Justin Somper - Vampirates 3 Blood Captain

Text copyright 2007 by Justin Somper

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Little, Brown and Company

Hachette Book Group USA

237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Visit our Web site at www.lb-kids.com

First eBook Edition: June 2008

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN: 978-0-316-03997-0

Contents

Also by Justin Somper

VAMPIRATES: Demons of the Ocean

VAMPIRATES: Tide of Terror

To Jenny, Jo, and Jonathan.

Blood is thicker than water!

THE CROWS NEST

Come on, Connor. You can do it!

Come on, buddy! Keep climbing!

Connor Tempest grimaced. His legs felt simultaneously as heavy as lead and uncontrollable as jelly. It was a mistake to have paused halfway up. Hed been doing so well. He wanted to conquer this fear. It was time. Way past time. But the fear was deep inside him, weighty and immovable as an anchor caught beneath a rock.

He wanted to look down. He struggled to keep his head straight, knowing that looking down was the worst thing he could do. He felt his eyes being pulled like magnets down to the deck, many feet too many feet! below. And then down the side of The Diablo and deep into the ocean. When you stopped to think about it and you should never stop to think about it there was a very long way to fall.

Dont look down! Cates voice sailed through the air, strong and certain. If only he could be as confident as the deputy captain always sounded.

Come on, lad! Captain Wrathe called to him. Youve taken on worse foes than a few feet of rigging!

This was certainly true, thought Connor, his mind flashing with dark snapshots of the past three months. His dads funeral. Nearly drowning before he was rescued by Cheng Li. Being separated from Grace. The death of his dear comrade Jez. His betrayal by Cheng Li, Commodore Kuo, and Jacoby Blunt. The terrible night when hed led the attack on Sidorio and Jez... no, not Jez, but the thing Jez had become. The memory of that night burned in him like a fire, as hot as the torches he had sent across the water to the deck of the other ship. As consuming as the flames which had engulfed his friend... the echo of his friend...

Come on, Connor!

It was Grace! Even though she was back on the Vampirate ship, it was her voice as clear as anything. It gave Connor the extra fortitude he needed. After everything they had been through, he could no longer be defeated by this one remaining fear. This ridiculous fear of heights.

Carefully, he removed his right hand from the rigging. It came away with the indentation of rope deeply imprinted, red and raw, across his palm. He realized how tightly hed been clinging. The ships bell rang. The surprise of it made him lose his balance for a moment but it was only the bell announcing the changeover of shifts. He steadied himself. It was now or never. He reached up to the next square of rigging and took a deep breath.

He didnt look down. He didnt look up either. He just kept his eyes focused on his hands and the squares of rope. Each square was the same as the last a rope window framing a patch of sky. If he just focused on this, it was as if he wasnt climbing at all.

Suddenly, he realized that his legs were no longer shaking. Instead, they were moving steadily, seeking out the next foothold, finding their rhythm. His breathing had settled, too. He was calm. He was doing this. Conquering the fear. It felt good. It felt so good.

He lost himself in the movement and it was only when he heard the sound of cheering from below that he realized hed reached his goal. He looked up and his hand touched not rope but the wooden frame of the crows nest. All that remained was to haul himself up onto the lookout point.

A coldness sliced through him. There was no ignoring the sense of how high he was above the deck. With no harness to protect him. It was madness to be up here. At the mercy of the swell of the waves far below. Once more, an icy wave of fear tore through his insides. He gritted his teeth, waiting for it to pass. The fear clung to him, but Connor was not about to be defeated. Not now.

There was good reason to be up here. Someone had to man the crows nest to keep a lookout and give early warning of attack, or opportunities to attack! Coming up here was about protecting your mates. And in the three months since hed joined The Diablo, these guys had become more than mates. Bart, Cate, and Captain Wrathe were his new family. Theyd never replace Grace, of course, but Grace had had to embark on her own journey. Besides her, everyone he cared about in the world was aboard this ship. When you looked at it like that, it made absolute sense to be up here, in a position to safeguard them. Effortlessly, he climbed up into the crows nest.

As he planted his feet on the wooden platform, he heard a fresh round of cheers from below. The temptation to glance down was strong now. Resisting it, he looked straight ahead. As far as the eye could see, there was the endless sprawl of glittering blue ocean. His new home.

In the distance, he saw the outline of a ship, silhouetted against the afternoon sun. Attached to the crows nest was a small telescope. Connor reached for it and looked through the glass out to the horizon. It took him a moment to find the ship but then he caught it in the circle of his vision. It was a galleon, not dissimilar to The Diablo. A pirate ship, perhaps. He zoomed in still further and raised the telescope to get a better look at the flag. Yes, another pirate ship for sure! It seemed to be heading around the bay, the bay that could be seen curving into the horizon behind the vessel. Connor grinned. He knew exactly where that ship was heading. To every pirates favorite watering hole Ma Kettles Tavern.

As Connor replaced the telescope in its clip, a small bird came to rest on the crows nest. From its forked tail, Connor recognized it as a sooty tern. It gave Connor a quick glance then flapped its wings and took off again, soaring away into the blue. Connor watched the bird until it lost its distinctive shape, contracted to a black speck, then disappeared entirely. He smiled to himself. Thats my fear, he thought. Gone now.

Good goin, buddy! Bart high-fived Connor as he jumped down the last foot onto the deck.

Very impressive, said the pirate at Barts side.

Thanks, Gonzalez.

No, I mean it, the pirate replied. Half an hour to get up there and straight down in thirty seconds! He grinned.

Connor shook his head. Hed only started to know Brenden Gonzalez since Jez Stukeleys death. Gonzalez could never take Jezs place but he shared a similarly dry sense of humor.

Im really proud of you! Cate said, stepping forward and most uncharacteristically hugging him. I know how hard that was for you, she whispered in his ear.

An excellent effort! said Captain Wrathe, beaming at him. Scrimshaw, the captains pet snake, was coiled about his wrist, and even he seemed to be looking at Connor with fresh admiration.

Well, gather round, everyone, called Captain Wrathe. I think Mister Tempests accomplishment is cause for celebration, dont you?

There was a rousing chorus of Aye, Captain! from up and down the deck. Once more, Connor had a sense of belonging to a vast, extended ocean-faring family.

Tonight, we shall visit an establishment by the name of Ma Kettles! cried Captain Wrathe.