Pirate - Duncan Falconer [74]
‘Straight out!’ he shouted as he went for the second engine. One would be enough to get them out to sea but they would need both to stand a chance of escaping any pursuit.
She craned ahead, having to stand to see around the cabin and beyond the side of the gunwales that went up in the bows. Straight out to sea was simple enough but she knew she had to be careful not to hit another boat or the toe of sand on the end of the spur that formed the northern mouth of the cove.
Stratton yanked the starter cable on the second engine and, as with the first, it refused to start. He cursed the machine but at least the return spring worked and the toggle shot back against the top of the engine. He pulled it hard again. Nothing.
He glanced behind to see their progress. She was keeping the nose in the right direction. It was hard to tell if there was any activity around the cargo ships.
A powerful searchlight suddenly shone from one of the bridge wings of the nearest bulker. The end of the beam darted over the surface of the water like a desperate effort to find them. On the beach, flashlights flickered in the hands of men running hard along it.
Stratton got back to the task in hand and yanked the starter cable. This time the engine gave a teaser of a cough.
The sound of gunfire came from somewhere. He wasn’t overly concerned though. The Somalis would have difficulty seeing the boat well enough to aim a shot. That was until the searchlight shot over them and came quickly back to illuminate the boat and the pair of them in it.
Stratton pulled the starter cord again and the engine came to life. He turned the throttle and the added thrust shunted the boat vigorously forward and out of the light.
Stratton stood beside the girl, a head taller than her. Together they looked ahead as they powered the boat over the heavy swell and out to sea. The light caught them again and since there was little or nothing Stratton could do about it, he ignored it. With the increasing distance and all the bobbing about it would be a lucky shot to hit them from either the vessels or the beach. And just as he finished that thought, a bullet slammed through the bridge breaking a window. Stratton and the girl ducked down a little automatically.
As they left the mouth of the cove and headed properly out to sea, Stratton looked back at the cargo vessels. His main concern at that point was any pursuit by the pirates. Their speedboats were much quicker than the little fishing boat. But the further Stratton could get into the darkness the more difficult it would be for the pirates to find them.
The firing appeared to have stopped although it was hard to tell being so close to a couple of screaming engines. He replaced the cowling to reduce the noise and fiddled with the simple throttle friction device to get them to hold the engine at high revs. The wooden pole lashed to both steering arms that acted as a coordinator worked fine and Stratton let go to allow the girl to steer both engines by controlling only the one.
He made a quick inspection of the fuel lines and containers and lashed down the ones that were loose using bits of the miles of fishing line scattered around the deck.
Then he went back to the lights to their rear. He looked at them for about a minute. They were growing increasingly distant. He held the side of the cabin to steady himself, the wind whipping at his clothes. He could see nothing that indicated any kind of follow-up. No other lights. The girl held the tiller firmly, her hair straight out behind her.
The boat cut through the swell nicely. Stratton looked ahead. The edge of the dark clouds that hung low above them wasn’t far away and he could see clearer sky beyond it.
He looked at the girl. She glanced at him and allowed herself a semblance of a smile. Like she was grateful but also vaguely apologetic.
‘I’ll take it,’ he said, crossing to her.
She was relieved to hand the tiller over to him. She felt exhausted. In the sea breeze, after the chilly swim, she could feel the cold working its