Free Princess at Sea by Dawn Cook

frenzied deck. Everyone was trying to put out the fire or cut the sail free without getting burned. Haron had abandoned the wheel, his place taken by another. The front jib was again on the deck, the fire climbing the ropes even as the men tried to put the heavy canvas out. The flames had jumped to the first mainsail’s lines and were creeping down to the crumpled sail. We were still drifting, the tide and the wind pushing us out over the shoals and farther from help.
    â€œCareful!” I cried, reaching for Contessa when the Sandpiper shifted out from behind the lee of the island and the first of the storm-driven waves hit us. Cold spray from nowhere shocked through me, soaking me in an instant. Contessa shrieked when the deck dipped, and the horses whinnied, terrified.
    Alex and I steadied Contessa, the dark and the moving deck making everything a confused chaos. I cowered when the deck swooped and another spray of water took us.
    A sharp whistle drew my attention, and hope made my pulse pound. Captain Rylan’s ship, Kelly’s Sapphire , was headed our way, her booms swinging even as I watched, filling her sails with wind. Captain Rylan was standing at the railing of the Sandpiper , the slight man gesturing and bellowing out orders over the distance. His smaller vessel had a shallow draft. It could reach us where the warships couldn’t.
    â€œCome on, Contessa,” I said, pulling her to the railing.
    â€œAlex!” she cried, resisting. “Alex?”
    â€œIt’s all right,” he soothed, calm and smiling. “I’ll help you make the jump.”
    â€œJump?” she warbled, her face going terrified.
    In a smooth motion, the merchant vessel sailed alongside of us, coming in so the wind would push her away and not into us.
    â€œHooks!” Mr. Smitty shouted, and I stood amazed when three or four clawed hooks were tossed in near unison. They hit the deck and were pulled in tight. The rolling deck lurched, and I staggered as the two vessels started to move as one.
    â€œPoint her into the wind!” Mr. Smitty shouted at the man at the wheel on Captain Rylan’s ship. “Are you daft? You want that she swamps and takes us down with her?”
    My pulse quickened. The Sandpiper was going down?
    Alex had heard the rough man as well, his eyes meeting mine behind Contessa suddenly carrying a deep concern tempered with resolve.
    â€œHere!” Captain Rylan called from the railing, with Mr. Smitty, gesturing. I started forward with Alex and Contessa, slipping on the wet deck though Mr. Smitty climbed the rail of the Sandpiper and jumped to his brightly lit ship as if it was nothing. Another wave came over the side, and Contessa fell, taking me down with her. The hard deck of the ship smacked into my hip, bruising me. My horses called again, and I looked at them from around my blowing hair.
    â€œI can’t do that—” Contessa said, looking lost under Alex’s coat, her eyes on the railing. Alex pulled her up, and I rose without help, looking between her and my horses. “I can’t do that!” she said again, her voice high and panicked.
    â€œGrapples tight!” Mr. Smitty shouted over the wind and the noise of rattling sails and calling crewmen trying to put out the fire. “Hands stay to release and come about!”
    â€œI can’t do that!” Contessa cried, clearly panicking as we dragged her forward.
    â€œCome on, Contessa,” I coaxed, angry and frustrated. I pulled her to Captain Rylan. Crewmen had swarmed aboard in a motion so quick, it took me by surprise, securing lines and making the two vessels rise and fall as nearly one. “They’re closer. See?” I said, eying the rough-looking men. “And I’ll be with you. It’s either this or a dinghy.”
    â€œBut if I fall, I’ll be crushed between them!”
    Another wave hit us, chilling me and sending my feet slipping. “I won’t let you