Free A Captain's Destiny by Marie Caron

Maybe she could get a job as a governess or a companion. She wouldn’t care what the job was, as long as she didn’t have to marry some man she didn’t love.
    Anthony hadn’t been gone long when the ship began to lean more to one side than the other, until Katherine could barely keep from rolling out of bed. Suddenly she heard a loud, groaning sort of screech as though the ship had run into something. She could hear shouting and much running about above her on the deck, and just then the cabin door opened and Anthony stuck his head inside. “What was that noise?” she asked him before he could speak.
    “The damned fool has run the ship aground on a reef. Stay here!” he ordered, and then he slammed the door shut. As soon as the door was closed, Katherine jumped up and ran to the small window.
    Looking out all she could see was dark gray clouds. Thinking it would be foolish to stay below if the ship was in danger of sinking, she decided to take matters into her own hands. So what if Anthony saw her? She would rather live, than die just to carry on with her charade.
    As she stepped into the passageway, Katherine was surprised to find water rolling down the stairs from above. Up those stairs was the only way out, and she was determined to climb them. The level of the water in the corridor had already risen to her knees; she had to get out of there. But first she must rid herself of some of her clothing, as it would only drag her down once it got wet.
    Back in the cabin she untied her slips and tossed them onto the bed. Then she pulled the back of her skirt up between her legs and tucked it over the sash at her waist. She had done this as a child in order to ride astride. Now it would facilitate her climbing the ladder.
    Water was spilling into the cabin now, but she was up on the top step in no time. But when she opened the door to the main deck, it was jerked out of her hand by the force of the wind and the waves crashing over the ship. Water was blown into her face, and she coughed and tried to wipe it out of her eyes. But her long hair had come unpinned, and now it flew around her head and into her face and eyes too. She held it back as best she could with one hand as she tried to take a step forward, but a huge wave pushed her sideways, sending her careening toward the starboard railing. She crashed into it and tumbled over headfirst.
    The next thing she felt was her breath being knocked out of her, as she landed in the water on her back. She inhaled a great breath of air, coughed and flailed her arms, trying to remain on the surface, but the waves were huge, and she was easily overcome by them. And what was worse was they were pulling her toward the ship! At first Katherine tried to hold her breath, but then she realized she was going to die if she allowed the ship to pull her down with it. With her last breath she threw her arms out and began swimming away from the ship.
    She hadn’t gone very far when something hit her in the back of the head. Suddenly her vision went from the dark gray of the storm to the black of unconsciousness.

Chapter 14
    Jack could breathe easier now that his debts were paid and he had a ship under him again. The Lady Elizabeth had been lost, sunk by the Royal Navy, and though this frigate wasn’t nearly as grand, at least it belonged to him…more or less.
    He had decided that if the crown thought of him as a pirate, he might as well behave like one. So as soon as he was fit for a lengthy voyage, he and his men had set sail on a small cargo ship he already owned from his transporting days. They had positioned themselves in the path of their prey and played dead in the water. And when the captain of the Celeste had stopped to offer assistance, Jack and his men had fallen on the unsuspecting crew of the larger ship. They took her easily, for the opposing crewmen were mere sailors, not fighting men. And now the Celeste was called the Katherine , and not one of Jack’s men had dared to ask