Cali pressed one paw on the sunbaked mast. “We’ll find your friend. Don’t you worry.”
She should have felt silly talking to a piece of wood, but the responding creak reminded her that this wasn’t normal wood or a normal ship. The ship then pitched hard to the left, and Cali grabbed the edges of the rail to stay upright. She glanced below to the quarterdeck where Bonnie should have been, but there was no one at the captain’s wheel. Shouts drifted up to her as the crew tried to adjust to the dramatic change, and she spied Thrain struggling to stand as the ship picked up speed.
Had Tris seen something she hadn’t?
Cali narrowed her eyes, scanning the horizon. Nothing. Then she dropped her gaze to the sea as she turned to look behind the ship. Her pulse fluttered when she spotted bursts of color flashing beneath the waves. When one creature arced through the air and splashed back down, an iridescent green tail flipping before vanishing beneath the blue, Cali gasped. She’d never seen them before, but she’d seen enough drawings in the books she’d read.
“Mermaids,” she whispered before remembering Gert’s opinion of them. She gripped the edge of the crow’s nest and leaned over, screaming as loud as she could, “Mermaids!”
Eighteen
Every pirate’shead snapped to her, faces frozen in surprise before the ship erupted into action. Bonnie raced up to the quarterdeck from below while Gert barked orders at the crew to trim the sails and catch the wind. Thrain had a length of rope coiled around his waist, and he spun in a circle to wind it tighter.
Cali held on as the ship picked up speed, banking first to one side and then to the other. Even without the fervent actions of the pirates, the ship was trying to lose the mermaids. Apparantly, Tris was as much a fan of the creatures as Gert.
The peals of laughter that wafted up from the sea sent a shiver down the pantheri’s back and prickled the fur along her spine. Without looking, Cali knew it wasn’t the pirate crew laughing. It was the mermaids, and they were having no problem keeping abreast of The Cruel Mistress.
Cali pivoted her head from one side to the other. When she’d first spotted them, the creatures had been behind the ship. Now they were flanking both sides, glinting lavender and green as they leapt above the waves.
“This isn’t even tiring them,” Cali said to herself, as she watched the mermaids spiraling in the air and laughing while they gave chase.
“Are we losing them?” Bonnie called up, her hands cupped around her mouth.
Cali shook her head, pointing to both sides of the ship. “They’re gaining on us.”
The pirate captain turned the wheel over to Gert, whose forehead was bunched with wrinkles, and slid down the staircase railing to land on the main deck. Seraphina was prowling the starboard railing, her cloak’s train snapping behind her at each sharp turn, so Bonnie headed for the port side. She waved Cali down, and the pantheri passed Pinkie on the way, the gnome scampering up one side while the archer slid down the other.
When Cali reached the deck, she hurried to where Bonnie leaned over one side of the ship. From this angle, the mermaids looked less like they were leaping and playing and more like they were hunting and taunting.
“Bonnie One-Eye,” one of them called, her voice teasing. “We know what you’ve got on board.”
“The scurvy strumpets,” Bonnie said as she glared at the creatures beneath the water. “I should have known they would find out.”
“Find out what?”
Bonnie’s jaw was tight as she flicked her gaze toward Thrain, who was almost cocooned entirely with rope. “That we have a man on board.”
Cali’s heart sank as she looked at Thrain. If she’d known he would be in danger, she never would have allowed him to come. Then she swung her head back to Bonnie. “Did you know he would be in danger by coming?”
Bonnie’s blue eye wouldn’t meet hers. “I’ve never sailed with a man before, so I only know the legends and tales from other ships.”
Cali shook her head. “But other ships have entirely male crews. Why would they sail if mermaids wanted to eat their men?”
Bonnie cocked her head. “Eat men? Who said they wanted to eat men?”
Cali opened and closed her mouth. “I thought…I guess I assumed that’s why you looked so worried.”
“Do you really think I would allow anyone on my ship to be eaten?” The pirate captain looked horrified. “Do you think any ship could muster a crew if there was a chance of the men being devoured by mermaids?”
Now that she put it like that, it seemed absurd. “Then why are we running from them? Why are they chasing us for the one male on board?”
Bonnie peeked over the side again and sighed. “We’re trying to outrun them because I don’t have time to waste on mermaid games.” She flapped a hand toward the water. “They have nothing to do but amuse themselves, and I have no patience for them today.”
“And the fact that they know we have a man on board and seem to be very interested in him?” Cali pressed, not completely sure she was getting the full story from the captain.
“There are different mermaid pods in the sea.” Bonnie seemed to pick her words carefully. “I was hoping we wouldn’t encounter this particular one.”
Cali folded her arms across her chest. Bonnie might not have time for mermaid games, but she was losing patience as well. “Because…?”
