they’ll swell in the water and get even tighter before
morning,” Jeff replied.
    “Splendid! You seem more than tired.
Did you have any trouble?” Coxen inquired.
    “We were attacked by a shark, but
Robinson killed it,” Jeff said with admiration.
    “Remarkable! Well done, Robinson!” the
Captain bellowed.
    “Thank you, Captain,” she replied. She
turned to Jeff and said, “Were you going to tell him about your
drink of Spanish piss?”
    As the Captain and crew snickered,
Jeff shook his head. “You had to bring that up, didn’t
you?”
    “Aye!” she replied, trying to look
innocent.
    “First water and now Spanish piss. You
do have some odd thirsts, Mr. Greene!” the Captain said to the
laughter of the crew.
    “Let’s just say my mouth was in the
wrong place at the wrong time,” Jeff said with a laugh of his
own.
    “Well, Mr. Greene, Mr. Robinson, I
shall look forward to seeing the fruits of your labors at first
light. But you must be tired. Please take your leave, change out of
those wet clothes, and try to get some sleep. We sail at
dawn.”
    “Thank you, Captain,” they replied in
unison as they struggled to their feet and made their way to their
bunks. A few men followed them down to the crew’s quarters and
flopped into their bunks as Jeff slid off his swim trunks and
pulled on his pants. Jenny watched the others settle in before
turning her back and quickly removing her wet shirt and wrap as one
and sliding a dry set on. She was just as fast in changing her
pants and in a matter of seconds, she had managed to completely
change clothes without revealing any hint that she was a woman to
the others in the room. The two crawled onto their bunks and said a
quick goodnight to each other before both quickly fell
asleep.

Chapter 8: Setting Sail
    Jeff awakened to the sounds of the
crew arising and making their way onto deck. Jenny was already gone
and Jeff stiffly pulled himself upright. He was very sore from the
evening’s adventures and he stretched a little before pulling on a
shirt and heading out on deck. It was still quite dark, but there
was a faint line of orange and red sitting low in the sky signaling
the approach of sunrise. Captain Coxen was standing on the deck of
the bridge, supervising the preparations. He spotted Jeff and
called to him. Jeff walked over and climbed the steps to the
bridge. “Good morning, Mr. Greene,” the Captain greeted him. “We
shall soon see how well your plan is going to work, but I trust it
will be a success.”
    Jeff nodded, “I know it will work,
Captain. They can’t chase us if they can’t steer and they’ll need
men who can swim to have any chance of fixing the
problem.”
    “Aye,” the Captain nodded, “and men
who can swim are a rarity in this age. Robinson is preparing some
food to sustain the men for the sail. You should go get some. We’ll
be setting sail within the hour.”
    “Yes, Captain. I’ll do that.” Jeff
made his way down to the galley.
    Graves and the other Stevens were
coming out as he reached the doorway. Graves spoke up, “Mr. Greene!
Robinson told us ye fought the shark with yer bare hands while ‘e
stabbed it!”
    “I guess you could say that,” Jeff
agreed. “I was mostly just holding on to it as hard as I could to
keep it from biting me.”
    “All the same. Good on ye mate!”
Graves said enthusiastically.
    “Aye!” agreed the other Stevens as the
two continued on their way to the deck.
    Jenny had heard the exchange and
greeted Jeff at the door. She looked past him to make sure the
coast was clear before grabbing the back of his neck and kissing
him passionately. As she broke the embrace, Jeff said. “Good
morning to you too!” She smiled and wiped some of her ash and
grease face paint from around his mouth before turning and