James was hardly surprised to find hatch open.
Who was he kidding? Had he really thought she'd stay down there? Olivia wasn't practical. She wasn't trained. She wasn't afraid, either.
Crashes sounded behind him, followed by a rush of angry shouting. He turned to find the crew of The Encantador raining down beer bottles on the heads of his men. Infuriated, James rushed forward, prepared to pelt the shards of glass right back at them.
Olivia's voice cried out behind him. Without thinking, he shoved her to the ground as another bottle came flying their way, barely missing her shoulder.
"Get back!" he yelled, pulling her to her feet.
She didn't, of course. Her eyes grew wild with contempt as Fergie cried out in pain, yanking a piece of brown glass from his bleeding bicep. Since she'd sliced off his ponytail, Olivia had managed to make friends with him. Odd man, he was. "We have to do something," she said, more to herself than him.
Without another word to James, she sprinted to the bow and climbed up on the wall with amazing agility and speed. She stood, drawing her sword.
Oh, god. What was she doing, now?
"¡Escuchan!" she screamed, a long stream of words rocketing from her mouth after it.
James couldn't understand her yelling. He didn't know much Spanish. The Cuban pirates, however, seemed to be getting every word. Jaws slackened and eyes widened as she shrieked at them, waving her sword in the air.
That sword had belonged to James' father. Now Olivia jabbed it toward The Encantador the same way he would have, no a speck of fear to be seen in her firm-footed posture, not the slightest tremor to be heard in her screaming voice.
"We have guns! Cannons too!" she shouted in English.
James internally applauded. Not bad, not bad.
"Ye better run! I could kill you in one shot! ¡Un disparo!"
A moment of wide-eyed silence from both crews.
Then, "¡Pruébalo!"
James couldn't discern who had yelled, but it was met by a roar of agreement from the crew. "¡Pruébalo!" They repeated. James furrowed his brow, unsure what this met.
Olivia seemed to understand. As did Andy, to James' great surprise.
Without missing a beat, Andy scooped the flare gun they kept on deck, tossing it to Olivia who caught it and pointed it at the enemy pirates.
"Perras..." Olivia hissed, pulling the trigger. She smirked as the red sparks flew, the thin whistle of the flare gun sounding.
That word, James did know. And it certainly suited the reactions of the Cuban pirates. Yep, they scurried away like a ship full of Perras being chased by a pack of osos.
They ran like scared children. Within minutes, they became but a dot on the horizon. Where was Capitán Araya? Would he have not have known his men had been played for fools?
And that they had. As far as James knew, the only gun onboard was his pistol, which remained a secret, hidden beneath his floorboards.
The cheers of his men jarred him from his thoughts. He could no longer see Olivia through the cloud of crewmen surrounding Andy and she, shouting words of admiration and thanks.
Well. Maybe she can take care of herself.
YOU ARE READING
House Of Gold
Adventure-Prequel to A Pirate's Life For Me- **currently editing** Olivia Ramsey is finally striking out on her own. She's had it with school and family and everything else in between. When she meets pirate captain James Ramsey, her plans to run away by her...
