Erin Michelle Sky - The Navigator

This book is a work of fiction. All events and dialog contained herein are purely fictitious. All characters, with the exception of certain well-known historical and public figures, are products of the authors imagination and are not to be construed as real. Where real-life historical and public figures appear, the situations, events, and dialogs concerning those persons are fictitious. The inclusion of certain historical facts is not intended to change the fictitious nature of the book.

Copyright 2018-2019 by Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Please address all such requests to .

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019944292

ISBN: 978-1946137098 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1946137036 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1946137043 (trade paperback)

Cover art by Benjamin P. Roque

Cover layout and interior design by Jordan D. Gum

Ebook design by Dawson Cosh

Edited by Lourdes Venard

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For everyone

who has ever forged ahead

against all odds

very good story begins with trouble.

This is the one kind thing that might be said for trouble, as it is a nuisance in every other regard and best avoided. But Wendy Darling is already in a good bit of trouble, whether she realizes it or not, and things are about to get much worse.

Trouble number one: Wendy is exceedingly pleased to have made her way aboard The Dragon , but Captain Hook does not appreciate her presence. He is itching for an excuse to place her or any of her friends in irons. This includes John, Michael, poor Reginald, Thomas (the Royal Society fellow), and even Nana, the monstrous Newfoundland dog.

Dont think Hook is above placing a dog in irons, because he is not.

Trouble number two: Wendy is being treated as the navigator by the first mate, who happens to be her dear friend, Charlie. No one else in Hooks crew wants her to hold such an important position. There is a good bit of grumbling about this belowdeck, where you might not hear about it, but where it has the ability to fester.

Unfortunately for the crew, Wendy is the only one who can be the navigator because the magical compass only works for her . But if you have ever tried to argue logically with an angry mob, youll know that it isnt helpful.

Trouble number three

Well, lets watch together as Wendy discovers it for herself.

She is standing on deck next to Charlie, who has the helm. She is wearing a pair of mens breechesdark browntucked into her tall, black boots, with a white linen shirt and a cream-colored waistcoat. This is a bold choice for a seventeen-year-old woman in the year 1790, but Wendy is a sailor now and prefers to dress the part. She wears her sword at her left hip, with a brown leather pistol holster strapped to each thigh. She has a larger holster strapped to her back, so her musket would peek over her left shoulder if it were present. Sadly, it is not. All three of her guns are locked away in the ships armory. Hook is the only one who carries a gun aboard The Dragon unless the ship comes under attack.

(If you had ever seen the crew drinking and carrying onwhich does not happen every night, but often enoughyou would understand this policy.)

Wendy holds the compass in her left hand as she stares out to sea. The rest of her platoon is scrubbing the deck under Johns direction. They are not regular members of Hooks crew, and this is the only shipboard task they are qualified to perform. Besides which, it amuses Hook to watch them perform it.

Wendy feels like she should be scrubbing the deck too, out of solidarity. But she also remembers the cruel taunts of Mortimer Black and the strange song that has haunted her ever since that eventful day some seven years ago.

If women ever sail the sea,

Theyll scrub the decks for men like me!

Theyll marry none but Davy Jones,

And for their children, only bones!

As you can imagine, she would prefer not to scrub the deck if she can help it, no matter how guilty she might feel over having managed to avoid it.

As for Nana, she is sitting calmly by Wendys side, not at all bothered by the fact that she has been excused from the scrubbing detail. And Thomas is hovering just behind Wendys left shoulder, his hair appearing even more wild at sea than it did in London. He stares at the compass in fascination every time she opens it, as though each instance of its operation is a brand new miracle.

Astounding! he says. Or, Marvelous!

So now were all caught up, and this is how things stood when Wendy opened the compass yet again, reassuring herself for the hundredth time that their course had not altered. Only this time, Thomas said nothing at all.

Startled, Wendy glanced over her shoulder, only to find him staring up at the crows nest, high over their heads. She followed his gaze to see the lookout holding a spyglass to his right eye, staring intently off to starboard (which is how Wendy, having been trained in nautical terminology, thought of the right side of the ship.)

A sail! the lookout shouted. A sail!

Immediately, Smeethe bosun (who hated Wendy perhaps more than anyone)whistled several sharp tones through the silver instrument that hung around his neck.

Alert, Charlie said. Wendy nodded, holding her breath.

Suddenly, the lookout whipped a blood-red flag straight to the top of the mast, and the ship exploded into life.

The bosuns whistle sounded again, and sailors shouted to each other, sprinting across the deck.

What? Thomas exclaimed.

French, Charlie said between clenched teeth. Theyve seen us. Its the call to man the cannons.

Wendys hands fell uselessly upon her empty holsters. My pistols! she exclaimed.

Charlie nodded. Go now. While you can. I wont have you unarmed if were boarded. Find Nicholas. Hell make sure you get them. He said nothing more, but the look he gave her as their eyes locked sent shivers of fear down her spine.

For the first time since she had left London, Olaudah Equianos warning came back to heras clearly as though he were speaking it now, directly into her mind: There are worse ways to live, Miss Darling. There is a price to changing ones destiny.

Wendy narrowed her eyes and her lips tightened into a line of steel, the hidden kiss in the far corner disappearing altogether. She clasped Charlies shoulder and held his gaze just a moment longer. Then she sprinted off to join the throng of sailors making their way belowdeck, with Nana racing faithfully behind.