CHAPTER 16 “Worse ways to die.”
“Take cover!”
Fire blossomed from three points along L’Intrepide’s side, and even at this distance, the roar smote Bowie’s ears like a thunderclap.
Men cursed, yelled, and scrambled in all directions. Even the placid Sam deigned to react, glancing up from his book with a look of mild annoyance.
Bowie spied Mariette near the foremast, bandaging Pacal’s limbs. He ran three steps and dived headlong through the air.
Balls whistled overhead, followed by a mad chorus of snapping ropes and cracking timbers. Bowie sailed over the brown man, cradling Mariette beneath him, and tumbled to the deck, shielding her body with his own.
A storm of broken spars and splinters showered over them, and the deck itself leapt as a yardarm crashed down. One end of the huge tim
