Free IVORY DAWN (The Razor's Adventures) by P.S. Bartlett

Ivory Dawn
    Part One
     

     
    “We don’t have anything of value but ourselves,” Miranda said from the porch, as she tapped lightly on the front door to alert our attention and then ducked down behind the railing.
    “Miranda, what’s going on?” Cass asked as she opened the front door.  She looked toward the sunset and saw six male silhouettes coming from the direction of the river, each carrying a blade of some sort. Their faces weren’t visible, but she could plainly see that they all were intent on some ravenous and bloody mayhem.
    “Get back inside and put out the lanterns and candles.  And for God’s sakes, that blunderbuss better be loaded!” Miranda ordered.
    Cass drew up her skirt and ran back into the house, gathering up anything they could use in defense. After the Spanish raid, knowing how vulnerable they were away from the peninsula which was fortified and protected from such invasions, they’d made sure to arm themselves as well. Keara flew into the front room from the kitchen with a wooden box and flipped open the lid, exposing half a dozen blades. They reached in, took two each, and barricaded the front door with a heavy sideboard.
    It was the golden age of piracy in the world, and Charles Towne was not immune to their brutal pillaging, among other horrors. However, knowing the dangers that four young women alone could inevitably face, they’d painstakingly prepared themselves, and weren’t about to go down without a fight. On this evening, just before twilight, their fates were sealed.
    “Where’s Ivory?” Miranda gasped, looking over at her cousins at the ready, one crouched at each window.
    “Dammit to hell! She went down to the river for water for the chickens about a half hour ago,” Keara whispered. “She’s still out there—alone.”
    “Wait, her razor wasn’t in the box. She must have it with her,” Cass said, never taking her eyes from the window.
    “Of course she does. She never leaves the house without it,” Keara commented, and then hushed the girls and slid the blunderbuss through the open window, resting it on the ledge.
    The pirates were loud and howling like wolves, causing the girls to tremble and eye each other with terror. Keara nearly dropped the gun and then took a deep breath, turning the barrel in the direction of the approaching men. Cass held her pistol at her side, and as the hoots and howls drew nearer, she heard the picket gate kick open.  She stood with her back against the wall next to the front door and slowly raised the heavy weapon until it was level with her own head, pointing it straight at the door.
    “We know yer in there! We seen the light all the way from the riverbank!”
    The girls held their breath and not a muscle or strand of hair strayed from its frozen place. Cass glanced to her right at Keara and mouthed to her, “Don’t shoot until I say so.”
    They listened as the weighty boots pounded the porch boards, and once Cass was satisfied that all of the men were now upon them, she motioned to Keara to fire. The screams of the pirates were more terrifying and deafening than their howls as they were splattered with tacks, nails, broken glass and any other sharp object that Keara could cram into that barrel. Cass joined her with the pistol, firing into the night.
    “You got ‘em,” Miranda whispered.  She drew aside the curtain and was peeking out to see the damage done, when a thick, bloody arm reached in, snatched her by her hair, and pulled her out of the window.
    Keara was lying on her back on the floor, having been slammed in the shoulder by the kick back of the gun. She rolled back and forth, holding her arm, when Cass rushed over, grabbing her under her arms and yanking her to her feet, “Get up!  One of ‘em has Miranda!”
    Cass pushed the sideboard over to open the front door, finding four of the men, either dead or dying, at her doorstep. It was nearly dark, and she stopped for a moment to allow her eyes to adjust. She