Free The Stolen Heart by Jacinta Carey

I. Very well, then. I shall restrain myself from beating
    Mate to a pulp, and turn in. You coming?”
     
     
“No, I think I’ll study the constellations a little while longer.”
     
     
He smiled. “Good night then, lad.”
     
     
“Good night, Captain.”
     
     
Her watching the stars proved uneventful that night, but the
    following evening as Jared had gone down to the main cabin to get
    another card and game tournament organized for the greenhands,
    Almira was certain beyond the shadow of a doubt that she saw
    lightning off to the west.
     
     
She ran to the officer on watch, who happened to be the Mate, to
    report what she saw.
     
     
“Go away, you little bugger. There ain’t no lightning.”
     
     
“I saw the whales, and you didn’t believe me. Captain said to tell
    everyone if there was lightning. Now, are you going to call all
    hands or not?”
     
     
Mate grabbed him in a stranglehold. “ Not ,” he sneered. “The
    weather is just fine. It couldn’t be more fair. So shut your face
    and go on about your duties.”
     
     
Almira squirmed and wriggled to free herself from his crushing grip,
    but when she failed after three attempts, and began seeing stars,
    she had to resort to more desperate measures. Balling up her hand
    into a fist, she bashed Mate in the groin.
     
     
As she fell to the deck she screamed through her bruised throat,
    “All hands! All hands! Man the lines, there’s a storm coming! Storm
    coming!”
     
     
Mate tried to grab her by the ankle to bring her crashing down onto
    the deck, but she stomped his forearm hard with her other foot and
    ran for the bell, which she began to ring frantically.
     
     
Cooper, coming along the deck to see what the commotion was all
    about, saw the lightning himself, and echoed her words, sending the
    watch running, and men scrambling up from steerage and the fo’c’sle.
     
     
Mate crawled along the deck til he was back up on his feet. The only
    thing he could focus on was revenge, and took a swing at her.
     
     
She stepped out of the way of the meaty fist just in time, and
    grabbed a belaying pin. "Are you deaf? There's lightning. The ship's
    in danger."
     
     
"You little bastard—"
     
     
She backed away from the pure venom spewing from his lips and eyes,
    but he just kept moving menacingly forward.
     
     
Almira had never been so relieved to see Jared in her life than when
    he came running toward her from the aft companionway.
     
     
“I saw lightning, over there!” she rasped, pointing.
     
     
Jared could barely make out her words, her voice was so faint.
     
     
But as he stared at her wild-eyed expression and followed her
    finger, a telltale flash of lightning lit up the horizon.
     
     
“Oh, God. Take in all the sail, now! Now ! Now !”
     
     
"Even the vengeful Mate reacted to the urgency of Jared’s tone, and
    began to haul on the nearest set of ropes.
     
     
The men scrambled into the rigging to take down all the sails as a
    huge gust swept the decks, pinning Al to the main mast. She grabbed
    one of the ropes that was always kept there in case of emergency,
    stepped into the loop, and cinched it tightly about her waist. They
    labored to haul in the main and try sails, but as they worked, the
    deck began to roll and judder under them.
     
     
A huge wave crashed over the side of the ship and swept several of
    them off their feet. The jib sail tore away with a loud shredding
    sound, and the main topgallant yard snapped like a twig and began to
    hurtle toward the deck.
     
     
“Captain, look out!”
     
     
She shoved Jared out of the way of the collapsing sails and rigging,
    and then had to cling on to him as they were doused with another
    huge wave which began to sweep Jared over the side.
     
     
Almira hung onto his arm and the belt of his trousers for dear life,
    and he in turn snatched at young Bill as he rolled toward the rail
    while the ship careened precariously over nearly onto its beam ends.
     
     
Al