Fire over Swallowhaven Read Online Free Page A

away with their cannon as they go. If your windships stay where they are, they’ll be blown to smithereens.” She looked up at the admiral. “Have you seen the damage the pirates’ cannon can do? I have—and I don’t recommend being in their sights once they start blazing away.”
    “All your people will be killed if they don’t get out of the way,” Jack added urgently.
    “Then go tell them so!” said the admiral. “Cast off the Thief in the Night, ” he called. “Admiral’sorders: All windships to break ranks and hold off till reinforcements arrive.”
    “Come on,” Esmeralda shouted to Trundle and Jack as she raced for their little skyboat. “You heard the admiral—we’ve got work to do.”
    Pausing only long enough to exchange a startled glance, the two of them went running after her.
    As they leaped aboard, Trundle heard the admiral shouting further orders. “Signal to Captain Wilde aboard the Scarlet Scavenger, ” he bellowed. “Tell him to lead his fleet into combat with all possible speed!”
    “That’ll give them piratical types a nasty surprise,” said Jack as he unfurled the sails. “Jimminy, but this is exciting! I can feel a battle song coming on!” He cleared his throat and began to sing.
    “ Swallowhaven, stand ye steady,
    Pirates come, but you are ready,
    Fight until they all are dead-ee,

    Heroes one and all!”
    “Very stirring,” yelled Esmeralda, leaping for the tiller. “Save it for later!” She grabbed the tiller in both hands and gave an almighty wrench. Its sails plump with the wind, the Thief in the Night went skimming away from the admiral’s flagship.
    Trundle clung to the mast, feeling the blood surging through his usually peaceable veins. Curse those horrid pirates! It would serve them jolly well right if the whole darned lot of them were killed.
    “Trundle, we’re busy. You have to call to ’em to scatter!” yelled Esmeralda as they sped toward the Swallowhaven fleet. The Bolt from the Blue was back in line, and the pirate windships were bearing down on them in an arrowhead formation.
    “They’ll never hear me,” yelled Trundle.
    “Improvise!” howled Esmeralda, leaning hard on the tiller.
    What Trundle really needed was a megaphone—except that there wasn’t one on board. Then he had a brain wave. He grabbed the copper tube in which their skycharts were kept rolled. Tipping out the charts, he leaned over the bow of the Thief in the Night and put one end of the hollow tube to his snout.
    “Windships of Swallowhaven!” he bellowed at the absolute top of his voice. “Split up! All of you! Get out of there! You’ll be blown to bits otherwise!”
    He spotted animals scuttling about frantically on the decks for a few moments, and then, slowly but surely, the line of ten windships began to sheer off, left and right and up and down.
    “Way to go, Trundle!” whooped Jack.
    “Watch out!” shrieked Trundle. With the Swallowhaven fleet scattered to the four corners of the sky, the only vessel remaining in the Iron Pig ’s sights was theirs!
    Jack flung himself across the skyboat, dragging the boom after him, while Esmeralda dug in hardwith both feet and yanked the tiller almost out of its socket.
    Trundle covered his eyes with his paw as the Iron Pig’s bloodred sails filled the sky in front of them.

    “Pop ’em, me hearties! Singe their eyebrows for ’em!” barked an all-too-familiar voice. Trundle parted his fingers and saw that the fearsome bosun, Razorback himself, was standing on the foredeck, yelling orders and brandishing his cutlass.
    “It’s them!” croaked yet another familiar voice. “It’s them, I tell ’ee! Kill ’em! Kill ’em to death, y’ swabs!”Squatting on Razorback’s shoulder was the scraggy black shape of his evil pet raven, Captain Slaughter. Except that, as Trundle noticed, the bird was looking a little the worse for wear since last they’d met. It had an eye patch and a wooden leg, and a crutch under one