Free 03 - Death's Legacy by Sandy Mitchell - (ebook by Undead) Page B

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abundantly clear that he couldn’t have cared less. Rudi gestured over the stern.
    “There’s a boat behind us, catching up fast. Should we be
worried?” He’d half-expected some sarcastic rejoinder, the deckhand pretending
to think he meant the small rowing boat that trailed in their wake at the end of
a rope, but Ansbach simply turned, narrowing his eyes against the glare, and
nodded grimly.
    “Yes.” He filled his lungs, and bellowed, “Stand to!”
    The rest of the crew abandoned their jobs around the deck and
ran to join them, Shenk emerging from his cabin, still fastening his coat.
    “What is it?” the captain asked. Once again, Rudi marvelled
at the transformation of the shabby little man, here in his natural habitat. He
sounded crisp and incisive, every inch the leader that his crew evidently
expected him to be.
    “We’ve got company,” Ansbach reported, jerking a thumb in the
direction of the stern. “Your friend here spotted them.” The last was delivered
in a grudging tone, it was true, but Rudi appreciated it nevertheless. Shenk
nodded. The approaching vessel was clearly visible, slicing through the water at
a speed the heavily laden riverboat couldn’t hope to match. Its hull was lean
and narrow, its sails rigged for speed, and it was closing fast.
    “Typical pirate trick,” Shenk said, nodding his thanks to
Rudi, “coming out of the sun at dawn or dusk.” He turned, running back to his
cabin, and vanished inside.
    “Don’t just stand there, arm yourselves!” Busch bellowed, and
Berta, Yullis and Pieter scattered to find whatever makeshift weapons they
could. That wouldn’t be much, Rudi thought. Most people in the Empire carried a
knife, for eating, odd jobs, and self-defence at a pinch, but the crew of the
marauding vessel would be far better armed than that, he was sure.
    “Better get below,” Rudi said to Hanna. He’d been expecting
her to argue, but she simply nodded, tight-lipped. She might be well on the road
to recovery, but she was still in no condition to fight. They both knew that.
Her spell casting abilities could turn the tide of battle easily, of course, and
he pictured a bolt of magical fire like the ones that had consumed the skaven
and Magnus’ mutants bursting on the deck of the approaching marauder with a
sigh of regret. There was no way, however, that the young sorceress could use
her abilities in front of the crew without betraying her secret, and if that
happened, he had no doubt at all that Shenk would turn them in to the
authorities, in spite of the debt he owed him. The captain wouldn’t risk being
burned for harbouring a witch, however grateful he might have been to Rudi for
helping him evade arrest back in Marienburg.
    “Good luck.” Hanna turned, and disappeared down the hatch to
the hold. Relieved that she was safe, at least for the time being, Rudi turned
his attention to the immediate threat.
    The pirate vessel was close enough to have lost the
protection of the westering sun, its sails blotting out the sinking ball of
fire, and Rudi began to make out some of the details. A cluster of men stood on
its deck, pointing and gesticulating, clearly getting ready for combat. Shafts
of light from the setting sun glittered off the swords in their hands, turning
the blades the colour of blood, and Rudi drew his own.
    “Hadn’t you better get a weapon too?” he asked Ansbach.
    “I can’t leave the tiller,” the deckhand said, with the weary
patience of someone explaining the obvious. “If we lose way, we’re done for.” He
was clearly unhappy about this, and Rudi could understand why. Standing at the
stern, Ansbach was uncomfortably exposed, and would be unable to defend himself
if he was attacked.
    “I’ll cover your back,” Rudi assured him. Ansbach didn’t look
as if he found that much of a comfort.
    “Rudi!” Hanna’s head and shoulders emerged from the hold, his
bow and arrows held aloft. “Here!”
    “I’ll take