Page 52 of Mardon

“Nay!” she cried, holding the burning painting like a torch. “You will never show this to anyone again, and I refuse to be treated so horribly by you.” As he came toward her, he pulled his whip from his belt.

“I guess it’s time I teach you a lesson, Wife. But first, I’ll take that painting.” His whip lashed out, hitting her on the hand.

“Ow!” she screamed, dropping the burning painting. It fell atop a pile of papers and the whole thing shot up in flames.

“You fool! You’re going to burn down my ship!”

“I’m not the one who did that. It was your fault.”

He tried to stomp out the flames but they only got higher, catching everything in the cabin on fire.

“You’ll pay for this.” He flicked his whip at her and it caught her on the leg, ripping her clothes.

She screamed again, running out the door with the madman chasing her. Emmaline heard the sound of the whip cracking the air right next to her head.

“Stop her!” shouted Jean Philippe. “Stop that bitch, because I am going to kill her.”

Several men ran toward her while her husband’s mistresses screamed.

“Fire!” shouted someone else, and everyone ran around in a frenzy.

Jean Philippe no longer seemed to care that his ship was on fire. The fire blazing in his eyes was hotter than the flames of hell. He came closer, clutching his whip as Emmaline found herself trapped, pushed up against the sidewall of the ship.

“You will die now, and I will enjoy doing it,” he snarled, raising his whip.

The sails flapped in the breeze. Emmaline realized the only place she could go to escape this maniac was up. So up to the lookout basket she would go, hoping to hide for now. She grabbed hold of the ratlines and started to climb. The sting of his whip hit her ankles, hurting so bad that she almost lost her grip.

His hands were on the lines as he prepared to come after her, when she heard more shouts from his crew that stopped him in motion.

“The fire is spreading fast,” someone yelled.

“There is a pirate ship approaching,” called out the captain. “Nay, make that two.”

“Jean Philippe,” cried one of his mistresses from below. “What should we do?”

“Hurry to the shuttle boats and get off the ship, or the pirates will take you,” he called out. “All women off the ship. All men, prepare to defend yourselves or die.”

Thankfully, Jean Philip stopped chasing her and started to retreat. So did Emmaline, wanting to get into a shuttle boat and off the ship. Then the man noticed.

“Not you!” he shouted. “If you so much as step foot on deck, I will whip you until your skin peels off. Stay up there for now. I will deal with you after I stop this fire and save my ship from pirates.”

Not wanting to be trapped atop the mast in a fire, Emmaline thought about jumping into the water. But then she looked out and saw the sails of Mardon’s ship. “Mardon,” she whispered, knowing now that he would save her. However, there were the sails of another pirate ship approaching fast as well. That made her frightened that she might be killed or captured by pirates that were not from the Falcon.

With nowhere to hide and nowhere to go, all she could do was get out of the way and hope Mardon could save her before she died. Holding tightly to the lines, she looked upward and climbed.

* * *

“We’re gaining on the French ship,” Mardon called out from the helm. “Men, take your positions and prepare for boarding.”

“Mardon!” Aaron called from up in the lookout basket. “Mardon, wait.” He grabbed on to a line and swung down, landing with his bare feet on the sterncastle next to Mardon.

“What is it?” he asked. “Stitch, come hold the ship steady as I prepare to board,”

“Nereus’ ship is following us,” Aaron reported.

“What?” Mardon swung around and looked behind him to see that it was true. He was so focused on getting to the French ship and saving Emmaline that he hadn’t been looking behind him.

“They’re coming up fast on starboard,” reported Aaron. “They must have been following us, thinking we know where to find the treasure.”